Wikitubia:Interviews/TheCloserLook

'''This interview was conducted by JakCooperThePlumber on November 4, 2019. TheCloserLook is a YouTuber who currently has more than 500,000 subscribers. '''

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Q1:  How and When did you discover YouTube? Q2:  When and why did you decide to become a YouTuber yourself? Q3:  About how long does it take you to make a single video? Q4:   Do you have a favorite or least favorite video you’ve made and why? Q5:  Who inspired you to start making videos? Q6:  Who are some of your favorite YouTubers currently? Q7:  Do you think art criticism can be objective? Q8:  Currently, you have more than 500,000 subscribers. Did you ever think you would reach this level? Q9:  Currently, your most viewed video is How to Terrify Your Audience. Does this surprise you, and are you surprised that it has 2.4 million views?
 * I think the first series of videos I got truly engaged with was the Yogscast Tekkit series. I had watched a lot before then, but Yogscast in around 2011 were the first creators who I truly became a fan of, so that was the start of my unhealthy addiction with binging YouTube videos if you want to know.
 * That's quite a long story. I remembered that in the moment I discovered YouTube I immediately wanted to make videos for it. That was in 2011, and in 2014 I finally made my first channel which was a dreadful gaming one based around the game Arma 2 Dayz, I won't give a link because it really is very cringe, but if you want to search for it yourself the channel is called TheRealRuskie. The reason I wanted to create videos back then was largely due to the fact it was a fun creative outlet, but while most YouTubers say something like, "I never dreamed I would be this successful" for me however, all I dreamed of was being successful. I always wanted to be a full time youtuber, and ironically, I spent a good 4 and a half years grinding on that terrible gaming channel with that very goal. However, it was to no avail. The result of those 4.5 years of hard work? I ended up with 8,000 subscribers.  It was soul crushing. All I ever dreamed of was being a big time youtuber and after years of striving to get it I had failed. So what I did next was simple, I said "F**k it, I'm done making videos to be successful. It's time to make the videos I want to make. Screw large view counts, I want to just have fun and have this is a creative outlet and nothing more." I asked myself, "What topic interests me the most?" and the answer was (and still is) stories. So I start my channel The Closer Look in I think about 2017, and I made the first video How To Make A Great Villain. Now what you've got to remember is I worked myself to the bone on that gaming channel, and the average view count I got was about 200 for each video, so when my first video on this new channel I made for purely the fun of it ended up with 100,000 views in the space of 6 months, I'm sure you can realise how much that shocked me, as well as rekindled my dream.  It does say something though doesn't it? How trying so hard ended in failure for me, yet working from the heart granted me near immediate success. I suppose the takeaway is that when you are making YouTube videos, don't follow trends, don't copy people. You should always ask the question What topic fascinated me as a human the most? And the answer is the content you should make. It worked wonders for me.
 * Too long. As I make video essays, each video needs to be well thought out. Firstly, I am really picky with the video ideas I use. All the time I will see a movie and come away with a few things, a few ideas as to what I might talk about in a video, and even though I know that video might get a very large view count, I don't make it because it just wouldn't be insightful. It might get me views, money and subs, but it would fail to do the number one thing a video essay is supposed to do.  Enough meandering. It depends on the kind of video. If it is a 10 minute essay it takes me about six days, but recently I've been making ones in the half an hour range and sometimes they take about 12 days of work. Firstly, I spend 2 days researching and generating points and ideas for the video, then 2-3 days writing the script, 1 day recording and editing my commentary, 2-3 days editing the video, 1 day editing the background music, and 1 more day making the metadata like thumbnails, titles and all of that. However I seem to somehow take 12 days to make most videos, I can only assume all of that extra time was regrettably sunk into procrastination.
 * My favourite video: all of them.  My least favourite video: all of them.  I am never happy with my work, yet I am also proud of it. I have never made a video I was truly happy with because there are always flaws, always editing errors or the voice over could have been better or there is a flaw in my argument or the brand deal was done poorly. Every video I have ever made I have been unhappy with, yet I can also see how the quality of each constitutive video is just a little bit higher than the last.   I view all of my videos as a long path of self improvement. Each one is a stone on that path, and while that stone may have been flawed, it has enabled me to take another step forwards in improving who I am, and thus I am proud of each and every one.
 * No one specifically, but I remember a YouTuber called FrankieonPCin1080p who made gaming videos. He was the first content creator I watched that truly, as in like TRULY, made my jaw drop with how good his content was. He was a sort of inspiration more so than the others as he showed me what happens when you create content that is truly exceptional. I don't think I have ever made a video as good as the stuff he made (although we are in an entirely different niches so that’s apples to oranges). I would have made videos anyway, but he was the first person to show me it was possible to make more than just generic gaming videos, so he is partly responsible with who I am today.
 * There are lots of people doing good work in the video essay community right now. Hello Future Me makes some good essays. Nerdwriter1 and JustWrite are people I eagerly watch new videos from.
 * Partly yes; partly no. There are a certain band of people in the film community on YouTube who rather aggressively argue that all art can only be judged subjectively. However I disagree, mostly. The thing is, my channel is all about judging art objectively, or at the least trying to. I watch a movie and I look at the specific devices the story uses. What is its story structure like? Does it adhere to the 3 acts? Do the characters have well realised arcs? All of this. And if a film fails to use one of these devices correctly, that usually creates flaws in the work which I talk about.  Ok, here's an example in my own work to argue that art can be objectively criticised. I made a video on Fantastic Beasts 2, and in that video I explain how the three act structure works and then say that the film FB2 completely lacks a second act. I look at the overall structure of the film and display that actually this film completely lacks the core of a story, and it is really a two act movie. It it pretty much like getting a burger but there are just two buns and no patty.  Now, objectively speaking, the film fantastic beasts 2 lacks a second act, it fails to adhere to the classic three act structure. But this is the ultimate question? Does that make the film good or bad? The honest answer: good is subjective, so art cannot entirely be judged objectively. However what is also indisputable is failing to adhere to specific devices generates specific flaws. With the three act structure, part of the reason it is three acts is to keep the story moving. A slow pace is a ‘bad’ quality in a movie, and only having 2 acts, rather than 3, causes your story to have a slow pace. But this of course raises the question: is a slow pace really a bad thing? The answer is subjective.  So can art be criticised objectively? Yes and no. You can point out the devices, how the work adheres to them and state what happens when said devices are incorrectly, or correctly applied. But you can never say anything is good or bad objectively, because those words are fundamentally subjective in nature.
 * Yes.
 * No. It makes sense that the video got 2.4 million views. The thumbnail was great, the title was great, and I made some interesting observations so it got a high watch time. It probably (it does) sound cocky, but getting views is easy, you just need to make a video of high quality to get a high watch time, then give it a bad-ass title and thumbnail. Do all of that and YouTube’s algorithm will promote the living daylights out of you.

