Making "Good" Content

Now, every so often, I have an idea for a video or a blog post.

INORITE?

The blog posts generally happen smoothly because I can type them out exactly how I want, with very conversational writing, and I'm able to add, delete, change, any single word I want until I hit the "publish post" button.

But my videos have to go through quite a ringer in order for them to make it to YouTube.

I have to have the initial idea for the video which, let's face it, isn't too hard. Then, I decide if the idea is good or bad. The blog posts don't have to be "good" or "bad" respectively, because like I said before, I can tweak them to how I want.

Then, I have to make bullet points of the ideas I want to say into the camera. Sometimes, they'll be vague subjects and other times they'll be as direct as lines I want to say exactly. And I need to have an ending by then. The ending is very important. Obviously.

I then go over the notes and rethink the story, making sure I still think it's good enough to film and post online. I think about my audience, the opinions I'll receive, but most importantly, I need it to be good enough for my own seal of approval. I need to love the work I'm going to post.

After my ideas are down on paper or it's a story I feel comfortable telling from memory, I clean up my filming area. I make sure that towels are off of the door, that clothes are out of the way, that there's nothing behind me, and that the lights are on.

Then I film myself. And I say everything I need to say. Or, at least try to.

While filming, I think about how the cuts will be spliced together. Making sure I'm making it so everything will flow and that I'm not leaving anything out. Then after I film, again, I think about if I love the content I'm about to create. Sometimes, at this point I'm hesitant. I just spent time on something that's almost halfway done. Do I want to give up on it now? Maybe I should just trudge through it.

With editing, I travel to campus to load my footage and spend about an hour or so making cuts and splices to fit the story together. Sometimes, I find out that I left an important word out or that I misspoke when I filmed. Sometimes, an edit can fix it. Sometimes, I scrap that sentence of the video.

And sometimes, like today, I write, film, go to campus, get halfway done with editing and realize that I'm not in love with my content.

And it's a bittersweet feeling.

Bitter because I feel cheated with all the work I put in but sweet because I don't want to give you guys anything I'm not completely proud of. You guys mean a lot to me and I appreciate your viewership. Looking back a few hours, I wasn't too in love with it earlier and that should have been a red flag.

So, in an incredibly round-about way, thank you. :)

Also, this story will probably be part of a 2 or 3 part story-vlog I do soon so NOT TO WORRY.

The Minority of My IRL Friends

I want you to think about your IRL friends for a second. Just your IRL friends. Adding your URL friends to this equation will muddle the results.

Nowadays, I'm sure that the number of your IRL friends who have a Facebook far outweigh the people you know who do not have a Facebook. With Twitter, at least in my experience, it's about 30/70, the 30 being IRL friends who have Twitter. As for friends who post on YouTube, the number gets even smaller. I have a few IRL friends who post videos on YouTube but I have more friends who have a Twitter account and even more friends who have a Facebook.

Following me?

Well, since it makes sense self-marketing-wise, it's a pretty good chance that your IRL friends who post on YouTube also have a Twitter and a Facebook. Right off the bat, if you post content to all three, you're in the minority along with me.

If I think REALLY hard, I can only think of a handful of people I know who post to all three. And some of those who post on Twitter have it set up to post the same posting on their Facebook. What's the point, man?

Take into account Blogspot, Dailybooth, my other YouTube channels, my Tumblr, and I don't feel it's unfair to think that I post more content to the Interwebs than the average person. I even have a flavors.me account. I don't know why, but I do.

I originally planned to write a completely different sort of blog post but I needed to get all this out first. The second IRL URL blog is coming soon. :)

http://www.twitter.com/WhatTravisSays

'Transformers' Midnight Show

I just bought my tickets for the midnight show of 'Transformers'. Surprisingly, two of the four showings, including a 3D showing, was sold out. As I was in line, I made a mental note of what I needed.

When I got up to the ticket guy, henceforth know as TICKETEER, he asked if he could help me. I told him, 'Three tickets for the 2D showing of 'Transformers', please.'

'The midnight show?' he asked.
'Yes, please.'

As he handed me the tickets he said, 'Okay, now you're going to want to show up early because midnight showings get pretty packed.'

I took the tickets and smiled. 'This isn't my first rodeo, chief.'

Wham Bam thank ya ma'am.

...okay, well they didn't actually happen. I was less of a jerk about it. I told him, 'I know. I do this a lot.'

Which isn't that baller of an ending.

Ha.

posted from Bloggeroid

The Blu-ray Conundrum

So, I don't know how many of you know, or even care, but the movie 'Red Riding Hood' was released on DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday.

Now, I never saw the movie. I know it was a 're-interpretation' but the fact that the director of Twilight also directed this movie, kinda caused most of my disinterest. But that's not what my story is about.

One of my side jobs is taking care of the movies and helping customers down movies when that can't find what they're looking for.

Anyway, this is a phone call I got at work today.

Me: 'Electronics, this is Travis. Can I help you?'

Lady: 'Hi, I was looking for someone in the movies.'

Me: 'I'd be able to help, what do you need?'

Lady: 'Well, I was in there earlier today and I bought the wrong thing.'

Me: 'The wrong movie?'

Lady: 'Well, no. Kinda. *laugh* I paid the $14.99 and accidentally bought 'Red Riding Hood' on Blu-ray and I don't have a Blu-ray player.'

Me: 'And so you'd want to return it and exchange it for the DVD version?'

Lady: 'Yes, that would be wonderful.'

Me: 'Has the movie been opened?'

