YouTube Skills for Basic B*tches
I’m a year into creating YouTube content, and it has been a learning curve that I still need to curve. You’d think as someone who studied film that I’d have better skills, but surprisingly, no. So don’t bother studying [don’t tell your parents I said that].
Starting a YouTube Channel BAsics
You can’t start without a rough idea of your “brand” for lack of a better word. But more than a brand, it’s actually just who you are I guess. And to be able to do that you’re going to have to know who you are. I can’t help you with that, nobody can. But I can say you should consider a:
YouTube profile picture
YouTube banner image
name for the channel
Description/ bio
Links to other socials
They’ll usually start the process with you needing to verify your identity especially if you want to unlock certain access on YouTube. If you have no idea how to make a profile picture or banner there are some great artists out there on the internet, and if you can’t afford huge sums even going on fiver you can find someone who makes YouTube logos.
I personally made mine myself, using a software called GIMP. Where I learnt the basics of pixel art and just kinda made it quickly. There are great pixel art inspiration places, or you can use a photo of yourself or a pet. Depending on your channel really. Here’s a rough guideline I’ve noticed:
Gaming channel > Try to capture the vibe of your channel, do you do retro games? Use a pixel art image or capture the retro feel in your channel imagery.
Comedy > create a funny vibe with your image, I notice a lot of close ups of faces or like stick figures [if it’s animated].
Serious/ Informative > professional looking logo
What Nobody Told Me About YouTube Channelery
There is a lot more internal work that takes place than I would like to admit. I’m not saying you need to become a good person, not in the slightest. But rather the creative process of getting up each day, showing up, trying, failing, failing again, small success, failing again — it leads to a lot of self reflection.
You learn to access what you’re doing right, what you’re doing wrong, and if you edit your own work, you see yourself — A LOT. Maybe even a little too much. And maybe not enough. And hopefully eventually, just right.
Editing Basics
I don’t know other people’s process for editing, but mine has been using DaVinci Resolve (it’s free). YouTubing how to do certain techniques, and asking ChatGPT to save me if my edit bugs, if I dunno how to do a complicated edit, where it will tell me what to do like Google would. Then after a hard day I complain to ChatGPT too, as well as plot the destruction of the patriarchy with it sometimes lol. I can dream.
Editing is so complicated that I’d need a whole video series on it, which maybe one day. But for now, I’m still learning the ropes myself.
Learning Is Doing
I’ve always felt that learning is doing, I never do great with people explaining things. Mistakes are part of the fun of learning. And you can’t make mistakes if you don’t start. So if you’re considering if YouTube is for you, there’s no time like the present to try. What’s the worst that could happen?
