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How to Vlog: From the Vlogbrothers

2011-05-20 · explainer · Hank · 3:14 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Internet & YouTube · mode: Advice & reviews · tags: community lore, self promotion, civic or action cta

Hank gives simple, equipment-free advice on vlogging: frame by the rule of thirds, find a stage voice aimed at one imagined viewer, don't forget to be interesting, avoid silence around jump cuts, and don't be afraid to try.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — A video about making videos; not about equipment: skill is honed by lack

  • ★★ Hank makes a video about making videos, something different that may not appeal to everyone, and says he will do his best to keep it entertaining for non-vloggers. — 00:00:01
  • ★★ Hank won't discuss cameras, computers or software: skill is honed by lack, and a learner needs no Valyrian steel sword to learn to wield a knife. — 00:00:08

00:00:26 — How to look: the rule of thirds and the eyes on the line

  • ★★ Hank recommends the rule of thirds; early vlogs put eyes and mouth on the lines, but with bigger screens now just the eyes, the most important element of the frame. — 00:00:26

00:00:45 — How to sound: the vlogging voice, a gigantic stage with one person in the audience, from John to all of Nerdfighteria

  • ★★★ Hank says his vlogging voice is not how he talks to his wife at home: he imagines himself on a gigantic stage talking to one person in the audience. — 00:00:45 · Katherine Green
  • ★★ Hank says the vlogging voice takes time to hone; early vlogbrothers videos show that the brothers sucked too when they started. — 00:01:01 · Vlogbrothers
  • ★★ Hank says his one imagined viewer started out as his brother, whom he knew how to please; now it is an amalgam of all of Nerdfighteria. — 00:01:07 · John Green, Nerdfighteria

00:01:22 — Don't Forget To Be Interesting: scripts, short attention spans, ways to keep things interesting, ideas vs making them interesting

  • ★★★ Besides Don't Forget To Be Awesome, Hank gives a vlogging rule: Don't Forget To Be Interesting; he sometimes writes scripts so what he says isn't dull. — 00:01:22 · DFTBA

    “Don't Forget To Be Interesting”

  • ★★ Hank says he wrote a script for this video and will post it on his Tumblr so viewers can compare it with the finished video. — 00:01:31 · Tumblr

  • ★★ Hank says every audience has members with short attention spans who must be pandered to, and he believes pandering to them makes a video better. — 00:01:39
  • ★★ Hank lists ways to keep videos interesting: moving around, video over voice, props, funny hats, going outside, singing, speed changes, filters and puppets. — 00:01:47
  • ★★ Hank says getting ideas for videos is easy; his real work is figuring out how to make those ideas interesting. — 00:01:58

00:02:06 — Silence is powerful, so none around jump cuts; do not be afraid to try

  • ★★ Hank says silence is extremely powerful and should be used very sparingly; his videos have few silent moments, and any silence around a jump cut is bad. — 00:02:06
  • ★★ Hank advises not being afraid to try: failing stings less if you didn't try hard, but it is also much more likely. — 00:02:21

00:02:32 — Editing: a screen capture of editing this vlog on hankschannel; encouragement to vlog; sign-off

  • ★★ Instead of explaining editing, Hank will post a screen capture of himself editing this vlog on his second channel, hankschannel, linked in the end screen. — 00:02:32 · hankschannel
  • ★★★ Hank says people can vlog however they want, but he encourages all viewers to vlog, and to do it well. — 00:02:54

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Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

DFTBA · hankschannel · jump cut · Katherine Green · rule of thirds · Tumblr · Valyrian steel

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