How to get noticed on YouTube

found Monday May 5, 2008 at blogs.nzherald.co.nz

A bunch of Wellington Parkour enthusiasts seem to have made the biggest New Zealand-originated splash on Youtube since former Lonelygirl15 (Kiwi actor Jessica Lee Rose) shot to fame with her authentic looking video diaries that turned out to be heavily scripted and acted.

A Parkour video directed by Wellingtonian Shahir Daud has attracted nearly half a million views in three weeks after being featured briefly on the front on the Youtube.com website.
See the filmclip Physical Graffiti: The Chase below

What exactly is Parkour? Wikipedia has a pretty good answer. It's the art of moving from one place to another as efficiently as possible. This can involve jumping off buildings, leaping over walls and in the case of Shahir's video The Chase hurling yourself off a bridge into Wellington harbour.

The movie Breaking and Entering, which I watched over the weekend and was the last effort from British director Anthony Minghella before his untimely death last month, featured some teeange kids who combined Parkour with stealing computers from inner-city offices.

The great thing about Parkour is that its the perfect sort of content for YouTube viewing. The clips are generally short, high-energy, visually impressive (if the Parkour practitioners are accomplished) and often dramatic (especially when something goes wrong. Ouch.)

This amazing 1 minute 40 second Parkour video has notched up over four million views since the 10th of March.

Shahir Daud and I studied together at screenwriting school where we sweated over feature-length screenplays trying to bash them into a shape that may interest the New Zealand Film Commission. But after editing up a video he shot with some friends over a weekend, Shahir has gained more exposure for his work via the web, than the average New Zealand feature film will ever make.

That's a mind-blowing proposition for anyone trying to make their name in the arts. The problem is there's no real business model in YouTube for content generators as of yet, though YouTube is sharing advertising revenue with its most popular contributors.

So could we get to the stage where rather than existing off grants from the Film Commission and NZ on Air and going through the process of trying to get interest from the TV networks, film makers could generate revenue now from YouTube-featured videos?

I think it's a bit early for that and competition for attention on YouTube is intense. I't has a vast amount of content. But it's a hugely valuable medium and one worth mastering for no-budget film-makers looking to try new things and aren't precious about getting their work into theatres or on New Zealand TV.

Speaking of New Zealand TV. It's a damn sight poorer without a dedicated 24 hour Sci-Fi Channel. Have you signed the petition to get the Sci-Fi Channel on Sky TV yet? If not, get on over to the online petition and add your name. Over 1500 people have signed the petition so far!

And what other New Zealand Youtube clips have gone big? There was the fantastic mock Telecom New Zealand advert from a couple of years ago. The current version has only racked up 13,000 views but it has been up before in other incarnations. If we leave out Flight of the Conchords clips, what's gone global in a massive way on Youtube from Aotearoa?

read also : you tube | Youtube awards | youtube spoofs

What Next ?

Learn how you can watch filmclips noticed on youtube in three little steps.

[ Start ] [ Up ] [ child super models ] [ child models ] [ randy orton central forums ] [ thank you for your order clickbank ] [ filmclips noticed on youtube ] [ free dating sites ] [ hurricane gustav ] [ Youtube removes film clips ] [ potfest movie ] [ pirate bay today google tomorrow ] [ thompson cigars ]

Click to Open today's Gold Box

Where can I find the last filmclips noticed on youtube DVD's? Visit download full movies online for the answer.