How to make the perfect YouTube video

[laika]

A question, not a statement and apologies if this has been done to death before: I've not paid much attention to YouTube threads and a quick search suggests that much previous discussion has been about specific videos rather than winning formulae.

I was watching Concerto's latest video (thank you concerto, it's lovely!). In the past I've seen people express a dislike of overlayed muzak and too much talking and from that respect concerto is delivering exactly what many in this audience say they want: a straightforward video record of a "proper" sailing trip.

Personally I have a low attention span. Ideally I want to be engaged by a human context to nice images which means some wry commentary or interaction between crew (for non-solo sailors). Having met concerto at Southampton last year and obviously having followed his posts here I did have some context, but without that (and what I'm asking about here are "general rules") I would have wanted to know "Who's sailing this boat? Why are they going where they're going? How do they feel about it?" One person's witty banter is another's inane chatter so this won't be universal. Music, or at least something music like (drones, or the singing bowl used in one video we discussed recently) add atmosphere, provide continuity for a series of seascapes in an edited journey, and are better than microphone wind noise. But I'm definitely no fan of that tedious copyright-free guitar music some seem to use. "Trust fund kids who bought a boat yesterday stating the blindingly obvious as though it's a revelation" seems to be a frequent complaint and I'm no fan of that either, but on the other most of us like to pick up tricks from seeing others do stuff, so maybe technical stuff as part of the overall narrative framed not as "here's how you do it" but some humorous self-deprecating "I'm trying it this way, let's see if it works!") is good.

What would engage you in a first sailing video to watch a second by the same film maker(s)?

 

[Stingo]

Does short and sweet suit sir better?
WARNING : Sound off, because the usual language of a sailor might offend those of a delicate nature

 

[laika]

Does short and sweet suit sir better?

One could make an argument for that containing all of Aristotle's elements of tragedy excepting perhaps melos.

 

[johnalison]

1 Put a bimbo on the thumbnail
2 Keep it short. I will watch a tv programme for an hour or more but ten minutes is enough for most videos unless exceptionally good.
3 Make sure the filming is as professional as possible, without shaky cameras and long periods of nothing.
4 Don’t use some noisy pop music just because you like it.

 

[mjcoon]

...
4 Don’t use some noisy pop music just because you like it.

Yes, "pop music" is one of my familiar oxymorons, like "business ethics", "military intelligence", "feminine logic" etc etc...

 

[lustyd]

Obviously story is the key. Having a specific story to tell rather than just showing footage is the primary way to keep an audience. Even established YouTubers do badly when they just turn on a camera for two hours and upload it.

Next is the hard work and learning.

• Learn the types of camera shot and when to use them
• There are various kinds of transition in video, learn these and use them.
• Shooting B-roll is an art form, although not a hard one. Watch some Youtube tutorials on how to film b-roll and what shots look good.
• If using a drone, learn what looks good there too - usually either straight pans or a parallax shot around the subject are good.
• Find music from somewhere like Epidemic which won't get you a copyright hit
• Colour grade your footage to match cameras and create a mood, but not so much it looks fake (Cadoha do this in their thumbnails to get more views)
• Learn how to "do sound". There are three very useful YT channels (Podcastage, Curtis Judd, Sound Speeds) to learn sound from. Sound is more important than visual, get rid of unwanted wind noise and make voice clear

 

[doug748]

Course there are different types of video but, of it's type, here is perfection, a jewel. From an old pro:

Couple of thousand views in 10 years.

.

 

[steveeasy]

Cadoha. How many real sailors bother to watch that. The reality might be YouTubers only really appeal to dreamers. Sailing can be so boring to watch. Well unless your name is Erik. I could listen to Christian Williams without the footage. He’s a cool sailor.

Steveeasy

 

[HenrikH]

Erik has action as his main ingredient:

 

[laika]

Course there are different types of video but, of it's type, here is perfection, a jewel. From an old pro:

It is indeed lovely but I suspect a Thomas Newman soundtrack is beyond the means of most.

