Influencer II
I never really took the time to watch a lot of videos on others travel across this or any other country . I read Dan Grecs book and enjoyed it (but I will stop there). Began with BROG videos, early TrailRecon before he became a true sellout, a few others and finished some Lifestyle Overland videos. Now before you think I'm just a dick (which is the subject of great debate) I merely want to make mention of some common issues I see, associated with amateur video making. One responsibility with my work is writing and producing commercials, training videos, and was part of a Golden Globe nominated NetFlix docuseries for our athletes we sponsor who haven't a lick of experience in front of a camera except posing, lifting, flexing... but zero first person commentary or copy reading. A few things I have watched that could be improved on to make a cleaner and more precise story are these:
Often the content was being made by someone for an audience, but in the end, it was far more for themselves, but disseminated to others. Remember, when you are making video for others to learn, see, or be educated by, please don't make this a "Me and I", include your audience as a "we". Often, most of us could give two F's about the moderator. Its the content they are creating for the video. Don't become a Kardashian.
Be cognitive of your surroundings. Know your background. Know whats around you. If you are talking about X brand, don't wear a competitor's brand t-shirt or hat (see that a lot in the ovelanding video community and YouTube DIY'ers. Today I watched a video where a woman off to the left side of their windshield shot, in a NP parking lot was scratching her... uh, well, you know... but the film maker didn't.
When shooting dialogue of yourself, learn bodily self control. Arms flailing is a sign of nervousness or that you are lacking knowledge on your subject (or being Italian... kidding). Relax and slow down. More is not better. Know your video subject matter. Names, specs, back stories, history, application, and more. Have a rough outline for how your video will educate and disseminate correctly, speak to it and then in post production, put it all together. It will help you be loose and confident.
Narration. Droning on as a modern day philosopher and quoting others in long form is a monumental mistake. Don't become an IG influencer who believes they have the answers to everything. "I'm in my bikini but it's time for me to quote Tolstoy". Just don't.
Music. Just because its your style doesn't mean it is everyone's. Learn to control the level of music in your post production audio control. If your video has a common theme, so too should your music selection. If it changes from dramatic to subdued, then too should the music. It should never be louder than your voice is on video. Watching peaceful mountains with birds chirping at 70db and then AC/DC comes in at 120db for the next segment... no bueno. Learn how to use your editing software.
Content. What's the purpose of the video? Stick to it. If you are filming for a stack of sponsors and then you spend 70% of your video filming your child playing and eating, no bueno. Make family videos for yourself, not your audience. PN: Having your child or spouse as part of your video is more than acceptable. Nuance them as part of the specific shot makes sense. Spending 40% of your video on teaching them how to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches is an easy way for people to move on to another video.
Sponsors. Subtlety is key. Never proclaim your sponsor is "the best". If they drop you and you want to fill that vacancy, but you are on YT with 4 million views of how X was best, no one else will want to work with you in that genre. Hard to take Allysa Milano serious about her stance on the "Redskins" name when in fact, she was a model for their merchandise years ago. Credibility. Making coffee with X brand french press? Simple mentions and short accidental views of the product. Mentions of your trailer sponsor as you show the vehicle pulling the trailer down the road. GAIA shots on a tablet and its functionality while you are traveling with the logo in plain site. Tire mentons as they are working across water, rocks, etc gives it authenticity versus standing next to your truck with you in the center and half a wheel showing on the edge of the screen. Think about how Will Ferrel does product placement. In Elf, he picks up a 2L bottle of soda and turns the label towards the camera. Doesn't mention it by name, but the branding made it into the shot. Then he releases a 20 second long burp. Classic.
Intros and outros (bumpers and stingers, etc) Short, compact and to the point. I watched a 90 second intro on a video with an entire montage of themselves speaking to the camera, action footage, logo rollin and out, website mention, social media mentions and more. (cough cough, TrailRecon) You ain't the local news broadcast. Short, precise and skip the Adobe Premier Pro cutesy stuff. No images dipping in and out, flames, words falling apart, explosions and laser cats, etc. Viewers forget about what it is they were there in the first place.
