YouTube: An Insider's Guide to Climbing the Charts

YouTube: An Insider's Guide to Climbing the Charts

by Alan Lastufka, Michael W. Dean
Released November 2008
Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ISBN: 9780596554248

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Book description

Want to make a splash on YouTube? Even go viral? You've come to the right place. This book is written by two veteran 'Tubers who live their art and know what they're talking about -- especially Alan Lastufka, a.k.a. "fallofautumndistro," who has over 13,000 YouTube subscribers and over 4 million views. Alan and co-author Michael W. Dean show you how to make a quality video, and how to optimize, encode, upload, and promote it. This book can't promise you'll be rich and famous, but it can tell you how to make great video art, and what you need to do to get your work seen. You'll learn about:

  • Storytelling and directing
  • Shooting, editing, and rendering
  • Creating your very own channel
  • Broadcasting user-generated content
  • Re-broadcasting commercial content
  • Cultivating a devoted audience
  • Fitting into the YouTube community
  • Becoming a success story

Join Alan, who makes part of his living from YouTube, and Michael, a successful filmmaker, author, and D.I.Y. art pioneer. They'll take you from the basics of gear to making it big on YouTube, with a focus on networking and interaction. You'll also sit in on informative interviews with YouTube stars LisaNova, Hank Green (vlogbrothers), WhatTheBuckShow, nalts, and liamkylesullivan.

Alan and Michael understand viral marketing -- and they know what it takes to get your work on everyone's YouTube radar. And, once you read this book, so will you.

