Things You Need to be a Vlogger
Just in case you aren’t clear on what vlogging is.
A video log. A journalistic video documentation on the web of a person's life, thoughts, opinions, and interests.
A vlog can be topical and timeless, instructional and entertaining. The main thread is trying to communicate on a personal level with your audience.
Zadi decided that setting up a daily vlog was the best way to show the sun setting in the west to her friends living in the east.
OK, now that we have the definition of a vlog, we should look at the basic tools required for creating one. The following list is in no particular order and is more a stream of conscious dump.
A camera capable of recording video. Be prepared to talk about the gear you use and to get on the gear treadmill. Canon cameras seem to win this fight because of the flippy screen that lets you see yourself while you talk to the people (camera).
Accessories and lighting. Lots of more gear here for your treadmill of woe, gimbals being one of the big ones that update frequently.
Audio recording gear. This is actually important. Possibly more important than the camera. If your sound sucks you are dead to me. See also podcasting.
Software with which to edit your video/audio. Take note here. It doesn’t have to be fancy but it NEEDS to be done. There is nothing worse than watching a YouTube video that has endlessly long sequences of nothing going on. Trust me I’ve made them.
A Onewheel. Really, if you don’t have one of these how can I possibly take you seriously as a vlogger. There needs to be at least a little footage in probably 1/3 of your videos of you riding one of these things. B ROLL BABY!!
A Boosted Board. See #5.
A drone. Another gear treadmill for all the fat cash you’ll be making off the videos of you breaking your neck on #5 or #6. You can even use this to film yourself riding one of those things.
One or all of the following. A barista machine, a chemex, or some other fancy device for brewing coffee. Just for the love of all that is holy do NOT show or mention a Kuerig.
This last one is dicey, but you might want to try to find something to say in your videos. There occasionally needs to be a point to them. Don’t get too far out there. We don’t need another Alex Jones for fucks sake. But please, try to be at least a smidge original too.
Now, I’m not a vlogger. I’m barely a blogger, but I’ve watched a few and posted a few links in the past. Some of the links are to vlogs by people who do some or all of the above. That isn’t to say they are inherently bad. It just gets a little old or ridiculous when you see them all doing it. I can’t even say if I was not 100% sure I’d break my neck on a Onewheel that I wouldn’t buy one. I live close enough to work that I could ride it there with ease.
I’m just pointing out that it seems a bunch of these vloggers feed off each other and it shows. Good for them, they went out and started something, made it happen, and have become successful doing it.
