What is it About You?

Hi there WIIAY fans.

If you are reading this, you are truly a top fan of this channel, and what I’m trying to do with it. So, let’s talk about that a bit. I started with an idea that sat percolating in my brain for a few months. The idea didn’t start to really take shape until I got off my ass and took my iPhone camera out and started talking to people, random(ish) people. That’s when I started to figure out what was working, and what wasn’t working.

The camera worked ok. I was hoping to use the fancy app that lets you film with two of the four iPhone cameras at once, but I screwed up and selected Picture in Picture instead of two discrete video files. That’s why, in the first couple of videos you see my face, even when my face isn’t framed up quite right, and why I chose to cover up the PIP when the camera facing me wasn’t pointed anywhere good. Now, I’ve got that figured out. Won’t happen again.

Also, I found out what happens when my phone’s available memory maxxes out while filming a video. It would sure be nice if the fancy camera app (Filmic Pro/Double-take) would stop recording, save the video, and tell you that you are out of memory. Well, it does two of those things, and “save the video” isn’t one of them. I lost 20 minutes of my cousin Pat the Passionate Painter because of this. Then when he graciously agreed to do most of it again, I accidentally recorded with PIP again, damnit!!! Seriously, that’s the last time.

I also learn a ton in the editing process. I’m using DaVinci Resolve, the free version, which is pretty bad ass for a free video editing program. I’ve used free and paid for video editing programs, about 6 different varieties, and this is by far the best. I learn something new about it with every new video I put together. For example, I now know how to blur out sensitive information, and anchor the blur to the part of the video that needs to be blurred, such as Precious’ driver’s license. That was fun!

I’ve been out to film on the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville several times now, and gotten some gold every time, then in Iowa I got three videos worth of interviews. But New York City takes the cake. I talked to a guy that charges people that want to put his Burmese Python around their necks for a photo op… $20 bucks each! I quickly agreed, ran and got Kiki, my girlfriend, so she could put the snake around her neck, and I could find out what it is about this guy that made him think he could just go out to Central Park and put snakes on people, for money, lots of money, like enough for him to live on, and then some! I pain him his $20 and gave him a $5 tip.

Then we found The Fantastic World of the Portuguese Sardines. A store that sells one thing, sardines from Portugal. It’s right next to the M&M store, so after Kiki got her candy, we stopped to see what the deal was with a Sardine shop right there in Times Square. The place was beautiful, ornate, and filled with Sardines, thousands of them in beautiful Sardine tins. Plain Sardines, several flavored varieties, and of course, Sardines with Gold Flakes. Also, Andres and Precious were way happier and fun to talk to than you might expect Sardine Salespeople to be. So, I got the camera out, I filmed the shop, I talked to both employees, and now we have a WIIAY video from a Mid-town Manhattan Sardine Shop.

I also found a woman in Times Square, after midnight, dressed up kind of nice with a flamboyant red hat, swinging a green light saber as if she was a young Padawan. When I asked her about it, on camera, it became clear that I was not going to figure this woman out. I asked her some question, got some shots of her swinging the light saber, we exchanged info, and that was that. I’m still miffed by that one, but it’s going to be a video that will include her as well as the short interviews I did with the Times Square photographer dudes that take people’s pictures, then try to sell them their pictures. But the two I talked to spoke just enough English to sell pictures, not enough to answer most of my questions. So I will probably do a Times Square combo video featuring Light Sabre lady, Photo dudes, the big, scary, oily, masked, muscle-flexor that I was afraid to talk to, and more.

I’ve learned that you, the viewer, want shorter videos, and I need to get to the point in the videos, especially if I want to capture the attention of a wider You Tube audience. On it, will get to the point, no long intros, don’t bury the lead, etc. etc. I started creating YouTube Shorts and Tik Tok style videos with shorter versions of the big videos, in hopes of getting people to want more, so much more that they go find this YouTube channel, subscribe, and devour all the videos, in their entirety.

Going into this I thought I was a good interviewer, even when doing it on the fly, with no ability to prep specific questions or talking points for my interviewees, you know, cuz I’m finding random people on the street for these videos. But as I watch the footage of me asking questions, I’m not impressed with my own questions. I need to take advantage of the things these people tell me instead of just saying “nice!” and asking whatever question finally pops into my head after an awkward silence. For example, I interviewed a family at a park in Iowa, and they gave me a lot to work with. But I ignored the opportunities they gave me, and talked too much, and asked some dumb questions, then I let them go. I really want a do-over on that one. As I write this, the plan is to release that one as my next WIIAY video, despite it being below the standards I am developing for this channel. It’s a learning opportunity.

One way to help me solve this problem is to go to a place where there will be a bunch of people with a unified interest, so I can prepare questions for all of them, and ask all of the people the same questions, then put the footage together with a bunch of subjects, instead of only one main subject per page. For example, instead of a 10-minute video primarily centered around one guy I’d put out an 8-minute video featuring say, 5-10 golden nuggets from, say, people at a Farmer’s Market, or a Car show.

I will still try to find the most interesting people in these public places and ambush them with thoughtful questions, after all, that is the goal for these videos. To find out what it is about the people of this world, one at a time.

Thanks for watching the videos and reading this blog post!

J.R.

9/13/23