I hear you, boss. Whether something garners interest is dependent upon the listener. People are generally interested in things they know something about. The educated and edified know more, the rest know less but still care about what they do know. The default position is to appeal to as many people as possible but this approach comes with the caveat that the masses are the worst possible audience. They are fickle, jaded, wrapped up in self-interest, slaves of trends and 'Influencers' instead of being free-thinkers. You can never be all things to all people. Once again, concentrate on what turns you on, without feeling embarrassed about it, and without checking with the general consensus to see if your idea has merit. If it has merit to you then it has merit ... period. I find lots of things interesting, have felt that way all my life, but the things that I find interesting have very little purchase with the minds of the masses. The more popular something might be in our society the less I am likely to find it interesting. Trending means nothing to me. Mob mentality ... a bore.
There are only so many stories. The ancient Greeks and then the copy-cat Romans created most of the stories of man a long time ago. Those stories were repeated and embellished by Shakespeare. We are still rewriting the same stories, using different actors and stage settings. Those stories have endured because they reflect what it is to be human, both the good and the bad. There are three modalities that have also endured:mystery, adventure and comedy. There is mystery everywhere if one chooses to delve deeply enough but the work required to appreciate those mysteries is something the public is not wont to undertake. Some peoples idea of an adventure is done with drugs. Others must have a prize at the end of the adventure in order to give it worth ... like shopping in a new and exotic location. Comedy might seem like a sure thing, from tragic-comedy to slap-stick. Those that do not laugh die young and don't mind it. Even comedy is complicated. Comedy can be a metric in society. If clever sophisticated humour goes over well then society is likely to be well-informed, urbane, cosmopolitan. Slap-stick and situational comedy with complete standing. To do any of this in a short video would require chops. That's why I say ... just stick with what you care about. It's a tall order to arrive at a location and immediately know what is special about it. You need to film what you already know well. If it is a new locale, then really get to know it, like a native, before committing yourself to create a chronicle, or video portrait. It's the same with still photography. You can't just arrive on a new scene and know what's cogent. Spend a few days, weeks, months and then perhaps you know what is important about the place and what people will be in sympathy with. Watch the people, watch behaviour all around you, look for quirks and humour, look for colour, juxtaposition, patterns, something odd and when that doesn't work, well, then fake it until you make it.
OMG! I go on and on and on and yours was but a rhetorical question. I'm so sorry. Tie me up and beat with a tennis racket. I will go away now before I embarrass myself even more.
