Behind the Creator's Lens: Peter McKinnon

In our first episode of Behind the Creator's Lens, we flew in Peter McKinnon! For anyone unaware, Peter McKinnon is a Photographer and YouTuber who started posting to YouTube in December 2016.

Within a year, he had skyrocketed to over 1 million subscribers! His success isn’t surprising. His videos are a combination of tutorial, vlog, cinematography, and editing that help create some truly fantastic video content! Currently, he has over 2.6M subscribers and continues to be a favorite on YouTube.

The episode starts in Abisko, Sweden where we're greeted by some of the characters that will be featured in the series. This includes Peter McKinnon, as well as Marcus Valeur (our host), Nicole Eddy and Matti Haapoja.

Early into the episode, Peter's personality is on full display as he declares his love for shooting in snowy conditions. "Everything's so quiet, it's a dream for audio, there's no sun ruining the shots - perfect." Cut to our first look at what goes on behind the scenes of a prolific content creator! Multiple takes, working with other creators, capturing b-roll and always thinking about the edit!

Gear is a part of any creators arsenal, and Peter comes prepared! Everything from different cameras, different types of tripods, lenses and even a drone. After a quick calibration, the drone is up in the air as b-roll and action shots are captured by both Peter and Matt. This kind of supplementary footage is incredibly important to someone like Peter. B-roll helps to establish the scene, it provides transitions and fills in the gaps in a story. Plus, it allows beautiful cinematic captures to be integrated into a vlog.

Later, with Marcus and Peter sitting down, we get a look into how Peter puts together his videos. Peter’s videos come together in the timeline, looking at all the footage he has and then creating a video from that. That's unique to him, as many creators shoot with a plan in mind and create a mental checklist of shots they need.

Interestingly, Peter also admits that he does sometimes have a song for a video before he's shot it. Other times, he has to find the perfect track for the video (a task made easier with Epidemic Sound's catalog!)

We end the episode on some personal details - you'll have to watch to find out, but imagine our surprise when Jack Bauer's name comes up (you know, Keifer Sutherland's character in 24?) Make sure you go check out Peter McKinnon's YouTube channel here!

Songs featured in this video include:

• Genesis - Ooyy
• Crystallize - AGST
• Zoom Out - Daxten