Let The Flames Begin

Of course this guide doesn’t just apply to anime reviews, but since that is the medium I’ve been focusing on for the last 3 years, I’ll be using it as an example.

So if you already know who I am then you probably have already seen this, but for any random viewer who hasn’t seen my original video on this subject, then I recommend you do so. It gives general tips and will lead on to the rest of this post, so if you haven’t already watched it I recommend you do so here:

So, to those of you who have already seen the video and would like some more specific tips, well I recently ask some of you on twitter what topics you wanted me to cover and here’s what you came up with:

Structure

A basic structure to your review isn’t necessary but it helps when you have writers block when you start writing your review and maintaining consistency. Even though my reviews are partly entertainment based and not so professional, I still manage to keep a basic structure for my videos: 

Introductory Joke (“Today on the anime zone…” Quick joke that catches the eye of any user with the attention span of a gold fish so they actually watch your stuff)

Series Introduction (Puts the series I am reviewing into context and draws the viewer into the review)

Plot Description (kept as brief as possible unless there are some jokes I can add in)

Brief Character Rundown (Again kept brief unless there are specific characters I can take the piss out of and make jokes)

Main body of opinion (This should make up a fair bit of the review and has the most varied structure, why you liked it, why you didn’t like it and anything else that you want to talk about)

Final Thought and Rating

Of course everyone can have different structures depending on their style, but I recommend you thinking about yours before you start it.

Copyright

Obviously there are many video hosting sites that you can put your review on where you don’t have to worry about copyright (e.g. blip) but most likely if you’re just starting off then you’ll want to put your reviews on YouTube where there’s more traffic, more views and in general the best place to get start up views and comments. Of course the biggest problem with YouTube is that they are bitches when it comes to copyright infringement and will not hesitate to take down videos you’ve worked hours on with no warning and disable your account for life. 

Many reviewers I know have fallen into this trap causing them to flee YouTube or stop reviewing altogether. Fortunately from my experience there are several ways to avoid this so that you don’t get a random copyright claim from “random company that rapes puppies for fun" and end up with you raging everywhere.

The first thing to know is that most copyright claims are automated. What this means is YouTube have several "bots” that automatically search for copyrighted video/audio content that has been registered on their site, rather than a team of trained monkey’s endlessly watching for copyrighted stuff. This means you can get around this automated detection through clever editing of your video and audio in case you want to use movie/anime clips or songs. I have made a video detailing how you can go around this:

There is also simple method of seeing what companies own the material you’re about to use. You can do this by doing a quick search on YouTube for video/songs you’re about to put in your review, if you have trouble finding it then it has likely been taken down and there is a risk your video will be too, so you have to be extra careful. Normally you can tell by looking at which company has licensed the show e.g. anything by studio Ghibli is a big no, Funimation licesned shows are always ok, bandai, starz media and aniplex can cause possible problems.

I should note that while these methods work most of the time, it is not 100% guaranteed since I myself have had issues thanks to copyright, but thanks to it I have been able to keep my account for over 3 years now with 0 strikes. 

Equipment

I know that someone is going to ask about what equipment I use, even though I  think its one of the least important things about making videos but I thought I’d list  it anyway. For video editing I use Sony Vegas Pro 9, and audacity to record myself along with a Samson C01U USB condenser microphone. Still here? Good. Then let me say this. You don’t need all the stuff that I use to start making videos

I started off with a crappy £5 USB mic and windows movie maker for a year and got along fine with just that. Infact I didn’t even upgrade to a more expensive microphone until last christmas, so I really just recommend working with what you have and upgrading when you have enough money and want to really start doing this. Using something like Sony Vegas Pro takes time to learn (and is *in theory* very expensive…if you know what I mean) so if you want to spend the time learning how to use better editing software, go for it. Just remember there are plenty of other hardware and software that are just as good as mine if not even better, but these are just the things I use and I’m pretty satisfied with it.

Reviewing your….review?

I think a very important thing is being self critical of your work, your not gonna be perfect the first time, third time or even the tenth time but you should be able to see what parts of your video could be improved or at least listen to any constructive criticisms from anyone who watches your stuff. There were times when I’ve had to cut out jokes, edit out ramblings or completely re-write a review because it didn’t flow well or the material just wasn’t up to par. Yes this does take a lot of effort but your videos will be far better for it, and if you aren’t happy with it how do you expect your audience to like it?

Writing Jokes

Someone asked me how I go about writing my jokes and making my reviews more entertaining and in all honesty….I have no idea haha. Everyone has a different sense of humour and for me, my little jokes and skits just come to me either when I’m writing a script or watching a show, but I often find if I try to force a joke, 90% of the time it’ll backfire so if you don’t have any jokes to make…don’t.

As a side note I’ll say the about half my jokes get cut out of the final review anyway, cause some things are just funnier in your head so like I said before, you need to be self critical of your work or at least send it to someone else to do that for you.

Anime Clips vs Live Action

Another question was how to mix up live action shots and clips of the anime, and which one is better. This goes back to finding your own style, and both have their own advantages, but if you want to mix it up I find it a good balance is if anime clips are shown when you’re talking about plot and characters so the viewer can get an idea of the show you’re talking about and keep your opinions on camera so you seem more natural and don’t sound like you’re reading from a script.