Review My first vids going to YT

[MotoWolfUK]

Hello all!

Very excited to be part of the Motovlog crew very soon! I have 2 vids launching very soon - they aren’t too exciting and inside the house as wanted to get these out the way before all the on-bike stuff launches. I’ll be releasing videos atleast once a week and my next one coming up will be buying my first bike - along with the process and first ride. - all things everyone here had experienced or know everything about, but my channel will be from right at the bottom starting point, all the way until who knows where?

These are unlisted at the moment as have a few more things I plan to do before fully launching but feel free to sub+share them, etc if you like my kinda weird personality.

 

[lonerockz]

Hi Motowolf, when I first saw this I thought you were asking for feedback. I then wrote this long post and before I hit submit I went back and realized you weren't really asking for feedback. So if you don't want feedback then just stop reading. If you do then see below.

I'm new and don't even have my content up for others to look at but I'll share my observations and you can decide if I should be listened to or not.

First, I think you are a new rider and very inexperienced with all things motorcycle (if I'm wrong, my apologies). This means you have no credentials as to why I should listen to you in these product reviews. I wouldn't watch a product review for $20 gloves by someone with no experience. What I would watch is the journey of a new motorcyclist buying their first gloves. I might even comment and engage with that video offering advice.

Second, there is no story telling here. You're reviewing budget beginner gear. Why? Are you a new rider? Do you just like saving money? Did someone pay you to review this? You talk about CBT(CVT??); I have no idea what that is, I assume its a UK test/training. Turn the review into a story and it will be more engaging. Here is an outline of what I would do:

Hey folks, I'm a new rider, I''m going to be documenting my entire experience, from buying a bike, to my early training, to getting my license and beyond. if you are like me you want to make sure that you are safe when you ride. Sure a helmet is mandated, but to be safer you really need a set of gloves. I'm on a pretty tight budget so I did a lot of research to look for some products that are a great value and and will keep you safe. The most important things I look for in a glove are A, B & C. After a lot of searching I chose these gloves on Amazon. Look at this... blah blah blah, which means it totally has A! Repeat B, Repeat C. At this price point they do have some compromises. They don't have D and E, which are nice to have but would take a lot more money. Now as you can see I really haven't used these yet. I'm going to be using these in my CBT and putting them to work and I'll be giving you an update in the future as they break in. We will see how much I miss D an E, are they really good at A, B, C? Come back to find out. Think I should have bought something else, comment below!

Third, your lighting is very distracting. You have that green sheet behind you (Why?), but it doesn't cover that door. So I'm staring at that very harsh light coming through the door. Its very distracting and would cause me to stop watching the video. Look at these videos for help with lighting:

Fourth, you did these in a single take (or close to it). People these days want very tight videos. I'd suggest filming the entire review multiple times and then splicing together each take into a smaller more compact review. For example your first video is over 6 minutes, but if you cut out the pauses and repetitions its probably only 3 minutes of content. People hate having their time wasted, and will switch away if they feel you are not entertaining them or giving them information.

Fifth, the footage looks fuzzy. I'm not sure if its by choice or an effect of the lighting, but you might want to look at what you can do to make that better. I't looks like an older phone or something. Now if you want to become the "super low budget" moto guy on youtube and its part of your "brand" then you probably should say that at some point in your story.

Last, you are shooting up, the camera is low, and you are high. This angle sends a lot of subconscious messages. You don't want to be my friend. You are superior to me and I just need to listen to you. You know more than me so thats why you are above me. These are probably not what you want people to think. You should be on level with the camera that way I think you want to be my friend and we are just having a conversation.

Good luck!

 

[Hippo-Drones]

Great tips there @lonerockz

I have to say, sometimes we need to hear things we don't want to hear... hopefully, this forum, is a good place to hear them... and allows us to improve, before the general public get to criticise!

 

[MotoWolfUK]

Hi Motowolf, when I first saw this I thought you were asking for feedback. I then wrote this long post and before I hit submit I went back and realized you weren't really asking for feedback. So if you don't want feedback then just stop reading. If you do then see below.

I'm new and don't even have my content up for others to look at but I'll share my observations and you can decide if I should be listened to or not.

First, I think you are a new rider and very inexperienced with all things motorcycle (if I'm wrong, my apologies). This means you have no credentials as to why I should listen to you in these product reviews. I wouldn't watch a product review for $20 gloves by someone with no experience. What I would watch is the journey of a new motorcyclist buying their first gloves. I might even comment and engage with that video offering advice.

