It seems there’s controversy brewing around a Wikipedia page about Nalts (me). It’s subject for deletion, and for the life of me I can’t figure out what the drama is about. A floor nickel to whoever figures it out.
And if it goes away, must I retire? Or do I secretly create a new name and start over?
I often do videos I don’t love, and they get lots of views for reasons I can’t explain. And then occasionally I do a video that I personally like, and the masses feel otherwise. This holiday video fits the latter category. I’ve watched it a dozen times, and it cracks me up. The stereotypical dysfunctions of a family gathering… and the cool music played by my father-in-law.
Naturally everyone was aware this was a parody, and few of the family members actually resemble their characters. For instance, my brother-in-law Greg doesn’t drink. But he played a sneaking boozer pretty well… without the “over the top” drunk moves that many would have chosen. And our sweet niece Ali played the whining teen pretty darned well.
Through careful editing, most of it appears candid style- and I deliberately shot across the room to give it that feel. Enjoy your holiday weekend, and all the dysfunction we call family.
“There’s something about reading your own quote in print that makes you believe your own BS,” said Kevin Nalts on his blog today. A recent article in StreamingMedia quoted a few of my observations on production quality and how important it is in web video popularity and views:
“…We’re still at a point where production value doesn’t matter that much; in fact, it can hurt you if you overproduce,” says Kevin Nalty, a top YouTube producer known as Nalts. “There’s a certain level of resentment towards the people on YouTube who are trying to have the perfect shot and the perfect lighting. It suddenly makes them seem like they’re better than everyone else, and the video can come off as more commercial, more canned, and less authentic.”
“I try to work on my production quality, but it’s not a high priority,” says Nalty. “I don’t give a crap about lighting, and I’ll put my camera on a tissue box to get a shot. Where I work hard is on the editing and timing because that’s what can harm videos. I probably spend zero time planning a video, 10 minutes shooting it, and an hour or so editing it. And I think that’s kind of right, though maybe I should spend less time planning. I’m not like Hitchcock, drawing up a storyboard. I’d never start if I did it that way.”
Let’s look at the proof… who’s the most popular YouTuber right now? Fred. And his production is horrible. It’s what you’d expect from a teenage kindergartner. Now move down the list on the top 10 subscribers, and you’ll find the same is true with Nigahiga, KevJumba, and Sxephil. Of course, HappySlip and Smosh put a bit more care into their shots, but that’s because they’re plots not stories.
Here’s the common denominator of the top YouTube channels… they’re people not production or film studios. People subscribe to people.
While Universal and Machinima are exceptions, the general rule is that the relationship between the creator and his/her audience is far more critical than editing, lighting and scripts. This is why, I believe, iChannel, PopTub and ClipCritics have fewer subscribers than they may deserve. I too have had less luck with storylines, webseries, reviews or sketch comedy. I’m much more likely to get views by pulling a prank or acting like an idiot in public.
As the industry matures, we’ll see fewer “vloggers” as the top talent, but there will always be a place for people who have interesting personalities, stories and connection with their audience. It’s true online, and it’s always been true in television and film. We see most movies because we like the star not because of the director or plot. And certainly not because we saw the cinematographer was our favorite.
My third-most viewed video (Scary Maze) took less time to shoot, edit and post than it took you to read this blog post. And that’s not because you’re a slow reader.
I probably had about 4 drinks at YouTube Live (a concert, party and gathering in San Francisco on November 22, 2008). But I’m hungover the same way I was after visiting LA to shoot HBO Lab’s “Hooking Up” and “The Retarded Policeman.”
Here are a few of the photos wifeofnalts took while I was busy gathering video footage. We also summed up our favorite moments in the video below. Jo (wifeofnalts) was rather smitten for Bo Burnham and Chad Hurley (YouTube’s founder).
San Francisco was unbelievable. It was the first flight my wife and I have taken alone in a decade (before we had our four children). We visited my sister in NAPA, and she joined us at the event to cover it for ABC’s Good Morning America.
It was great to see YouTube friends, and watch the performances. Now back to the day job! Thanks, Jan, for the reminder that I’ve neglected our sweet lil’ WVFF tribe. Met fellow tribemate Peter Coffin, who I had the pleasure of hanging with, until they drove us into separate seating areas like cattle.
Yeah, so I’ve never been much for live vlogging. Kinda started and killed the blog.tv thing.
But this sounds like fun… YouTube Live in San Francisco next weekend. There are a bunch of live performances per my promo about it with Chad from Clip Critics.
It’s listed as an entertainment gathering party celebration. So I’m not sure if that means we’ll be talking or listening to music and kinda waving at the camera and each other. Not to be outdone, there’s another in Tokyo days later.
Isn’t it true that the hard videos are never as popular as the easy ones. This video of Rusty and Triscuit (pets of babysitter of nalts) was viewed nearly 700,000 times on Yahoo Video. But my more recent video, “Confessions” was far more complicated, and has been seen 25K views.
And here’s your celebration video. Which was shot when Zipster decided to send Locomama to babysit our kids.
So that wraps up my 3-part series for Reader’s Digest. Thanks, RD! Do you suppose this will increase the odds that they accept one of my jokes or stories? I’ve been trying for more than 2 decades.
