My take-aways from the comments on the filmed videos video (Patreon)

Thanks 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.