Transcripts
1. Intro: Hello, everybody. I
hope you're all well. My name is John Teresa, and I am a video essayist
over on YouTube. I make video essays
about pop culture and Internet trends through a
feminist and leftist ems. I've been making video essays
for the past four years. I've been asked over 500,000
subscribers on YouTube. And easily, the question
I get asked the most is, how do you make a video essay? And my video essays have come a long way from when I
started four years ago, so I want to share
all of my tips and tricks that I've gathered
over the years for you guys. It can be really
daunting to know even where to start when you're
making a video essay, which is why in my how to make the perfect video essay
class on skill share, I'm going to be running you
guys through the entire process from start to finish. I'm talking, thinking of
the ideas, brainstorming, structuring videos, researching, scripting,
editing, filming. I'm covering all
the Bates, girls. And the class project is to upload a video
essay onto YouTube. And if you don't feel ready to do that, that is
absolutely fine. There's loads of
different class projects and prompts running
up to the big one. So we'll keep you all occupied. Don't worry, and
let's get into it.
2. Brainstorming: When it comes to ideas
and brainstorming, I get inspiration from
absolutely everywhere. Obviously, I'm
chronically online, so most of my inspiration comes from the Internet
and social media. But what I have been doing
since 2021 is I write down any single
idea on my phone, no matter how fleeting
thought I think it is. S like, Oh, I probably won't
make a video about this. I write it down anyway, and I'm constantly revisiting
and adding to this list. A lot of the video ideas
that I write on there, I actually wrote, years prior before I felt
ready to tackle it. So I think it's super super important to just
keep a running log of the things that you maybe one day will want to make an
entire video essay about. After I choose my idea
for my next video essay, I do a massive brainstorm. Any single idea, fleeting
thought that relates to it, I write it down and
stick it on paper. This is actually a technique
I learn in primary school. I think in primary school,
we call them spider grams. But basically, you just
dump every single one of your ideas and any branches
from those ideas onto paper. It's supposed to be messy. It's supposed to be chaotic. Show you guys an
example of one of mine. I find that this
technique really just gets the ball rolling when it comes to research and gets you sort of fired
up and motivated. And during my brainstorming, I'm often doing a little
bit of light researching, a little bit of googling, and I do my brainstorm until my entire piece of
paper is full of ideas. This part may be the
most overwhelming part of the video essay process. But after I do my brainstorming, I end up creating a video structure. So I'm refining the brainstorm into a very
rough video structure. I very often chop and change the video structure like
the first one I ever make. I'm constantly adding
things, taking away, reshuffling the order,
so don't feel pressured at all to stick to your
first video structure. I'll show you an
example of one of my video structures,
as you can see. It's still really messy. But it almost gives you a to do list of things to
research and write about, which I find very helpful. Your class project. I feel
like such a teacher right now. As your class project,
I would love it if you guys could
upload a picture of your brainstorm in comparison to a picture of your
rough video structure. To see how you've really
refined almost this mess of ideas into something more
tangible and digestible. And up next, we will be
discussing researching.
3. Researching: Some video essays
higher researchers. Personally, I do my own
research because I find that this is when the neurons can
really begin connecting. And when it comes to
what sources I use, I use a range of
different sources. I sometimes read books as well, but mostly I use the Internet. I have particular, you know, favorite publications like the Atlantic and the New Yorker, but I really am gathering
information from everywhere. Line publications,
thesiss, dissertations. And from all of these
sources, I find, I create what I call
a research document, where any useful information, which I think is going to
be good for my video essay, I take it from the
source, the article, the dissertation, the thesis, and I put it into a
research document. So all of my research is
in one place rather than it being scattered across 20 tabs on my
computer. It's very very important to note that
this is my research document. This is not my script. This is my research document. And the entire reason why I'm
putting it in one place is so it's easy to keep
track and read properly. You never, ever want to
directly copy and paste somebody else's work into
your script unless you are directly quoting
them and crediting them. The research document is just to keep everything
in one place. It's also easy to reference when you are
writing your script, but it's also very, very
important to keep a your sources. Make sure when you are taking
information from an article and putting it into your research document that you are cutting and
pasting the links, you can credit it later
in the video essay. What I recommend you guys do to get the research ball
rolling because again, it can seem so so daunting is to refer to your
video structure. And honestly, just begin googling the things
that you want to cover. You will find so many again. Articles, dissertations,
thesses, books, YouTube videos about what you want to make your
video essay about. And just crack on
girls. Just crack on. It's easy as that. But
after the researching, we're obviously getting
onto the scripting.
