https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8TjO2FGnao
In this mini-documentary by Humans of New York a one hundred year old granny shares a story about her love who passed away.
The video was shot at character’s home with a natural light. Colors in it are warm, soft and a little bit bleached; and there is no distinct black color. To my mind, color grading like this creates a dreamy look. As I found out here, some colorists call it “wishy-washy look.” I would like to see raw footage before grading to compare, but unfortunately there are no behind the scenes videos or photos.
“Shirley and Moe” is mostly shot with a hand-held camera, but there are also few wide shots from a tripod. Hand-held shots (a technique widely used in horror movies, reality shows and documentaries) make this video livelier, and give a viewer effect of presence. At 0:05 there is an L-cut: the character starts talking before we can see her while we read the title of the video. It works here, however, only with the previous shot that introduces the character.
I like the composition of a shot at 2:47 (it is a sad moment and an editor emphasizes it by giving us few seconds without any sound, using medium shot of the character placed turned back to us) and the way it cuts with the next one.
At 0:51 camera follows the granny into one of the rooms, as if inviting us, the viewers, to also come in and take a glance. Except for this shot and pans showing details such as old photographs, the camera almost never moves (if not to take into account its almost unnoticeable shaking).
I also like director’s decision to include moments when the character is being distracted (at 0:44 and 1:17), that makes her even more sympathetic. Additionally, there are many face closeups that show character’s emotions in this video.
Detail plays an important role in this video. The cinematographer shows us lots of knick knacks all over the apartment that give us the sense of an atmosphere of the place (00:49, 00:55, 01:22, 01:55, 02:15). The other meaningful details are character’s old photos, her husband’s drawings and a wedding ring that is still on her left hand. 
The other thing that is worth mentioning is background music. It begins at 0:04 and fades at 2:07 when the old lady talks about her husband’s death; then music slightly emerges again. It fades the second time at 2:07 when granny quotes her husband. It is the most emotional moment in this video, and the way its authors used music here helped to emphasize it. I think it was a powerful move.
The main character in this video is very charismatic. The way she tells her story is fascinating: she talks to her dog, gets distracted, sings, reads poems, jokes and even dances a little. All of it together with visual storytelling techniques – the use of light, wide and tight shots, music, colors and details make this video story very appealing.
I’ve never really thought about the value that black could bring to color effects, and you noted that without it, a scene can seem dreamlike. I pretty much agree, Vika. Thanks for pointing that out. I also agree that Shirley’s distracted comments during her interview, while amusing and cute at first, do help generate a bit of sympathy later in the video, at least for me too.