Erik has action as his main ingredient

But not *just* action! Erik just about nails it. The production value is great. He's taking us on adventure with him rather than just showing us his home video afterwards. There's off-boat people and places and he's managed to find what my investigation suggests is royalty-free music, while being not dissimilar in mood to Newman:

And the music is used sparingly rather being omnipresent and obscuring all sea sounds. I wouldn't object to a few amusing asides, but I guess comedy isn't really his brand...

 

[st599]

Obviously story is the key. Having a specific story to tell rather than just showing footage is the primary way to keep an audience. Even established YouTubers do badly when they just turn on a camera for two hours and upload it.

Next is the hard work and learning.

• Learn the types of camera shot and when to use them
• There are various kinds of transition in video, learn these and use them.
• Shooting B-roll is an art form, although not a hard one. Watch some Youtube tutorials on how to film b-roll and what shots look good.
• If using a drone, learn what looks good there too - usually either straight pans or a parallax shot around the subject are good.
• Find music from somewhere like Epidemic which won't get you a copyright hit
• Colour grade your footage to match cameras and create a mood, but not so much it looks fake (Cadoha do this in their thumbnails to get more views)
• Learn how to "do sound". There are three very useful YT channels (Podcastage, Curtis Judd, Sound Speeds) to learn sound from. Sound is more important than visual, get rid of unwanted wind noise and make voice clear

Also - look at the 180 degree rule - crossing the line is a no-no and looks amateurish.

Learn how to set your camera up - most action cameras seem to try to shoot with a 1/500th shutter, 1/50th would give much better results but will need an ND filter.

 

[lustyd]

To be fair most screens on which YouTube is consumed are 60Hz these days so 1/60 is better with 30 fps. I'd only drop frame rate if there was a specific lighting issue, which there won't be on a 12v boat so 30fps all day for sailing channels. 50Hz power zones are in a difficult place because the footage looks weird on 60Hz screens but older lighting and screens will flicker on camera. Usually it's better to just change it to 30fps and accept the speed difference with a native framerate

 

[Neeves]

Taking the videos is the easy part - its the editing that takes the time. Ideally you need more than one camera - so you take the same action from different angles.

Take lots of film, footage and invest the time in editing. From lots of filming you will only end up with a short vid.

A reason you, or anyone, might find sailing videos boring is because you are not learning anything nor being spell bound by the message - you have done it all before.

Maybe look at different videos of topics of which you know nothing, snowboarding, kite surfing, repairing a washing machine - and see how others treat a topic you, and their target audience, know nothing about.

Jonathan

 

[Stingo]

..... and see how others treat a topic you, and their target audience, know nothing about.

Oh, do you mean like anchoring?

 

[st599]

To be fair most screens on which YouTube is consumed are 60Hz these days so 1/60 is better with 30 fps. I'd only drop frame rate if there was a specific lighting issue, which there won't be on a 12v boat so 30fps all day for sailing channels. 50Hz power zones are in a difficult place because the footage looks weird on 60Hz screens but older lighting and screens will flicker on camera. Usually it's better to just change it to 30fps and accept the speed difference with a native framerate

I'd definitely not go as low as 30fps for an action film - it will strobe and jerk like mad.

 

[Concerto]

Taking the videos is the easy part - its the editing that takes the time. Ideally you need more than one camera - so you take the same action from different angles.

Take lots of film, footage and invest the time in editing. From lots of filming you will only end up with a short vid.

A reason you, or anyone, might find sailing videos boring is because you are not learning anything nor being spell bound by the message - you have done it all before.

Maybe look at different videos of topics of which you know nothing, snowboarding, kite surfing, repairing a washing machine - and see how others treat a topic you, and their target audience, know nothing about.