In the end, make something informative, clean and precise. There are so many great videos out there. Expedition Overland is amazing, but they have an entire crew doing their pre and post production. Make something that resonates with viewers. Make them yearn to do more. Have fun and enjoy the experience and teach someone something in the process.
Often the content was being made by someone for an audience, but in the end, it was far more for themselves, but disseminated to others. Remember, when you are making video for others to learn, see, or be educated by, please don't make this a "Me and I", include your audience as a "we". Often, most of us could give two F's about the moderator. Its the content they are creating for the video. Don't become a Kardashian.
Be cognitive of your surroundings. Know your background. Know whats around you. If you are talking about X brand, don't wear a competitor's brand t-shirt or hat (see that a lot in the ovelanding video community and YouTube DIY'ers. Today I watched a video where a woman off to the left side of their windshield shot, in a NP parking lot was scratching her... uh, well, you know... but the film maker didn't.
When shooting dialogue of yourself, learn bodily self control. Arms flailing is a sign of nervousness or that you are lacking knowledge on your subject (or being Italian... kidding). Relax and slow down. More is not better. Know your video subject matter. Names, specs, back stories, history, application, and more. Have a rough outline for how your video will educate and disseminate correctly, speak to it and then in post production, put it all together. It will help you be loose and confident.
Narration. Droning on as a modern day philosopher and quoting others in long form is a monumental mistake. Don't become an IG influencer who believes they have the answers to everything. "I'm in my bikini but it's time for me to quote Tolstoy". Just don't.
Music. Just because its your style doesn't mean it is everyone's. Learn to control the level of music in your post production audio control. If your video has a common theme, so too should your music selection. If it changes from dramatic to subdued, then too should the music. It should never be louder than your voice is on video. Watching peaceful mountains with birds chirping at 70db and then AC/DC comes in at 120db for the next segment... no bueno. Learn how to use your editing software.
Content. What's the purpose of the video? Stick to it. If you are filming for a stack of sponsors and then you spend 70% of your video filming your child playing and eating, no bueno. Make family videos for yourself, not your audience. PN: Having your child or spouse as part of your video is more than acceptable. Nuance them as part of the specific shot makes sense. Spending 40% of your video on teaching them how to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches is an easy way for people to move on to another video.
Sponsors. Subtlety is key. Never proclaim your sponsor is "the best". If they drop you and you want to fill that vacancy, but you are on YT with 4 million views of how X was best, no one else will want to work with you in that genre. Hard to take Allysa Milano serious about her stance on the "Redskins" name when in fact, she was a model for their merchandise years ago. Credibility. Making coffee with X brand french press? Simple mentions and short accidental views of the product. Mentions of your trailer sponsor as you show the vehicle pulling the trailer down the road. GAIA shots on a tablet and its functionality while you are traveling with the logo in plain site. Tire mentons as they are working across water, rocks, etc gives it authenticity versus standing next to your truck with you in the center and half a wheel showing on the edge of the screen. Think about how Will Ferrel does product placement. In Elf, he picks up a 2L bottle of soda and turns the label towards the camera. Doesn't mention it by name, but the branding made it into the shot. Then he releases a 20 second long burp. Classic.
Intros and outros (bumpers and stingers, etc) Short, compact and to the point. I watched a 90 second intro on a video with an entire montage of themselves speaking to the camera, action footage, logo rollin and out, website mention, social media mentions and more. (cough cough, TrailRecon) You ain't the local news broadcast. Short, precise and skip the Adobe Premier Pro cutesy stuff. No images dipping in and out, flames, words falling apart, explosions and laser cats, etc. Viewers forget about what it is they were there in the first place.
In the end, make something informative, clean and precise. There are so many great videos out there. Expedition Overland is amazing, but they have an entire crew doing their pre and post production. Make something that resonates with viewers. Make them yearn to do more. Have fun and enjoy the experience and teach someone something in the process.
