YouTube Success: Script, Shoot & Edit (Skillshare Course by MKBHD) — Review & Summary

General Review

MKHD is one of those YouTubers that does such a great job at explaining tough complexes well, the videos are beautifully done & edited… and I’ll click on the links regardless of if I am interested in the technology or not. So to see he did a course on Skillshare? How could I not give it a go?

Summary

Starting out

• Being Consistent is key, but step 1 is — to pick your topic
• Created it about what you are interested in… that can be anything!
• How do I share “my experience”, “idea” or “story” with the world
• Try to make something… You would like to watch (keep that at the back of your mind at all times)
• For research, keep lots of notes, he uses Google Keep throughout (but whatever is easy), and he then writes his scripts in Google Drive
• The script should be entertaining + information
• First few seconds with a hook, keep a story throughout (a motif: common thread i.e. “the redemption of this phone”), then a conclusion
• For a motif — consider a “guiding question” i.e. a question to keep asking yourself to link to that story, but for informative videos still, ensure the required details are also there.
• Your audience doesn’t always have your context (last video or what your audience doesn’t know but you do)

Script

• For your script, respect your audience's time and attention (people leave!)
• Earlier on, answer the question/thought in your video’s title
• Never give a number/stat/fact… without context first, i.e. it has changed or compared to others… i.e. benchmark it.
• Try to make it like you are talking to a friend
• Make it obvious where you will be talking vs. B-Roll (i.e. other footage on top with your voice in the background)
• Shorter videos are easier to make entertain, so consider cutting

Planning Visuals

• If you are reviewing, then make it feel like they have the product i.e. video of yourself using it i.e. in your hand, same lighting/environment
• For him — Wide Angle (18–24mm lens) — for most shots, telephoto for alternative, then (100mm) macro for the close-up. Also a first-person holding it, or a third-person showing him using the phone. Top-down shots are great to show in a controlled environment.
• He likes to not mix too much but not do the same shot throughout.
• They shoot too much and then edit down later for footage.
• A-Roll = Talking to the Camera (ensure it looks good in the background or good lighting or add easter eggs), B-Roll = Not talking to the camera

The “Hook”

• The first 10 seconds are the most important — something new is a bonus point to users
• Storyboarding can help (Draw it out)
• Just because you have an idea, don’t be upset that it might change when you actually do it!
• It’ll make it easier to figure out before you shoot

Shooting the video

• His Lens:
• Wide-angle Zoom— Sigma 24–35, sine lens,
• Medium Telephoto- Otus 55
• Macro — Canon 100mm Macro
• His Cameras:
• Filters get added later on… Nice to have.
• Great sound is key — Get the microphone as close to the subject as possible — he often uses a shotgun mic (either from below or above). He doesn’t put the mic on the Camera. He has a Sennheiser MKH416
• Key Light (watch a video on 3-point lighting for more details)
• You can use a smartphone — just ensure the light is in the right
• Aputure Remote controls the lights for him from above (with a block light above i.e. a flag that stops)
• Skypanel S60 — Soft light — so it evenly falls on your face
• Shoulder light helps separate you from the background
• B-Roll can take longer as you figure out what you want to do
• His Galaxy Video took 8 hours of choosing + 8 hours of editing
• He is fine going off script
• He does have a camera robot — buts it's very much unnecessary :)

Editing the video

• He uses Finalcut Pro (Mac only) — because it was faster than Premiere at the time
• Keyboard shortcuts can help speed up
• He likes to have a fullscreen version on the side i.e. 2 monitor setup
• His last take is normally the one he uses
• Remembering tone is important between takes i.e. as you look at your notes
• Pro tip: Jay (J?) cut — You start to hear the audio before you see the next video (you might want to slide the audio), which helps with transitions
• Jump cuts — can still work but hard to retain context if multiple cuts
• Once you have added all your A-roll and edited the general video you’ll have an early draft of all the audio
• Now you have to add in the B-roll when you say the thing, layer it on first of all, then colour all of them (raw colouring, then masking), then graphics all of them (helps with engagement). It’ll help you flow — not everything needs graphics!
• Music can be hard (can help with the story or mask the background audio)
• To know when it is done… You can always find ways to make it better… “Done and upload is better than 99% and still working on it”
• You’ll get better the more you do it… it is a process!

Posting your video

• Quality is rewarded on YouTube
• You’ll work as you push more content out there
• Schedules definitely can help, but he doesn’t do that
• Faces in thumbnails help… but he doesn’t always (normally for reaction)
• Thumbnails should be — Who are you designing it for? Search + Subs. Think about how it looks good in small — that is how many will see it. Clean and simple is his philosophy.
• Names/Titles can be creative… but he is often simple + a short phrase. He always uses an exclamation — short and ties it into Motif is really helpful (then explain it soon in the video)
• You don’t have to use a thumbnail from the video
• Betteridges’ law of headlines — anything with a question can be answered by the word — No.
• Thumbnails/Title are a front sign to an amusement park. Make a great sign.

Growing your channel

• Most people are not signed in, and not subscribed (75% for him!!!)
• Make it easy for people to remember it (that is where his name is from — people struggle to remember names, so it's easier for people to find it now) — Words, Title, Intro… This is “one of the things” not the only thing.
• He cares a lot about Retention — How long do people stay, YouTube shows how it goes down (over 100% = people rewatched it), and no videos end at that. Spikes = Rewatched it to show what people care about, i.e. “can they see the difference themselves”.
• He spends less on analytics than he used to, but the quality focus is his goal.
• Some people will cut for Instagram Reels… But better to create content specifically for each is often better i.e. vertical in TikTok.
• Figure out the why… “What would I want to watch” — are you bored with your own video? The “I” test :)

Final

• Do it for you… not for a living to start.
• Develop your skills, first and foremost!

Conclusion

Overall it was a pretty big general overview that I find interesting to see, but it was a little high-level. I would prefer a more in-depth one, but he talks in the video about different points to recommend watching courses that hit on those areas.

For anyone that hasn’t created a YouTube video before (I actually have), this is a really good starting point.

Want to take this course?

Link is here

(note this includes an affiliate link)

What did you like/dislike about this review — is it too long? Should I remove more?