So I want to start by saying that I am not a filmmaker, and
this is not at all my professional opinion.
This is opinions from a hobbyist.
Um - just as a bit of background, I have been watching YouTube videos since probably 2005? 2006?
And mostly it was music videos.
There was a lot of - like - comedy sketches going on back in the day -
I was into it - um - but I never thought that I was going to make videos.
I didn't actually start until recently, but when I got to high school, I actually
made videos for my chemistry class as extra credit.
And I found through that process
(back when i was using much different equipment than I'm going to show you today),
I really enjoyed it, and I thought that it was fun.
So then in college, I took some filmmaking classes as extra credits that I needed to graduate,
and that was both - kind of - history of film and filmmaking.
Kind of more technical stuff, but I'm definitely in the - I'm on the team of
- uh - your story and your concept matters more than the actual execution of the thing,
even though execution is very important, and everyone needs to constantly progress.
So I am going to talk, too, about - kind of - the evolution of where I started and then
where I am now.
First, we're going over hardware.
When I started making videos in high school, I used my dad's Canon PowerShot.
I don't remember what generation it was, but I'll try to find a picture of it.
And then when I went to college, in my college classes, we used Canon Rebel t2i's.
And after college, I continued on with a Canon Rebel for a while,
but now I use an (Sony) Alpha a7 iii.
It's a mirrorless camera instead of a DSLR, and I have two lenses -
one that's more for wide shots, and it's a zoom lens,
and then one that's a prime lens, so it doesn't have any zoom capabilities,
but it has great bokeh in the background, and you can get some good close-ups.
Sometimes I also shoot (or augment my shooting) with this iPhone 8,
especially if I'm going into a public place.
It's a lot easier to not get called out for using an iPhone in, say, a grocery store,
and it's just a lot easier to throw in your pocket and hide the fact that you were just filming.
I used to use a Rode Video Micro, but you guys hated it, because it was especially echoey,
so I moved to a Rode SmartLav for a little bit,
but I hated it, because I didn't like having a cord on me at all times,
so now I have a Rode VideoMic Pro, and it seems to be acceptable.
My tripod is an Alta Pro - I bought it on Amazon,
but I did break it right away, so I wouldn't necessarily recommend that.
anyone else use this.
At some point, I would like to buy a Peak Designs tripod, but it's $350, so I'm just
gonna keep using the one that I have until I can't stand the fact that it's broken anymore.
I also have this tiny Goby tripod that I use for my phone.
I store everything in this Topo camera bag, and I do also have one replacement battery,
and I have one memory card that I use for everything.
I also use a 15-inch MacBook Pro to edit videos, and some things I don't use are lights.
I just like the look of sunshine.
- Um - another thing that you have to think about is location.
There's a lot of sirens where I live, and
a lot of noise - ambient noise in the building from other people who live here -
so that's often something that you don't necessarily think about
if you're trying to make videos.
And then you start making it, and you realize that
your air conditioning unit or your fridge is really loud,
or there's a drip in your sink that you didn't pick up on until you start editing,
so location is definitely - I would say - another aspect of hardware,
the physicality of filmmaking that you should take into account.
Onto the software!
In high school, I used Windows Movie Maker, and it was perfectly fine.
I also used Final Cut X when I was in college - it was the student edition,
so it had limited options, but it also was perfectly fine.
If you're on a Mac, you probably have access to iMovie, and that'll be perfectly fine.
But if you want to do more complicated things,
I would suggest moving to Final Cut Pro, which i used for a little while,
or get an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription and start using Adobe Premiere Pro.
This software is what many actual movie studios will use for full-length movies,
and it has a lot of overlap with Illustrator and Photoshop,
which I was really familiar with when I first started on this software.
So it has an easier learning curve, if you have that familiarity already in place.
To me, honestly, editing is my favorite part of the video-making process.
It feels like a video game, and like I said - Illustrator and Photoshop are like my two hands,
so the capabilities of Premiere Pro are really only limited to
how much time I have and how big my imagination is.
For any background music that I want to use - like the stuff that you're listening to now -
or any kind of sound effects,
I use a service called Epidemic Sound
Next comes strategy:
I shoot all my videos either on Saturday or Sunday,
and a lot of that is determined by the weather, because I want good sunlight.
So if one of the days is supposed to be sunny and the other's supposed to be rainy,
I'll usually film on the day that's sunny.
The morning of filming, I usually start out writing a script.
I use this to create a list of shots then, that I would like to get, and next I record a voiceover.
After that, I'll film myself and do any b-roll - switching back and forth
between my lenses if I want more of a wide shot or more of a close-up shot.
It takes up to four hours sometimes to just film on the camera,
and then it could take another six to eight hours to actually edit the thing.
Even for - like - my short four-minute videos, it still takes a full day of time
to make something really - uh - concise for you guys.
I don't actually use any social media except for YouTube, so I don't have any way to promote things
beyond just search terms, I guess, and being in people's related videos,
so what you see in my numbers is just completely organic from YouTube itself.
It might be a good way to estimate, if you're thinking about starting your own channel,
what you could do with just using this one platform.
Other things that I don't like using would be any kind of - like - opening sequence.
I'm just not a fan.
Um - any kind of end cards - not a fan.
I don't love it when people ask you to "like and subscribe this video," so I don't do it.
And that was not me doing it.
Um - and I've just found that the things that make me enjoy videos,
if I put that in my own videos, it's more likely that people will enjoy my videos.
And if I avoid the things that annoy me in other people's videos, I don't put that in my videos.
I don't - I don't even care how much of a, like,
standard - an industry standard - it is across the platform.
If it annoys me, I'm not gonna put it in my video.
I can tell you in complete truth that I have never
once subscribed to someone on YouTube because they told me to or asked me to.
I've never liked a video because someone asked me to like their video.
I do it on my own accord, and that leads right into concept which,
I would say, if you're trying to find a concept for your videos,
you could start off with these three questions:
first, what kind of videos do you most enjoy watching, subject-wise?
I've watched van stuff, I've had phases of
looking at music videos or minimalism stuff, a lot of queer stuff,
but entertainment-wise, I prefer things that make me laugh.
Second, what's a subject that you feel like you could talk about with your friends for hours?
For me, it was minimalism, habits, self-improvement stuff,
doing experiments, and following things that generally just make me curious.
Third, what's your own spin on these two things put together?
Oftentimes, when I watch minimalism videos, they're very serene and calm -
and i'm just not that type of person.
So even though I love minimalism, I felt like there was something missing there,
and that perhaps I could provide a little bit of a
light-heartedness to the world of minimalist YouTubers.
I would say that overall, one of the things that's gonna make you stand out,
if you're trying to start a YouTube channel, is retaining your integrity.
Think about what makes you "you," and do that. Show that to people.
Because people like to watch other people doing things that excites them or interests them.
I want to see people doing things that make
them light up, and it makes me more interested in what they're talking about
if they're really passionate about what they are saying.
Along that same vein, I think if you can serve other people somehow,
whether it's teaching something or just purely entertaining them,
if you can somehow give something to them, then they'll give back.
And lastly, would I ever be a full-time YouTuber?
No. Definitely not. Absolutely not.
I enjoy it as a hobby, and I am greatly appreciative of people who do it full time
and make way more of an effort to make great videos,
but I really don't enjoy filming myself as much as I do editing things.
So if I was to do something with this professionally,
it would be more on the kind of post-production side of things.
Um - but no, I don't - I don't see myself doing that.
I hope that covers any questions that you guys might have, but if you have more,
let me know in the comments, and I'll try to answer as many as I can!
'til next time!
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