How to shoot a really viral and eye-catching video: clipper Ian Dylan’s ingenious tricks

I started making videos in 2020. Do you remember the quarantine period when everyone was sitting at home, opening doors with their elbows and carrying antiseptics in their pockets? Here! This topic became the idea for the first video, which received a good response from my few subscribers at the time. I liked that it flies away and decided to shoot further.

The most popular from VK Clips was a video about the May holiday in a country house. The fact was that one of the characters inclines the company to a healthy and sober rest. I think the public liked it, because many recognized themselves in it. After all, most of us constantly struggle with bad habits, trying to be better – that’s normal. In general, my audience likes videos in which they see their own reflection. In my case, a married couple is responsible for such matters. And the videos with my children are also very popular.

Each video starts with an idea that we call “lock”. If the castle is collapsing and the plot, development, and ending are instantly imagined, you can sit down and rhyme the idea. More often than not, I plan the content, but during the filming itself, many gags are invented out of the blue, not in the way I imagined. For example, before going to North Ossetia, I knew what events and places we were going to visit, so I mentioned them in the track I recorded in advance.

First, I have an idea – how everything will start and end. Then I write the text without music. After – I create music, I adapt the text to it, I record the voice, I mix the track. At the end, we shoot, edit and color the video.

Most of the time is spent on the idea. There are times when nothing comes to mind all day. When a theme is thought out, it has to be rhymed, it’s a matter of technique. It takes several hours to write the text. Shooting a video takes two to six hours, depending on the complexity. In general, the whole production line takes two days.

In my opinion, productivity is well influenced by a change of scenery and images. But I advise you not to wait for the visit of the muse. It may not happen if you don’t devote a lot of time to the cause. To create high-quality content, all I need is a camera, a few lenses, two lights, and a speaker handy. I don’t have any special gadgets.

I like the format in which I work. It combines two of my developed skills: music and humor. I’ve been doing both for a long time. I edit the video myself – it turns out faster and you don’t have to spend time editing the edit. I don’t have a particular favorite direction. I love both life videos and some grotesque stories – I’ve been a lifelong Monty Python fan.

As for the audience, I have very nice and responsive subscribers, both in all social networks and in VK clips. In this regard, I was very lucky. I found many children aged 6 to 12 staring at me. However, I do not position myself as a children’s author. But the main audience is the audience in the 25-40 age bracket.

For beginner clippers, I would recommend spending more time on your content, filling it with meaning, even if it’s humorous videos. When we post videos, we take on some responsibility because we are doing it for the public. This is important to understand and remember.

To attract the attention of the audience, you need to have time to convey the essence of what is happening in the first 3-5 seconds. Otherwise, there is a chance that people won’t watch the video, even if it is interesting. Therefore, I shorten the introduction as much as possible and try to explain the plot clearly in the first two lines.

Don’t try to make the video perfect – it slows down the process. it will never be perfect. You’ve done something – post it, don’t waste time on long analysis. If a clip has flown away, do not linger and try to shoot the exact same one. The success will be short-lived: the same ideas quickly get bored. Try new things all the time: even within the same subject, you can find different ways to grow.

For example, you create videos about family life. We’ve shot several clips and you see them coming – look for new formats, options to reveal the characters. Experiment, change the main characters so that the content alternates and is not boring. When I shoot a video, I don’t think about the cover, but at the same time I understand what people like: above all, they are interested in seeing themselves in the videos.

In the near future, I am preparing many interesting things. For example, my team and I are writing a musical series. I hope it comes out this year. We are also preparing a show of one of my characters. I’m writing an album, I want to believe we’ll release it closer to the fall.

I love collaborating with other clippers and wish I could do that more often. But there’s a moment: it’s hard to find my format together if one person doesn’t rhyme. That’s why I don’t have many collaborations with other guys. I hardly watch anyone myself, there is a catastrophic lack of time, so I rarely scroll through the tape.