By Emily Hoard
This is a bit different than the journalistic documentaries we usually look at. Photographer Jordan Matter makes these 10-minute photo challenge videos prime for social media. He takes ballerinas, circus performers and other athletes along with him to create as many stunning photos as he can in just 10 minutes. This one is in a subway station: THRILLING 10 Minute Photo Challenge with Daredevil Ballerina. These videos are pretty simple but are entertaining and fun, which is just necessary sometimes. 
Here are a few techniques used:
- Cinema verite
The video uses the cinema verite technique to make it seem like we are witnessing something happening in reality. With the shaky footage and the photographer sometimes talking to the camera person, we get the sense that the video is a slice of unadulterated footage.
2. Present-tense storytelling
The video is told in the present tense in a literal sense, including a countdown clock on the screen. This gives the viewer a sense of the urgency the photographer and the performers are feeling to get as many shots in as they can in 10 minutes. It also makes the viewer think, what happens next? Where will they go in the subway next? What shot will they get? How many can they do in just 10 minutes? These questions keep the viewer watching through to the end, which can be hard for social media videos to do these days. See timecode 2:17 to 3:00 to see an example of the rush to get to one of the shots.
3. Witness Point (Point of View)
The camera operator becomes a character in this video just by hand holding the camera and trying to catch up to the subjects as they run around the subway station. This highlights the filmmaker’s viewpoint and adds a sense of authenticity, making us believe this is all happening in one 10-minute period of time as we’re promised.
- Camera movement
The camera person is holding the camera by hand as he/she runs behind the photographer and films the ballerinas doing their tricks. As Wes Pope writes in his “Reframing Online Video,” “When we see shaky video posted on YouTube or Facebook, we have the sense that we are witnessing something real, captured by an amature. It looks as though it must have been shot by a bystander – a witness to real events.” This is exactly the feeling this video is trying to evoke and it does this effectively.