Logicked
patreon
My take-aways from the comments on the filmed videos video
🕑 Added 2019-11-06 09:24:08 +0000 UTCThanks for your input, everyone. Here is what I took from the comments regarding filmed videos and other stuff, along with some thoughts of my own. I’ve also included some things I want to do to make everything function better. There really isn’t anything important here unless you’re heavily invested in the behind-the-scenes details of the channel.
-Filmed videos. Some people say they play my videos in the background, meaning that whether they are filmed or not is not too relevant. Others say the energy or what I actually say is a lot more important to them than the filming. This actually does fit with my original plan for the channel: I just wanted to say what I wanted to say, and originally I would’ve preferred just audio with no video. YouTube was where I wanted to be, though, so I had to come up with something, and that was where the filming came in. Having said that, though, my videos have got a lot more visual over time - a lot of the stuff I talk about would make no sense without the video part. So they do kind of need to be visually interesting.
I also think that the general opinion is the filming should not go away completely, even if it’s reduced.
Among patrons, people generally seem to prefer the costume to the avatar. One person pointed out the uniqueness of the costume, which I agree, is its big positive. I also think that in a way it’s also its main negative, since new people can find it jarring (I get these comments sometimes), but it is a style clearly my own, and that means something.
The key point of filming is to get across something that doesn’t come across just in audio or with an avatar. So either a short sketch type thing sometimes, or a joke that only works with filming, or someplace where emphasis is really needed, or a collab, or my Hovind series, or a video I find particularly important.
Here are some middle ground options I will consider when working on future videos:
- One filmed video per month (for something done in a single part)
- Occasional gags/sketches/places where it makes more sense than the avatar
- Only film videos that I really want filmed
- Animated avatar with head moving in response to waveform
- More varied avatars with varied expressions
-Some people have suggested making videos 10 minutes long to take better advantage of the algorithm, keep me in people’s minds, and make more videos with the same amount of effort. Although this probably would be useful in a lot of ways, I will not be doing this in the foreseeable future. I think 20 minute videos offer a nice balance - reasonably long but not too long. 10 minute videos feel like I just start watching and they’re already over. Some people like videos that short for perfectly valid reasons - but I really don’t, and I still feel a need to follow the principle I had when I first started my channel: To make videos that someone like me would want to watch. Also, because of how long I can talk, 10 minutes feels absurdly short. I can’t just get in, respond to a few key things, and get out. That’s why you see me so often doing 3-parters that are 20 minutes long or more. Imagine trying to split those up into 10 minute videos. At that point I’d have to come up with a series name for every random response to some video. And honestly, series don’t seem to work as well as they used to. Maybe it’s an algorithm thing or maybe it’s just the way the times have changed, but nobody really watches by the end.
And, since I charge each video on Patreon, it matters to me that I provide a certain quantity of content in each charged post. Sometimes in the past I’ve had slightly shorter videos, but they are outweighed massively by all the longer videos I’ve made. This rough goal of 20 minutes per video will continue for now. If someday in the future I see that it’s become VERY important in the algorithm or something and I need to make that change to keep my job, I will, but I’d rather not. Sorry to everyone who likes shorter stuff.
-Some people have asked why I’ve stopped with the storyline tidbits I used to put in my videos. I guess I just haven’t thought about it. I still give nods to it here and there but yeah, I don’t really get into it much. I’ll try to inject more of that. Maybe that can be where I film. An intro/outro and maybe a cutaway gag.
-I do plan to do more videos on “normal” religion. It might not always be clear, but just about all of my conspiracy videos are based on religion - Christianity, specifically. I don’t always bring that part up in the response - it depends if it’s relevant in context. But although I’ve talked specifically about god or religious ideas less this year, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been addressing religion. It’s just a different flavour of it. Still, I do intend to respond to videos on plain old Christianity or Islam or other more mainstream ideas when it piques my interest.
-A lot of people said that they like my stuff best when I’m obviously having fun with it. I agree completely. It’s why I’ve taken a bit of a break from the usual this year - to make what I’m doing feel fresh to me again.
