How to Shoot a Viral Time-Lapse Video

Time-lapse films are all the rage these days. They make for great personal projects and for most people they aren't anything more than that. Nathaniel Dodson of tutvid discusses how his personal project of a time-lapse film showcasing Philadelphia ended up going viral and becoming lucrative.

Dodson walks the audience through the process of planning, scouting, shooting, marketing, distributing, and selling/licensing the footage. He started off with a general idea of creating a time-lapse film of Philadelphia that would appeal both to residents and the general public at large. His intent was to put together scenes that a Hollywood location scout would be interested in seeing to attract more film and television productions to the city, thus enhancing its image. He started off by researching both time-lapse films online as well as pictures and maps of the city which he cross-referenced with certain times of day to create an overall shooting schedule and shot list.

Dodson spent about three months shooting the project, called "Philly Is Ugly," capturing the city at sunrise and sunset every day while still working his normal job. In the end, he shot approximately 70,000 frames.

The key to gaining traction on the film was an aggressive marketing campaign. Dodson sent it to every magazine publication, newspaper, and blog he could find. He sought shares on social media and reached out to local television and media outlets by tracking down contact information of producers through Twitter and LinkedIn. Dodson's efforts paid off as he was invited to local programs to discuss his project and the film was shared numerous times on social media and blogs. This led to increased growth in views, topping 100,000 in three months. 

Dodson was able to license footage to a number of agencies and landed several large clients directly due to the film. He spent approximately $2,500 (not to mention 100's of hours) on the project and ended up earning between $50,000 and $60,000.