Tips for Beginners! Episode 2

They say "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" but really, nothing can be further from the truth. When it comes to creating anything, paintings, models, shows or music, imitation only leads to the deterioration of ones image in the face of others. To be clear, I'm not referring to plagiarism, which is a much worse offense. I'm talking about taking an artists idea, and basically doing the same thing but with a different coat of paint. For instance, say I wanted to become a film maker and really loved the work of James Cameron. I loved his new film Avatar for its stunning visuals, amazing script and overall message. Inspired by this, I decided to create a film similar to his, only my film used all of the same camera shots, has similar sweeping moments and had a different overall message. It's not against the law to do this because my film is entirely different from his but it's also nothing new. So why should people care? If you were to see the same kind of film with the same motifs and camera techniques, wouldn't you get bored of it? By adding nothing new to the style, you are essentially just cashing in on a formula that's already been proven to be successful and creating nothing of substance. This is why the tip for beginners this time is to strive to be more than your inspirations. Give the public a reason to watch you over someone else. Try to be innovative with your content by introducing new segments or elements that isn't common in the sea of similar creators like yourself. This is imperative to do with Let's Plays being that it's the most popular genre of videos on YouTube so trying to get noticed is not an easy task. You can do what everyone else is doing and be fine but it's best to throw in a few things to spice it up! Maybe include comedy sketches in your video from time to time. Game Grumps does this from time to time and while not too common, it's certainly a breath of fresh air compared to a standard Let's Play video. It makes itself different and sets it apart from most things out there because of it. Though it's also important to keep in mind that you should also never stray too far from the standard formula. You can try to be different all you want and include new things that haven't been seen before, but if you change too much, you might end up diluting the art form and confusing viewers, taking away what was good about it in the first place. That's why it's very important that you never forget what works and what doesn't. As a content creator, you must be able to gauge the staples of what art form your taking on and leave them be for its very risky and dangerous to tamper with those. Instead, seek out what's considered boring or mundane in the art form such as facecam per say. For example, try giving Facecam a reason to be there, such as only including it in your horror game let's plays to show your scared reactions or showing yourself acting goofy while playing Dance, Dance Revolution. It's things like that you can try to change and in turn, be unique with. In the sea of never ending Let's Plays, it's important that you try to be unique in your approach.