Pivoting to Video

For those you that were worried that I was scrapping this blog and moving to video, don't worry, I'm not.

But, I have had a few stray thoughts over the years where I shoot and edit an entire video based on baseball cards. But how? Or rather, what?

Well the foremost obvious answer would be videos focused on opening packs/boxes/entire cases.

I think we've all seen at least one box break video in our lives. Whether it's one of those live stream group break videos or just some vlogger ripping into a blaster from Wal-Mart. For the most part they're all very bad in terms of entertainment value. Never mind the stuff the people pull in the video, a great hit doesn't guarantee a great video. You don't watch those videos to be entertained, you watch them to see if the team slot you purchased gets you something good.

I mean let's face it. Most of the box breakers aren't entertainers or people who make a living performing. They're probably laypeople who work as lawyers (because apparently lawyers make up 60% of all baseball card collectors). That's not their fault, nor is it a sin or anything. But it just means that you're going to end up watching a very lackluster 10 minute video of a guy sitting in front of a web-cam (or right behind it) with a bad mic. All part of a very long continuous shot with little edits, nothing in terms of a music soundtrack, and unless you have something invested in the video (ie you're part of the group break) you're probably going to click out of the video.

I mean I guess that's to be expected for live streaming since I guess it's the closest you're going to be able to get to having the participants see the pulls in real time and confirm for themselves that the operation wasn't rigged.

But what if it's not a live stream? What if it's just a recap video of sorts? What if the point of the video isn't even about opening something? Do you take the same "one and done approach"? Based on YouTube searches the answer is a resounding yes because people are lazy. And no I do not blame them. As mentioned before, I'm lazy too.

BUT, every now and then you do have videos that can make it a little bit more interesting.

I recently came across this video where the plot revolves around the opening of two boxes of Upper Deck Christina Aguilera cards, created by online filmmaker SBN3. It's very entertaining and can be enjoyed by basically anybody regardless of if they're a collector or not.

The next section contains *spoilers*, so watch the video first if you care to.

Now granted, this isn't a "traditional" box break video. There are edits, there are production values, there are puppets. We don't even know if the autograph was pulled or if it was bought. But you know what? I don't care, I really enjoyed it. The video doesn't exist to show us what was in the boxes (in fact it clearly doesn't give a shit what was inside), it shows us a relatable and familiar situation of a collector who is desperate for a good pull. I'm sure a lot of us can relate to a lot of moments in the video. Like questioning the legitimacy of the "autographs", having concerns about the boxes being tampered with beforehand, being friends with condiments, complaining about the same pictures used over & over again, and praying to Jesus Christina Aguilera for a good luck. Don't lie to me or yourself, we've all been there.

It'd be pretty greedy of me to say that this is the kind of content and creativity I want from card videos, but this is totally the kind of content and creativity I want from card videos. So much so that I've considered making one on-and-off for years. All amounting to nothing.

Just a notch below that work of genius is this, an SB Nation original video production brought to you by Jon Bois and Ryan Nanni. They open packs in their quest to find the worst sports card ever. It's no Pretty Good (SB Nation's best video series), but it's fine. It gives pack openings a clear objective and a fun way of presenting their findings to us.

I suppose there is also having former players/personalities open cards and comment on them. Every now and then you get some great personal stories but for the most part the statements are often bland "oh this guy was a great guy and a heck of a player" types of PR speak we've heard millions of times. You're never going to get anything good like "oh this guy was a shit head" from anybody, not even if you gave Michael Barrett a pack filled with AJ Pierzynski's.

I didn't really check to see if there were other types of card videos out there but I assume that they'd be more of the same, vlogger type of card show hauls or autograph hauls or something like that.

My point is that there is effort put into these videos that makes them worth watching multiple times. If I ever do make a video, I'd want it to be like them. A little video made to entertain rather than just being another show and tell presentation. With scripts, with editing, with sound mixing, everything. Easier said than done I know, but hey, where there's a will there's a way. Who knows, maybe in the future we might Clone Breaks in video format ;). Although stop motion is not easy. And mics are not cheap. And camera phones aren't good enough. Ugh.

So anyway what do you think of videos about cards? Do you agree that they can be spruced up and less vloggy? Or do you like them just the way they already are because they're serving their purpose? Or do you think that both can be true like most rational humans would?

As always thanks for stopping by and take care.