‘My Dearest Kevin,
Here is an article for your stupid website…’
3 Things YouTube Needs ASAP
Hey, it’s me, Zack Scott. I’m not a YouTube megastar like Nalts, but I am very thankful for my decent subscriber base. I’m also thankful for YouTube. Since its introduction of the Partner’s Program, I really think that it has undeniably taken the crown as far as the best video site. YouTube’s strongest assets have always been its ease-of-use and its community. But the relatively recent Partner’s Program has really made it an invaluable platform for video producers like myself. With that said, I think there are three things YouTube desperately needs to fully outmatch any video site out there. These suggestions will not only help Partners but YouTube as well.
1. Earnings Reports Per Video
As a Partner, I get earnings based off YouTube’s ad revenue. But I think creators need more insight. I’m not asking for a look at their formulas. All I’m asking for is to have an earnings report that specifies how much money each video receives on a per-month or per-day basis. YouTube has done a fantastic job with their branding options and their demographics reports. Why can’t a Partner have an earnings report? Metacafe has had something similar for about two years.
An earnings report will solve two issues. One, I will be able to enable ads on videos that feature my friends. I will then be able to easily know how much I can distribute to them. I already have apprehension on including anyone else in my videos because I really have no ideas which videos make money. I have a lot of ideas that will require more than just myself, but I really don’t want to underpay or overpay a co-creator. Two, it will give me a look into which of my videos do better in terms of ad revenue. For all I know, my most popular pet videos could be netting me less revenue than my less popular comedy videos. This would also be beneficial for YouTube because it will make me make videos that bring me (and by virtue YouTube) more ad revenue.
2. Thumbnail Selection
With tons of video sites letting creators pick from a vast array of thumbnails to represent their videos, I’m surprised that YouTube only allows you to pick from three. This means I still have to be very careful when editing my videos to make sure the quarter mark, halfway mark, or the three-quarters mark has a decent still shot. YouTube makes everything else easy when it comes to properly categorizing, tagging, and marketing your video. What is up with their limited thumbnail capabilities?
YouTube’s current model gives Partners incentive to inject a nice-looking scene or image into the middle of their video. Sometimes this completely ruins the flow of the videos, and it often breaks the fourth wall. I believe YouTube would benefit from better thumbnail selection because people’s videos would be better, people can edit videos faster, and people wouldn’t have to upload the same video multiple times. This will save YouTube some bandwidth. I hate it when I upload a video only to find out my thumbnails look horrible or blurry!
3. Direct Linking to a Specific Time within Annotations.
YouTube has done wonders with annotations and allowing people to link to other YouTube videos within their own videos. For better or worse, this has led to the creation of a lot of interactive videos. They’ve also recently added a cool feature where you can link to a specific time in any video. Now YouTube just needs to combine the two ideas. I would love to link to a specific time in any video within an annotation!
This would allow me to make an interactive video that is one video in size. I sort of like the concept of interactive videos, but I really hate how Partners have to upload twenty different videos. Maybe this is good for them because they get more views and ad revenue that way. But, at least allow me the option so I can have just one video. This should be a very easy fix. I think it will make the viewer experience much better.
Well, those are my ideas. I’ve already e-mailed YouTube a few times about them, but these changes haven’t been implemented yet. I think the first one is crucial, whereas the others are just fluff. But YouTube has been adding a lot more fluff lately, so maybe they will add these. Feel free to e-mail them as well and let them know if you’d like to see these ideas come to fruition. Also ask them to include a wide screen video player. Thanks for reading. I love you all.
The Onion reports that YouTube is offering a $100,000 prize for any video that is actually good. No entries have yet appeared in YouTube’s new “Actually Good” tab, according to this story. If you’re careful, you’ll see that MIKMA makes a subtle cameo with “Mikma was here.” That’s either a complete coincidence or evidence that The Onion writers are actually surfing YouTube.
I for one will not enter. I’m going to focus on the brand contests where the least crappy consumer-generated video gets $100 off any $2000 purchase at McDonalds (only at 3 participating McDonalds that will not be identified).
When I worked for Johnson & Johnson, I was charged with reviewing the “eDetailing” space and helping J&J pharma brands determine if/how they should use eDetailing. (eDetailing was a way for marketers to educate physicians without barging down their office doors with pharmaceutical reps).
This idea was not well understood by leaders who had sold professionally and were now running marketing organizations. So I create a slide that simplified the process (and showed how it differed from direct-selling and other promotion), and I was amazed at how quickly the model spread. Organizations all over J&J began using it (without crediting me of course) and eventually I saw the slide appear in external conferences and used by vendors.
I was both proud and a little frustrated that people were using it without permission or credit.
A lot has changed since then, especially in my perspective about knowledge sharing. I created this slide deck for a online-video and marketing presentation, and just discovered that via “Slideshare.com” thousands have viewed it, and more than 300 have downloaded it. I really like the idea that my ideas and examples might be popping up in schools, businesses, or in the presentation deck of some vendor at a conference.
It’s gratifying when your idea can share — even when folks wipe off your thumbprints. People come and go but ideas tend to evolve.
Kevin "Nalts" Nalty is one of the most-viewed YouTube comedians with nearly 800 short online videos seen more than 74 million times. He also consults with top brands to help them engage in social media & video (check www.NaltsConsulting), and is chief strategical officer at Hitviews.com.
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I probably had about 4 drinks at YouTube Live (a concert, party and gathering in San Francisco on November 22, 2008). But I’m hungover the same way I was after visiting LA to shoot HBO Lab’s “Hooking Up” and “The Retarded Policeman.”
3 Things YouTube Needs ASAP
