Video making: My experience so far...

Published: Aug 6, 2019

I didn't think I'd have something to write about this week, but I'm currently in the process of making a new video for my YouTube channel, so I decided to write a little bit about my experience with making videos and how I go about doing it. This video that I'm making will be a bit different from my previous videos (I hope it all works out!). I'm excited about it!

I've had my YouTube channel (Art by Cheyenne) for about two years; however, I only have six videos on there and I haven't been very consistent (that's one of my biggest flaws, inconsistency) in making new videos. A lovely combination of self-doubt, comparison, high expectations, and apprehension all hindered me and still do. I would start making a video, but then get discouraged and stop filming it altogether. I would stress myself out to the point that making videos was no longer fun and rewarding. I would much rather paint without filming as it was so much more relaxing when I didn't feel all that pressure of being "watched".

I was also disappointed when my videos didn't appear as clear as I'd hoped they'd be. I thought that because I don't have fancy filming equipment, that maybe I shouldn't make anymore videos until I am able to get a better camera, studio setting, editing software etc. Then I'd "allow" myself to make videos again and others would hopefully enjoy them more.

I'm doing my best to get over all of that, and I'm not putting so much pressure on myself now.

After taking a year's break from my YouTube channel, I've decided to continue making videos to the best of my current ability and to persevere. One day I'll get better equipment, but for now, it's important that I grow my video making skills that are irrelevant to what camera I use. So, my goal for now is to make one video each month, and eventually increase that number to two or three a month.

I'm trying to discover what type of videos that I want to create. I'd also love to hear feedback on what kind of videos you'd like to see! I've been watching other artists on YouTube to try to learn how they format their videos and make them inspirational and aesthetically pleasing. I still feel as though my videos are lacking and I'm not completely satisfied with them at the moment, but I'm trying. Videography and film making is, by all means, an art form and I'm trying to learn more about it.

My current tools/equipment are a smartphone, a bendy tripod and iMovie. That's all I use for filming and editing my videos. I rely on natural lighting, which means I can only film for a sort period of time each day. I mainly just use my phone's time-lapse setting when filming, but I want to experiment with mixing some slower (or even real time) clips with the faster time-lapse ones; also mixing close-up frames with full-view ones.

I previously had trouble with adding music to my videos. Because I haven't had any voice-overs, I need to add music, but the music in the YouTube gallery is sparse and not usually long enough for my videos. Not being able to use music that suits my style also disheartened me in my creation of videos. However, I've recently discovered that one of my favourite composers, Adrian von Ziegler, gives people permission to use his music for YouTube with a simple credit to him. That made me super happy! I went to his Bandcamp site and purchased my favourite songs of his, and now I can put them to my videos. Yay! His music speaks to my soul, and I often listen to it when I paint, so I'm elated that it can be a part of my videos. Another thing that I may add to this videos is a short voice-over... I still have to decide whether I'll do that or not, because I really dislike my voice, but I think it's an important step for me.

So in conclusion, I look forward to making more videos, learning, improving and finding my own "style" of video.

Thank you kindly for reading,

Till next time,

Cheyenne