You’ve probably (OK, definitely) heard numerous accounts of people’s harrowing escapes from the various fires that broke out during the first full week of 2025 in Los Angeles. The tales of families losing everything and in a state of shock brings empathy as we think about the unimaginable moment when in an instant your home and belongings are gone.
Then there are those stories of homes that were spared from the fires because of slowing winds speeds that not only slowed progress of the fires, but enabled air support to drop water or flame retardant thereby saving the homes of those we’ll call the lucky ones.
Entire neighborhoods were wiped out in some cases, but there were those homes that were spared – for all kinds of reasons – where in some cases next door neighbors either were left with nothing or still had a habitable home.
Being able to tell a story through video, that conveys the anxiety and split-second, life and death decisions that need to be made, is the focus of Van Neistat’s Catastrophe, available on YouTube. Van is the less famous brother of Casey Neistat, whose daily vlog episodes spanned from March 25, 2015 to November 18, 2016, posting numerous other videos both before and after that period to his YouTube Channel.
Van has capably established his own style of video-making (aka filmmaking), though the Neistat Brother’s shared some success with their HBO series in 2010. Much as Casey’s videos featured hand-drawn animations, Van’s videos not only use that technique, but also feature vintage analog filmmaking equipment, as well as vintage cars, typewriters, and DIY hacks galore. His fire video features a unique style of animation, but it’s dramatically focused on the story. The rest of his catalog of videos are worth checking out, but this video has an intense relevance to today’s headlines. Here’s Van’s story…
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