I have been making videos for youtube since august 2010. I saw a cheapo camera on special at canadian tire - 30$ intead of 70$, w00t! - So I jumped on the occasion. Back then, I was subscribing massively to a lot of famous and unknown content producers. My goal was to replace TV for one part. I just didn't feel like paying videotron 100$ a month for 70 channels of wich I didnt watch half. Here in Quebec we are obligated to choose a certain amount of french and/or canadian channels because of a stupid CRTC law. On top of that, I have to pay for what they call 'basic' channels. You know, those channels you can get with the good old antenna. I don't like to watch radio canada, TVA, TV5 or tele-quebec so paying for them is plain theft for me. Now, I choose what I watch and I dont waste my time on advertisement. I can hear you say: but there are banners and pre-rolled ads on youtube! Yes. There are. But its nothing compare to all the shitty product placement in sitcoms and the 23 minutes of ads per hour. I think a regular half hour soap opera runs for about 18 minutes if you cut out the adverts. Not that I ever watched soap operas but my grandmother does. She calls it her sex in the afternoon. This topic is awfully off-track and TMI but, you get my point.
So I observed while entertaining myself and took notes. I started building an idea for a regular show. It had to be something that Im good at so I would enjoy doing it but it also needed to be something relevant so that people want to come back for more. It didnt take me too long to think of a cooking show. I started by holding my shit camera in one shaky hand while stirring ingredients with the other, under an obvious lack of lighting. Video after video, things got better. I learned how to plan ahead what I will say and show so the video doesnt end up being 12minutes long. Then I got a super bright lamp and a HD camera with a stand. Shortly after that I bought a whole new set of pots and pans and various kitchen tools to show off.
At some point I also chose to add music to make the video feel more complete and professional but also because its nice to hear something when youre just showing images and have nothing to say. To be honest, my fridge is loud as hell and I had to cover up the noise with something when I dont talk. Because I am a huge fan of Grimskunk, I chose to use their music. Ive been listening to them since 1998 and they were the band headlining at my very first rock show at Boucherville's Festival Rock when I was 16. I remember shaking the hand of Boris and Joe when I was waiting in line to get in the arena. I was super impressed and said something stupid. My friends laughed at me for months!
I had tried to get in contact with someone from the band for a while because youtube is very serious about copyright and I didnt ask permission for use of the music prior to doing so. My numbers are doing so increasingly great that I know it's time to apply for a partnership and start earning money from my work. In order to do that, I need to have a permission to use everything shown in my videos and the music from grimskunk was the only thing stopping me. Yesterday, Peter Edwards @replied me on twitter. Partnership: Here I come!
No comments:
Post a Comment