Today we’re interviewing South African blogger Sam Wright, from Tech Girl, who is a veteran vlogger and who produces regular video content on YouTube.
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How did you get started with the videos? I really just wanted to be able to express myself a bit better and showcase a more visual aspect that I felt I couldn’t really do with my blog. So I started testing out video. It was WAY harder than I thought!
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How much time do you spend in creating videos and how often do you upload? Video takes a giant amount of time. Filming goes from an hour to two hours. Then another hour to two hours to edit. Sometimes longer depending. I usually have to book out half a day to do one video! Unless it is a vlog. I find editing vlogs really quick and easy which is strange. I upload twice a week – on a Tuesday and Friday. But luckily Friday isn’t set in stone so if I need to go with one video I can.
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Tell us about the equipment you use for video: camera, lighting, background. If possible give us some pictures. I use the Canon G7x Mark ii for filming. I love that camera. Lighting – natural light almost all the time. I do have a film light a good friend gave me but I don’t usually need to use it. Background is just my office. I know I should probably make a bit more effort there but I’m not all that concerned.
Check out Sam’s posts relevant to this here:
The Best Budget Vlogging Camera
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Which room do you shoot in? My home office. It has a horrible echo though which brings with it its own problems.
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What editing software do you use? iMovie predominantly. I know it is limiting but for what I need, it works. I do gameplay recordings with OBS
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What tips and tricks have you learnt with editing? Is there a checklist of things you do? Don’t delete the raw footage! I’ve often been in the middle of editing and deleted a raw file to make space only to realise I need it later. Save everything! I don’t have a checklist per say. My biggest thing when filming is to keep reminding myself to take pauses between sentences and try talk slowly – because it helps the editing process.
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Is there any video guru you have used as a resource, or a mentor you admire? iJustine for the most part. I love her style and how clean her videos are. But there isn’t one definitive person to be honest. I try learn what I can from as many content creators as possible.
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What has been your most successful video and why? I did a collab video with a brand and a local hip hop star. Said star dropped an exclusive never heard before track in the car during the video. So for obvious reasons that is my most successful video. Got to love YouTube – it would not have been my first pick. Haha.
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What are brands looking for in this medium? Truthfully? I actually don’t think they know. The hardest thing I’ve dealt with is trying to create YouTube content in partnership with brands. They tend to think they’re paying for an advertisement. I’ve started actively avoiding brand collabs unless I can dictate the direction entirely.
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What is your advice for a newbie person who wants to get started with making videos? Just start. Don’t expect greatness, know you won’t get views in the beginning and you’ll cringe. But just start. Too many people want to be perfect before they’ve begun so they never begin.
Another great post: 5 Vlog Tips You Can Learn from the SSA YouTube Creators Awards
Check out Sam on her blog and her YouTube Channel.
She shares more about her set up in the video below.
Check out our other posts in this series:
Would you like to feature on this video series? Email heather@samomblogs.co.za.
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Loved the interview. 🙂