As an expat/travel channel, I tend to wander around and film as I do fun & exciting things. I do some planning, but not very much. My shooting style, much like my channel, is unplanned. And my channel growth (or lack thereof) shows that. I am trying to work on planning more, and making tighter videos. You do not have to storyboard your vids or script (but certainly can), but know what you are going to shoot, where you are going to shoot, and what you want to say. I am not a tech channel or scripted entertainment so I have more flexibility but still need to plan in advance. If you do not know where you are going - how will you know when you get there?
For this vid I planned it out much more than usual, and it paid off. I wanted to show what a normal Filipino neighborhood looked like. Vacationers rarely see them, even a lot of expats stay in the touristy, or more upscale, areas. I planned out many of the shots but left room to film what I find. It was shot completely out of order. I knew what shots I wanted for particular views and neighborhoods and shot them as I got to them. (the opening scene was the last thing shot). I did not really scout locations, but I know enough about the area to know what I wanted, and where to find it. I have lived here 8 years, I scouted in my mind.
Before leaving the house I already knew my opening shot, where I was walking, what I was looking for. I took a taxi across town to check my PO Box, and walked back. I filmed mostly in short clips, why shoot more than you need? There are a few long shots as I walk individual neighborhoods. I was editing in my mind as I shot so I was confident I had the shots I wanted. Anyone from this city can see that it is out of order, but most people will not know. And quite frankly it does not matter. The vid continuity is more important than map accuracy.
As I shot, I narrated in my head. I did not want to tie the video and audio together yet. As I edited I needed the freedom to cut or move things without worrying about the narration. Also, I like leaving streets sounds in but turn the audio down to not be distracting. Also the mic at the house is better so voice over is my usual.
The video has been up for a month so I checked today to see how it did. Most of my vids have a short life, 90% of my views are usually in the first 3 days. I do have some 40k view vids, but my average is 500. These are the stats for the vid, after one month.
The first thing I like to look at is viewer retention. A view is good, but a 20 second view not so much. This vid's retention is lower than my average, but some of the other analytics still look good. I grabbed a couple bits from the video to try and make a hook; I seemed to have failed. The initial drop is more than my usual. The peaks on the line are chapter marks. I like chapters because I would rather someone jump ahead instead of clicking off. I have also gotten a lot of comments from viewers saying they appreciate chapters. I did include my lunch stop, which is sort of off topic, but sort of ok... Part of my message was to get out and explore, so when I stumbled upon a funky looking burger joint, I stopped for lunch. So it kind of fit. The retention for that short portion is good. If they did not click away, then it worked.
I get a pretty good click through, but not very good impressions. It looks like YouTube knows who to show it to for views, and does not branch out much from there... Not sure how to fix that. Under 9k impression with an 8% CTR. These first 2 pics show a different average view duration 10:05 v 11:24. I am unsure why, but do not worry about it.
What I am happy about is the subscribers gained. I used to get 70% new viewers and 30% subbed - that has swapped recently. I only get 30% new views, which slows down the subscriber count. YT pretty much shows my vids to my known audience. That hurts channel growth. So I tend to get 1-3 subs per vid. This vid got 10 subs. Not a lot, but better than my average. You can also see the view count is above normal. I also had a higher percentage of US views so the money is higher (not important to this topic, but hey I like money too).
In one month it got 1085 views, 84 likes, 0 dislikes, and 49 comments.
The video did not perform exceptionally well, not viral by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a solid performer. I attribute this to planning. I knew what my audience wants to see. I planned the route (mostly). I knew the shots I wanted to include. I knew what I wanted to show and where to find it. There was very little to cut from the clips I shot because I had planned, and was pre-editing as I shot. Shoot enough, but do not waste time (there is no film to waste anymore). Bytes are cheap, but saving on editing is almost priceless.
The video is a bit longer than I intended but I showed 5 neighborhoods, a lunch spot, and a shopping center. I did spend about 5 minutes on a town plaza. It was a cool plaza, but that was too long. The retention showed me that. The entire plaza scene could be cut out and not hurt at all. I need to work on tightening it up a bit more.
