Uploaded June 2021 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Welcome to part 1 of my series on how to make a video essay. In this episode I discuss how I go about brainstorming, filtering, and logically grouping all of the random thoughts and ideas that come to me into the beginnings of an outline that I can then use as the foundation for the story I'm hoping to tell. I talk about how I've learned to keep track of my thoughts and inspirations and some of the tools and programs I use to help me with this part of the process, as well as some caveats and pitfalls I've experienced that others can avoid in the beginning stages of planning and outlining a video essay.
You can think about this video series as a bunch of how-to beginner guides, tutorials, and tips & tricks about all sorts of things from keeping track of ideas and how to write a script in Google docs, recording and processing voiceover and other audio in Adobe Audition or Premier Pro, and gathering video footage from different sources and editing it all together to help support the story or message you're trying to communicate. I also touch on different challenges and struggles you might face along the way, like getting into a creative rut, getting inspired, and collecting constructive feedback, and learning from all sorts of other mediums, like cinematography, filmmaking, traditional or digital art, architecture, literature, and more. Finally, I touch on everything I know about queueing and exporting your video using tools like Adobe Media Encoder, uploading to YouTube, and what I've learned about the YouTube metadata that can hopefully help you along the way, including creating a title, writing a description, designing a thumbnail and other visual assets in Photoshop, creating playlists, end screens templates, cards, and more. I'm hoping to share what I've learned from some of my favorite storytellers, like Every Frame A Painting, Nerdwriter, A Closer Look, Lessons from a Screenplay, DJ Peach Cobbler, The Internet Historian, and Jacob Geller. I really hope you find this series entertaining, educational, and inspirational!
✦ Support the creation of more content like this w/ Patreon ✦
patreon.com/veritaswtf
✦ Chapters ✦
0:00 Starting with an idea
3:01 Collecting topics and thoughts
4:42 Notes App and Google Docs
5:24 Beginnings of an outline
5:46 Leave contextual breadcrumbs
6:27 Ordering and filtering topics
7:58 Getting Distracted
✦ References & Mentions ✦
Every Frame a Painting - youtube.com/user/everyframeapainting
Jacob Geller's "Fear of Depths" - youtube.com/watch?v=7MOKTU9tCbw
Satisfying handwritten note-taking - youtube.com/watch?v=l0N670hvSdI
✦ My Socials & Other Links ✦
Twitch: twitch.tv/veritas
Discord: discord.gg/veritaswtf
Twitter: twitter.com/veriitasgames
Instagram: instagram.com/veritaswtf
Tarkov Battle Buddy: apps.apple.com/us/app/tarkov-battle-buddy/id1476820880
GitHub: github.com/veritasdev
Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/2S6iwClVoSNnpOcCzyMeUj
iTunes: itunes.apple.com/ie/artist/veritas/960043033
Amazon Music: amazon.com/dp/B07MXSCBJP
SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/veritaswtf
Amazon Affiliate Link: amzn.to/2Ck3vuZ
#howto #videoessay #storytelling
Welcome to part 1 of my series on how to make a video essay. In this episode I discuss how I go about brainstorming, filtering, and logically grouping all of the random thoughts and ideas that come to me into the beginnings of an outline that I can then use as the foundation for the story I'm hoping to tell. I talk about how I've learned to keep track of my thoughts and inspirations and some of the tools and programs I use to help me with this part of the process, as well as some caveats and pitfalls I've experienced that others can avoid in the beginning stages of planning and outlining a video essay.
You can think about this video series as a bunch of how-to beginner guides, tutorials, and tips & tricks about all sorts of things from keeping track of ideas and how to write a script in Google docs, recording and processing voiceover and other audio in Adobe Audition or Premier Pro, and gathering video footage from different sources and editing it all together to help support the story or message you're trying to communicate. I also touch on different challenges and struggles you might face along the way, like getting into a creative rut, getting inspired, and collecting constructive feedback, and learning from all sorts of other mediums, like cinematography, filmmaking, traditional or digital art, architecture, literature, and more. Finally, I touch on everything I know about queueing and exporting your video using tools like Adobe Media Encoder, uploading to YouTube, and what I've learned about the YouTube metadata that can hopefully help you along the way, including creating a title, writing a description, designing a thumbnail and other visual assets in Photoshop, creating playlists, end screens templates, cards, and more. I'm hoping to share what I've learned from some of my favorite storytellers, like Every Frame A Painting, Nerdwriter, A Closer Look, Lessons from a Screenplay, DJ Peach Cobbler, The Internet Historian, and Jacob Geller. I really hope you find this series entertaining, educational, and inspirational!
✦ Support the creation of more content like this w/ Patreon ✦
patreon.com/veritaswtf
✦ Chapters ✦
0:00 Starting with an idea
3:01 Collecting topics and thoughts
4:42 Notes App and Google Docs
5:24 Beginnings of an outline
5:46 Leave contextual breadcrumbs
6:27 Ordering and filtering topics
7:58 Getting Distracted
✦ References & Mentions ✦
Every Frame a Painting - youtube.com/user/everyframeapainting
Jacob Geller's "Fear of Depths" - youtube.com/watch?v=7MOKTU9tCbw
Satisfying handwritten note-taking - youtube.com/watch?v=l0N670hvSdI
✦ My Socials & Other Links ✦
Twitch: twitch.tv/veritas
Discord: discord.gg/veritaswtf
Twitter: twitter.com/veriitasgames
Instagram: instagram.com/veritaswtf
Tarkov Battle Buddy: apps.apple.com/us/app/tarkov-battle-buddy/id1476820880
GitHub: github.com/veritasdev
Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/2S6iwClVoSNnpOcCzyMeUj
iTunes: itunes.apple.com/ie/artist/veritas/960043033
Amazon Music: amazon.com/dp/B07MXSCBJP
SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/veritaswtf
Amazon Affiliate Link: amzn.to/2Ck3vuZ
#howto #videoessay #storytelling
