“Good artists copy. Great artists steal.” Pablo Picasso
Some days, while working on things like color-correction or motion graphics (anything that can be slow-going), it helps the time pass to keep on a steady stream of YouTube.
And you can’t go too far into YouTube without running into the YouTuber mogul, Peter McKinnon.
I don’t need to go into who McKinnon is, but in this post I’m more interested in what he does that is useful to imitate for any video storyteller.
Peter McKinnon creates cinematic cut-aways in his vlogs that keep the video entertaining while also informative. They have art, style and hold your attention between sections of talking head stuff.
In my vlog, I discuss the importance of what’s worth copying (or stealing). I wouldn’t ever copy Peter McKinnon’s vlogs, his style, his personality .. all of that is straight-up plagiarism. What I would copy and implore others to do as well, is the aspect of art that inspires you. It’s not the content that you copy but the deeper meaning behind it. That is always up for grabs.
Copying the deeper story is just like George Lucas did with Star Wars, copying a Greek myth. Or like Bruce Springsteen copying the emotion of Bob Dylan.
Here’s the video: