I’ll be honest I didn’t really get Youtube until this spring. I’ve watched videos etc, but never really wanted to get that in front of the camera. Then something happened! I’m not sure what it was but I decided to set about filming some days out. They fitted in perfectly with out Blog and we basically added them in as an extra to the photos.
Then the kids wanted to create their own videos. Which is fine, but they want to open toys and eats sweets. Again I have no problem with that except it doesn’t fit in with our Family days out and experiences blog. So there there was only one this for it. Lets set up another channel for the girls and they can do what they want to do as it is based around their own ideas.
Creating a Second Youtube Channel
Imogen and Abigail wanted to do videos about playing games, opening toys, opening blind bags, eating sweets, drinking fizzy pop and some challenges. I’m not sure how well they will go as Abigail is a little sulky if she loses, but anyway!
Let hypothetically think about this. They’ve reenacted some form of event on video, what next. I guess it’s down to Dad to edit the video up. So in an attempt to reduce the post production work I felt I had to put some effort in before the filming started.
Building a Youtube Studio
After watching lots and lots of Youtubers who do various versions of what the kids wanted to do I came up with a plan. First up was to create a background to film against. We’re lucky that we have a spare room in our house, which we stripped the wallpaper off and painted a feature wall.
Next up was a table to present upon. I spotted a very cheap option in Ikea. It cost £32 for a white top and 5 legs. It’s nothing amazing, but as a start up it will more than do the job. Lighting. The one thing that seems to make the difference is how well lit the footage is. If the room is too dark, then the faces aren’t cleanly presented. Plus the camera starts to struggle to create the crisp images that everyone wants to watch. After a bit of hunting I found 2 studio lights on ebay for £40. That is £20 each!!
Filming for youtube on a budget
I was thinking or filming on my Nikon D3300, but after a little trial and error realised that the iPhone 6 was actually quite good for filming. I’m not going to win awards for video quality, but if everything takes off we can look to invest in the future. With a cheap ebay tripod (rested on 3 tins of beans) I set up the main camera angle. With the intention of using the Nikon as an extra angle to zoom in. It ended up that the 2 different cameras produced to very different outputs that it looks a little weird. So one iPhone is all it takes.
Lets get Started
With a concept of trying to create a video a day, we set out a daily topic. The first day is Thursday and Thursday is a reflection day on stuff we’ve done. Filming the 4 minute section took two hours and involved a lot of huffing, puffing, laughing, crying and recharging of my iphone. Hopefully with a little more focus and a routine the girls will crack this.
So after all this time we eventually made our first video.
The girls would really appreciate it if you could subscribe and let them know you’ve watched the video in their comments.
Leave a Reply