https://vimeo.com/763498610/19bac3eb95
Transitioned from Documentaries and Film to 10 minute YouTube videos.
You have to enjoy the process because it is a ton of time and effort to find success on YouTube.
Hardwork, Persistence and Experimentation
Scripting and Editing is huge to factor to success.
Start with the Title first
- If you are going to spend 30-40 hours making a video you better make sure people are going to click the Title.
Titles should be 45 characters or less. (Ideally)
Comes up with 10-15 before the final release, but always starts with one before starting.
5/100 ideas will be good.
Become a student of YouTube, figure out what is working and how can I remix it and make it my own.
Doesn’t watch others because he worries he will fear copying others.
His early videos were not heavily scripted. He would have a few bullet points and do them off the cuff.
The best scripts are written and then re-written
His A-roll is word for word spoken and then his vlog / b-roll will be the off the cuff pieces. Everything always changes in the edit.
He says he’s a better writer than a talker and thats why he writes his scripts.
Ali’s team is finding that whenever he goes on a tangent, the retention drops.
Strong script-writing will save you time in the edit.
1500-2000 word scripts per video
Matt takes 2 days to write, 2 days to shoot, 2 days to edit
You can try writing the blog post first, which is similar to what I do where I effectively write out the content, but then perform it off the cuff.
If he only had 10 hours a week for YouTube he would spent 3 hours writing, 2 hours filming, 2 hours to edit
Do a few takes, don’t get frustrated with yourself Treat it like a conversation with a friend Pretend that this is streaming live. Pick a niche
Archeologist vs the Architect
Archeologists digs in a few different places and sees what works. Architects don’t begin shooting until they have everything planned out.
Don’t bury the lead
Matt tries to lead each video with three things
- Originality
- How can you make this different and interesting?
- Brevity
- Spend most of your time on the first 60 seconds of the video.
- A Hook
- Why should you watch to the end?
Matt varies up his music. You can use it to control the pace of your videos.
- Changes the music for B-Roll
- Always has music during B-Roll
- Music fades down when he talks directly to camera
- It sets the tone at the beginning of the video
Matt likes to have a lot of different angles to give choice in the edit.
- If I get this posterboard, then I have more options
Start a B-Roll Library
- Ali Abdaal keeps his in Google Drive
- They edit it down and then export the 4K h264
Figure out why someone would watch this
Ali Abdaal smiles in his thumbnails. He actually B Tested it.