Strong and steady content is a must for any successful channel or content provider. Early on you must decide what type of material you want to produce, and what is the best way for you to efficiently create it. You can conceptualize this using the 5 W's and the H.
Why?
Why in the world am I doing this?
Who?
Who is my target audience?
What?
What can I produce that my audience actually wants to see?
Where?
Where will I create this project?
When?
When will I shoot this?
How?
How am I going to shoot it, and will I have help?
1- Why in the world am I doing this?
If your answer is to provide a needed service or desired commodity you are probably on the right track. If your answer is to make money, you may need to reevaluate your goals.
There is money to be made in online media, but it is very difficult to consistently make enough money to supplement or replace your current income.
2- Who is my target audience?
Whenever you consider creating content for your channel you should be certain it is appropriate for the audience you are seeking and for the channel, itself.
The most important factor in reaching your target audience comes from knowing who that audience is and what that audience wants. Once you have put in the time to not only research your chosen market, but also your competitors within that field, you will have a better understanding of what content should be on your channel.
3- What can I produce regularly that my audience actually wants to see?
Your target audience has specific desires. It is your job to divorce yourself and get into the mind of that audience. Your ego will tell you that viewers will go where ever you take them. To a certain extent that is true. It is also true that people will only view content they enjoy.
You can occasionally slip in a couple non-related stories or concepts, but the majority of your content should fit your channel's theme and the audience's expectations.
It is up to you to decide how deeply you want to go into researching your market, but it is a good idea to know the following:
4- Where will I create this project?
Location. Location. Location.
Whether you are shooting a one person informational promo or a web sitcom, location can be your best friend or your greatest enemy.
Your background is your co-star. It is the friend that helps you tell a story. For single person shows, you need a small to moderate sized room with neutral colors, and a decently interesting background.
A bland background will make your message seem lackluster. It will sap the energy of your content. No matter how exciting your material is or how animated you are, your audience will feel that something is missing.
A flashy background can distract your audience. Instead of hearing and seeing what you have to offer their attention will be diverted to the dancing flashing penguin display you have behind you. While that may be enough to make them feel their time was not wasted, your time and message most certainly were.
Web Sitcoms and Action Adventure
A talking head program can be shot virtually anywhere. You can set it up outside or inside. You can shoot it in a room, outside, or even in a vehicle. As long as you can get quality sound and video, you can make it work.
Action Adventure and to a lesser extent, Sitcoms are a completely different animal.
If you write a script without thought of location you may not be able to create the program you are envisioning. This will essentially handcuff your ability to make compelling content.
Example: Once upon a time I wrote a script entitled “Griffin and Gretchen”. It was a very exciting story filled with violence and visual humor. I loved it. The camera loved it. My cast loved it. It was beloved by everyone except the location fairy.
You see, I wrote the script without thought of where we would shoot it or how it would be executed.
The day of the show was a complete and total mess. We had to scrap the chase scene. We had to scrap the action segment. We had to rewrite the ending. Long story short: We got a decently funny episode made, but it was not nearly as good as it would have been if we could have created my original vision.
Don't make the same mistake. Think location as soon as you start writing. Only write for locations you have in pocket or can acquire, and keep it simple.
Complex shots written for even more complex locales are terrible writing in the no budget indie cinema world, it reads well, and makes for excellent storytelling, but in the real world it will make for a more difficult project, especially if it is a one man camera/audio crew. Be kind to others. Keep it simple.
To Be Continued in:
Creating an Online Media Empire 101 - Chapter 4 - Creating Strong Content Continued
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