What to do to improve?

Cody Daniel

Cody Daniel

Active Member
Hey, I just wanted to ask something. I started my channel a little over a year ago, but up until a month or two back I didn't take it allthat serious. But now I want to try to take it serious. I'd even like to make a living off of youtube. But I need help. I've always been shy so it feels weird to ask for help but I really want to know what I can do to improve my videos and my channel. I really want to give something for people to watch and love watching it! I want them to enjoy themselves as much as they can while watching my videos. That's the biggest thing for me. But I've always been the artisic type. Meaning that no matter what, good or bad, I can't really tell if what I make is good or not. Like I think all my stuff I do should be thrown in a dumpster. (You wouldn't believe how many artworks I trashed before they were even close to done because I felt like they were already ruined) Basically what I'm asking is if someone could help me by telling me what I could do to be better. Like critique my videos. Because honestly, every video I post, I feel like it could be so much better, but that it could possibly be really good the way it is. I just can't judge my own works at all without stressing about how others respond to it. If anyone could give me some tips or give me some constructive criticism on my channel and my videos, I would be really really grateful! (Sorry that was so long)
 
Cody Daniel said:
Meaning that no matter what, good or bad, I can't really tell if what I make is good or not.
Click to expand...
This is the biggest issue when it comes to your own content. You made it, and you're happy with it, so it's not easy to get a handle on whether it's really good or not. It's really difficult to accurately evaluate your own content.

I'm watching one of your videos now. First and foremost, you absolutely can't have stretches of 15 seconds (or, in my opinion, 12 or 10 or 8 even) where you're not saying anything and nothing exciting is happening on the screen. Two minutes into your video and I'd be already perusing the suggested video section. You have to edit your videos down and only keep the interesting parts. There's a reason radio stations absolutely hate 'dead air' (when something goes wrong and there is only silence) and that's because people are quick to change the station when that happens. Well, same idea here, except people are probably even quicker to leave. It's okay to cut to more interesting scenes if you're not doing a playthrough or tutorial or whatever. Just cut to the good stuff.

Secondly, try to make sure you choose subject matter that is still relevant and that you yourself would watch (and do watch). Others more familiar with the gaming genre will have better advice in this regard, but the subject matter is important. Choosing the right games is important, and it's not easy. You can either go for popular games and attempt to compete with everyone and their mother or go for less popular games with less competition but also much less volume of potential viewers. In my opinion, you have to be really good to try to tackle the popular games and expect to gain traction and generate views. You're not there yet.

When I watch other gamers I almost get the feeling that I'm playing with them, that I'm on their team somehow. That we're a team trying to get through whatever obstacles that particular game is throwing at us. That, I believe, is the kind of feeling you want to illicit from your viewers. How do you do this? I'm not sure, I haven't done enough research on it. I think you're on the right track, talking to the viewers and such but something is still missing.

On a technical note, try to position the facecam so that you're looking into the shot, not away from it. Or, you can place the facecam in the bottom right hand corner of the screen, which would accomplish the same thing. It creates a bizarre disconnect between what you're doing and where you're looking when you're facing away from the action like that. It just doesn't look right from a composition standpoint (I'm a photographer so maybe I'm nitpicking).

Anyway, that's all I have right now. It's late and I'm sure I'm barely coherent. Good luck.
 
I agree with a lot of what William said.

I'll say something similar but in my own words. A good video in my opinion tells a story and it does that in as concise and interesting a way as possible. Ideally both the audio and the video should progress that story constantly.

The idea of a Let's Play video only works when the commentary is of exceptional quality. That means you either need to be naturally good or very experienced at commentating. But in my opinion it is better to start with other stuff to build your skill-set before tackling Let's Plays. It's much easier to make a strong story with video content like reviews or tutorials. And as William said, be ruthless in your editing. If the story is not progressed by a shot or piece of audio, cut it!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top