​​​​​​Q10:  What’s your thoughts on the Advertiser Friendly guidelines introduced to YouTube in 2017? Q11:  How long do you think YouTube will last? Q12:  What do you think you would be doing right now if YouTube didn’t exist? Q13:  What’s your favorite movie of all time? Q14:  What’s your favorite tv series of all time? Q15:  What’s your favorite book of all time? Q16:  Have you ever done an interview like this before?
 * It makes sense. Advertisers are naturally worried about being associated with edgy content. But it does go a little too far. I hate how I’m not aloud to say naughty words else I will get demonetised, surely most advertisers don’t actually care if you say “This is a the fucking bomb!” in a review of a film. The phrase is fundamentally positive in nature, and very few people will get triggered by the phrase, most advertisers would have no problem with it, but say it in the first 5 seconds of your video? Better enjoy the yellow dollar sign.
 * For a long time. YouTube has filled a niche no other platform is close to fulfilling. I can easily see YouTube still being very prevalent in twenty years time.
 * A real job.
 * Impossible to say. But the movie that affected me the most was interstellar. It came at the right time in my life and it truly blew me away. If there were one movie in the world I would want erased from my mind, just so i can watch it for the first time again, it would be interstellar.
 * The Boys on amazon prime. Christ that series is just perfect in every way. I love it and can’t wait for season 2.
 * I haven’t read enough to have a favourite, but right now I’m reading Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive and that’s pretty good.
 * No.