Austin and Lachlan Macfarlane, known as The Macfarlane brothers, are a video content duo with a specialty in VFX. They chatted with B&T about their wins at last year’s AiMCO Awards, the role of community, creativity, and storytelling in their work, how they balance authenticity with a client’s goals, and much more.
The duo won the Most Influential Creators Award and the Best Comedy and Entertainment Creator Award at the AiMCO Awards last year.
The pair recently partnered with YouTube to launch an educational program aimed at content creators in the video production space, Skip Ahead.
The Macfarlane brothers create content for Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. While they don’t have a favourite platform, they are interested in how different videos perform across the three platforms.
“You have to look at what platform you’re working on to decide what the best approach is when you’re developing the content. There’s a lot of noise on social media at the moment but I think the pendulum might be swinging in the other direction. For instance, I don’t think you need to gain the audience’s attention by jump-scaring and shocking them. In some of our videos, the opening shot will be someone walking down a hallway. Or if you pose a question at the start, then the audience has to wait to figure out what the context is,” said Austin.
Authenticity
The brothers have a deep focus on authenticity and attribute much of their success to remaining true to themselves. What’s more, that authenticity is consistent whether they’re working with a brand or not.
“We try to make videos that we want to watch. I think the most important thing is to stay true to yourself as a creator because as soon as you start thinking about what other people want to watch, you’ve lost it. I will never be able to tell exactly what your taste is. But if I make something and I think it’s good, there’s a chance other people will enjoy it, too. We’re always thinking about entertaining the audience because that is the point of why we make films. But you also want to make sure that you’re enjoying it,” said Austin.
The Macfarlanes have worked with several big-name partners, most recently with Apple for its Apple Pay ads.
@macfarlanebros Commissioned by @Apple Pay. Can we prepare for 🛸👽 with Apple Pay? #PayTheAppleWay #ApplePay ♬ original sound – Lachlan & Austin
The brothers weren’t worried about the limitations partnerships might put on their authenticity as a duo. In fact, they found that working with brands challenged them to make videos they wouldn’t normally have thought to do. For instance, they spoke about how the videos they made in partnership with Warner Bros Australia to promote Dune: Part Two and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga led them to create VFX content in a new way, while still retaining their comedy roots and personal style.
@macfarlanebros Can’t trust anyone out here. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga now in cinemas #Furiosa #MadMax #Cinematography #Edit #VFX #Australia #WBPartner @warnerbrosanz ♬ Ring of Fire – Johnny Cash
Community
“Sometimes we’ll upload a video and if it performs really well, and it’s something that our audience wants to see again, we’ll make another one. If we don’t want to make it then we won’t but it’s really nice to have that direct feedback. That’s one of the coolest things about posting your videos online is if people like it, you know, and people who don’t resonate with it
“But there’s also the creator community itself. There are so many supportive people working across these platforms and it’s great when we all get to meet each other and share ideas at events like the AiMCO Awards. It’s not often you get recognised for this kind of work,” added Austin.
“I also think viewers have a different relationship with the content that comes up on their TikTok versus the content that comes up on TV. And this isn’t a comment on whether or not TV is bad or good. It’s just the nature of the platform that TV is more polished, it’s more professional. And like everything is set in stone. Whereas on social media, it feels more interactive, you can comment, and it feels like you can reach out to that creator, if you want to tell them something. It feels more like a community. You can think of so many influencers who have a parasocial relationship with their fans. So, even when someone’s favourite creator is promoting a product, it feels more personalised, and less like being sold to,” said Lachlan.
Storytelling
Another pillar of connecting with audiences is effective storytelling. The duo follows the age-old wisdom that people don’t like being sold to, but they don’t mind being told a story. They always try to find a story to share with their audience; VFX can be well-done and visually engaging, but unless there’s a human story to connect the audience with, it’s going to be boring to watch.
“With the Spider-Man video we made, the core of the video being focused on Austin made it easier to connect with. If someone wanted to see a Spider-Man point of view, like in a PS4 game, they can go there to do that. But our video takes a different perspective. Nobody knows what it feels like to actually be Spider-Man, right? But everybody knows what it feels like to do something outside of their comfort zone. So we tried to spin the video into like, trying something new for the first time and I’m like, oh, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to do it. And then I do it. Then I crash and I fail but I’m elated by the fact that I tried it out. Instead of the video just being the camera moving through these buildings, it’s about a person and their story,” said Austin.
@macfarlanebros The first swing 🤟 🕸️ #spiderman #webswing #peterparker #vfx #edit #pov ♬ The Party – Single – Portraits Of Tracy
“The human face is so powerful,” he added.
Creativity
“Being consistent with our uploads actually opens up room for experimentation, because there’s less pressure on each video you make. If we were to make one video a month, there would be less space to try out something different, we’d be more inclined to do the same thing that’s worked before,” said Lachlan.
The duo has been uploading videos to YouTube since 2008, sharing with the world their journey as filmmakers.
“The great thing with uploading is that if you make something bad, nobody will watch it, and it’ll get lost amid everything else that’s being made. A big tip for aspiring filmmakers or content creators is to upload for fun, and don’t be worried about it being perfect,” added Austin.
“But if you don’t want to upload stuff and want to keep it to yourself and experiment, that’s also fine,” said Lachlan. The duo balance each other out!
Entries for this year’s AiMCO Awards are open now.
