https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkHWZoW8_kE
First of all, you have to be actually AWAKENED and somewhat WILLING to do the work, and clearly, if you’re reading this, you’re ready. I’ll assume so, and give you what I’ve got so far:
- IT DOESN’T BLOODY MATTER — the substance of your video is entirely immaterial. You can make a short about ANYTHING and, as long as it’s around 15 seconds long, it will do well.
- YOU CAN’T SCREW IT UP — There’s no way to actually bung-up the works. You can’t possibly make a mistake and if you do, it will be counted as a feature, so get your head out of that particular cloud and just do whatever seems like it might be FUN to do and, yes, I did say “fun” — Fun is an ESSENTIAL part of the “Shorts” exercise.
- LOOSEN UP — Take it easy on the thinking, and let the EMOTIONAL CENTRUM come up with some whizz-bang doozies for a change.
- BE REAL — Look for the positive and find the goodness about it, and DON’T focus on yourself, focus on the SUBJECT.
There are no rules and if there were, nobody would know what they were, so just let your imagination loose, and don’t expect too much at first — it takes time and lots and lots of experience, so just let the PROCESS roll itself out at its own pace.
I’m thinking that perhaps a few examples of my own would serve as — well, as examples.
This “3 chords is all you need” gambit almost always works to garner a few thousand and up to a few HUNDRED thousand hits. It’s at 5,736 hits so far, on its 12th day in public.
Most of my shorts are made from longs, making their making super-easy and relatively fast, with no new footage. It doesn’t always work, but 9 out of 10 times, it does.
Tongue drums are always a hit — hey, I made a pun. I can count on a lot of hits when I post a tongue-drum short. Of course, it doesn’t happen 100% of the time, so I kill the posting and repost it, generally with greater success.
Sometimes it’s just the title that turns them off — sometimes it’s the picture, and sometimes it’s both.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKuIWn0Gbvs
I don’t know why this got over 1,000 views almost immediately, and then didn’t get any more — probably fell off the “shorts” shelf in just a few hours, but still, over 1,000 people bothered to look at my virtual drawing — that’s better than my average art exhibit back in the day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTgC8n42G2c
Got a few hundred hits on this, but it’s more than just a personal favorite — I’m trying to sell the video game with this and other short videos.
At the present rate, it’s going to take something on the order of 15,725 shorts to get the attention needed to sell 100 downloads at .99 cents apiece.
That yields upwards of the $12.90 I had targeted as next year’s game income. It’s not the initial cost, as usual — it’s the upkeep, of course.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B64lfU2LlAY
As a long video, this little informative packet garnered some 1/3 of a MILLION views over a 12 year period.
For shorts, it’s a lot less than a 12 year lifespan. You have only 6 hours to make it with your short.
If it falls off the shelf, it’s doomed.
Be prepared for a LOT of disappointment before you hit that “1 Million” mark, but rest assured that hit it you will, if you persevere. But what about the Shorts Project? Is it really a cure for boredom?
You bet it is. Get on board today.
See You At The Top!!!
gorby