Stay home and watch on: Content creation in a time of a virus outbreak
I honestly can’t remember how many weeks we’ve been working from home, but it’s been a while. Since then, I’ve had to transition into making the weekly Bloomr videos from home and so have creators all around the world. With content now made from home, can it remain entertaining? I’d say yes. It truly shows the endless possibilities of content creation and brings back the good ol’ days of homemade videos.
Returning home
Singapore has just implemented a ‘circuit breaker’ — more like a soft lockdown, but countries across the world have gone into quarantine much earlier. For an avid YouTube content consumer, it’s worrying but also exciting to see my favourite YouTube channels transition into making content from home. Of course, many already make content from home, but for channels with bigger productions, it’s a BIG change.
My favourite — The Bon Appetit test kitchen moves home. A home kitchen is indeed a stark difference from their professional kitchens. No fancy equipment, ingredients, and the BA dishwashers to clean up after them. But with a little work and a little zoom, it’s still doable, they’re still able to whip some content up from their home kitchens. It also adds a new dimension to their content — how would professional cooks fare with what they have in their homes? They’ve always talked about making recipes that are easy for home cooks to follow, now’s truly the time.
I know, the late night talk shows belong in the broadcast sphere, but now that they’ve moved production to their homes, it’s starting to feel a little more like YouTube content. Things get pretty personal as we get a glimpse of Jimmy Fallon’s home and family, and his kids drawing the show’s logo? Cute. (I just love the chaos that goes on when he films with his kids) Guests are still able to come on the show via video call. Though it may not be as entertaining without the live band, props and set-up, it’s still content I’d watch on YouTube.
But the woes of transitioning from bigger productions to creating content from home solo means…. You might eventually run out of ideas
I’ve also been catching up with the Try Guys and before they moved out of their office they mentioned that they have a backlog of videos till May and will also be making content from home. But if you look at the videos they’ve made at home, the majority of them are just vlogs. It’s still fun nonetheless as they are funny personalities, but I’m curious if they could come up with more ideas like the mystery-box home cooking challenge which aligns better with content they usually produce, and IMO — more entertaining to watch.
I too was running out of ideas before we made the switch to Bloomr Trends.
Gaming made the most sense for me, as I had a gaming set-up at home, so did Khai and Ridzal. But, not only do these videos take a while to edit, we’re probably not the most entertaining gamers to watch. And that one video I broke everything in my kitchen to make will… probably be the last
It was tough to do it alone (well I did bribe my sister into helping me once) and without all the equipment needed, but also to make sure the content is entertaining and relevant without boring viewers with the working-from-home theme too much.
The good
But you know what good came out of this trying situation? More people are giving content creation a shot!
Without a doubt, with countries on lockdown, more people are getting onto TikTok. The interface is perfect for people wanting to give content creation a shot. Short 15–60s videos shot from your mobile, cool filters and effects at your disposal, ability to use sounds made by others — no need for fancy lighting, editing, cinematography. It’s just you, at home, with your pets, plants or whatever.
More made-from-home content is popping up on YouTube as well: John Krasinski launched his channel Some Good News as he brings his humour into reporting some positive news — just what we needed amidst this global crisis.
And a bonus! Content creation put to good use: Jacksepticeye launching a movement #HopeFromHome where content creators across the globe join in on doing their individual fundraising streams to aid COVID-19 response efforts, love it!
Back to its roots
Do you remember when, before the big players came in *cough T-series*, YouTube was a platform for homemade videos? ‘Broadcast yourself’ indeed. A new phenomenon emerged where people could make videos from their homes without a big budget, would attract views in millions and could make a profit out of it? Viewers were in it for the ‘authenticity’, the rawness, that you don’t always get with broadcast television. With creators transitioning to making videos from home, this virus outbreak really reminds me of those early days.
The word ‘content’ is vague and encompasses a variety of digital content. But this also means that the possibilities are endless. Quarantine? No problem. As seen from the channels I’ve mentioned, with technology, content can still be made remotely. Moreover, with new platforms like TikTok emerging, creating content gets way easier, and we’re starting to see it becoming mainstream. It truly doesn’t take a studio, professional editors and cinematographers to make entertaining content. So, stay home, watch on, and maybe make a TikTok or two.