-JR mentioned livestreaming on Twitch. I intend to start livestreaming more, and engaging in more live casual conversation that’s not streamed, too. Twitch is a good candidate, especially since getting a foothold there means I have a bit of a backup in case the worst happens on YT, but I’d like to get used to livestreaming with the audience I have first, which is on YouTube. Here are some things I’d like to do.
- “Just talking with chat” streams on main channel (unlist afterwards). I just did this as an experiment, mainly to see if it hurts me in the algorithm. If it doesn’t, I’d like to do it more.
- Occasional chat with someone I disagree with (like I did with Abubaker, Thee Quantum God) OR covering videos not likely to make it to real video status, with friends (main channel, unlist after and copy to livestream channel)
- Occasional livestream while I’m working on something, so I can chat to all patrons and get input or just pass the time (making bobblehead, making avatar movement rig, etc etc etc)
- Monthly Discord chat with $10+ (already doing)
- Occasional Discord chat with watch2gether to find silly videos to respond to, with $15+ (already doing - we’ll have one soon. Keep your Discord notifications on)
- Occasional recording audio Discord chat with $15+ (already doing - we’ll have one of these soon, too)
- Possibly livestream on Twitch (unsure what I’d do there, though)
The next ones weren’t brought up in the comments, but I’d like to mention them just to be thorough, since I’m talking about what I want to do going forward.
-Iseth and I are planning to move soon (something we had hoped to do years ago). The value of our home here in Alberta, a province which is not doing so well lately, is pretty low compared to when I bought it. But by the same token, the prices of other homes are down, too. So we will switch to a different home at a similar price to what we’ll get for this one, but not so deep in the city (or in the city at all), and with more space and, critically, a basement, which we can soundproof and close off so I (or Iseth, when she makes videos) have a quiet place to work. As much as I wish it wasn’t the case, this is a long-overdue necessity for me, as I find it very hard to reach my full productivity with no private, quiet space at all. As dumb as it might sound, the layout of the condo has been a major problem for a long time. So, once we’ve moved, this will let me concentrate better to get videos written, record without limitations from people making noise, livestream more, and generally feel a lot better at work and produce more and better work.
-I will aim for a weekly upload schedule to make it easier for people to both remember the channel and know when to expect content. I may not be able to be 100% consistent with tihs right now, but when I have a basement studio and I can schedule my workdays better, I might. Either way, I’ll try it. Worst case, I’ll miss a week sometimes.
-I tend to work on everything for the month in one big lump, chipping away at one thing and then another thing and wrapping everything up closer to the end of the month. I guess it’s a bit of a weird process, but it works. However, I think it’s a lot better if I can space out the posting of videos to Patreon better throughout the month. So I’ll try to work more sequentially and not dump everything on Patreon in the last week of the month. Don’t hate me if it doesn’t work out.
-This is something I wish I could include in a going-forward plan like this, but really can’t. I’ve often thought hiring an editor, but never managed to. It’s not just a cost issue - it’s that I don’t know how to find an editor who uses software that’s compatible with what I have (since we’d occasionally need to pass stuff back and forth) and who can manage to edit my stuff in a way I find appealing - especially audio. I’ve tried out a couple editors in the past and the audio comes out sounding all wrong. Maybe I’m just too picky, but while I’d be fine with the visuals improving and getting stylized somewhat, I don’t want anything about my audio to change, and I’d want an editor to edit audio, since that’s a big part of the time savings, and it’d be kind of pointless to pay an editor if I didn’t get those savings. So I don’t think this will actually happen anytime soon, unless I get to the point of hiring an actual professional editor-for-hire who really knows how to work with, essentially, a director.
So there are my thoughts and scraps of a plan, as they are at the moment. I hope I'll manage to implement some of this and improve things for all the viewers and myself as well.
