Zach King needs little introduction. Most of you have probably seen some of his videos. And it is he who has millions of followers on the Internet. He is one of the top short form content creators. Chances are one of his videos played on your smartphone.
But Zach King is first and foremost a movie buff. In fact, he studied film, and his dream is to make films. Although he didn’t do badly either. In my opinion, he has become the Georges Méliès of the 21st century.
In the early 20th century, when cinema was a new invention, the figure of George Méliès emerged. The French director is known for his cinematography. He surprises the audience by displaying hallucinations.
In 2012 I was lucky enough to see a wonderful exhibition in Madrid. Méliès A century later, a young man from Portland followed in his footsteps with a DSLR and laptop. But this time his trick was not seen on the big screen, but on various screens.
Smartphone, tablet, computer screen, smart TV. Zach King’s short stories can be enjoyed on any screen connected to YouTube or Instagram. Zach chose sketches and parodies for his stunts. But the basic technique is the same as Méliès.
Basically it consists of stopping the recording to merge an object or create an effect. It could be an interaction with a screen, a 2D image, or a teleportation.
Unlike the French filmmaker, Zac brings this magic of cinema to very everyday scenes where we all see our own identities. Ten years ago, Zach King managed to make himself known on two social video networks: YouTube and Vine.
He did it while studying film in Los Angeles. Although Zach was initially self-taught. In fact, he paid for his studies thanks to income generated by his own online film school, where he taught others how to use the Final Cut editing program.
Of course, his first viral video on YouTube is thanks to the kitten video. But she mixed it with Star Wars, recreating some of the most famous scenes. For example, this one has 15 million views.