4. Scripting: Some people research and write their script
as they go along. Personally, I prefer to get the bulk of my research
out of the way. And then as I'm writing, I tend to research
alongside when needed. But when it comes to, towards
the end of my research, I go through my research
document again and highlight the really,
really important parts. As you guys can tell, a lot of my video essay process
is all about refinement. Refine, refine, refine,
and then I refine again. And at the point that
I begin writing, I often create another
new video structure that's a little more refined. So it's easier to
follow and I stay on track because very often
I have deadlines as well. And the most important piece
of advice is just to write. Even if you think that
everything that is coming out and is on your
keyboard is absolute rubbish. Just keep on writing. Writing is like a muscle. You have to exercise it. And sure, some of
the first things you might write may not be good. But if you never
ever start writing, that muscle is never ever
going to be trained. But also what I find is most of the time when I am having
an off writing day, when I write anyway, there is something of
sense in there somewhere, so it's absolutely not a waste. And I also find that
people who, you know, put things off
because they're like, Oh, it's not good enough.
It's not good enough. I'm a perfectionist. It's just another form
of procrastination. Just do it. Just get on with it. It's always better to write something bad than to not
write anything at all. When I finish my first
draft of my script, which usually takes
me over a week of writing every single day, I tend to read the script over two or three times,
make alterations, switch things around,
cut things out, add them in until I am happy
with the final product. Think one of the most
important parts of video essay writing
is making sure that you have a structure
that not only you can follow, but also your audience
can follow as well. You want your video essays to be easy to follow and digestible. It doesn't mean that they
can't be intellectual. They absolutely can
be intellectual, but make sure they
are easy to follow. Try to remember the intention
of your video essay. To remember the question
that you are trying to answer and consistently
loop back to that point. I try to share equal parts
facts, equal parts opinion. I try to share
opinions that I don't necessarily agree with
and argue against them. Essay writing is an incredibly powerful and flexible medium. It really is what
you make of it. To get started on
your script writing, take one section from your rough video structure and just aim to write
1,000 words on it. Nice, quick, you know, digestible, but
still a good chunk. And then read back over it
and see what you think. You may absolutely hate it. You may be pleasantly surprised. You may like it. Just make
sure that you're writing. And the best thing
to do sometimes is to do it in bite size pieces, so it feels a lot less daunting. And once you finish your
script, which you'll get there. Don't worry. You'll get there. Sometimes I look at my scripts
that are like 6,000 words, and I'm like, Oh, my God,
comply five days ago. I was just swing
a blank piece of paper or a blank screen rather. But once you do
finish your script, and you're happy with it, it's
time to get onto the film.
