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My understanding was that Brandon literally helped make the genre with (what I like to call) "washing machine travel films" like Hong Kong Strong that are like you rolled and spun a camera through a city and then cut it with only match-cuts - they trigger my motion sickness pretty strongly and I literally can't watch them. However, people loved it and he got a bunch of TV appearances out of it: As previously said in the thread, he can make any camera from the last decade shine, and he has, and it's skill. All true. What no-one else has said though, is that videos like this are film shoots. They're not holidays, or someone filming while traveling (even slow travel).. These videos are researched, storyboarded, scheduled, and then shot on location with a cast (him and his GF, but often he recruits locals and will direct them like he's shooting a narrative) and crew (IIRC he's mentioned hiring people to fix, drive, translate, liaise, etc). This is no secret, and his free BTS content shows this openly. I think he sits in a fascinating space that I don't see a lot of professionals operating in. He shoots uncontrolled (and uncontrollable) situations, like markets and crowded public places, does so with talent and a shot list, but does so shooting relatively low-impact. People shooting a travel doc will be shooting with talent in markets and in the streets but will have huge shoulder-rigs and will build up a little crowd of people who are just staring at the shoot and have to be choralled to keep them out of frame. People shooting relatively incognito in a crowd are mostly doing it without talent or a plan or shot-list. Not a lot of people sit between those two scenarios, and even less will tell you how to go about doing it. I've paid a lot of attention to his BTS segments (which are excellent if you want to make videos like this) but as someone who travels for the enjoyment of it and shoots along the way, I can tell you that there is very little overlap between shooting while you travel and producing and shooting and editing a travel film. I put myself on the email list for when he launched his course, and when it was released it was pretty pricey. Probably good value as he obviously knows what he's doing, but too much for me considering the differences of our methods. Maybe it's an aesthetic thing, but his work looks dated to me now, including the Oppo piece. I understand why he still shoots these things like this, because he's appeared on quite a number of videos like this that are posted on the manufacturers channel, rather than his own channel, so it's obviously how he keeps the lights on.

Nice stuff. I like this project. Discovering what the elements are that you like about film and training your eye to notice the tiny things that give it away that it's not film. These are all good but I like the second batch here the most. The grain is high in a still but might be okay when moving. The shot of the button on the pole is the one that to me shows that it's not film. I can see that there's more resolution there than the grain would be giving, making the grain look like an overlay. (Maybe add a tad blur to the image, or use a smaller grain effect?) I find using vintage zoom lenses meant for 16mm cameras to just naturally give that look. When you zoom in it's a lever that you move, which looks different than turning a lens ring or a motor turning a lens. How a camera's shape and weight affects your camera work is important for the look. Some Super16 cameras were shoulder mount so maybe get something that replicates that type of movement. I now have a shoulder rig for my D16 and it gives a different feel to the footage's movement than pistol grip type of shooting. I prefer it really. I don't use the pistol grip ever. (Too bad because the grip looks cool.) Another thing, which probably doesn't apply for your project, is what someone in the past would have shot and what they would have concentrated on and framed. That's another thing altogether. Are you thinking of also shooting so that it looks like it was shot in the past or is it replicating someone in the present day shooting film?

I originally read the title as “This Guy Makes Any Camera Shite” and thought my cloud account had been hacked. I enjoy watching Brandon Li’s stuff, particularly the self shooting ones. Self shooting as in shooting on your own as though someone else is shooting rather than self shooting in the vlogging context. Tripods basically.

It's a good start! Are you targeting a specific film stock to emulate? It seems like you're aiming for negative film now since you're talking about wide DR. Positive film actually has a lot more limited DR, generally speaking. The color images, while nice, don't really "feel" like any film stocks that I know which seems a little more digital. The black and white images, for me, feel like something shot on a modern t-grain film (T-Max, in particular). I think that's a combination of the sharpness of the image, the contrast applied, and the very fine grain. I probably wouldn't think of it if not paying close attention, though!

The secret sauce is skill. As someone that used to make my living doing travel videography decades ago, this Brandon guy has really honed the judgement it takes to get the shots. There's so much going on out there in the environment and he's able to omit it, control it, and/or shape it into something impressive. It's really quite a thing to do. He could make any camera in manufactured in the last 15 years look similar to this. In fact, he has. This guy is a cinematographer that really knows how to chase the light, compose a shot, and also create advantageous serendipity. Which might sound like a paradox, but it really isn't. But, yes, images like this sell cameras. Okay, buy the camera if you'd like and start the path to making an edit like this. You can't buy his boots-on-the-ground experience though. He's casual about it all during his "how-to" segment, but it really is the biggest factor here.