Youtube Sucks...

[ih303]

Let's face it, for every good Youtube video there are about ten-billion that are total shit. This has led me to the realization that Youtube, like Spandex, should be a privelage not a right (a smiley face to anyone who can place the basis of that quote).

I bring this up because lately I've been thinking about putting together some video's on Youtube that don't suck. Before I do that, though, I want to figure out what you think works about those videos and what you think doesn't work. I'll start.

I want more videos that...

Focus on how to do things rather than on cloud size
Try to be objective when reviewing

Videos SUCK when they...

Have bad lighting
Have terrible sound
Start off with some cheesy song
Advertise a particular company or product
Go on for too long


You get the idea.

This is your chance, folks. I've got an HD camera with a boom-mike and wide-angle lens standing by. All I need is a plan. Help me out.

[jorlyfish]

I think going on too long is my biggest pet peeve. I don't watch that many hookah reviews/tutorials, but it seems like a lot of them go on... and on... and on. I really don't want to watch something longer than 3-4 minutes or so unless it's a really in-depth review on something I'm totally unfamiliar with - for example, I'd watch a significantly longer review on the Izundu hookah (sp?) than I would on one or two new Tangiers flavors. I know what Tangiers looks like, I know I should put it in a tub, I know that Noir needs to be acclimated etc... We don't need to talk about it again. There are general Tangiers videos around/to be made for that sort of thing.
Even more irksome, it seems to me a lot of the time could be cut out by getting rid of the 20-second intro, and actually rehearsing or having some notecards or something around so that half the video isn't filler: "um, so.. yeah" type things and repetitive statements.

Rehearse what you want to say a few times, if only even in your head.

[Skoozle]

[quote name='jorlyfish' timestamp='1295018816' post='494330']
Even more irksome, it seems to me a lot of the time could be cut out by getting rid of the [b]20-second[/b] intro, and [b]actually rehearsing or having some notecards[/b] or something around [b]so that half the video isn't filler: "um, so.. yeah" type things and repetitive statements[/b].

Rehearse what you want to say a few times, if only even in your head.
[/quote]

These exactly; do a few takes if you have to. It will be worth the extra time and you will make a video that can be taken seriously.

One more thing, if you are showing how to do something, don't wander out of the video frame. If you are mumbeling about how to do something and I can't actually see you do it, you have wasted my bandwidth.

I'm looking forward to your videos because I see you as someone who appreciates doing something right.

[Allstar]

Anyone that cares, the quote is from Hackers the movie.

[magick777]

[quote name='ih303' timestamp='1295017890' post='494328']
I want more videos that...

Focus on how to do things rather than on cloud size
Try to be objective when reviewing
[/quote]

I want reviews that answer the questions of any good journalist: who? what? where? when? why?; I want reviews that focus on the salient facts and give me the tools to make up my own mind. I want hard information.
Opinions are good too, when all that's been covered... but, let's take a bowl for example, I don't care how well a particular bowl you're reviewing smokes Tangiers on a Temsaah pipe with CocoNaras, 'cause I can't readily get any of those here and it ain't what I'm trying to do. What I want to know is the construction of the bowl and its vital statistics; I can work out the rest.

I'd recommend watching a couple of videos in a language you don't understand; this will show you what works and what doesn't in the way of visuals, and will demonstrate how irrelevant most of the spoken language is. I've recently been trying to find out about the Saphire Power Bowl (all videos are in German), and one soon gets an idea of whether the reviewer is showing what you need to see. The salient information in this case was:

1) seeing the bowl picked up and handled gives a good idea of size and shape, as does lining it up with other popular bowls.
2) pointing out the cluster of eight large holes in the bowl and demonstrating that you can easily breathe through it without much restriction
3) pointing out that the cluster of holes is on a raised bump, so it's a wide, shallow, flavour-retaining bowl

And really, that's all I need to know. What happens on your pipe with your coals and tobacco from there, well good to know if you're happy with it or if you wish you'd stuck to Egyptian clay, but that's all. It is for me to work out whether I want something that has the flavour retaining qualities of a Vortex, but is wider and shallower like a Saudi bowl. That's what the review needed to tell me, and not a lot else.

It is nice to know who's behind the review, and a degree of subjectivity is perfectly welcome, but it is useful only after the salient facts have been demonstrated. Always ask yourself why video is the appropriate medium for the review, and what is it that you are trying to put across that is not conveyed by still images or words on a page. Answer that, and you'll produce a good video.

[ih303]

[quote name='Allstar' timestamp='1295029341' post='494346']
Anyone that cares, the quote is from Hackers the movie.
[/quote]


It's a classic!