How Artists Can Win on YouTube

Despite having 3.6M subscribers on YouTube, I've always struggled with long form videos. My audience largely comes from my short, magical clips.

But! This year, I’m experimenting with a new approach that feels far more natural—and it might help other artists who struggle with long-form content. (Check out the simple 'recipe' at the end to get started.)

Present Tense Videos

I've often gravitated toward vlog-style videos when documenting projects. Probably because they're relatively easy to film by simply recording some periodic talking and supporting b-roll. The linear timeline also makes editing a breeze.

The problem is that vlogs exist in the present - the audience is traveling with you through time. That means that you, or your project, must be so entertaining or interesting that your audience can’t look away. At the first sign of boredom, they'll bail.

Unfortunately, I'm not incredibly entertaining and although what I'm doing tends to be interesting, it often needs to be explained. I've come to the realization that vlog-style (or present tense) videos aren't for me - they're better suited for entertainers.

Past Tense Videos

In contrast, a past tense video is reflective and provides insight into the process after the fact. In my opinion, this style of video is better suited for experts (or anyone who's passionate about their craft).

Here's an example. I'm simply sitting at my computer while I very clearly walk you through how I made a popular visual effects video.

It's So Much Easier

The artistic process is full of unknowns. It can be fun to capture all of those twists, turns, and failures, but filming and dramatizing every step of the way is hugely taxing on your time and energy. I'm my angriest when I have to turn on a camera in the middle of a creative battle.

Additionally, one of the biggest struggles of filming in a vlog style is knowing what to say when you're in the frenzy of creation. You tend to ramble and assume you'll whittle it down into something coherent in the edit. Unless you can really turn it on for the camera, it's a terrible way to work and your audience won't have much confidence in you.

It's so much easier to complete the project first and then speak to camera with a solid structure of insightful talking points (plus, you get to separate production into creation and reflection/YouTube).

Why? Because only after you see the whole thing do you know what's necessary to talk about. Draped on the skeleton of the process, you can mention whatever fun facts or bits of struggle are necessary.

✨ The charisma you're lacking to carry a vlog (like me) will show up when you talk about your artistic process. How you uniquely do what you do is your secret weapon and when unleashed can captivate an audience.

Conclusion

Simply put, lean into being an expert and not an entertainer. Ditch the assumedly easy vlogs and provide value by letting us into your creative world through insightful reflection.

You won't be capturing the largest audience, but you'll be capturing the right audience who will be far more engaged. Speaking of, you'll be able to simply name your videos 'How I Made (Blank)' and you can stop worrying about all those clickbait thumbnails and titles.

If you've always wanted to explore YouTube, start here and slowly develop your own style:

The Recipe

1. Make your art.

2. Film interesting, visually storytelling moments with your smart phone (keep it lazy).

3. Bullet point your process as you go, noting any surprises or struggles.

4. Finish your art, think on it for a few days.

5. Take the bullet points and lightly (or fully) script your process. Cut what you think is unnecessary and sprinkle in the candy of what went wrong or nearly defeated you.

6. Record that script through voiceover or on camera - whatever feels comfortable to you. Be as formal (studio lighting) or informal (talking to you phone camera) as you want.

7. Edit the entire video together using only your script pass (voice over or talking to camera).

8. Only when that feels complete, add in whatever process videos you captured to enhance and clarify what you're saying.

Examples

@Jonpaulsballs handmakes a custom soccer ball (voiceover only):

@CalebNatale breaks down how to fly with VFX (highly produced):