INTERVIEW BRANDON B
giving ourselves a reason as to why we think something’s going to happen. Then we have a hypothesis. We’ll test it a few more times then use that data to help us understand and inform our next videos.” That said, you can’t be everything to everyone, so there’s always a risk content won’t chime with large swathes of the viewing public. With an impressive cross- platform audience of over 13 million followers, how does Baum take feedback into account when creating shorts? “This is a very interesting question, because it’s actually a conversation we’ve been having at the studio a lot,” he explains. “It’s very topical. There are two sides to a video’s performance. There are the views and then there’s the engagement.” Sometimes the videos will net up to 30 million views, but the engagement rate will be at 5%. Other times, videos may secure a modest 200,000 views, but the engagement rate is at 40%. Baum says that’s when the studio must consider what is more important. “We’re trying to work out how we make sure we nail both sides, because there are two very different formulas that we use to make sure we get one or the other,” he adds. “So, it’s a big balance between making sure you get great engagement by leaving audience members feeling fulfilled – but the way
you get high views is by not giving your audience a single moment to click off the video; make it engaging throughout.” With that, Baum explains the golden formula for making captivating content is balancing these two aspects. “You must make sure you’re not giving your audience member a reason to stop watching, while simultaneously making sure that you’ve made them feel satisfied by the end of the piece of content,” he continues. “So, they’re engaging with it, they’re commenting on it, they’re very excited about the piece and they share it with their friends.” TECH TALK Of course, without technology, social media would be non-existent. Baum says that he finds it interesting to see the rapid progression that’s currently going on in the industry and “how a small studio like us” is able to use it to enhance their creativity and produce content “to keep par” with what the huge studios are doing around the world. “Everything from our project management software, all the way to our actual post-production and editing software is technology-based and without them, we wouldn’t be able to produce any of the extremely creative content that we do,” he explains.
WORKING SMART AI plays “a heavy role” in StudioB’s production workflow. However, Baum says that the hype surrounding the technology obfuscates how useful it is on an everyday basis. “It’s something that’s been happening for the past five plus years but without most people even realising,” he remarks. “AI is so deeply rooted in all the software and products we use daily, it’s only now become a buzzword. We haven’t had much success actually building and writing scripts with ChatGPT. The best we produce from it is a good brainstorming tool, a decent random word generator. I still believe that we need creatives and writers behind the scenes to actually build these things out properly.” StudioB has also been working with HTC Vive virtual production technology, which is enabling it to create huge, live green screen environments. This means as shoots are taking place, Baum and the client can watch the final result live. “This technology was not around a year and a half ago – and the fact that a small studio like ours is able to compete with what Disney is doing in The Mandalorian is absolutely insane,” he enthuses. “Suddenly, small studios like StudioB can offer these democratising, expensive and really advanced techniques to our clientele and say: ‘Hey, now we can create the same scale of videos that they’re doing over in Hollywood with this new technology’.” It’s hard to argue. After all, 13.5 million followers (and counting) don’t lie.
MOVING WITH THE TIMES StudioB makes use of virtual production technology to create live green screen environments – so clients can see the finished shot in real time
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