Second, there is no story telling here. You're reviewing budget beginner gear. Why? Are you a new rider? Do you just like saving money? Did someone pay you to review this? You talk about CBT(CVT??); I have no idea what that is, I assume its a UK test/training. Turn the review into a story and it will be more engaging. Here is an outline of what I would do:

Third, your lighting is very distracting. You have that green sheet behind you (Why?), but it doesn't cover that door. So I'm staring at that very harsh light coming through the door. Its very distracting and would cause me to stop watching the video. Look at these videos for help with lighting:

Fourth, you did these in a single take (or close to it). People these days want very tight videos. I'd suggest filming the entire review multiple times and then splicing together each take into a smaller more compact review. For example your first video is over 6 minutes, but if you cut out the pauses and repetitions its probably only 3 minutes of content. People hate having their time wasted, and will switch away if they feel you are not entertaining them or giving them information.

Fifth, the footage looks fuzzy. I'm not sure if its by choice or an effect of the lighting, but you might want to look at what you can do to make that better. I't looks like an older phone or something. Now if you want to become the "super low budget" moto guy on youtube and its part of your "brand" then you probably should say that at some point in your story.

Last, you are shooting up, the camera is low, and you are high. This angle sends a lot of subconscious messages. You don't want to be my friend. You are superior to me and I just need to listen to you. You know more than me so thats why you are above me. These are probably not what you want people to think. You should be on level with the camera that way I think you want to be my friend and we are just having a conversation.

Good luck!

Ooh, some really good tips there thank you

 

[TallADVer]

Hey man, just watched the helmet vid - if that's your first YT attempt, good on ya!

A few constructive thoughts... keep in mind that this is coming from a complete noob to making moto videos, but I do have some other photo and video experience. The first things every youtuber needs to figure out are camera, sound, and lighting. You need to give all 3 some thought. I agree with Lonerockz's comments above, so I'll try not to repeat them, but to add to them:

Your camera may be fine for the task, but it's tough to tell with the harsh backlighting, which makes the picture look kind of smudged and washed out. But that may be something you can fix just by flipping the camera around and moving to the other side of the room. Good lighting and camera placement can make even an old camera look decent, you just have to work at it a little bit more.

What you also need to consider with the camera is the lens. It kind of looks like you may be using a phone camera, or something else with a fixed focal length. If so, you need to move back farther away from the camera. You are in too close, so when you're holding up the box and helmet, everything is crammed too tight in the frame - basically the product itself is cut off. Again, this doesn't mean that the camera itself is a problem, but it does mean that, before you start to shoot, you need to do some test footage. If that space is too cramped, time to take it out into the back garden. Or else, consider doing your review next to your bike out in a park or something, which will also add some interest to the background. Not that the green tissue paper wasn't interesting, especially when it came off the wall! (just kidding - but yeah, lose the paper)

Sound: you need a mic, your on-camera mic isn't cutting it. It's picking up room echo, and if you try that same thing outside, it'll be all wind noise. A cheap lav mic, like you'll probably use for riding, should work perfectly well inside or outside (the Purple Panda one also comes with an extension cable and wind filter, and it's cheap!)

As far as the review itself - I think you should really spend a little time with the helmet before giving it a personal endorsement. It could be a great helmet, or it could be junk, but if you're going to recommend a product, what is it about the product that makes you want to suggest it to your viewers? For example, you could give us some riding footage with the mic in the helmet, where you describe your impressions with it on the road, things like noise level, ventilation, weight, etc. Really, all I got from the review was that it has basic features like vents and a visor. But when I look at that brand on youtube, here's the top negative review I see on a similar helmet: "Helmet fell apart and you can't get customer service to help". The thing is, anyone who finds your review because they're searching for "Vcan" may have already read that stuff, and are going to want real life experience. At a minimum, I'd suggest addressing the elephant in the room and mentioning if there are mixed opinions about a product. If anything, it'll let people know that you're trying to be objective.

Sorry if that sounds critical - it really is meant to be constructive! It's a good first attempt, and I think if you keep at it, you'll have a compelling video to share with the world!

Best,
Chris

 

[Moto Mengy]

Not a bad first video!

Lighting is something I still struggle with even after three years of this. I'll often film something and then realize the sun was behind me or I was in shadows without even knowing it. I need to constantly think about lighting before I film but I still often forget about it "in the moment".