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Table of contents

  1. YouTube: An Insider's Guide to Climbing the Charts
    1. SPECIAL OFFER: Upgrade this ebook with O’Reilly
    2. A Note Regarding Supplemental Files
    3. Foreword
    4. Preface
      1. Why You Should Buy This Book
      2. What This Book Promises
      3. How This Book Is Organized
      4. Bonus Materials Online
      5. How to Use URLs in This Book
        1. On the formatting of URLs
      6. Conventions Used in This Book
      7. Safari® Books Online
      8. How to Contact Us
      9. Acknowledgments
    5. 1. What Is This YouTube of Which You Speak?
      1. YouTube and Online Video: A Brief History
      2. Finding Videos
      3. Navigating YouTube
      4. Going Viral
      5. The Joys (and Problems) of the "Level Playing Field" That Is YouTube
    6. 2. Storytelling and Directing
      1. The Importance of Storytelling
        1. The Basics
      2. Conflict Is the Essence of Drama
      3. The Hero's Journey
      4. A Likable Main Character
      5. Brevity Is the Soul of Wit (or 2 Minutes to Fame)
        1. Hit 'Em Over the Head and Get Out
        2. Slower Brevity and Wit
      6. The Importance of Writing
        1. Treatments and Scripts
        2. How to Write an Outline
      7. Choosing and Directing Actors
        1. Choosing Actors
        2. Directing Actors
          1. Motivation
      8. Directing the Camera
        1. Shots
        2. Tripod or No Tripod?
    7. 3. 99-Cent Film School: Shooting, Editing, and Rendering
      1. Choosing Your Weapons
        1. Mini-DV
        2. The Basic Features of Most Consumer Cameras
          1. Zooming
          2. Shot stabilization
          3. Night vision
        3. Shooting Video on a Cheap Webcam
        4. Shooting Video on a Still Camera
          1. Recording sound separately
        5. The Importance of Audio
        6. Background Music
          1. Levelator
          2. Video from stills
        7. Cell Phone Cameras to Capture the Breaking Story
        8. What Not to Shoot and Why
        9. Location
        10. Lighting
        11. Props
      2. Computers
        1. Editing
        2. Free, Cheap, and Pro Audio and Video Software
      3. Basic Editing
        1. Why Bother Editing?
        2. Basic NLE Editing
        3. Capturing Video from Your Camera
        4. Importing Media
        5. Editing Choices
          1. The jump cut
          2. The L-cut
          3. Other cuts
        6. Rendering
    8. 4. Creating Your Very Own Channel
      1. All About Your Channel
      2. Registering Your Account
        1. Choose Your Username Carefully
        2. Sign Up for Your Account
        3. YouTube's Terms of Use
      3. Introduce Yourself
      4. Customizing Your Channel, or "Pimping Your Profile"
      5. Subscribe to Other Channels
      6. You're Not Alone: Make Some Friends
      7. What's Next?
    9. 5. Broadcasting Yourself: User-Generated Content
      1. Uploading Your Video Treasures
      2. Processing, Please Wait
      3. Thumbnail
      4. Favorites
      5. Playlists
      6. Flagging
      7. Sharing
      8. Permission
    10. 6. Rebroadcasting: Commercial Content
      1. Copyright
        1. Where Did Copyright Come From?
      2. Fair Use and Parody
        1. Fair Use and Remixing
        2. Parody
      3. Public Domain
      4. Creative Commons
        1. How Do I Give Proper Attribution?
        2. Why Would Anyone Even Use Creative Commons?
      5. Copyleft
      6. YouTube's Stance on Copyright and Fair Use
        1. In Writing
        2. In Practice
        3. Evolving Corporate Views on Fair Use
        4. Other Ways That YouTube Deals with Copyright
      7. Getting Permission to Use Corporate Media
      8. When Someone Uses Your Video Without Permission
      9. Finding Material You Can Use and Remix for Free
        1. Creative Commons
        2. Flickr
        3. Podsafe Music Network
        4. Wikipedia
        5. Archive.org
        6. C-SPAN
        7. The Bottom Line
        8. Going Forward
    11. 7. Building Your Audience
      1. Priming Your Channel
      2. Views and Ratings
      3. Comments and Replies
        1. Text Comments
        2. Channel Comments
      4. More Subscribers and Friends
      5. Promoted and Featured Videos
      6. Privating: Covering Your Online Tracks
      7. Playing the Game
    12. 8. The Community: Where Do You Fit In?
      1. Networking
      2. Video Responses
        1. Recycling Relevant Video Responses
        2. Approving Video Responses
        3. Video Response Memes
      3. Collaboration Videos
      4. Collaboration Channels
        1. fiveawesomeguys
      5. YouTube Groups
        1. Creating a New Group
      6. Video Contests
      7. YourTubeAdvocate
      8. Trolls
      9. Your Niche
    13. 9. Hacking the System: How to Cheat (and Why You Shouldn't)
      1. A Word of Warning
      2. Spam Bots
      3. iSub Network and Sub4Sub
      4. E-begging
      5. Autorefreshing
      6. Thumbnail Cheating
      7. Tag Loading
      8. Sock Puppets
      9. Utubedrama.com and Trevor Rieger
      10. This Account Is Suspended
      11. Ethical Hacking
        1. The Hackers
        2. Summary
    14. 10. Reaching the World
      1. Promoting Versus Interacting
      2. Social Bookmarking
      3. Social Networking
      4. Blogging
      5. Your Own Website
      6. Signatures
      7. Moving Forward
    15. 11. Money Money Money!
      1. Monetization
      2. What Is a YouTube Partner?
      3. Do You Qualify?
      4. How to Apply
      5. Branding Options
      6. AdSense
      7. Sponsored Videos
      8. Selling Out, Again
    16. 12. Beyond the 'Tube
      1. Stepping Out
      2. Facebook
      3. BlogTV
      4. Stickam
      5. Twitter
      6. YouTube Gatherings
      7. Time Budgeting
        1. Flexibility
        2. Editing
      8. Steady Work Beats Frantic Work
        1. Multitasking
        2. Be on a Mission!
        3. Effective Planning
        4. The Dean One-Page Plan
        5. Multipurposing
        6. Learn to Type. Fast.
        7. Internet Addiction
        8. Backing Up
        9. Keep on Time-Managing On
    17. 13. Becoming a Success Story
      1. Building Your Brand
        1. Revver.com
        2. Livevideo.com
        3. Metacafe.com
        4. Meanwhile, Back at YouTube
      2. Memes That Have Jumped the 'Tube
        1. Weezer's "Pork and Beans"
      3. Education and Charity via YouTube
        1. How-Tos and Documentaries
        2. The Uncultured Project
        3. Project for Awesome
      4. Hacking Embedded Videos to Autoplay
      5. The Moral of the Story
    18. 14. Closing Arguments
      1. What's Wrong with the Internet
        1. The Problems with Social Networking
        2. Why Kant Johnny Writ?
      2. What's Right with the Internet
      3. The Media
        1. C-SPAN
      4. What's Wrong with the World
      5. What's Right with the World
      6. What You Can Do About All This
        1. Surviving and Thriving in the New Economy
          1. Michael's Pearls of Wisdom:
        2. Making Lemonade from Lemons
    19. 15. Interviews with Other YouTube Rock Stars
      1. Interview with Lisa Donovan (LisaNova)
      2. Interview with Hank Green (vlogbrothers)
      3. Interview with Michael Buckley (WhatTheBuckShow)
      4. Interview with Kevin Nalty (Nalts)
      5. Interview with Liam Kyle Sullivan (liamkylesullivan)
    20. Index
    21. About the Authors
    22. Colophon
    23. SPECIAL OFFER: Upgrade this ebook with O’Reilly

Product information

  • Title: YouTube: An Insider's Guide to Climbing the Charts
  • Author(s): Alan Lastufka, Michael W. Dean
  • Release date: November 2008
  • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  • ISBN: 9780596554248