My takeaway from this is to plan your videos. My audience likes this type of vid and I know that. I planned my shots, but did not storyboard. I planned what I wanted to show, and knew where to get the shot. I pre-planned my shooting schedule. I kept my shots short. Get the shot and move on. If I were re-edit this vid I would probably cut about 6 minutes out. Lesson learned - I hope.
For this vid I planned it out much more than usual, and it paid off. I wanted to show what a normal Filipino neighborhood looked like. Vacationers rarely see them, even a lot of expats stay in the touristy, or more upscale, areas. I planned out many of the shots but left room to film what I find. It was shot completely out of order. I knew what shots I wanted for particular views and neighborhoods and shot them as I got to them. (the opening scene was the last thing shot). I did not really scout locations, but I know enough about the area to know what I wanted, and where to find it. I have lived here 8 years, I scouted in my mind.
Before leaving the house I already knew my opening shot, where I was walking, what I was looking for. I took a taxi across town to check my PO Box, and walked back. I filmed mostly in short clips, why shoot more than you need? There are a few long shots as I walk individual neighborhoods. I was editing in my mind as I shot so I was confident I had the shots I wanted. Anyone from this city can see that it is out of order, but most people will not know. And quite frankly it does not matter. The vid continuity is more important than map accuracy.
As I shot, I narrated in my head. I did not want to tie the video and audio together yet. As I edited I needed the freedom to cut or move things without worrying about the narration. Also, I like leaving streets sounds in but turn the audio down to not be distracting. Also the mic at the house is better so voice over is my usual.
The video has been up for a month so I checked today to see how it did. Most of my vids have a short life, 90% of my views are usually in the first 3 days. I do have some 40k view vids, but my average is 500. These are the stats for the vid, after one month.
The first thing I like to look at is viewer retention. A view is good, but a 20 second view not so much. This vid's retention is lower than my average, but some of the other analytics still look good. I grabbed a couple bits from the video to try and make a hook; I seemed to have failed. The initial drop is more than my usual. The peaks on the line are chapter marks. I like chapters because I would rather someone jump ahead instead of clicking off. I have also gotten a lot of comments from viewers saying they appreciate chapters. I did include my lunch stop, which is sort of off topic, but sort of ok... Part of my message was to get out and explore, so when I stumbled upon a funky looking burger joint, I stopped for lunch. So it kind of fit. The retention for that short portion is good. If they did not click away, then it worked.
I get a pretty good click through, but not very good impressions. It looks like YouTube knows who to show it to for views, and does not branch out much from there... Not sure how to fix that. Under 9k impression with an 8% CTR. These first 2 pics show a different average view duration 10:05 v 11:24. I am unsure why, but do not worry about it.
What I am happy about is the subscribers gained. I used to get 70% new viewers and 30% subbed - that has swapped recently. I only get 30% new views, which slows down the subscriber count. YT pretty much shows my vids to my known audience. That hurts channel growth. So I tend to get 1-3 subs per vid. This vid got 10 subs. Not a lot, but better than my average. You can also see the view count is above normal. I also had a higher percentage of US views so the money is higher (not important to this topic, but hey I like money too).
In one month it got 1085 views, 84 likes, 0 dislikes, and 49 comments.
The video did not perform exceptionally well, not viral by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a solid performer. I attribute this to planning. I knew what my audience wants to see. I planned the route (mostly). I knew the shots I wanted to include. I knew what I wanted to show and where to find it. There was very little to cut from the clips I shot because I had planned, and was pre-editing as I shot. Shoot enough, but do not waste time (there is no film to waste anymore). Bytes are cheap, but saving on editing is almost priceless.
The video is a bit longer than I intended but I showed 5 neighborhoods, a lunch spot, and a shopping center. I did spend about 5 minutes on a town plaza. It was a cool plaza, but that was too long. The retention showed me that. The entire plaza scene could be cut out and not hurt at all. I need to work on tightening it up a bit more.
My takeaway from this is to plan your videos. My audience likes this type of vid and I know that. I planned my shots, but did not storyboard. I planned what I wanted to show, and knew where to get the shot. I pre-planned my shooting schedule. I kept my shots short. Get the shot and move on. If I were re-edit this vid I would probably cut about 6 minutes out. Lesson learned - I hope.
