Vloggers

So I just started following a new YouTuber, Peter McKinnon. He lives in my own backyard in Canada and he just celebrated earning 1 MILLION subscribers. He is all about photography and video and drinking lots of coffee. I became interested in YouTubers and how they bottled lightning when I created my own Toy Review channel Awesome Toy Reviews. It is still at the pet project stage and waiting to gain traction but I have many episodes planned and in the wings on the verge of completion.

In this age of cable-cutting, YouTube has become a veritable network replacement but trying to cut through the noise and find the cream is not without it’s challenges. I watched a number of various YouTubers do their thing on a variety of topics I’m interested in but which personalities have I gone back for more.

Last year I started paying attention to vloggers and with almost 8 million subscribers Casey Neistat is one of the most popular. I remember years ago the video he made riding his bike through New York City showing all the hazards blocking the bike lane and he even rams his bike into a parked police cruiser after getting a ticket for riding his bike outside of the bike lane. That was back in 2011. I didn’t discover the force that is Casey Neistat until 2016 and it was his coverage of DJI camera drones that reeled me in. Now I just watch him for his personality.

I was already on the path of watching other personalities though, as I had been following UK’s Philip Bloom since the start of the DSLR movement. Philip was the chief evangelist of the DSLR cinema revolution. Philip has served as the world’s R&D department, testing and reviewing camera gear for video production. It’s hard to believe he only has 142,000 subs but he serves a niche market who hang on his every word.

Although he doesn’t vlog, Vincent LaForet created the revolutionary short “Reverie” in 2008 with a Canon 5D mk II, which heralded the DSLR movie-making age. I couldn’t find the original post which I believe was published by Canon but here is his a copy of his film. Many of the vloggers today can thank Vincent and Philip for spearheading the movement and making it possible to harness the power of cinema with an affordable still camera. There was a time when video on a still camera = CRAP!

For fun, I watch Martin Molin’s “Wintergatan” YouTube channel. Wintergatan is a Swedish instrumental band that gained worldwide exposure when Martin released a video of his Marble Machine which currently has 54 million views. He is now making a 2nd version of the instrument in preparation for a world tour. (So exciting, can’t wait) He uploads a weekly video on Wednesdays showing the development and manufacturing of the new contraption.

While writing a blog about small, large and physically unique actors I discovered No Small Parts produced by Brandon Hardesty, a character actor living in L.A. His 4th episode is about Warwick Davis who I became recently enamoured with. The other choices that Brandon has focussed on is a who’s who of unique actors, some of whom I was blogging about in my article. Actors like Richard Kiel who played the henchman “Jaws” in the Bond films, Linda Hunt, Scatman Crothers, Andre the Giant, and Anne Ramsey etc. to name a few. At only 32,000 subscribers his channel is still small but, it speaks to me.

Now just as I finish the final bits of this blog entry I have discovered yet another vlogger. Thanks to Reddit I have watched 2 videos by Scotty Allen at Strange Parts. Living abroad in China he built an iPhone 6s from parts bought at electronic markets and just yesterday he posted his second video where he added an earphone jack to an iPhone 7. With just 1 video he amassed 226,000 subscribers and 9 million views in 4 months. In less than 24 hours he has gained 1.5 million views on his 2nd video.

BONUS ROUND: Just as I though I was finished this post but looking for one more item I discovered What’s Inside? and watched What’s Inside an Arcade Machine?”   It stars Dan and his son Lincoln from Utah and they cut things open. It’s novel and I think I’m hooked already.

So I don’t follow many, and I certainly don’t watch gamers, game, who has time for that? Millennials and Gen Z it seems. Pew Die Pie, I can’t relate.

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