Heh. MI, you can see how much I know about Batman, if I thought that it was Marvel.
I tried looking up Batman comic covers and some of the pictures showed me Marvel - and I, in my naivete, believed them.
(Fool me once, google, shame on you...)
As for going viral on YouTube ... I'm aware that level of success is impossible to manufacture. It's like trying to instantly manufacture "the next big thing" in music - you end up with one-hit wonders, or boy-bands that hit the top in a big way and fizzle out just as quickly. (Who today remembers Kriss Kross, Tiffany, Gerardo Mejía, or Vanilla Ice?)
Yes, I'm well aware that when it comes to YouTube - or any media - success is ephemeral unless you work extremely hard at it. I have no illusion about
that.
As for doing something different and not something that's "normal" - please define "normal"!
I created some videos about famous speeches that demonstrate the idea of freedom (e.g. the "Give me liberty or give me death" speech); the videos illustrate why these speeches are important, and dramatise the moment to make the speeches exciting.
I also found some stories to dramatise (e.g. Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart"). Finally, I've done some videos in which I perform romantic, baroque and renaissance era music, accompanied by guitar or a full orchestra, and I provide pictures and info about the composers and the music. I'm good at these things, and I enjoy doing them. I don't know many people who can do all three, at least not without the resources of a full radio station.
I have no intention of doing a gaming channel or a review channel, since I
know that everyone does those - and I'm no good at that sort of thing, anyway.
I enjoy taking old things in general - old literature, old language, old music - and breathing new life into them again. I hope that the result is both enlightening and inspiring. In our current era of sound bites and "fake news", I think that we sadly lack people who know about rhetoric. Think of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, or Paine's "Times that try men's souls", and compare it with the speeches we hear now, full of empty phrases, fire and fury, and signifying nothing.
I really believe that words should tell people the truth, not fool them. (You can see why I've never been a politician).
MusicallyInspired wrote: ↑Wed Sep 12, 2018 8:55 am
Not to be discouraging. Just do what you love. If it has an audience they will come to you. The important thing is that you keep up with a schedule and upload quality videos at least once a week and that's just so the algorithm favours you. (working with the algorithm is a whole other subject altogether)
I'm not discouraged!
I know that YouTube is a mass of many, many shiny things that lots of people watch, and many good things that hardly anyone watches; and I think that's a pity. It's even more of a pity that the standard of comments is so low. Perhaps, in my own small way, I hope to make a difference in that. And if not, well ... how much difference can one man make against the great multitude? At least I can try.
Datadog wrote: ↑Thu Sep 13, 2018 12:35 pm
You also need the personality to be a Youtube success. It's not just about pumping out regular content, but making yourself a brand. I think that's where a lot of people check out, because becoming a brand means working overtime to be "Aggravated Movie Complainer" or "Video Game Muffin Chef". Viewers generally like consistency in who they sign up for, and expressing other interests (or even taking breaks) can compromise your viral success, unless going off-brand is your brand.
Personally, I feel going viral is a mental health disaster waiting to happen. I've seen a few gamer channels quit cold turkey just because they couldn't handle talking in front of the camera anymore. So if you enjoy making videos and podcasts, just post them on your own terms for your own benefit. Put something you like into the world. And don't forget to like and subscribe.
Thanks, Datadog.
Personally, I'm not the kind to be a complainer or muffin chef of any kind. There are waaay too many people complaining on YouTube already!
I don't mind making videos at all. It's a creative hobby to find something I'm good at, to research the subject, to find the right pictures and the perfect anecdote - and then to put them all together, kaleidoscope-like, to illustrate a person, a speech, a story, or a song.
Oh, and I don't have a camera to stand in front of - just a microphone to hide behind. (Hey, that's not a bad line. Maybe I can use that).
Semi-Happy Partygoer wrote: ↑Thu Sep 13, 2018 11:15 pm
Has anyone else here played the Lifeline series of interactive text adventures? I've previously completed the original and Whiteout, and I'm currently making my way through Flatline.
I love how they play out in real-time. The wait can really build tension and suspense.
I'm sorry, SHP, I've never heard of this game. *looks it up* Ah... I confused it with a text adventure that I played many,
many years ago in the Windows 9x days.
Maybe someone else knows...?