The Art of the Pick Up Video

Thriftdweller is my YouTube video blog series with my best friend Lester!

What's a pickup video?

Pick Up Video - In the YouTube retro video game community, a pick up video is a form of a video blog where people show what games they recently acquired, usually with stories. It was one of the earliest formats for video bloggers we noticed when we started YouTube. I think it's an integral part of the community, we get to share each other's enjoyment and maybe pick up some "thriftdwelling" tips.

For my part of Season 3, I still want to do Pick-Up videos for video games. Since Lester and I always have to do something to make it "our style" I've outlined some things we'll be trailing for Season 3 Pick Up videos. Hopefully you might learn something you can use in your own videos.

Season 3 Pick Up Video Format Notes by Nate

In season 2 of Thriftdweller, I call my pickup videos "Raw Pickups"

Name - In season 1 we started to "name" our videos, it just help identify ourselves and gives it our own flavour (which I encourage all channels to do). In season 1 we called our Pick Up videos "Monday Nitro Pickups" just because they were Monday released videos and I threw in a wrestling reference.  Season 2 videos were called "Raw Pickups" which was the same concept with a slight change up. You'll have to stay tuned to "Thriftdweller" to find out season 3's name.

Format - In season 2 we introduced "Thriftdweller Maple Syrup Pickup of the Week" to feature the BEST find of the Pick Up Video. It was  an interesting way to "brand" ourselves as Canadian as well as have some fun. Further more in season 3, I want to add 2 more "segments".
Part 1 - The Shelf Padding Finds (games that were probably cheap or found extra, nothing special)
Part 2 - The Curation (games above "shelf padding" status)
Part 3 - As always, Maple Syrup....

Video Length -  Lester and I may disagree on video length at times. I like short and concise videos, but Lester seems to favour longer videos... I think it's personal choice in the end, but I will try to keep MY pickup videos 7 minutes or less, cut out all our "off topic" comments and "umm....." and "uh..." moments.

Lester mad our "Intro" and "Outro" screen from Season 2
It helps brand your channel and prompts viewers to action.

Presentation  - I like to put a lot of work on our Identifier screens (The "Intro" and "Outro" screens), it helps dress up the videos with little actual work after it's made. Focus a lot of time on this as you'll use it over and over again (a branding tactic) like we will for Season 3. Make it awesome and it should be a worth while investment. I'll try to make unique Identifier Screens for each different video format, including "Pick Up" videos. Make sure you put your brand and links to other social media outlets. YouTube calls these "Call to Action" moments, where you prompt the audience to "subscribe" or "like"

In the end, the content rules. Some videos I've seen have amazing graphics and effects but can be very dull or drab content. Also, a lot of what we learned on YouTube was from other channels that shared their knowledge. Seems the most genuine and unselfish channels are the ones that last! Thanks to them all (we mention them all the time, so yah! =D)

-Nate is asleep