{"id":772,"date":"2017-01-21T12:09:42","date_gmt":"2017-01-21T12:09:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cookywook.co.uk\/blog\/?p=772"},"modified":"2017-01-21T12:09:42","modified_gmt":"2017-01-21T12:09:42","slug":"stock-videos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cookywook.co.uk\/blog\/stock-videos\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s the deal with online stock videos?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let’s just cut right to the chase: watch this<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What you just watched was a stock video. The title of the video is “An old man with hypnotic glasses witnessing the destruction of a world, hiding his face. Close-up shot, red background.” Yes, the last bits are part of the title too, not the description.<\/p>\n

The video is eight seconds long. The aspect ratio is 16:9. And you can buy it for \u00a314 in a “426 X 240 @ 25 fps MOV” format.<\/p>\n

It is also inexplicable.<\/p>\n

Now, we all know that stock imagery is a world of madness. Pop over to\u00a0\/r\/wtfstockphotos<\/a>\u00a0for an idea. “Blank-faced man deflates and loses his spine”, “Woman licking a cactus”, and “Green alien traveler in white desert lunar landscape reading electronic map on future technology flexible display tablet” are just some of the current highlights. So, WHAT IS THE DEAL?<\/p>\n

The business model of stock imagery is fascinating to me. You just take hundreds and hundreds of photos of absolutely anything, in the hope that one day some of them will be useful to someone. You can then make some money from that use.<\/p>\n

For instance, “An old man with hypnotic glasses witnessing the destruction of a world, hiding his face. Close-up shot, red background.” appears to be part of a video series of similar clips. These include:<\/p>\n