Looking for some Feedback on Youtube DayZ Series

[jon11br 1]

Hey guys, I have a youtube series that I run, and I am just looking for some feedback. I am not sure if I am going about the series right, it is gaining popularity but once again.. I would appreciate it if you guys could take a look and tell me what you think I should improve. ** This is the 5th Episode, the most recent**

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bug6TjnJpA

[Smite 16]

Just skimming over your channels you indeed have quality uploads. Unfortunately getting known on youtube is based more on luck than video quality these days. You definitely deserve more views.

[cakedotavi 28]

I got about 4 minutes in before I got bored, (sorry, just being honest) but I do have some feedback for you.

• Your intro is far too long. It takes a full 20 seconds to get to the first bit of DayZ, and 1:45 to get to the first bit of new footage. Your intro should be under 5 seconds, (check out some really popular channels like Totalbiscuit or Levelcap and you'll see how short your intro needs to be) and your "previously on" should be tighter too. I'd also suggest adding an annotation that lets users skips the whole "previously on" section.
  
• You have too many intros in various styles. You have your initial intro, the series intro, the previously on intro, and the episode intro. It's way too much, and the styles are not consistent either which feels jarring.
  
• Debug menu is distracting.
  
• Since you're recording commentary on the fly you have a ton of "uh" and "uhm" in your footage. It sounds clumsy and unprofessional. I'd suggest doing your commentary afterwards to solve this, plus it will let you cut your footage more aggressivly.
  
• That leads into my next point: you don't cut your footage tightly enough. You could have started the video at about 3:15 and filled in the blanks with commentary instead of footage of you climbing an empty deer stand.
  
• Lastly, I'm going to be blunt; nobody is watching a 17 minute video by a random youtuber about a game that has thousands of videos out already. I bet if you look into your audience retention in analytics you'll see that very few people get to the end of the video. You need to have a clear reason for your video existing, and for people to watch it. That reason should be evident within the first 30-60 seconds of the video to hook people, and you should cut your footage aggressivly enough that you're only dealing with that one little thing. (Which should shorten the length considerably)
  

Don't get discouraged; I'm being super blunt here so that you get some really honest feedback. You have a decent microphone and voice and you seem able to find interesting situations, (at least in the "previously on" section) but your production details need some work in my opinion. (Though take that with a grain of salt; I only started webcasting in December :P)

Keep practicing, and good luck!

PS: You can learn a ton by watching your competition. Find the really popular videos in the style you want to emulate and think about what they do that you enjoy, and how it differs from what you're doing yourself. Plenty of good ideas to "get inspiration from" (read: steal) out there :)

Edited February 6, 2013 by cakedotavi

[cakedotavi 28]

Here, check this video out. It shows what I mean about cutting tightly and having a "point" to each segment. It's almost as long as yours, but it's really obvious what each segment is about and why the video exists.

[Flinty13Machinima 11]

That wasn't too bad, why does your grass look so different?

[RickyChavez 31]

Most of his points and especially this

>you don't cut your footage tightly enough.

You also want to try and keep the same flow throughout the video while your recording and consider cutting the video into a new video when you feel the flow stop.

One guy pointed out in the comments how at 0:35 of my video I broke the flow of the video and it grinds to a halt.

The clicking of your tongue when you talk sometimes is very aggravating.

The average retention time over my account with 1.8m views is 3 minutes.

So your average video should be 3 minutes.

My longer "movie" type of videos have about a 6 minute average retention.

My heavy tutorial and interactive talking videos seem to be about 8m average retention time.

This video has about 47% retention so like 9:50 of 19:40

Edited February 6, 2013 by RickyChavez

[RickyChavez 31]

This one has 51% retention and youll notice right at the midpoint where the screen goes blue at 3:40 that I break the flow of the video and people mentally disconnect and thats when the video should have ended and thats probably why the video retention is at 51%.

-- 77 DayZ Episode Series --

Forum Thread

You should watch and compare other peoples videos and get ideas of how to approach the game differently.

Im thinking I might start adding situational music to my videos after seeing yours for example.

Edited February 6, 2013 by RickyChavez