Snap Inc | EmJRocket

The POV Revolution

Posted on March 23, 2017 by emjrocket

If you don’t know what the POV revolution is, it’s ok. I just made it up. This is the name I’m giving to the Point of View craze that is happening right now in media, small and large. From Snapchat Spectacles and VR, to Hollywood, POV storytelling is here and it seems to be sticking around.

Point of View means exactly what it says. It’s seeing and experiencing something from someone else’s eyes.It’s kind of like a first person video game, you see what the character sees.

From the Hollywood and movie side, POV shots have been around forever. Famous examples being Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958) and horror classic, Halloween (1978). These movies use POV shots to build suspense and to put the viewer in the shoes of the characters.

In 2016, a whole movie was was shot and released in POV, Hardcore Henry. This R-rated action thriller was shot entirely in first person and grossed about $14 million worldwide. As the picture below shows, the film was shot from a camera attached to the actors head. You can watch the trailer here.

Another more recent game changer in the POV Revolution is the commercialization of Virtual Reality. VR sets can range from the $600 Oculus Rift to a free app and a cardboard set that your phone can slide into. VR is all about transporting yourself somewhere else without really going anywhere and seeing a whole new point of view. See what I did there?

Like I mentioned in a past post, Snapchat Spectacles recently went on sale on-line world wide. Spectacles are giving regular people the power of POV. I had the chance the use a pair and to create a Snapchat Story with them (shameless plug, follow me on Snapchat @emjrocket). Not only are they fun to use, but they add a whole other level to story telling on the app. I also help run the Flagler College Snapchat channel and I can’t wait to see what kind of stories and videos we can make with them for the school (another shameless plug, @flagler_college)

Snapchat SPECStacular

Posted on February 28, 2017 by emjrocket

Okay. Am I the only person who is super excited for Snapchat Spectacles being released for online purchase? Snapchat by far is my favorite social media platform and if I had $130 dollars laying around, I would order a pair so hard. I’m not much into wearable tech, but these are just heckin’ cool.

Snap Inc. CEO, Evan Spiegel said, “Snap Inc. is a camera company. We believe that reinventing the camera represents our greatest opportunity to improve the way people live and communicate. Our products empower people to express themselves, live in the moment, learn about the world, and have fun together.”

For those of you who don’t know, Snapchat Spectacles are sunglasses made by Snap Inc. (Snapchat’s parent company) with 2 cameras built into them and will record up to 30 seconds at a time. The glasses work similarly to human eye, where the two cameras work together to form an image. If you watch the video on a phone, you can flip the video any way you want to, making it appear to be 360 video. Watch the video on a computer and it appears in a circle.It’s all about point of view, seeing and experiencing through the wearers eyes. Here is an adorable example of someone playing with a cat.

This is the pretty much the first time a social media company has a made a product specifically for their platform (We are not even going to mention Google Glass). These Spectacles are doing quite well for themselves and seem to be in high demand. Before being put online, Snap Inc. sold the glasses for limited times in pop-up vending machines in major cities all around the world. London, L.A., New York and Paris just to name a few.

Companies and brands are using Spectacles to their advantage and totally upping their Snapchat game. Some of my favorite uses of companies using Spectacles are as follows:

GE (@generalelectric) You can view the inter-workings of GE across the glob through the eyes of an engineer.
Taco Bell (@tacobell) Taco bell has awesome stories anyway, but they are creative in using the Specs to play-up their storytelling.
Sour Patch Kids (@sourpatchsnaps) Again, great use of Specs for storytelling in the mischievous Sour Patch Kid fashion

Seriously someone help a girl out. I want to take my OWN stories to the next level! #GETEMILYSPECS

Click here to see some dope videos taken on Snapchat Spectacles. Click here to buy me a pair. Just kidding. Not really. Please buy them for me. (I want the RED ones)