We are witnessing the emergence of a true Videographic Universe, where influencers behave like characters within a collective serialized narrative.
I spent a good part of my Sunday watching YouTube content, especially from influencers who collaborate frequently. Still, some poor production decisions continue to bother me (although that is part of the language). What matters most, however, is realizing how the internet has naturally enabled a form of multi-protagonism that Marvel took years and millions of dollars to build in cinema.
THE UNIVERSE OF A CULTURAL PHENOMENON
This is a phenomenon born on the internet, but one that cinema explored very well through Marvel films: collaborations between characters. The only difference is that Marvel’s film series takes place in a fantastical universe of superheroes.
In real life—especially on YouTube—we see the same phenomenon happening organically. There’s the luxury car dealer’s channel. He sells to the travel influencer. That influencer takes the car to the mechanic from a performance car channel, who recommends a friend from a bodywork and paint channel. Eventually, they all appear on a podcast to talk about everything in a conversation.
It’s the same videographic universe.
PROTAGONISTS AND SATELLITES
All of them are naturally charismatic characters (or necessity has made them so), and they leverage their social interactions to produce content for their respective channels.
Each of these individuals operates as a dynamic character within the narrative of the others. They are protagonists on their own channels and, at the same time, satellites in their friends’ channels.
As protagonists, they develop their own dramatic arcs within a continuous, serialized narrative (each video behaves like a scene beat). As satellites, they contribute to the dramatic arc of another protagonist’s channel. This makes production dynamic, low-cost, and exponentially scalable.
CHANGING A TIRE WHILE THE CAR IS MOVING
Because this is a natural audiovisual phenomenon of the internet, much of it is misaligned. We are not talking about major studios with large writers’ rooms carefully crafting every line of dialogue for every character in every film. Nor are we talking about experienced production teams planning everything from beginning to end—let alone cinematographers trained at the world’s top film schools.
Quite the opposite: we are talking about people outside the audiovisual industry who saw the internet as a way to leverage their businesses and brought in a friend—someone who watched a few camera and editing tutorials—to become a partner.
There is no script, no planning, and little technical refinement. What exists is a record of life happening, driven by a strong “we’ll fix it in post” mindset—when there is editing at all. Most of the time, the content sustains itself purely through the protagonist’s charisma.
The paradox is that, even without script, planning, or refined technique, these universes work for their audiences—often better than extremely expensive audiovisual productions.
Perhaps that is why film and streaming critics fail to look at these channels as they should: through a critical lens of audiovisual narrative.
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY IN VIDEOGRAPHIC UNIVERSES
That said, there is a growing trend toward building videographic universes by connecting companies and influencers into a broader audiovisual ecosystem. The question is: who will professionalize this language before it becomes exhausted?
