The listening figures for the podcast made it worthwhile in the end, although I am going to make a concerned effort to record it in advance this week so I have time to play with it. I do the whole half hour in one take so it is 'as live' but there is another reason for doing this - I have no editing skills whatsoever. This is an area that I feel as though I should learn in order to make better and more ambitious podcasts. I also should learn how to edit videos as I should really be doing more with YouTube and it would save me having to rely on other people because I could do things on my phone. Some of my comedy ideas could be done in a day by filming on a phone and making it look good, I believe you can even upload straight away to YouTube from the phone without all the pissing about uploading it to the computer first, it's like living in the future. It is my lack of ability that makes me wonder if I should invest in some decent recording gear and try to become more independent in what I do, or at least want to do. If anyone is feeling generous then the PayPal button at the top of my blog is there in order for you to help me create free content that will be given away for free. Some of the ideas fizzing away are a bit too ambitious for camera phone recording or even a small camcorder, but I could if I put my mind to it tick a few things off my list by being a little bit more technically minded.
Technology has changed since YouTube began (as has YouTube) and it makes me cringe a little when I see some of the old stuff I have recorded, even though a lot of it was really just me pratting about with my daughter. One of my favourite videos (in surprisingly good quality because it was indoors and with no need to keep moving the camera) that we made is one that I can sadly no longer find anywhere, is one filmed in our kitchen in which I recommend keeping teabags in all the cups in your cupboard to save valuable seconds in a tea making emergency. I have looked everywhere for it and somehow it has been lost. The best example of how unbelievably shit camera phones were once upon a time is the time that we recorded our own (totally unscripted, although I didn't really need to point that out) version of Doctor Who in 2008, The wind and poor picture quality was the way with phone cameras back then. Another one that suffered from the wind was our first daffodil tree video recorded also in 2008. Interestingly, when we filmed the final scene of that Doctor Who spoof you can obviously see my arm as I try to film us backwards and I also had the difficulty of running in a weird crouching position to keep Emily in shot. I remember saying at the time how it would have been better if I'd got some kind of camera holder that you could use to keep a distance between yourself and your camera without the need for a third person, seven years later the selfie stick hits the market. Always patent your ideas.
Listen to this week's edition of The Sunday Alternative here.
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February housekeeping
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