One of the most interesting things you can do with a mobile camera is to profile someone with a skill, a passion, or an experience. It could be a friend, a relative, a colleague, or–as demonstrated here–a stranger whose work you admire. While you can take a course on how to do it, perhaps you’ll learn more–and quicker–by studying the work of a master. Enter Glen Mulcahy’s brief, but astonishingly rich video about a prize-winning mobile photographer, Brendan O Se.

Backstory: Glen is a Video Journalism Media trainer- Camera and Editing, Photographer, & Director. He’s always on the lookout for a story. As he tells it, “I spotted the name Brendan O Se in the honorable mentions list of a global mobile photography competition. Hedging my bet that he was Irish I googled the name and found Brendan’s Flickr gallery and Twitter profile. So I reached out to him and asked would he be interested in me shooting a story on him and his work. We arranged the shoot and I spent about 3.5 hours shooting with Brendan, who very kindly allowed me to shoot him in class, out shooting street photos and in his home. I used FilMicPro  on my iPhone to shoot and then decided to use iMovie for iOS7 to see if it would be possible to edit a broadcast quality version of the story.”

As you watch the video, consider the following techniques that you might apply to your own video profiling projects:

• DRAMA: Instead of starting with a talking head, Glen allows his subject Brendan O Se to introduce himself while engaged in his work.
• LOCATIONS: The variety of locations–half a dozen in the first minute–provides visual interest as opposed to relying on a static shot of the subject talking.
• IMAGE STABILITY: The shots are rock solid and–for the most apart–allow the subject to provide the motion.
• BACKGROUND: When the subject is shown talking in his home, the background is plain and non-distracting.
• CLOSE-UPS: The video has a number of close-ups that are used for visual impact as well as to deliver information.
• SOUND: The cinematographer has chosen quiet locations for the sequences in which Brendan talks.

You’ll find more of Glen Mulcahy’s video work on his blog.