Jonathan

I totally agree that editting is far more difficult and time consuming than most people appreciate. As Laika (OP) said my latest video is lovelly, but 12 minutes 38 seconds of video took about 24 hours of editting. In this video, no clip is longer than 7 seconds, which makes the video better to watch but takes a lot longer to edit. I started with over 35 minutes of video and 240 photos. After the first edit which took over 7 hours and I managed to make the video with start and end titles, maps and photos, run for 16½ minutes. After the next few edits I managed to reduce this 14½ minutes. Every full edit can take over an hour and a half as each section of video has to be watched to see if a second or two can be trimmed off most clips and the photo showing time was reduced from 2½ to 2 seconds. Every section of the video then has to be moved along the timeline. Once the video had been editted down to the 12 minutes 38 seconds, I felt any further editting would start to lose the feel of what I was trying to portray. Finally text had to be added for the places, etc. This alone took nearly 2 hours. Then viewing the sections and whole video numerous times takes hours, before finally it is compiled into a single video which takes about 25 minutes. Then loading to YouTube takes nearly another hour. All this process takes me days to complete as I only work on video editting in the evenings. The filming is the easy part compared to the editting.

This screen shot will give you an idea of what was involved in the final video as it shows evey clip along the timeline. The middle line is the video clips and photos, the top line is for the text and the bottom line is for any backgrounds.



Hope everyone has followed the editting process.

 

[Neeves]

Oh, do you mean like anchoring?

I made a video of my Boomerang - simply to show how it works and I use it at lectures/talks. I had thought to make another of snubbers and bridles - but decided I was too lazy - but maybe ... later.

Most people here actually know enough about anchoring. But as Tranona says when you move from your local area you might find your local knowledge cannot be transferred to the new situation. Its at that point having some tricks up your sleeve might be useful. People like Geem and NormanS (and lots of others) who travel to far flung places all have knowledge that might be useful to all of us - we cannot know everything and we should be willing to learn. I'm appalled when people define doubts of starting an anchor thread - they are always educational, and sometimes even amusing.

I asked the question how people learnt to anchor and I understand it is part of formal sailing lessons - but, and its quite. a large but - you don't get the in-depth lessons seared into your memory that will develop through having had Dad take you off for a 2 week cruise to Scotland's outer isles. Being taught to anchor in benign conditions in nice clean sand is really not enough - but hopefully the regular anchor threads here are but one, minor, leg (of a centipede) that may offer help.

When the chips are down I confess the last thing you think of is making a video when you venture out in driving rain at 2am and with 35 knots across the decks as you do something as simple as check the stretch of your snubber. I did make a vid of sailing a cat - single handed. I had 2 cameras rigged and then was caught in a, forecast, front - but it was so sudden I started to shred the headsail - and I have been too embarrassed to edit it . It might make a nice clip of something bigger, or longer, but I am appalled by the editing required. Life is too short.

All credit to Concerto in having more motivation than me

Jonathan

 

[RunAgroundHard]

Also - look at the 180 degree rule - crossing the line is a no-no and looks amateurish.

Learn how to set your camera up - most action cameras seem to try to shoot with a 1/500th shutter, 1/50th would give much better results but will need an ND filter.

Would you be so kind to explain what180 degree rule is, what is crossing the line, and why 1/50 v 1/500 and what is an ND filter.

 

[laika]

Forum threads have a life their own and drift where they drift. So not that it matters, but my original intention with this thread was not to gain information to make a video (I personally have no story interesting enough to document, but if I did, first mate is more than a little technically competent in this area so it wouldn’t be me behind the camera or doing the editing) but simply to discuss what creative elements made for a compelling video series. I confess that a lot of videos others seem to lap up seem to be as engaging as your next door neighbours’ holiday slides in the days when a slide show wasn’t synonymous with PowerPoint.

 

[lustyd]

Taking the videos is the easy part

It really isn’t. Taking good footage is a real skill and can save hours or days in editing. Even just taking video of a beach most people will instinctively swing the camera around ending up with footage that looks odd. This is the difference between pro looking videos and something that looks like a family holiday camcorder video.