Stories behind Instagram Stories
I have been making vertical videos to my Instagram stories for a year and a half now. Last year almost every week I made a video. I’ve got good feedback from my friends and also from people I don’t know so well. That’s one reason to keep on doing it, but mostly I just want to create something continuously and keep learning. In this post I share some stories behind those videos. There’s also a link to the videos on IGTV below every photo.
I got inspired by Jesse Driftwood’s videos and wanted to try making a vertical video myself. Since I had been filming only horizontally before I had to learn new techniques to film. But also that gave me new creativity and ideas.
One of the first vertical videos I made (actually the second) was form our New Year’s trip to Pöljö in 2018. I had totally different plans for that new year before but I had to cancel those and think of something else to do. Just couple days before new year we found a plan to go to a cottage close to Kouvola. We went there with a group of six people. The beginning of the video is filmed by iphone, when David and Nafees were enjoying the Finnish winter and snow. The rest of the video I was testing out different transitions and just filmed other people at the cottage. Most of the fireworks we had were difficult to light up in the dark and we were just freezing outside. But at least we got some.
The next video is from our Easter dinner in 2018. Until that point I had made couple of these videos already and had learned a little bit more. I just spontaneously started filming when we were cooking together and tried transitions form black to black and white to white. The craziest scene is where two of my friends are fighting for a knife. It was fun and we had a good dinner.
The next stories are about surprise parties. Our group of friends in Lappeenranta used to organize surprises every now and then for someone’s birthday. David from Czech was leaving Finland and we wanted to organize a farewell party for him. That we couldn’t really keep as a surprise, but anyway. We gave him a Finnish book as a gift and had barbecue by the lake. The video has a sad vibe in it, since it’s a farewell party. But I think if a video causes emotions, it is a good thing.
Ben’s birthday party was supposed to be a surprise for him, but he started to invite people to his own party, without knowing that it would be his birthday party. It was funny. We could still surprise him with a balloon and cake.
Helsinki Adventure is a video about one day in Helsinki last summer. I visited Huvilakatu and Eira and then we had a photoshoot with Essi in Puu-Vallila. At the end of the day we had smoothies at McDonald’s. It was a good day. The most difficult part of that video was when we were trying to open our Coca cola bottles without any opener. Luckily we found a way to open those.
Sunday Coffee is filmed at Satamatie 6 coffee shop which was awarded to be the best coffee shop in Finland in 2018. Vilma had been studying abroad and just came back to Lappeenranta, so we went for coffee and dinner. This video is somehow special for me, since the coffee shop shared it on their Instagram account.
Pulsan Asema and Longboarding videos are filmed on a same day last autumn. Me, Tommi, Thu and Vilma visited Pulsan Asema for a first time and had coffee there. Pulsan Asema shared my video on their Facebook page as well. This one was my first time to try a masking transition in a vertical video. Tell me if you can spot it!
Longboarding video is filmed in Taipalsaari. Tommi had two longboards and I had a small penny board. We wanted to practice longboarding and there was a good road next to the lake in Taipalsaari. The place was so pretty with all the colorful trees. The truth is, that before we even got there, I fell with my penny board. I was super sad that my pants broke, and didn’t really want to skate anymore. Others were longboarding but I was just filming and hanging around. Later on I realized that luckily only my pants were broken, and I was all good.
It’s funny that this post started with new year’s video from 2018, it ends with new year 2019. We spent the last new year at our family’s cottage with a group of friends. Edi from Brazil was visiting Finland and also many others who didn’t live in Lappeenranta that time anymore came to the trip. It felt like our old group had gathered together after a long time.
Last but not least, a video from January. Me, Mikko and Ben went for a Sunday morning walk and ended up geocaching. In this one I tried different effects and editing techniques. Trying new things while editing is important to keep learning and improving.
Most of my videos are filmed quite spontaneously. I share stories about my friends, travel and everyday life. Sometimes the most simplest things make the best videos. I keep on filming and editing because I enjoy doing it and love creating. Also, videos have many memories for me which I can look back. I’m thankful for every feedback and messages I’ve got. You guys are awesome. Thanks for watching and supporting!
There would be so many videos from last year to talk about, but these ten are enough for now. If you haven’t seen them and would want to watch, check the links and my IGTV account for more.
