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✨ Creative Output Newsletter

by Kevin Parry

Revealing the mysterious process of being extraordinarily creative. Each weekly newsletter includes a magical video and the creative secrets of how it was made.

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✨ The lost art of asking for honest feedback

This week's creative tip: have a place to ask for constructive feedback. Earlier this month, Hashtag Paid hosted a creator marketing event and they were kind enough to let me try out my whacky idea of animating stop-motion live. I posted the animation on my free Patreon page and asked for honest feedback - good and bad. I received about two dozen really insightful, constructive comments that helped me see a few blind spots in my work. I've been singing the praises of having a small community...

about 17 hours ago • 1 min read

This week's creative tip: start with what you have. When I first made short form video 9 years ago, I didn't have any film equipment. That meant I couldn't do elaborate setups or anything beyond what I could capture on my phone. And that was a good thing! I had to use what was around me - like good lighting in my bathroom mirror, which was also an obvious setting to make something magical. What started as using what was around me became a trademark style: boringly average, realistic clips...

8 days ago • 1 min read

In the world of ads, there's a spectrum of time/effort/cost. On the high end is multi-million dollar TV commercials and on the lower end is someone talking to their phone camera. As an artist whose job is to create ads for brands, I'm often torn along this spectrum. The artist in me wants to make the highest quality, creative work. While the marketer in me recognizes that candid, lower-lift content can actually perform better on social media. Here's my favorite way to structure brand deals so...

15 days ago • 2 min read

https://youtu.be/1EoGX6bT21w This week's message - think big and then figure out the details. Ten years ago, I got really into the hyperlapse technique. It's basically a timelapse, except you're introducing camera movement over sizeable distances. I had recently moved to Portland, Oregon, and thought, "What's the largest thing I could move a camera around?" The answer was Mt Hood. A lot of creative endeavors start like that. Think as big or outlandish as possible and then try to make it a...

22 days ago • 1 min read

Sometimes, all you need to do with creativity is lean into a vibe. "Making a video" is a daunting task for a lot of people, especially in the age of scrolling where you probably want to instantly grab attention. What's the hook? Is there a beginning, middle, and end? Where's the punchline? Sometimes, I forget about all of that and lean into creative ideas that work 'on frame one'. The example below is a series where I meticulously sliced away fruits and vegetables in stop-motion. On frame...

29 days ago • 1 min read

There's a lot of creative value in experimental baby steps. Especially when you're stuck in a rut. (Personal note: I started a free Patreon page to experiment with making that the central hub for my behind-the-scenes content www.patreon.com/kevinbparry) This week, rather than attempting something epic, I've focused on making a small improvement to an effect I tried in the past. It was for a Logitech campaign and featured this effect where I trigger the frame to turn into a photograph that...

about 1 month ago • 1 min read

This video took me roughly 2-3 hours to make. That's the entire process - setting up, blocking the action, filming various takes, visual effects editing, and then posting it online: It's magical and might make you want to figure it out. It promotes me as a skilled editor. And most importantly, it scratches the itch to create something without pressuring myself that I need to make a viral video or my next greatest hit. Algorithms and analytics have tricked us into thinking we need to keep pace...

about 1 month ago • 1 min read

A new magical, looping video where I play with light: Planning the Video This video took a LOT to plan and film. A day of rehearsing and filming tests, and then about 20 or so takes to get it all right. The tricky part was freezing my position, switching out props/lights, and then continuing. There's a bit of luck involved where everything lines up perfectly. That being said, I didn't have a lot of time to write, so please enjoy the planning pages from my sketchbook as well as a look at...

about 2 months ago • 1 min read

At the start of 2024, I told myself I'd create a new video each week. I didn't know exactly what I should make, but I knew it had to be simple enough to remain sustainable long term. What I initially came up with failed, but it evolved into a format that has massively sparked my creativity - proving that it's better to start badly than to wait to start perfect. Here's the creative journey in three short parts: Version 1 I thought it would be cool to share a short, weekly vlog of what I'm up...

about 2 months ago • 1 min read

Honestly, I never know if a video is going to be successful until after I've made it. So many times I've had a cool idea for a trick, filmed it, and then discovered it's a complete disaster as I start editing. But that's the creative process. You conjure up a finished idea and then challenge yourself to bring it to life - one way or another. (I previously explored something similar to this effect, where I break your phone screen, here.) I Wrote This Part Before Making the Video The idea for...

2 months ago • 2 min read
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