Comments
Vellioh
I agree with what you say the live action head-bobbing can be a significant turn off to new viewers. I like to imagine this as if you're intention is to promote logical thinking in regards to controversial topics the "masked vigilante" can give off the wrong impression on specific audiences. Psychologically speaking I would attribute this to people attributing a sense of disingenuousness from you not wanting your face to be seen. Don't get me wrong I completely understand why you do it (anonymity from prosecution/focus on what your saying than whos saying it) but i'm just talking in regards to what I assume other users impressions would be. I don't this this is a jarring when your "persona" is represented in cartoon form. Also, as you stated in your post I am one of the viewers which is primarily interested in the audio rather than whatever visuals are going on at a given time (with the exception of if your subject matter is specifically interesting). I feel as though the strength of your videos is in the commentary you provide. As such, I would argue that a happy medium would be throwing in some manipulation of static images to suggest movement (i.e. static image, single hand raised, both hands raised, pointing, etc). In reality this isn't much different than your typical head bobbing and (I would assume) wouldn't take as much time to compile. Just the two cents from a new patreon subscriber. Keep up the good work I'm sure I'll enjoy your videos regardless of what you pursue.
Logicked
Cool, thanks!
Lucas C
This is unrelated to the post, but I just wanted to say I was very happy to see that you're a verified creator in Brave. When I get BAT crypto I will be contributing to you :-)
I've been watching you for a while, and now I can use my newly purchased patreon-type opinion. First, your content is always awesome, and has nothing to do with how you present it (animated or not). It's ALL about what you say and how deliciously you debunk/deconstruct/destroy the videos. I had begun to wonder if all the prep time used in live presentations would be better used in content, and I think it was answered nicely. The animated content seems a bit better, more thought out and longer....and I way prefer it that way. Stay animated, keep knocking down the insanity, one whack-a-mole at a time. And if that has a added side effect of a better work/life balance I SUPPOSE I can accept that.
Robin Baker
I'd been wondering what had happened to the live costume. I'd assumed it was too hot/confining. Good luck on the house hunting and moving. Keep producing in depth ,thought provoking good material, If it's interesting, it's worth the 20 minutes of my time. Better than 10 minutes of fluff with no background or real point.
Joe Rader
Sounds good to me! 👍
GayCoonie
Personally, I like long videos. I agree with you that 20 minutes is a good length. To me, 15 minutes is the absolute minimum for me to actually wanna watch a video. I'm much more likely to click on a 17 minute video, than a 12 minute video with the exact same title and thumbnail. As for the filming, I don't care either way. I liked the costume, but the actual audio content is much more important. Like fewer videos, but filming would absolutely be a complete negative for me. If filming will take anything else away from the video(s) or the number of videos, don't do it.
JRChadwick
This sounds good. You have some goals and you aren't taking away the things your fans love. As far as Twitch, you can use it for a sort of live debunking of a video you do not have time to make a video about or you can do streams about something else in your life you enjoy that you think would be entertaining: cooking, video games, etc.
Ryusuta
I'm glad my feedback could be a help. I enjoyed the bit of the casual stream that I saw. Honestly, streaming more often might be a good way to shore up the Patreon numbers a bit, since Superchatting is kind of a big thing people enjoy these days. Of course, the last thing I want is for you to forego the long-form videos (and I agree; 20 minutes is a really decent timeframe), and you don't want to stream ALL the time, lest you kinda saturate the market, but hey. Every little bit counts, and I do enjoy hearing you just talking off the cuff. As for your middle ground options, I do very much enjoy most of them, though I'd caution against rapid-fire swapping between the avatar and filming mid-video as that might be a bit visually jarring. But as a whole, a filmed video every once in awhile seems a really good compromise. I'd definitely love to do more Patron/Discord voice chats. I've only been to a couple because of my erratic schedule and general self-consciousness (particularly about my somewhat husky, low-toned voice), but I definitely like the idea of doing them here and there and especially recording/archiving it. I'll do my best to keep an eye out for the notifications and - more importantly - stop forgetting about them partway through the week. Thanks again for everything. =)
