Creating an exclusive format for YouTube from scratch: the case of Gallery Sessions

White Horse, Folch Studio and Record Play UK promoted just a year ago the Gallery Sessions, an exclusive content on YouTube, but with dissemination through other social networks, which unites the happening world with the visual. The result is addictive pieces with a great visual invoice and a unique identity that already exceeds 35 million views. Pol González Novell, partner and CEO of White Horse, identifies the successes of this format, shares the technical stakes and provides his vision on the creation of digital pieces in a world full of visual stimuli.

Gallery Sessions, as their name suggests, are musical sessions recorded in a kind of showcase. A glass that communicates with the outside houses a artist performing one of his songs. However, the public does not crowd around this gallery to discover the interpretation. Life goes on: people walk, cars pass and, in short, the world turns while the artistic manifestation happens.

González considers that the proposal is simple. It takes the essence of performance from other formats such as A Colors Show, starting from the idea that “the viewer is behind the screen and not on the other side of the stage.” However, the main difference lies in what the CEO of White Horse defines as the “street moment", something that brings Gallery Sessions al happening: "It is a sensation of dramatic unity: the viewer is seeing that this happened at a certain moment, but that the people who are walking or the cars did not notice. We liked that idea. The concept is based on something unusual that is not expected in a more common scenario." In the end, it is the viewer, through YouTube, who discovers that performance in the middle of nowhere.

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A creation focused on YouTube

As you well recognize González, the technical, artistic and creative bill of Gallery Sessions would fit the one needed for distribution through digital platforms specialized or television. However, the bet of White Horse and its partners was completely digital.

From the beginning, YouTube was the preferred platform, since so they could address the public what they were looking for: "The audience in a place is more important than the technical particularities of the platform. There is an age group and a very specific type of audience that uses it massively and that is what makes a video reach millions of views or remain at specific figures."

Initially, a vertical format, since, due to his experience in the digital world, White Horse I was perfectly aware that the content would be enjoyed a via mobile devices. However, their respect for visual fidelity and their purpose of finding a differentiating identity led them to decide on the more traditional format: “When we started looking at the frames we didn't end up liking them, since the space worked much better horizontally.”

This does not mean that they do not consider the relevance of social networks when filming, since they frequently film in innovative formats in order to promote pieces or content on channels such as Instagram or, imminently, TikTok: "The same day we shot the session we created some promos that are aimed at each platform. Each of these contents have to be created taking into account where they go. (...) We don't want an adaptation, but a piece that feels native on Instagram."

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An easily replicable format

One of the objectives of González and his team when shaping Gallery Sessions was design a production that could be executed with ease. To this end, a new director format has been created with identity elements that not only facilitate subsequent productionsbut they believe a common place that viewers can return to. There are formats designed to surprise with each viewing; for its part, Gallery Sessions It works from its simplicity.

The pieces, according to González, are shot at two cameras with very defined characteristics. As he comments: "We didn't want it to be a video clip. It didn't make sense that initially it could have a great display of production or that one chapter would be very different from another. (...) The production had to let things happen and not get in the way too much."

Part of this production design is based on the objective of achieve export the format so that it can be replicated by other companies in different markets, maintaining certain similar costs and ensuring the visual fidelity of the original: "We have a partnership with a company in Puerto Rico. That company could export the format thanks to how it was created. Gallery Sessions It is created so that it can be extended and replicated.”

This decision does not mean that sometimes enhance some visual element within the few square meters in which it is developed Gallery Sessions. Sometimes, if the artist “surprises” the production company or is going to have a special impact, they always try to “go further, so the realization may possibly vary.”

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Affordable technology and limited staff

To enhance their versatility and their ability to be exported, the Gallery Sessions are born through a reduced team and visual capture solutions that “although they are not the latest on the market, they do provide us with the quality we needed at a very reasonable price.”

After studying several options on the market, González and his collaborators ended up deciding on two cameras. Canon EOS C500 Mark II, which he already knew from experiences with documentaries but which “is very accessible and cheap to rent.” As it could not be otherwise, the body dialogues perfectly with the chosen optics: a game Canon CN-E that “gives very good results.”

The two operators work in tandem with a reduced production staff and a sound equipment that captures a clear shot achieved with the installation of panels that dampen the sound of the glass space and that, at the same time, They are part of the scenery. Regarding lighting, the team White Horse bet on the use of LED panels of large dimensions, which are dedicated, above all, to eliminate reflections: “We always shoot through glass, with everything that implies.” In fact, on many occasions, operators have to go dressed in black o even with balaclava to minimize the possibility of them appearing flat.

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Bet on 4K

Although, just a year ago, the first Gallery Sessions were shared through social networks in format HD, have always been shot in 4K. González opted for this resolution with the objective of find the best framing at the beginning of the format, in which the realization was still being defined: "We realized how we could improve the shots. We were not so aware of how angry we were that the character was not in the center or that the panels were not aligned. Since there are few elements, everything had to be perfect."

For several months now, Gallery Sessions has made the leap to content in 4K. Beyond having achieved a definitive style of filmmaking, the CEO of White Horse believes that the public, despite enjoying the videos through mobile devices, is capable of appreciate that jump in quality.

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“Instant” post-production

The production of the Gallery Sessions bet on one post-production in-house fast, consistent and efficient that usually completes in one day: "We have standardized the way we cut the shots, place the grafts on the editing line or the way we introduce the audio. The goal is that whoever takes it can use the same system."

In terms of color correction, most of the time White Horse benefits from the tool Lumeter of the editing program Adobe Premiere Pro: “We have a setup predefined that we know works for us. Additionally, we do minimal retouching to make the whites look white.” Sometimes, it can happen that the artist's wardrobe or skin tone does not fit reality. On that occasion, they do resort to more advanced tools, such as DaVinci Resolve of Blackmagic Design.

In any case, each of the steps taken to finish a Gallery Session seeks optimize time and the resources to the extreme. Sometimes, no need to add layers of complexity to achieve recognition among digital audiences: “As we have little time and, in the end, Gallery Sessions It is still an editorial project, we try to do everything in-house. “We have been improving and learning with the conditions we had.”

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Finding the only thing in an ultrasensory world

since he was born Gallery Sessions, a format that, in fact, is shot from the offices of White Horse, creativity and technique went into creating a recognizable, unique and simple element. Initially it was planned program lights o modify the set with each performance. However, González's team decided to focus exclusively on the most important thing: "That it sounds good and that it looks good." In this way, it was decided to introduce some soundproofing panels to dampen the reverberation of the set and it was decided to use large LED lighting to put the focus on the protagonists: "They say that good design is functional. And that's how it ended up being Gallery Sessions. Furthermore, we ended up finding a conceptualization that has ended up being very iconic.”

Despite having already achieved notable relevance in the sociocultural imaginary of generation Z and millenials, especially in those followers of the urban genre, Gallery Sessions continues his path growth and consolidation. The sessions will continue to happen, yes, but these will be complemented with the parallel part generation or very personal interviews, far from the most widespread concept to get closer to the documentary piece.

The goal continues to pass generate notoriety that goes far beyond the limited impact that YouTube provides: "We do not reach a new audience through our impact, but through the notoriety that is generated through video reactions, pieces that go viral on TikTok and the artist's own relevance. To do this, we must focus on what is important: that you have genuine content that people are interested in seeing”.

A report by Sergio Julián Gómez

https://youtu.be/wRGqH5US-i8