In recent years well-known vloggers have raised the standard in vlogging in recent years. Vlogging isn’t just about capturing someone’s life but taking a peek into their lives and capturing scenes that are not only memorable but tell a story. That’s why it’s important to understand how structuring great vlog content is difficult.
Vlogging isn’t about just taking a camera and shooting whatever you want but showing you story and life. A vlog can be cinematic but if it has no structure, no one is going to watch it. YouTube is crammed full of filmmakers trying to be the next viral vlogging sensation. With each vlog varying in content, style, and quality, and while there is a niche space for almost anything these days, while some are “nailing it,” there are others that aren’t. Structuring great vlog content is important in making vlogging a career.
Watching the work of numerous successful vloggers on YouTube that they often (and maybe unintentionally) stick to traditional storytelling principles. These principles are revealed in the way that they cover their content and compile their edits, and if you’re a newcomer to the vlogging scene, you can vastly improve your content by applying these principles.
Establish a Story Template
One of the best approaches to telling a story in a vlog format is to be influenced by storytelling techniques in movies. This doesn’t mean that your vlog content needs to become scripted or dramatic, but you should rather consider implementing an already successful structure to your storytelling. In film school, students are taught storytelling structures that screenwriters almost always adhere to. They usually have 3 parts which are differentiated by vital plot points.
While your vlog story structure will probably look very different from a movie but you can still use the same principle. Study the work of your favourite vloggers and borrow the elements you like. You could start with a time-lapse or a sneak peek of something that happens later in the vlog. You can implement it in every episode or it can be a once-off. This will help in establishing a blueprint, where you’ll easily be able to tell where your content is best suited in the edit and you will also have an idea of what kind of content you will need to film in order to compliment your content in your episode.
Don’t Get Attached to Your Footage
This becomes important for anyone who edits footage that they have shot themselves. So next time you watch a fast-paced visual montage, take note of how the cuts are placed in the edit. Often there will be a number of great looking shots that are only on screen for a second. Nothing can kill your momentum than lingering on shots because you’re too attached to see them not used. Once you learn to let go of these shots and leave them on the cutting room floor, your editing will become more subjective which allows for shorter, more impactful and more visually appealing videos.
Don’t Spoon-Feed Your Audience
This is another point taken straight from the movies. If you’re a beginner, you’ll probably show useless details of getting ready which in the long run doesn’t serve any purpose in the story. By cutting out content which can be assumed by the audience, you can create a much more intriguing story. This can be used in extreme circumstances such as making cuts mid-sentence, which decreases your duration of work and speeds up the pace of your edit and even allows your audience yo give themselves a ” pat on the back” when they have worked to understand what is being expressed on screen. Use this by structuring great vlog content.
In summary, if you’re a vlogger and want to up your game rather than shooting aimlessly or giving up, learn from those who have done it before you. So next time you watch your favourite vlogger, or even a TV show or movie, pay special attention to how they are telling the story. You’d be surprised what you can pick up on and implement in your own work. You don’t need to produce vlogs every day or stick to a rigorous schedule but if you produce content that you like, then you’ll be fine.
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If you’re a vlogger and have any tips of your own, we’d love to hear them in the comments below.
Original article (fstoppers.com) Tom Collins