5. Filming: Filming videos is surprisingly my least favorite part
about being a YouTube. I find it to be quite tedious
and long and annoying, and you really have to
be switched on for it. But there are definitely
lots of tips and advice on easing
the video process. I find that filming videos is particularly difficult when
you are following a script. So I have gathered all of my tips and advice and
knowledge over the years. Like I've said, 1
million times in this class, practice
makes perfect. And the more you film honestly, the easier it gets, the more comfortable
you get on camera. The way that I
deliver my scripts is I just have my script on my
computer here and I read it, memorize it, deliver it. I would personally
recommend that far more than getting
a teleprompter. I think that getting
a teleprompter, it can seem quite unnatural. There's not that
space to, you know, go off track or have
a little bit of banter or a few little
ad libs here and there. I find that reading off the script and just
memorizing it, sure it's a little bit longer, it's a little bit more tedious, but I do find that the end
result is a lot better. Actually get a lot of questions about what filming
equipment I use. I use a cannon camera. I had to fill it up because I don't remember
the name of it. I use the Canon EOS M 50
compact system camera. I use a road reporter microphone with a pop cover over the top. When it comes to lighting, often I've started using
natural lighting, but I find that before
I use natural lighting, I really like the way
that key lights looked. They are very warm and
homely and inviting. Everything will be linked
in the class notes. But when it comes
to your background as well, controversial opinion. I do not think your background
is the B on end all, but I do think it's
nice to not only have a consistent background
because people recognize you, but also make your
background personal to you. I've got my little
posters, my little prints, my little chair, because this
is like my office studio. But just decorate
it with anything. I wouldn't go out
of your way to buy anything for the background. Just make it personal to you, try and make it sort of
nice and warm and inviting. But again, it's truly not the
B and end, in my opinion. And another filming tip, and this is the biggest, most important
filming tip by far, and it is to film at a time
that works best for you. Back a couple of years ago, I used to film all
of my video essays in the evening slash night. And I used to have a horrendous time because I just wanted it to be
over the entire day. I was just thinking
about filming and how I didn't want to do it. I then ended up switching
out my filming time, for now I try to film
as early as possible. You know, by the time I
do my full parent makeup, it's usually about 11:00 because I am such
a morning person, and it absolutely works. Not only do I no
longer dread filming, I just see it as sort of
part of my working day. But also, people have really noticed a difference
in my energy now that I no longer film at
the time of the day where I have the lowest
amount of energy, which is in the evening
and at the nighttime. My little task to
assign you guys for this lesson is to film a small section of
your video with absolutely zero intention
of uploading it. You can film it just
quickly on your phone. Just get comfortable with not only re delivering a script, but also get
comfortable on camera. I obviously find it really
easy to be on camera because I've been doing this
for literally years. But it really does take
practice to warm up. And it's a universal
experience that everybody hates the first
YouTube video they posted. So just film a
couple of times with absolutely no intention
of ever editing it, uploading it, and
see how you get on.
6. Editing: When it comes to editing, I am really lucky that I have an amazing editor who
edits all my videos, editor cares, but before I
could afford to get an editor, I edited my videos
all by myself. And I don't have an
editor background. The entire time, I was just
following YouTube Tutorials. And being as you are watching
my class on Skillshare, I know for a fact that there are so classes and lessons on here. How to edit with different
editing softwares. So I used Final Cut Pro for a few years that
I actually really got on with. I thought
it was really good. Editing can be quite
time consuming. But not only did I find it quite rewarding,
but in the future, when I was lucky
enough to be able to get an editor to help me out, I knew exactly what
I wanted because I had used the softwares
myself for years. Something which I would
recommend specifically when editing your
videos is to try and find some sort of
consistent branding. Maybe some similar fonts, similar color schemes,
the way that, you know, the background you use
when you post pictures, maybe the music you use, maybe you have a cute
little title card. Maybe like some funny effects that you use again and again. Consistent branding will make your videos more recognizable to people who maybe don't know your name or aren't super
super familiar with you yet. But the more they recognize
that consistent branding, the more likely they are
to remember who you are, and also subscribe and continue to watch your videos,
and there you have it. You have a long term viewer, and that is so powerful.
7. Final Thoughts: My final thoughts on this is the main thing I
want you guys to take away from
this class is that different things work
for different people. I know for a fact
that not everyone is going to resonate with every single piece of
advice I've given. But if there's just one piece of advice that was really
helpful to you, then that is worth its
weight in gold to me. Practice makes perfect and
just crack on with it. I find that a vast
majority of the time, procrastination
isn't because you can't be bothered or
that you don't want to, but rather you're scared of
what the results going to be. You're scared that you're
not going to be good at it. Procrastination is rooted in
feeling really overwhelmed. I hope that by breaking down
my video essay process, that it makes this
seem a lot less overwhelming and that you
can tackle it a lot easier. And hopefully,
getting started on your first video
essay will seem a lot less daunting and a
lot more approachable. I love video essays. I think they are such an
incredible format and medium. I want everybody
to have the tools to be able to create
their own video essays. So that's the class
project, guys. I really hope that you guys have made a video
essay that you love, and if you have, make sure you put it in the class project, submit it, and I will watch and give you guys feedback. I hope you guys enjoyed
this skill share class, and I hope that it was helpful. And yes, I'll see you soon
for another one. Bye.
Jordan T.
