The 1966 Batman Channel And More Needs YOU!!!

Costume making, prop building and other '66 Bat-related arts and crafts.

Moderators: Scott Sebring, Ben Bentley

Forum rules
Costume making, prop building and other '66 Bat-related arts and crafts. Great place for info and helpful tips. Proudly display your latest creation. Please keep it '66 Batman related otherwise it will be moved to OFF-TOPIC.

(NO SOLICITATION). If you're looking to BUY or SELL something, go to the MERCHANDISE SECTION. Even if you're trying to assemble a costume by buying or acquiring different crafted items rather than constructing or customizing them yourself, then it belongs in the MERCHANDISE SECTION. Don't even ask somebody if they're planning on selling something within this section.

Be sure to read the Board Rules as well before posting for the first time.

Thank you!
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IAMBATMAN
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Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2012 6:19 pm

The 1966 Batman Channel And More Needs YOU!!!

Post by IAMBATMAN »

Trooops!

A very happy 4th of July to you all!

I NEED your help!

I am trying to get one thousand subscribers to my 1966 Batman Costume Channel on YouTube!

I've got 60 wonderful folks so far!

Only 940 to go! ;-p

It don't cost nothin' and you'll never get bothered or spammed!

And HEY!

It's an AWESOME (I don't mind saying) resource for 1966 batman costume component craftspeople, vendors and other info!

So won't you please subscribe?

I'd be truly grateful and appreciative!

Have an amazing holiday!

Sincerely,

David L. Jarvis aka J-Bone!

LINK to YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC14zQ2 ... iV0SFhNtXw
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Ben Bentley
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Posts: 1271
Joined: Fri Aug 17, 2012 2:31 pm

Re: The 1966 Batman Channel And More Needs YOU!!!

Post by Ben Bentley »

IAMBATMAN wrote: Mon Jul 04, 2022 6:37 am Trooops!

A very happy 4th of July to you all!

I NEED your help!

I am trying to get one thousand subscribers to my 1966 Batman Costume Channel on YouTube!

I've got 60 wonderful folks so far!

Only 940 to go! ;-p

It don't cost nothin' and you'll never get bothered or spammed!

And HEY!

It's an AWESOME (I don't mind saying) resource for 1966 batman costume component craftspeople, vendors and other info!

So won't you please subscribe?

I'd be truly grateful and appreciative!

Have an amazing holiday!

Sincerely,

David L. Jarvis aka J-Bone!

LINK to YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC14zQ2 ... iV0SFhNtXw
Hey David, welcome back to the message board, glad to have you with us again!
Kudos on starting your new channel, I really hope you can grow and develop it into whatever you'd like it to be.

I've just watched three of your videos (Cave Creature Cowl, Glove Comparison and Bat-Communicator) and I noticed in your other thread that you were encouraging constructive criticism...

A couple of thoughts:

Camera Shake
- The shaky cam genuinely makes these vids pretty hard to watch, especially when you're trying to convey details of props/costume pieces in order for your viewers to understand and appreciate the differences between them. The solution doesn't have to be a fancy camera stabilizer, a free piece of editing software for your computer or even cellphone would allow you to stabilize your footage to a much more palatable level. Slower and less rapid movements of the camera (even when handheld) will really help with reducing shake too. Keeping people's attention with video content is hard enough, without your video actively working against you in this fashion.

The content of "Content"
- What are viewers supposed to gain from watching your videos that isn't achieved looking at a still image and following the links in your descriptions below? With the "Creature Cave Cowl", you said "It's beautiful man, well worth the money"... why? What do you like about it? What didn't you like about it? What makes it good value for money compared to other options at the price points below and above? Who might this cowl be for? What are the advantages or disadvantages to a rubber cowl over a fabric version? What is it like to wear? Is it super hot? Would you recommend wearing it for long periods of time, like a full day at a convention? How does it fit you? How would it fit an average head size? Is there room for improvements or customizations if I bought one? You mentioned it was from South America - how long did it take to arrive? Did you have to pay any import taxes or fees in addition to the price you quoted in the description?

Lighting/Backdrop
- From your videos i've watched so far, you appear have been filming in a fairly dark room using some sort of overhead lamp situation. In videos like your glove comparison, it was genuinely difficult to perceive the color and detail of the three you had in front of you, which combined with the camera shake I mentioned earlier, made for an underwhelming insight. So what could be the solution? Well, again, it doesn't require a huge investment in gear, but a large sheet of white paper or cardboard used outdoors in daylight would create a really clean/legible means of showing your viewers the items you're talking about. Indoors the same white surface idea works too, providing you have a strong daylight balanced light source (approx 5000-6500k) Correct white balance makes a world of difference as far to accurately portraying colors, just look at the blues/purple hues of the show itself. For even more production value, even a cheap lazy susan could offer a smooth way of showing your viewers items from all angles.

