Want to create better content videos?
Danyl Goodall, a millennial whose videos have received multiple millions of views on social media, is a part of my Expert Elevator content team. I asked him for his advice for anyone new to creating video or wanting to up their video creation game.
Before you go looking for Danyl on YouTube, you might not find him. When I say he’s got millions of views, they’re not millions of views of videos with him in them. Danyl is the guy responsible for the creative, he’s the guy behind the camera, making those videos pop.
So what is his #1 video creation tip?
“I’d say to concentrate on one topic at a time per video,” says Danyl.
“Very often you find that everyone’s trying to get so much into one piece of content that it ends up just diluting the overall message. So I’d say just to like, really, once you’ve got the ideation process, just be really really sure about what you’re trying to achieve with the outcome.”
He then snuck a second tip into our conversation…
“Even though it’s only one tip, I’d say one other thing to also be conscious of is that, you’ve got to be really patient. You know, you have to water the plant every day and then you have a forest, you know it doesn’t come overnight. So just be patient and just keep turning up every day.”
What Danyl is basically saying is that you’re probably not going to get a million views on your first video. It’s not impossible, but you shouldn’t expect it.
Like most things in life, you get good at something by doing it, so if you want to make better videos, make MORE videos (and remember, done beats perfect).
Danyl says: “It’s all about iteration really, more than anything else. I mean, definitely innovate, but the more you do it the better you’re gonna get. It’s a process.”
Video length
When it comes to the ideal video length, Danyl says: “It really depends on what your demographic is, so, I mean, millennials like myself, we don’t have the best attention span. So I’d probably say keep it short and sweet.”
“But, I’d say for a vlog, 10 minutes is generally a good length. For more of an informative kind of piece, I’d say, like two minutes, five minutes absolute maximum. But again, the best thing to do is just to keep going, keep trying different things. And the then just go off of the data, so you know, once you find something that works then really just own it.”
Video Editing
Danyl believes editing is “massively important.”
He says: “There’s certain times where it’s lovely to turn up and you have a storyboard and everything [can be] just be cut and paste in that respect. But, editing is really creating a narrative of whatever you’ve documented so it’s a really important process.”
“In terms of having a style, if you can get really good inside of an editing process and creating your own aesthetic that feels familiar, like one of the things that I’m really starting to become proud of is the fact that I actually have my own style now.”
“When you see one of my visuals, you have a sense of, “ah”, without even seeing my name on it, you know I made it because there’s elements and nuances in there that you’re like, “oh okay that has to be Danyl,” and if its not its someone’s emulating it, which is also nice to see, so, it’s really cool.”
One final video creation tip (that is not about video)
“Audio is hands down the most important thing,” says Danyl.
“Video needs to be visually pleasing for sure. But, I mean, once you have their attention it’s more about what you’re saying than the content they’re having there. So, make sure the audio’s good.”
