An Idea That Changed How I See The World
Here’s an idea that I’m realizing applies to everything:
You don’t live in a vacuum. You are a human living in a world composed of other humans that communicate to one another through a variety of methods. We do a lot of communicating with each through things that we make (e.g. books, YouTube videos, movies, paintings, blog posts, songs, etc.).
We can call every encounter with what another human being makes as an “interaction.”
I used to just think that interactions were random, and that they could not be categorized.
However, I believe you can put interactions largely into two categories, and this significantly changed how I think about my own creative process when making things. Take a look at the graph below:
What are these two categories?
Transactional content — basically, you have a clear question, and the content made or consumed clearly answers that question. Very straightforward. Think tutorials or “how-to’s”. Mission accomplished if your initial question is answered. You “spend” your time in order to “buy” a solution.
Another way to describe transactional content in very simple terms is education and/or entertainment.
Education: Teach me about x and once I learn about it, I’m satisfied.
Entertainment: Entertain me and I am satisfied.
This is most of the stuff out there, because there’s such a clear incentive. People love it when problems are solved. It’s a gift to help the person engaging with your work to achieve something. It can be as simple as “learn how to pronounce this word,” “learn this technique,” or even “learn about this place.”
Some examples of great transactional content I love:
Zeihan on Geopolitics - Peter Zeihan has a channel on YouTube under his name where he talks about Geopolitics around the world. I just find the topic really interesting. Simple, short video updates every day. Keeps me informed. It's pretty simple, there's a question, like "how does this affect the war in Ukraine?" and he answers it.
How to Set Up a Lightroom Catalog - Joe Allan made this tutorial on how to set up a catalog with Lightroom and to this day this remains 80% how I set things up for myself each year. Super helpful.
Entertainment and/or education… what else could there be? Ah I’m so glad you asked. We now arrive at the second category:
Transformational content: These are interactions that deal in emotions and identity and that change you or your view of the world.
Have you ever watched a film that made you cry and afterwards you felt like you felt profound moved? Almost like you were no longer the same person that stepped into the movie theatre? That’s what I’m talking about.
It often incorporates a character (either the video’s creator or the subject) going through their own transformation, which the audience empathetically relates to.
Even if it’s a small change, the change in that “character” sparks a change in the person watching. It “leaves the viewer in a different place than they started.” It’s how we learn about life and being human.
Great transformational content I love (no spoilers):
My Octopus Teacher: This documentary changed how I felt and viewed the world after watching it; and while I watched it I had no idea where I was going or how things would end up.
Icarus: A beautiful exploration on the topic of doping among high-level athletes (through the lens of the cycling world). This film feels like it changes half way through and ended up having a massive impact on the sport.
All creative work falls on a gradient of transformational vs. transactional.
Neither is “better” than the other. Both are an “exchange.” We all need both. But WHAT they’re exchanging is different.
And many people miss out on the benefits of Transformational content because Transactional content is much less ambiguous.
Here’s where some of my own videos fall on this spectrum:
As you can see, many of my videos have elements of both styles and every one of these has performed well (thanks to all of you for watching!). But some videos' subject matter lends itself towards one pole or the other.
At the end of the day… it's powerful to add a transformational angle to your writing because ultimately, it makes your content more human, and have a more long-lasting impact – even if it’s a practical or specific topic.
As Maya Angelou put it:
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Now, one interesting quirk about transformational content is that it is only transformational for an audience if it’s transformational for the creator. Kind of funny how it’s all connected. When I am changed by the things I make, they stand a better chance of really changing others.
Ultimately, it’s just about having clarity. What kind of impact are you seeking to have? I find that asking myself that question first gives me so much more clarity when I’m working on a project.
I’m in the middle of my launch for Frame by Frame, my Editing & Animation master course.
I weave the principles of making solid Transactional & Transformational Content into every one of the many videos of the course – and then teach you (in live classes) every week how to apply it to the technical craft of video editing.
About 4,000 of you joined my free filmmaking/confidence on camera mini-course last week.
Well, that “mini-course” was 9 videos long, and just scratched the surface of me and my team’s video knowledge today.
In contrast, Frame by Frame contains over 100 lessons and 8 live sessions – spanning from: writing & pre-producing videos, exact technical editing training, deep dives into creating original animations, and how to start filming videos & original content (even if you’re a complete beginner using your iPhone to start).
I can promise you there is no other course quite like Frame by Frame out there.
If you’d like to join 100+ future video editors & creators on your own transformational journey, join the course today.
A little bit of inspiration for you :)
Music Recommendations:
Thanks for reading,
Nathaniel Drew
