And this is why we will (probably) never be Internet Famous

I read ReelSEO almost every day to keep abreast of the goings on in the world of online video. I've taken courses, I occasionally comment (not often, I hate commenting with the Facebook login thing) and I subscribe to their YT Channel.

Today I read their article called Schmooze Optimization: What it is and Why it Expands Views, Engagement, and Earnings on YouTube and I was reminded of why I will probably never be internet famous. Excellent article if you get past the name-dropping. It puts a different spin on the "Collaborate, collaborate" mantra I hear so often in the online video world.

It was never really my dream to be internet famous, but over the last few years I have dreamed of rubbing elbows with the execs at Maker Studios, Revision3 or plain old DeFranco Inc. I would not give my first born but maybe her favorite toy to work on a project with any of the above.

Unfortunately I live in a bad place to integrate myself into the network of online video schmoozers. We have a surprising number of Hollywood movies and the occasional TV series shot in our backyard (Hobo with a Shotgun, Call me Fitz, Picnic Face are all local productions) but the online video community is miniscule. I went to a Women in Film and Television conference this year and I was the ONLY ONE doing online video exclusively.

What I'm trying to say is, I want to schmooze. I want to rub elbows and talk shop and be involved in the community I love but location and a reluctance to uproot my family prevent that.

Husbands (not mine, the series)

Just watched the entire first season of "Husbands" after coming across the second season premiere. I'm in love. I'm not usually a huge fan of sitcoms but husbands has a unique combination of new (gay marriage) and old (how newlyweds navigate marriage). It's written by a BtVS writer and true to pedigree, it's witty, sharp and totally lovable. Joss Whedon guest-stars and has some awesome dialogue ("Voice like a tulip, eyelashes I can fucking hear through the phone").

The big change for season 2 is the length. Season 1 was 11 2 minute-long episodes but as online video has grown in popularity longer format videos have become more popular. I prefer the longer format for sitcoms. I have a tendency to watch all episodes in a marathon run when they are shorter format. Season 2 is 3 9 minute long episodes.

The best part about online is the freedom. They can do a series about a gay married ballplayer with explicit dialogue and not worry about censors. So far there has not been any explicit action and I don't expect there to be. This has a genuine sitcom feel and looks like it would be appropriate on an open-minded network.

One More Re-Shoot

I finally heard back from the marketing department regarding the "with Kids" video and they requested I re-shoot 2 lines... 2. That's it.

I am in an extremely fortunate position. Re-shoots are not a big deal because we shoot weekly on the same set anyway so it won't cost us much in terms of time or money. Other productions don't have that luxury.

Hopefully I can get this last piece of the puzzle shot tomorrow and that will be the end of it.

Scripts and Being Sick

I am currently trying to write some scripts for non-repair videos. This is a side project for stuff that may never be done but I need to get them written. I have a vision on a small (5 episode) series on appliance cleaning and cleaning with homemade cleaning products.I've got a script on homemade laundry detergent and I'm working on one for cleaning with baking soda.

The big problem is that I have a cold. I am struggling with the dopey-headed, drug-induced stupidity that comes with it. I have the attention span of a 2 year-old and the energy of an overfed house cat. I'm even having trouble focusing on this, and this isn't "officially" work.

I have the scripts in my head, I'm just not in a state to get them out as painlessly as usual. I keep watching and reading things about the miraculous powers of baking soda and I am completely uninspired.

The Worlds of Viral Video from PBS

Where is online video going? Where is the line between advertiser and producer? I keep thinking we are using an old model in new ways when we talk about producers and advertisers becoming one. When television was in its infancy individual shows were sponsored by individual advertisers, with the products worked into the content in whatever way possible. The videos I make are very similar. We tread a line between product demonstration and general knowledge instruction. This gives us the unique opportunity to have consent content development and the materials for constant output. Granted, sometimes we will shoot 3 (or more) variations or the same repair but we are starting to move beyond just the part-specific instructional videos.

As we develop more creative content I am faced with the reality that although we are among the pioneers of online video in our specific branch of retail we are far from the pioneers of online how-to videos. We will have to find our voice in the chorus and work on what makes us stand out. We have aspirations and grand designs but we need to develop some very specific skills before we can get too much further down the creative content road. We are just getting the hang of written content and now I am pushing for video content.

