YouTube: an insider's guide

YouTube didn't start until 2005, but now it's mainstream New Media. Why? Because it allows small time punters like you and me to upload video clips which - if they're interesting enough - will be watched by millions of viewers. And that, if you work the system right, can be converted into a generated income. YouTube has gone from hobbyist niche to big business in just a few years. It was so successful, Google snapped it up for a cool $1.6 billion a year later, and now everyone from hobbyists and amateur daydreamers to semi-professional film makers is posting stuff up there - at the rate of ten hours of video every minute. If you're not used to searching for stuff on YouTube, you'll be amazed at the variety. There's everything from instructional how-to films, reviews of new products, personal diaries, stand-up comedians, and extracts from movies, to recordings of live theatre and musical concerts... Read more >>

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Digital Video

YouTube have just announced that they'll be sharing advertising revenue with people whose uploaded clips get most viewings. This is good news for amateur video makers - and I can tell you which ones are most popular. It's either amazing stunts or coincidences, or instructional demos - such as those made by Lauren Luke, a self-employed mother from South Shileds (Tyneside). She's made over 100, showing girls how to put on make-up. They've been watched 2.1 million times. Lots of dosh coming your way Lauren? Actually, YouTube (owned by Google) won't reveal what percentage of the takings they'll pass on to you. Meanwhile, there are also lots of very popular clips showing you how to make intstructional videos! They've already been given the name 'How-to's. Anyone with more serious ambitions as a director of these mini-epics would do well to read Mike Figgis' Digital Filmmaking which makes the case very eloquently that all the laborious paraphernalia of the Hollywood film-making process can be concentrated into a cheap hand-held digital camera that we could buy from Amazon. So now's your chance. Shoot the film, edit the results, upload to YouTube, then wait for the money to roll in. But don't hold your breath.