In all the exhaustive research I conduct for this site — and by research, I mean wasting time drooling over other people’s stuff — I have seen plenty of YouTube videos showing off people’s collections of everything from action figures to vintage toys. I recently came across the following video thanks to a tip from my Twitter friend, @thewonderfan. This video is a perfect example of how to make a video to showcase your collection. Sure, it was done by a professional studio, but you can learn a lot of great tips by watching it:
Wonder Boy lost me around the 2 minute mark, but to each his own!
Here area few tips that are sure to make your video better:
1. Avoid loud, obnoxious music. You might like it, but I hit the mute button, which isn’t good if you are talking at the same time.
2. Stop moving. The worst thing you can do when showing off hundreds of action figures is to fly over them rapidly. Give people a chance to take in all the awesome.
3. If you have to zoom, do so sparingly and do it slowly. If you are constantly zooming in and out, you are going to give everyone a headache.
4. Use a tripod. Most cameras these days have stabilizing features built in, but a tripod is going to give you much better shots, and it also allows you to enter the frame yourself. Don’t try shooting yourself while holding the camera. This rarely works.
5. Be real. If you’re going to appear in your video and talk about your collection, don’t try and hide your true personality. Reis O’Brien does a fantastic job of this on his site “Hey, Look at my Toys!” After watching one of Reis’ videos, you feel like you have been his friend for years. Here’s an example:
6. Edit, edit, edit. If you’re making a video, please take the extra step and edit the video to cut out all the extraneous garbage. If you’re walking across the room to see another shelf of toys, edit that part out, or you’re going to make me seasick.
7. Keep it short. Unless your collection is really massive, or you have a lot of incredible stuff to talk about, keep the length of your video short and sweet.
One of these days, I’ll get my lazy self to make a video, but until then, I can always critique yours! Hope this helps!
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