So, I'm signing up for every course I can with the local film co-ops and I'm writing as many scripts as I can even if I never plan on using them.

YouTube News

A fairly well-known YouTube musician has been arrested on child porn charges.

As YouTube grows and becomes a launching ground for more entertainment careers there will be more stories like this. The Internet seems to bring out the worst in some people, including the content creators. YouTube is no exception. The conversation needs to be about how to educate potential perpetrators that this is wrong, that asking underage girls (or boys for that matter) for explicit material or providing them explicit material is sexual assault.

The victim-blaming that I have seen is disgusting and although parental involvement with online activities is necessary the girls in question are not at fault here. They were exploited by a man who has no interest in their well-being. Sure, you can argue that 18 is an arbitrary age for determining sexual autonomy when so many young people are engaged in sexual relationships there needs to be a line. 18 years is the best line we have and the ambiguity of sex is cleared up a little bit with that line.

Re-shoots and Backups

Working on editing the video for the past few days:P I had a minor disagreement with our Community Manager/Marketing Director (I have no idea what her official title is. Hell, I'm still a little confused as to my own title...) who seems to have misunderstood what my storyboard was. It seems that she took the storyboard as a loose outline of what I was planning to shoot instead of a shot-by-shot representation of what I had planned. This resulted in me missing some scenes that she felt were vital to the flow of the piece.

Long story short, I had to re-shoot some scenes and turn pieces that I had intended to be voice-over only into actual clips for the video. I sent her a revision in the hopes that she would be able to let me know if the changes I made are satisfactory or if I need to book our child star in for another re-shoot in August.

To pass the time I have been working on tightening up the audio in the voice overs and ensuring that all the levels are the same. Our biggest obstacle as a whole is good audio. I have been trying really hard to focus on improving our sound but without any formal training in sound I'm running into some difficulties.

Other than that I have registered for a data management workshop in the city in August. I am hoping that I will learn how to best streamline data storage in post so that I am less likely to lose anything important. So far it looks like we've only lost a small bit of unnecessary footage from last year's staff BBQ but that is more lost that I want. I've got to re-think how we store data and conduct our backups.

Voice Overs Will Cover a Multitude if Sins

We have finished our shoot with our child star. I'm still waiting to do the voice overs but everything seems to be coming together beautifully. Our footage was great, our star was engaged with the material and our main star was engaged with our child star.

As I'm cutting everything together I am a little nervous about the voice overs. There isn't a lot of time that I want to spend away from the action. Right now I have everything around 3 minutes but there's a lot of "dead-air" with a little action and no dialogue. I'm hoping I can cut that down a little but with the voice-overs.

Tomorrow's the Big Day

We shoot our scenes with our child star for real tomorrow. I've been fighting the feeling that I'm forgetting something all week but that probably has to do with me taking a lot of time off this week for sick kids.

Everything is ready as far as I can prep for tomorrow. The rehearsal last week went great, much better than expected and I'm hoping we only improve on it tomorrow.Our rehearsal taught us a lot and I think we are going to make something fun and informational tomorrow. We have worked really hard to bring this all together and I'm going to be proud of what ever comes.

Rehearsal and an Unexpected Video

We had our official rehearsal with our child star yesterday. It went extremely well, we learned how to frame everything better, where we were going to need to focus the boom mic and how to get our kid to open up and participate.

An unexpected bonus was that during the "blocking" (for lack of a better term) for some b-roll our talent gave our kid a 20 minute long tutorial on just about every single tool in our arsenal. As a result I'm going to try to cut a series of videos explaining the tools we use from the footage we got. Luckily we were quick and got the boom on them properly. The only problem I'm encountering turning this into a usable, useful video is the lack of satisfactory close-ups of the tools. It's especially difficult for the screwdrivers. We have CUs of the bodies, but everyone knows what a screwdriver looks like, I want to see the differences in the blade, dammit.

Luckily the kid is the son of one of our CSRs so he fits in pretty well here. He was a little shy and when we gave him lines he didn't quite deliver them as I'd imagined. That said, it was his first time in front of a camera giving lines. Anyone would be a little stiff, especially a 12 year-old with little acting experience. He gave the best performance when he didn't realize the camera was on. I'm going to have to try to remember that next week.

All in all, it was a success. I'm excited to see what comes out of next week's shoot.