Unpopular Opinion: Slow Motion Is the Diet Soda of Video

I Believe Slow Motion Is the Diet Soda of Video

It might look sweet and cinematic at first — but it leaves a fake aftertaste.

You know the shot. Someone’s walking through a field. Or staring at a coffee cup. Or tossing their hair back in super slow motion. The music swells. The camera lingers.

And for a second, it feels meaningful.

But it’s not.

It’s just empty visual sugar — the diet soda of video production. Sweet-looking at first, but leaves a strange aftertaste. No real calories. No real substance.

Slow Motion Isn’t Evil — It’s Just Overused

I don’t hate slow motion. I use it. But like salt, it only works when used intentionally. Too much and you’ve ruined the meal.

The problem isn’t the tool — it’s the lazy hand behind it. I’ve seen too many agencies and content mills abuse slow-mo to add weight to otherwise meaningless footage. It's become a crutch. A trick to fake emotion where there is none.

Slow motion doesn’t make a weak video strong. It just makes it longer.

Where It Goes Wrong

Slow-motion handshakes
Slow-motion door openings
Slow-motion dust blowing through sunlight

All of it trying so hard to be cinematic. But it’s just slow boredom, stretched over a pretty frame.

When you don’t have story, you reach for gimmicks. And slow motion is one of the easiest gimmicks in the book.

It’s like unsweetened soda dressed up with artificial syrup. The fizz is still there, but the flavor’s off.

“Watching paint dry in slow motion doesn’t add meaning.”
— David Mathew Bonner

When It Actually Works

Now, when slow motion is earned — when the moment calls for it — it can elevate the shot.

The moment metal hits metal and sparks fly.
A breath taken before the plunge.
The tension before a moment breaks.

That’s when slow-mo squeezes the juice out of a good frame — not just stretches it.

Used right, it adds weight to an already meaningful moment. Used wrong, it just pretends to.

How I Use It at DMB Videotelling

I don’t shoot fluff. I don’t add sugar to an already full story.

If a shot needs slow motion, I use it — not to save it, but to emphasize it. The emotion should already be there. The slow motion just lets it breathe.

I’d rather cut a shot than fake it.

That’s the difference between someone chasing style points and someone focused on meaning. I shoot to tell the story — not to show off.

Closing Thought

A video saturated in slow motion isn’t cinematic — it’s a crutch. It exposes a lack of vision and the absence of real storytelling craft. When you can’t weave meaning through pacing, timing, and truth, you stretch time instead. That’s not editing — that’s hiding.

And if you're tired of bloated content that tries to look deep but says nothing — I get it. That's why I do things differently.

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