Purpose, Research and Preparedness
- This ties in to almost all of the other observations/critiques that I could make in one way or another. What is the purpose of each video? Who is your ideal audience made up of? Are you aiming your content at cosplayers? If so, are you aiming at the DIY/cheap and cheerful crowd? Is it collectors rather than people who are donning the suits? If you're looking to position yourself as someone who is an authority on a topic, that has to be apparent in the detail and potential research that you present each time you record. In your glove video for instance, you mention the "best" high-end option without an example in your line-up to compare them to. That doesn't really help anyone if you're aiming to give a representative overview of what's available, especially when in this case it has been the tried and true option for cosplayers and collectors alike for 20+ years now. I completely understand that you don't necessarily have one of everything from every vendor to hand, but if not, surely there are workarounds? Perhaps showing a photo or mulitple images on screen of the Gaspar gloves for instance to provide vital context in comparison to cheaper and less accurate options in the video. One better still, you have an entire community at your fingertips, many of whom do own a pair of Gaspar gloves. Why not reach out to one of us and ask someone to film their pair of gloves (or whichever item it may be) for you to edit into your video to provide a far more rounded overview? Similarly in the communicator video, you said you don't know which episode the prop that you're talking about first appeared... Ask the question! Whether it be a google search or asking in thread here on the Message Board. There is an expectation that watching a video on a topic like the Bat-Communicator should yield more information than I can get simply looking at a photograph. In each video you asked people to help you out with the Kofi donations and that's great, but honestly my personal take is that you need to be clearer in your own vision of what it is you're trying to do with these videos and the subsequent quality of their information before people are going to be willing to reciprocate and invest in you and your channel.

In a nutshell David, I say all of this from a place of support and a genuine hope that any of these observations or ideas make you think a little further or a little differently about how you approach your future videos/topics. I always try and champion the Bat-Projects of those in our community, but like with any and all creative endeavors (personally or professionally) they can live and die by the honest feedback of those who they are intended for, especially in a fandom as niche as our '66 TV Batman obsession. Onwards and upwards citizen!
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DrewMasie
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Joined: Sun Feb 12, 2017 9:16 am

Re: The 1966 Batman Channel And More Needs YOU!!!

Post by DrewMasie »

Hi David.

Ben's analysis is completely on point. Many prospective YouTubers try and fail before they learn all the lessons he has distilled in his review. I tried watching some of your videos (and as a Batman/Cosplay fan, I would probably be in your demographic), but didn't get past the first one due to the reasons Ben mentioned (shaky camera, poor lighting, etc.). I watch a lot of YouTube, and enjoy product review videos, how-to videos, the history of various characters, and so on. The individuals that produce their own videos have various levels of expertise in their subject, but at minimum the video and audio quality should be comparable to other channels, otherwise I'm out after about 20 - 30 seconds. A brief intro doesn't hurt, and you'll probably need to expand to a longer format to cover your topics in any detail.

You could approach the topics in any number of ways. You could, for example, do a build-vs-buy for each item. If I need a Batman cape, what are my options? You started with "Rubies (of course)", but maybe it would be useful to talk about different levels of costumes. Is it "Halloween" costume quality? What if I intend to cosplay, should I try to make my own cape, or is it smarter to buy one? If I want to make one, where could I get the material? What should I look for in terms of color, and fabric types? Are patterns available? How much should I expect to spend? What if I'm on a tight budget, what do you recommend? You could also show pictures of people in various levels, like "here's a budget-version Batman, here's a serious Cosplayer, here is someone that is trying to assemble a screen-accurate version".

If I'm going to buy a cape, what should I consider? What is "good enough" vs movie-quality/serious collector level? This forum is probably a great source for all of this information.

I found an example of a cosplayer from a few years ago that put together a relatively low-budget 1966 Batman costume. This is more of a how-to video which you probably wouldn't do, but it contains a short intro, nice camera work, good audio quality, and links to his social media. You could consider this a model of what people generally expect:



Sometimes channels take you on a journey or tell a story. Cosplay Chris, for example, shows how he assembles the elements for various costumes, shows work in progress for items he is making, reviews items he purchased, talks about lessons learned when something goes wrong, does how-to videos, and more. It might take several months to get to the finished costume, but watching the journey can be really interesting. And the final reveal is always exciting. He currently has 359k viewers, and he does it all from his house. He has done a variety of different Batman costumes (Batfleck, Knightmare Batman, and others, but no '66 Batman), so you might get some ideas from watching him.

Ben, Scott, Chuck Williams, and all the members of this community are very supportive, and we all share a common interest. All of us would be thrilled if you built a really great channel and became a resource for newbies and hardcore fans alike. I suggest you take full advantage of the support network as you work on your channel.

Best of luck!
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