What's a Documentary on YouTube?

Having spent a years creating for traditional media, I find the experience of creating non-fiction for YouTube an entirely new challenge.  Though production and editing skills come in handy, the requirements of the genre are entirely different - for a wide range of reasons.  Almost ever genre appears on  YouTube, but in terms of offering audience-friendly documentary video, there are special considerations (Since many vlogs on YouTube are non-fiction by nature, I'll limit my discussion to the documentary form).

First, lengths are short in this world.  Though some create (or adapt) longer videos by posting multi-part videos, more effective programs are between 1:30 and 3:00 in length.

Effective YouTube videos offer a means of engagement, usually through the individual creator; in other words, the filmmaker is part of the story - he or she is taking you on a journey.  Even if the filmmaker doesn't appear in the video, the audience perceives this as a personal form of expression.  YouTube channels maintained by entities (i.e. corporations or comedy groups or otherwise more impersonal entities) can be successful, but are by their nature less engaging.

The technical considerations, for the professional, might seem difficult to accept.  Many successful YouTubers have only most rudimentary production skills - what they do have is the will and spirit to create.  While many are very interested in improving their game, production-wise, they're also interested in maintaining the ability to express themselves simply and directly.  To the YouTube audience, that is most important.

Renetto, whom I've mentioned here before, is a true documentarian in this world, and has developed a large, loyal following over several years on YouTube   He now shoots with the HD Cam on his iPhone 4 - he records and comments on his everyday life, including his family and his teenage kids.  He's honest, opinionated, and, after having had the chance to speak with him at  the "Vidcon" YouTuber's conference a couple of weeks back, I feel he's a true sage of the YouTube community.   Another YouTuber, ShayCarl, also records his family's life - he has a younger family, and offers a hipper take on the idea (think the popularity of reality television versus the traditional documentary).  He's currently one of the top personalities on YouTube.  Both offer a good representation on non-fiction in this genre.

Like everything in the YouTube world, the documentary world here is just taking shape.  Though I actually started creating on here with the idea that I was exploring a new world, I've since come to understand that I'm merging my old one, too!

VIDCON - DAY TWO

It's just before the evening concert here at Vidcon, so I thought I would take the opportunity to update my activities today.

This has been another day of bonding with the YT community, talking more with Renetto, while gaining some insight into the evolution of the YT experience over the last few years.  I attended a couple of sessions - one having to do with copyright protection, and another about the convergence (or lack thereof) of social media and Hollywood.

The copyright wandered endlessly without a moderator (or at least without an effective moderator).   The main questions revolved around YT's copyright protection scheme, which allows for copyright holders (or those that purport to be copyright holders) to protect an individual's video, and demand it's removal (or at least suspension) pending investigation.  For those in the profit-sharing YouTube partner program, the removal of a video is an impact on their ability to earn profits; for the rest of us, it's a major annoyance without a easy avenue for appeal.

I went to a YouTube-moderated session about technical improvements, both recent and future, and the discussion about other possible improvements to the site.  I'll have more on some of what I learned in a future vlog.  This session proved to be the most useful, with nuts and bolts information I could apply immediately.

The session on convergence offered - for me, anyway - the coolest moment of the day, as Internet Raconteur  Mikaleh stood up to berate an audience member who asked panelists Charlie McDonnel and Dave Days if they every had to to deal with resentment from struggling actors - the ubiquitous waiters who work for years to make it big - who might resent their "instant" success.  Mickalah pointed out forcefully that their success came out of hard, dedicated work over a period of years, and that anyone who felt otherwise was  simply to be be ignored (to which Charlie and Dave agreed).

In addition Renetto, I made a number of new friends - a couple of which I wanted to mention here.  Will, know on YT as TheCreativeJournal is a relatively new vlogger, like myself, and was having a great time discovering the community - vlogging his experiences.  I've been shooting, but quickly decided that my best bet was to cut together my experiences in one vlog....

I interviewed Camillo, a fourteen year old filmmaker (he'll appear on the vlog) who has been creating on YouTube for the past year as Hoptheborderstudios, and told how he clearly remembers getting on YouTube for the first time in 2006.  His family doesn't own a television - he gets all of his entertainment online.

Now, on to Day Three!

VIDCON - SECOND IMPRESSIONS!

The most interesting development since my last entry was a conversation I had with Renetto, a vlogger who practices what he calls "lifestreaming" - recording his day to day life as completely as he can.  Today, that included an interview with me about my perspective on YouTube as a professional documentary filmmaker:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkgPoLQz3M8

As is his practice, Renetto posted my video within the hour, and on his recommendation, I've already received a number of new subscribers.  In the YouTube world, that's an important technique in building your base - get endorsed by, or interact with other vloggers.  I'm still developing my technique (as one comment on the channel pointed out), but the growing base allows me to continue the process and receive more feedback.

I'll be looking forward to posting my summary vlog later tonight - and applying all I've learned here (and in other ways over the last few weeks) in the weeks and months to come.

A Portrait of Our Time?

As someone who has made his living in non-fiction video, I'm fascinated with the idea of YouTube as a huge, subject-controlled reality program.  From the most intellectual vlogs, to the most disconnected teen (or adult, for that matter) stream-of-consciousness montages, I watch lives of all kinds unfold uncensored by an outside visitor.

In some ways, these self-produced videos are a truer portrait of individual lives than any documentarian could capture.  Some individuals find the intimacy liberating, and share with the world what they wouldn't dream of sharing with immediate friends and family.  The intensity and fun of teen life can't be captured any more honestly than by teens themselves, without adults around to influence behavior.

Of course, not everyone is honest with the camera, or at ease with sharing their lives and thoughts.  Many posture and present their interpretation of the person they wish the world to see.  Even that deception is fascinating.  I find it interesting to look at the sum total of a YouTuber's work to decipher just who they really are.  In the documentary world, there's a constant debate about the degree to which the camera influences what the audience sees on the screen.  Even when the subject is in control of the camera, and the footage that is actually posted, they are influenced by the nature of the social media world.  YouTubers like Renetto provide an ongoing narrative of their lives; but their lives are impacted by the very activity of creating that narrative. [Interesting side note:  Renetto now shoots and edits his vlogs entirely using his new iPhone 4]

I would hope that the billions of hours of video being uploaded to YouTube are somehow preserved for future generations - for within all of this content is, perhaps, the most complete portrait in history of a people and a time.  But who are those people?

In total, what do all of us on YouTube represent in the story of our time?

Opinions?