{"id":14452,"date":"2019-03-14T21:41:47","date_gmt":"2019-03-14T21:41:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rsoftsolution.com\/blog\/firework-officially-launches-a-short-form-video-storytelling-app-backed-by-lightspeed.html"},"modified":"2019-03-14T21:41:47","modified_gmt":"2019-03-14T21:41:47","slug":"firework-officially-launches-a-short-form-video-storytelling-app-backed-by-lightspeed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbsitsoftwaresolution.in\/blog\/firework-officially-launches-a-short-form-video-storytelling-app-backed-by-lightspeed.html","title":{"rendered":"Firework officially launches a short-form video storytelling app, backed by Lightspeed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Facebook usage has declined<\/a> for the first time in a decade, while video-centric apps like TikTok are being touted<\/a> as the future of social media. Entering this redefined playing field comes Firework<\/a>, a fast-growing social video app whose clever trick is something it calls \u201creveal videos\u201d \u2014 a way for creators to take both horizontal and vertical video in one shot from their mobile device. Video viewers can then twist their phone as the video plays to watch from a new perspective and see more of the scene.<\/p>\n

While Snapchat pioneered the idea of vertical video<\/a>, newer companies are trying to free viewers from format constraints.<\/p>\n

For example, Jeffrey Katzenberg\u2019s mobile streaming service Quibi is pitching its ability to offer an ideal viewing experience no matter how you hold your phone. As Quibi CEO Meg Whitman explained last week in an interview at SXSW<\/a>, the company has \u201ccreated the ability to do full-screen video seamlessly from landscape to portrait,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

That sounds a lot like Firework, <\/a> in fact.<\/p>\n

Firework has filed a patent on its own flip-the-screen viewing technology, which it believes will give creators new ways to tell stories. Besides letting viewers in on more of the action, \u201creveal videos\u201d also provide an opportunity for things like unexpected plot twists or surprise endings.<\/p>\n

The way this works is that creators hold their smartphone horizontally to film, and Firework places a vertical viewfinder on the screen so they know which part of their shot will appear to viewers when they hold their phone straight up and down.<\/p>\n

This recording screen has some similarities to TikTok, as you can stop and start recording, reshoot the various parts and add music.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cSnapchat really pushed being vertical only,\u201d explains Firework Chief Revenue Officer Cory Grenier, who joined the company from Snapchat, where he was the first director of Sales Marketing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we see is that most professional filmmakers want to show their work on Vimeo first, and second on YouTube. There isn\u2019t this world where you can really frame the context and the characters of a cinematic story on vertical \u2014 it just can\u2019t happen,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Beyond the technology involved with Firework\u2019s new filming technique, the company is also aiming to carve out a space that will differentiate it from other short-form video \u2014 whether that\u2019s TikTok or, soon, Quibi.<\/p>\n

Firework\u2019s videos are longer than TikTok\u2019s at 30 seconds instead of just 15, but far shorter than Quibi\u2019s eight minutes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThirty seconds is really the sweet spot between the Snaps that are 10 seconds and something that\u2019s longer-form,\u201d notes Grenier. \u201cTen seconds is too short to really tell a story. You want to have a powerful opening, a clear middle and a really interesting or unexpected ending,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This format lends itself better to short stories, rather than the remixed, music-backed memes found on TikTok, the company believes. But it also remains user-gen, as opposed to the high production value \u201cTV quality\u201d content shot for Quibi using two cameras. (And a lot more money<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Instead, Firework is focused on what it calls \u201cpremium user-gen\u201d \u2014 meaning it will feature a mix of professional creators and up-and-comers. To date, Firework has worked with names like Flo Rida, Dexter Darden (\u201cMaze Runner\u201d), model and Miss USA Olivia Jordan, Disney star Jordyn Jones, Frankie Grande and others.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also working with a handful of brands, including Refinery29 and Complex Networks. But the company doesn\u2019t want to inundate the app with content from brands, it says.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In addition to the horizontal-to-vertical trick, Firework is also doing something different in terms of fan engagement: it\u2019s ditching comments. Users can only privately message a video\u2019s creator \u2014 they can\u2019t comment on the video itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaters and trolls, they want an audience \u2014 they want to elicit a polarizing reaction. We remove that,\u201d says Grenier.<\/p>\n

And instead of \u201cliking\u201d a video, users can only bookmark the video or share it \u2014 an engagement that is styled like a retweet, as the video is posted to your profile with all the original credit intact.<\/p>\n

Founded less than two years in Mountain View and now relocated to Redwood City with teams in LA, Japan and Brazil, Firework parent Loop Now tested a couple of apps that didn\u2019t find product market fit before launching Firework.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Its team of 51 full-time today combines both tech talent and Hollywood expertise.<\/p>\n

This includes: CEO Vincent Yang<\/a>, a Stanford MBA and previously co-founder and CEO at EverString<\/a>; co-founder and COO Jerry Luk<\/a>, employee No. 30 at LinkedIn and previously at Edmodo; biz dev head Bryan Barber<\/a>, formerly of Warner Brothers, Universal Pictures and Fox; and CRO Corey Grenier<\/a>, noted above.<\/p>\n

Unlike Quibi, Firework\u2019s parent company Loop Now Technologies has raised \u201cmillions\u201d \u2014 not a billion dollars<\/a> \u2014 to get off the ground. Its early backers include original Snap investor Lightspeed, IDG Capital and an (undisclosed) early investor in Musical.ly. (Firework is poised to announce its Series A in a few weeks, so is holding off on investment details for now.)<\/p>\n

The app launched last year and has been in an open beta until now.<\/p>\n

According to data from Sensor Tower, it has 1.8 million installs on iOS, 55 percent in the U.S.<\/p>\n

Firework claims it has 2 million registered users across iOS<\/a> and Android<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Article source: http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/techcrunch\/social\/~3\/NMGJvZVkCNM\/<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Facebook usage has declined for the first time in a decade, while video-centric apps like TikTok are being touted as the future of social media. Entering this redefined playing field <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[10,7,14,15,6,12,11],"class_list":["post-14452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-update","tag-computer-news","tag-downloads","tag-microsoft-download-news","tag-networking-updates","tag-technology-update","tag-wordpress-plugin-download","tag-wordpress-theme-download"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t