Can I Get a Review Please??
Hi Paul,
I’ve been hanging around on your channel over the past couple of days, and I’ve got some feedback for you. I’ve been looking at a lot of gaming channels lately, and while some have been well-developed and strong, and some have been in their infancy with a lot of room for growth, it’s been refreshing to see something in the vlog category as a change of pace. Galvin Lee had the great idea to offer a rating on several categories on each channel. I’m going to experiment with that for a few reviews as well. I’ll try to implement that where possible, although it’s difficult to really establish such a scale given the incredible diversity of YouTube. With that in mind, any grades I give will be relative to similar channels at a similar place in their life cycle. There’s no objective way to quantify things like this that are really about opinion and taste, but I think a few grades might lend further clarity to my thoughts. Please take my silly opinions for what they’re worth and glean from them what’s useful while pitching what’s not. Okay, here are some thoughts:
- Your channel looks fine. Though your banner art doesn’t really communicate what content will be offered, it does clarify how often content will be offered, and it highlights you which is important. The look is evocative of 1980s Patrick Nagel prints and font which is fun. You’ve got tons of variety in your thumbnails and they make it look like you’re having a good time. That’s key. Nothing about the look of you channel stand in remarkable relief to similar channels, but the look isn’t hurting you either. Let’s call it a B-.
- I can tell you’ve been picking up some tricks of the trade at university. Your production value has improved steadily, and I expect you’ll continue to grow by leaps and bounds. Your audio is clean and you use natural light well (can’t tell if you’re using a lighting set when you’re filming with a window open, and that’s just fine). It looks evenly lit and good. I like the graphics you use, and I like that they aren’t so obviously purchased that they stand out as garish against the backdrop of a vlog. This is a strong suit for you. Compared to your competition with similar subscriber bases I think you’re doing very well here. A/A-
- The content itself is at its best when crafted and tight, and at its worst when meandering, unfocused, and long for no reason.
o I like that you’ve messed around with different programs on your channel to deal with different subject matter. This is something I need to improve at when working on my channel.
o You’ve got a good sense of eye-line, camera position, and framing – especially in your more recent efforts.
o You’ve got a good sounding voice and you speak well. If you want to continue to connect with an American audience, just be aware that we struggle with anything that sounds Irish and humor us with excessive enunciation.
o In your channel’s genre, you have only seconds to earn a new audience member and you usually seem to be aware of that in your presentation style. You’re at your best when you say what you want to communicate clearly and once. You struggle when you say it again and again but in slightly different ways. I’m sure you don’t mean to, but you convey lack of confidence in your audience when you do that.
o Short videos are fine. Your best stuff is tight and to the point. Some of your videos felt like you had something to say that you’d really thought through, but some others felt like you were freestyling about nothing. That’s fine if you’re killing it, but I think you’re in a place in your development that you don’t kill it unless you’ve got some real ideas to riff on. I found myself enjoying watching you on any subject when you had clear, organized thoughts, and moving on to the next video when it felt like you were just gesticulating and saying words. Take as much time as you want if you’ve got golden subject matter and developed thoughts or carefully-crafted humor to go with it, but if you don’t have that, just make your video a quick-hitter that only has your very, very best bits in the final edit. Thirty seconds of pretty funny is endearing, but those 30 seconds of pretty funny spread out over five minutes of nothing-much-going is pretty hard on an audience.
o You’ve got talent and good ideas, and when you frame those as the reason and the centerpiece of a video, you do a good job.
o I find your content to be a mixed bag. I very much liked some of what you put out, and found that others didn’t have the subject matter, humor, or production to justify a watch. If you keep playing to your strengths, content will continue to grow as a draw for your channel. Compared to similar vlogs I’d go C+ on content, but, because of your raw talent and charisma, I expect that to grow into an area of strength quickly as you continue to progress.
- Which brings me to my final point. You’ve done a great job of being the star of the show on your channel. You’re sharp, you sound good, you’re likeable, you look good on camera, and you’re willing to put yourself out there and be expressive. Even if you address none of the weaknesses of your channel, I think it will still grow because you come off well and I think your viewers will like you, root for you, and want to connect with you. I won’t give a grade on this, because I’m talking about how you come off as a human being and I’m not prepared to reduce that to a single letter. I would just say you come off well and I think this is a real strength of what you have going on.
In all, I think you have some good things cooking, I can see clear improvement since you’ve started, you’re diligent in producing content, and you’re likeable. The biggest weaknesses of your channel are all very addressable and areas where I’m confident you’ll continue to grow. I’m a subscriber and I’m excited to watch you progress.
I wish you all the best moving forward,
Matt
