I’ve been watching a lot of That Guy With The Glasses and the Angry Video Game Nerd of recent, and it’s really been getting my mind spinning on how these ideas could be applied at a local level. In case you’re not familiar with either project, they’re basically geek video blogs (vlogs) and/or podcasts. TGWTG is focused on Doug Walker’s Nostalgia Critic reviews, but with several other vloggers doing similar kinds of stuff on the network. AVGN is James Rolfe’s well-known, foul-mouthed video game review series.
What I like about both is how simple they are. It’s generally a performer/reviewer, a digital camera and some simple editing. There’s not much to it on the technical or cost side, yet the shows are well-written and highly entertaining.
While this is pretty much geek stuff, in the back of my head I was thinking about how these same concepts could be applied to local news and arts. Since I’m based in Spartanburg, what would a local news, arts and event vlog—still intended to be mostly entertainment—look like?
Any ideas? Any other examples I could look to for inspiration?
Since my only exposure to Spartanburg that I can recall is eating at Denny’s (and I only think it was in Spartanburg), I can’t begin to envision the idea in terms of what it would look like or its practicality. I don’t, however, see any reason it couldn’t be done—and done well.
I have a basic preference for reading things online and not watching them. If I follow a link that I find requires me to listen to or watch something, chances are I won’t. However, put that down to curmudgeonliness more than anything else. A lot of people appear to like watching things on their computers.
Justin and I were approached about doing movie reviews this way—in fact, one “show” was actually shot, but nothing came of it, mostly because the people putting it together had way too long of a turnaround time, so everything we discussed was significantly out of date by the time they were ready to do anything with it. I mention this because what you’re talking about it even more time-sensitive, and would caution you to be very careful about just how much time and effort this seemingly simple undertaking might ultimately involve.
Have you ever watched Nostalgia Critic, Ken? I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on Doug Walker’s work. If you haven’t seen any of his reviews and are interested, you might want to check out his old vs. new Willy Wonka comparison, since he generally likes Burton’s work but has very mixed feelings on Burton’s take ...
I hadn’t seen this guy before and this mightn’t have been the best introduction—since his take on the two films is pretty exactly the opposite of mine (I’ve disliked the original since it first came out)—but he seems to me to be walking some kind of border between criticism and stand-up comedy (except in common with so many, he seems a lot less clever to me than I suspect he seems to himself). It’s interesting, though, but the use of clips is relatively elaborate, which is the advantage of being a nostalgia critic. You’re not hemmed in by time constraints so much. I am kind of curious about the use of the clips and the legality of that, because we have—from time to time—debated their possible inclusion in the “Screening Room,” but have never settled on what the copyright status is.
As for the thing Justin and I did, I wouldn’t hold my breath. It was pretty much not relevant when we did it and even less so by now. Maybe one day the idea will get revived. My problem with anything of this sort—and one reason I’ve largely given up filmmaking of any kind—is that no matter how simple the idea is at the beginning, I’ve managed to drag in elephants and dancing girls and trained seals before it’s over.
For the purposes of a review—particularly online—I’d think you’d be protected by fair use. That wouldn’t prevent a studio from sending a cease and desist letter if they really wanted to, but at this point I doubt many of them could be bothered to do that. I do know that Walker’s videos were regularly taken down by YouTube prior to his joining the Channel Awesome project (which uses Blip.TV’s video network) because of concerns about copyright, but YouTube is draconian about this kind of thing. (Just ask willc about his Star Wars experience!)
You’re absolutely right about Walker/Nostalgia Critic “walking some kind of border between criticism and stand-up comedy,” and even though I generally enjoy his work as entertainment, his actual criticism is rarely all that deep. It’s hardly surprising that he’s opted for a niche where there’s generally not much demand for analysis, and where he can ensure he always has something to make fun of. (If you’re curious what he’s like like when he’s not playing the Nostalgia Critic and is talking about films he actually enjoys, here’s a link to the first part of his Top 20 favorite films: http://www.thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/nostalgia-critic/11654-top2001)
It’s more the form that interests me. Walker (and others like him) are reaching a substantial audience with extremely limited resources, and it’s very hard for someone like me not to wonder how that same idea could be applied to journalism and local content. While I thought the Xpress-Rated Videos (http://www.youtube.com/user/MXMedia45) were OK for what they were, for instance, I was never able to get into making them because I never really saw the point. I’m sure some people would be curious about the upcoming week’s edition of the paper (or curious about the personalities involved in making it), but that doesn’t speak to me in the way a standalone video project does.
Also, I’m more curious than ever to see this video you and Justin made. Are you SURE there’s not a screener of the first one you could upload to YouTube for us to look at?
Also, I’m more curious than ever to see this video you and Justin made. Are you SURE there’s not a screener of the first one you could upload to YouTube for us to look at?
As far as I know there’s only raw footage that nothing was ever done with. Neither of us had a hand (or any other body part) in making it. Even if there was, I have somewhat less than no idea how to get a video on a computer, much less how to upload one to YouTube. I’m lucky to be able to do screen grabs and put them in the columns.
The audio on your camera is decent, but you’re getting a wee bit of an echo from the drywall in your house. Get yourself a lavalier mic. They’re cheap. For $20 you can greatly improve your sound quality. And when you start filming out and about it will minimize sound bleed from the environment (cars, wind, conversation, etc.).
Well, I’m not saying that we wouldn’t be prepared for that eventuality. I don’t know about Justin, but I’m very susceptible to flattery.
If you ever want to give it a trial run, just let me know.
In my experience, a half-hour news show with multiple effects takes approximately 2 hours to film and an hour to edit, so a 30 sec/1 minute review would take very little time to film and edit. How many movies do you review in a week? 6 or so? Set-up and take-down would take 1/2 hour tops the first time. We could be in and out of the Fine Arts in an hour. Two hours a week, max.
Man, I wish I had that mellifluous, FM-radio voice. I bet I wouldn’t have people on the phone either addressing me as “ma’am” or asking if they just woke me up.
It is, and it’s not even the highest-quality setting. It’s a decent little camera for the $80 I spent on it. It’s also hot pink, which somehow made it like $5 cheaper than the cooler, black version.
One suggestion.
The audio on your camera is decent, but you’re getting a wee bit of an echo from the drywall in your house. Get yourself a lavalier mic. They’re cheap. For $20 you can greatly improve your sound quality. And when you start filming out and about it will minimize sound bleed from the environment (cars, wind, conversation, etc.).
A great suggestion, but unfortunately there’s no mic jack. I’m stuck with the on-board mic until I buy another camera. But I can probably get better audio by moving to a different room of the house, or maybe “porchcasting” the videos in the future. We tested it quite a bit yesterday, and the mic gets surprisingly good outdoor quality.
The zi8 is basically the same guts as the zi6, but with a few added features and mic jack. Assuming I don’t come unto buckets of $100 bills in the next few months, I’ll be saving my pennies until I can upgrade. A decent mic is the next item on the list.
