What is a viral video? According to Wikipedia, a viral video is having or exceeding one million views. With me being a long time film buff and having created many viral videos, I have what I believe the fool proof formula on how to create a video and share it with the world.
First things first,
Watch the video that my friend and I created that was featured on 433, ESPN and Fox. I will make references to this video to show how we did things and how you too can play off similar ideas. Also a huge shout out to my friend Andrew McEwen for letting me use our video for this article. Check out his YouTube channel here: https://goo.gl/OB4tcI
1. Keep it Simple
Don't make things too complex. Most viral videos playoff simple ideas and have a twist that you didn't see coming. In our video, someone just shot a soccer ball into the net. Yes it was a crazy good shot and he did hit Pikachu, but the idea itself remained simple. Don't make the video too long either. I've found the sweet spot around 30 seconds to 2 minutes is good. Shorter videos tend to do better
2. Target an Audience
If no one has an interest in your video then it won't be successful. In our video, we played off of the hype of Pokemon Go and soccer. This was the first YouTube video to feature something like this and as a result, people liked it. The addition of the Poke-ball like soccer ball was a nice touch. :)
3. Show your Story
Your video should have a clear relationship from start to finish by creating a problem and then having a resolution. We started off with an establishing shot of the drone to get a scene of location. Then, moved to show our actor, Andrew, as he discovers a Pokemon trapped in the soccer net. He then moves to take out a soccer ball painted to look like a Pokeball and hit a cool looking soccer shot to 'capture' Pikachu.
4. First Impressions
The human attention span is incredibly short. If they don't like your video in the first seven seconds, they most likely click away, once again we started with the drone because everyone loves a cool-looking drone shot. Most importantly, don't forget about the title and thumbnail. Looks are everything. (In this case)
5. Social Media
Once you've completed your masterpiece, share the heck out of your video. Remember that YouTube isn't the number one place for videos now of days. Ours only received 20K views on YouTube but over 3 million on Instagram.
Overall, we make videos because it should be fun and then you can brag to all of your friends that you made a video that went viral. Happy filming!