Lady: 'Um, yes. Is that a problem?'

Me: 'Well, I have good news and bad news.'

Lady: 'Uh oh. What's the bad news?'

Me: 'The bad news is that we can't accept returns on movies that have been opened.'

Lady: 'Oh, no! Well, what's the good news?'

Me: 'You said you paid $14.99 for it?'

Lady: 'Yeah..?'

Me: 'Well we're selling the DVD for $14.99 and the Blu-ray for $21.99.'

Lady: 'So that means..'

Me: '..that you bought the DVD, not the Blu-ray.'

Lady: 'Oh. Well don't I feel sheepish.'

Me: 'Have a good day.'

And not to sound mean or anything, but what made her think that her DVD was a Blu-ray?
I am confuse.

posted from Bloggeroid

Battery Musings

Scene: My place of employment. Electronics section. A man comes up to me, obviously in need of assistance.

Me: 'Is there something I can help you find?'

Man: 'Yes.'

He holds out a piece of paper.

Man: 'I need to find this battery.'

The paper has a square drawn on it with a wiggly line coming from the corner of the square.

Me: 'A battery? Do you know the model number?'

Man: 'It's right here.'

He gestures to the paper.

Man: 'I drew the battery.'

Me: 'Um, well, we have lots of batteries with that shape. If you had-'
Man: 'I have the battery. It's right here!'

Me: 'Sir, this doesn't give me much information. Do you know what phone you have? I could try looking it up.'

Man: 'It's a house phone.'

Me: 'Yes, but do you know the model? The brand?'

Man: 'I've been to Best Buy, Walmart, and Radio Shack looking for this battery and no one has been able to help me.'

Me: 'I'm sorry sir, maybe next time you could bring the dead battery in.'

Man: 'Well, it's not dead.'

Me: '...I'm sorry, what do you need it for then? A replacement?'

Man: 'My dog's electric collar stopped working.'

Me: 'And it uses the same battery?'

Man: 'Well, I don't know. It doesn't look like you have it.'

Man walks away.

I am confuse.

posted from Bloggeroid

Phone Novice

Me: 'Wait, if I flash my phone back to the stock ROM, it'll erase all the data on my phone.'

My brother, Lucas: 'Yep. Everything on your phone's internal memory.'

Me: 'So, text messages, programs...'

Lucas: 'Everything.'

Me: '...'

Lucas: 'What?'

Me: 'Is there any way to back up some programs and data?'

Lucas: 'Travis, your Angry Birds scores aren't that important.'

Travis: 'THEY ARE IMPORTANT.'

posted from Bloggeroid

Pirates and Toasers and Thor

Every now and again, I try to come up with reasoning that has no reasoning. If that makes no sense to you, that means you are a normal person. For some reason, that makes perfect sense to me.

Case and point.

I'm sitting outside of the theater, waiting for my friends to get here so we can go watch the midnight showing of the new 'Pirates' movie.

Like 'Thor', I'm not sure what to expect from this movie. There are a lot of ways this movie is going to be nothing like Thor. It's the most recent chapter in its own saga and Thor was the coming-of-age hero story. The constructs are completely different. I mean, sure, the visuals will be breathtaking as they were in Thor but Pirates is grounded in reality. Mostly. I mean, as far as mermaids and zombies go.

But it will be breaking new 'Pirates' ground by not including Kiera and Orlando. Which, I have to say, I'm looking forward to.

So, even though they're familiar characters and themes, like I said, the constructs are different.

But, as with Marvel, I have faith in you, Bruckheimer.

Spelling? I don't care. My friends just got here and I'm heading in.

...after we figure out how to sneak these Whoppers in.

http://www.twitter.com/whattravissays

posted from Bloggeroid

Poe

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore.
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, 'tapping at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more.'
Tis from then, I opened the door, we from there crept to the floor,
And everybody walked the dinosaur.

Okay, Honestly.

I've been bad at this lately.

Sorry.

Between my phone refusing to post the blogs and working a few 13 hour days, I've kinda let my blogging self go.

But that's not to say I don't care about you guys. I do. All twelve of you*.

I posted a video yesterday. It was about a weird dream I had involving YouTubers. You've probably seen it.

Not to sound pretentious, but, I mean, you guys are pretty awesome to follow me on YouTube and, I'm assuming Twitter. So yeah, you've probably seen it. And if you haven't, no biggie.

I am also trying to revive my tumblr account. I'm honestly not sure how it's going to go. I still don't really understand the point of it. I'll have to make a video about it soon.
About not knowing how to get it to work and its usefulness.

Because, you know, I am still confused.

*falsenumbersFTW

posted from Bloggeroid

Birthday Surprise

Oddly enough, typing this blog on my phone is actually giving my left thumb a rest. You see, for the past hour and a half or so, I've been working on a drawing/marker-ing for a friend of mine who's having a birthday coming up soon.

The thing is, the birthday is very soon.

Like, Friday soon.

Today is Thursday. It's 1:59am on Thursday, but it's Thursday nonetheless.

And there's no logical way this will make it to them BY Friday, but it needs sent and the actual sending of it has to be done tomorrow along with some filming for a video I'm posting on, you guessed it, Friday.

I'm being incredibly secretive during this blog and for that I apologize, but I can't risk the internet knowing that I'm putting more than menial effort into ROCKSTARRAQUEL'S BIRTHDAY PRESENT.

Whew, I thought for a second that I yelled that. Good thing I'm typing this all in my head.

#projectseymoreisgo

posted from Bloggeroid