Pulling out soap box....

Ok must really reduce everything to a quick flash?  Is that really the audience you want that is here today and gone 10 mins latter because they are bored and moving on to the next fad?  What happened to creating something that has good story and substance.  Why must we all be in such a hurry to get nowhere?

.... putting away the soap box.

I have noticed this thing... whenever I watch something on Youtube, I get this 'ants in the pants' impatience. I don't know why, and it even happens for stuff I *want* to watch. But I just can't help feeling that there's something else I want to be doing and I think "oh, just get on with it".

And yet, I'll happily watch an hour or two of something on my local TV station's on-demand shows. Maybe it's the medium? I will watch a movie/TV show on my ipad, but am more likely to watch Youtube on my laptop. If I'm on my laptop chances are I'm suppposed to be working, or am sick of sitting on my laptop because I have been working. I don't do web browsing on my ipad on the other hand, so it's likely that I'm more happy to sit down for the long haul with it to watch a movie.

On the other hand, I expect it may also be the atmosphere of the site. I have an expectation that Youtube will be mostly badly-made clips, whereas a movie or TV show provided on something akin to Netflix will have more production values, characters I can get into, etc.

Most YT videos will be short because it's much harder to upload a long video. So that kind of counts too.

It's an interesting question. With cheap hosting you could technically upload your own videos to your own site. So you could curate a space that has a different atmosphere to YT.

Sadly, I see both sides. Though for some reason, I agree with Na.  Never planned anything over 3-5 minutes, because sadly that has been my limit with YouTube.  But not sure on the 30-60 second clips.

Sadly, I see both sides. Though for some reason, I agree with Na.  Never planned anything over 3-5 minutes, because sadly that has been my limit with YouTube.  But not sure on the 30-60 second clips.

I do believe if you wait long enough you get 'upgraded' to longer videos (1). I know with both of my accounts that happened; though maybe that's an old policy.

(1) With exceptions of course. If you're an entertainer you might get a longer video allowance. If you're posting home movie videos of your cat you might not.

Me and my wording.  Meaning, I struggle watching anything longer than 3-5 minutes.  But yes, the time limit at the beginning is a problem as well.

Me and my wording.  Meaning, I struggle watching anything longer than 3-5 minutes.  But yes, the time limit at the beginning is a problem as well.

Ah... yeah, a slight misunderstanding there

Pulling out soap box....

Ok must really reduce everything to a quick flash?  Is that really the audience you want that is here today and gone 10 mins latter because they are bored and moving on to the next fad?  What happened to creating something that has good story and substance.  Why must we all be in such a hurry to get nowhere?

.... putting away the soap box.


Ok just had to get that off my chest.   I think there is a place for shorter 30-60 second spots and may even be a good place for some people to start.  Actually if you plan really well you could end up with a much longer show by combining 30-60 second clips. Even Sesame Street is made up of a lot of short bits really so the idea is not that new.

It's the reality of the internet audience, especially if you're doing a small show with no financial backing. People don't want to watch something for 10 minutes on the internet. Content is consumed voraciously but it's in small doses. The average YouTube viewer would rather consume 10 clips at 60sec each than one 10 minute video.

If you make something interesting and keep it under 2 minutes, you can build an audience fast. If you make 1 long movie every month, you will be treading water unless it's amazing and people buzz like crazy over it.

Personally, I think the smart method right now is to make those short clips and bring them in. Then (like you mentioned with SS) you have the ability to tie a series of :30 to 5:00 clips together and have your own show. I'm also keeping in mind the audience here at P&S where the average marketing budget is none or occasionally slim. It's not like people have the Sesame Street machine behind them here to push a 10 minute video to a million hits because of brand recognition.

So, in your opinion, would it be better to have multiple 30-60 second web shows versus a single 2-5 minute "clip" show?  Was thinking of going similiar to Robot Chicken to better stagger certain "acts." 

You have to do what's best for you, the format chosen, etc. If you do a 5 minute show say, take 2 :30 clips out from it and promote those first as teasers the week before. Then release the 5 minute vid. This gives you 2 promo clips you can now use throughout of the week to help build anticipation / audience / views.

Teasers...that is a great idea, thanks!

I keep my youtube show no longer than 6 minutes (if I cam help it)  I try to make it long enough to have some substance but short enough to hold interest.  Not easy and though I have some loyal fans it's still hard to even get 100 views.  After this 3 years is up I may try a different format.  Wow, I've been doing this 3 years.
I don't like those really short vine videos.  I'm a story teller, and need more than 20 seconds.  My feeling is that there is so much low quality junk and vlogs on youtube that I don't want to add to that. (even if no one is watching) LOL!

It's the reality of the internet audience, especially if you're doing a small show with no financial backing. People don't want to watch something for 10 minutes on the internet. Content is consumed voraciously but it's in small doses. The average YouTube viewer would rather consume 10 clips at 60sec each than one 10 minute video.

Erm, except of course, as I pointed out this is not true for movies and TV shows. I think the location of content is an important difference in dealing with audience expectations. Hence I would agree with you on the last sentence but not the former ones.

You have to do what's best for you, the format chosen, etc. If you do a 5 minute show say, take 2 :30 clips out from it and promote those first as teasers the week before. Then release the 5 minute vid. This gives you 2 promo clips you can now use throughout of the week to help build anticipation / audience / views.

Doesn't that end up with redundant content and dilution of audience numbers? For instance, I have a couple of tutorial videos but they were split up into smaller parts due to recording limitations. I find that the first video will have a lot of views, but the second or third in the series is about 1/3 or less of that. Wouldn't doing teasers amount to the same - dilution of views? And wouldn't it just amount to more work, because then you have to spend time reminding your audience not just to pay attention to the teaser, but to also pay attention to the full thing?