If you’re like me, you’re always hungry for more YouTube channels to follow. I have insomnia and I need a lot of content to get me through the night. For example, if a channel releases one video a week, that’s maybe eight minutes of my nightly four hour sessions, so I need a lot of content.
Here are some of the less offensive channels that I’ve followed over the years that, if you aren’t already subscribed to, you may consider. Likewise, if you have some YouTube channels to recommend (no matter how big or small) please provide them in the comments below. I would be beholden to you.
The Late Late Show with James Corden
Someone once said of Rosie O’Donnell she interacted with the stars like a fan and that’s why people liked her. I think the same may be true of James Corden.
He’s not quite Jimmy Fallon, who seems to to just get it and sets trends with things like Lip Sync Battles, but he’s got great ideas. This Car Karaoke being one of them. Check out the one he did with Justin Bieber, it may actually make you Beliebe.
Corden has also done things like celebrate YouTube’s 10th anniversary and having major YouTubers on his channel like Jenna Marbles and Tyler Oakley, which is forward thinking.
There’s something sweet about Corden, cheerful. Like a hug personified. Especially when he teams up with similarly spirited people. Just look at him do singing telegrams with Demi Lovato. Looooooook:
Extra Credits
Extra Credits is all about video game education and analysis. If you ever wonder why certain games worked so well, or why certain games failed, or were curious about how the games industry functions, or were interested in making games yourself, you’ll find those answer to those questions thoughtfully, and amusingly, articulated and illustrated here.
The format of each episode is typically the same. An animated version of narrator Daniel Floyd stands atop a podium (like in a lecture hall), and reads scripts written largely by show writer James Portnow, a video game designer, consultant, and teacher.
I admire how the show considers modern viewers in order to better educate them. Dan’s voice is modified to be high-pitched so that episodes are shorter, while images (either animated or straight up pics from the ‘net) help illustrate their words and add humour.
There’s a lot to learn here, not just about video games, but other concepts as well. There’s a two-part episode that discusses The Hero’s Journey, which discusses the narrative model used in various books, video games, and movies, like Star Wars. Then there’s the episode where the show completely drops the show format and has James talk about his own personal experience with game addiction for half an hour.
One of my favourites, though, is the one showcased above, on Narrative
Mechanics that takes an old arcade game, Missile Command, and explains how games frame their interactions with characters to tell stories that we can intrinsically understand.
Every Frame a Painting
Unless you take a class specifically dedicated to Cinematography, it’s a tricky thing to understand.
It’s actually a pet peeve of mine when a reviewer says, “great cinematography,” because either they don’t know what they’re talking about or their audience doesn’t. Granted, because of the complexity of the subject you would have to dedicate a series of paragraphs to explain what you mean (which can be boring) but then why say it at all?
Anyway, in recent years I’ve dedicated more efforts to learning about cinematography and this YouTube channel does a great job teaching about the framing of shots in movies.
Does it ever bother you that in some action movies, the shots cut so fast that you sometimes lose who is the good guy and who is the bad guy? Of course it does. Come into my arms. We’re brothers now. Watch these channel, my brother. Understanding is within.
Michael Castro
One day I was looking for a male version of a female song to see if I could sing it at Karaoke in a lower octave. This produced some very disturbing results, but also produced Michael’s version:
He’s so far beyond my ability that I found mimicking him helpful and I started exploring his channel of other songs I might try. He mostly posts vlogs of himself and his family band (you may recognize his brother, Jason Castro from American Idol) these days, and somewhere along that journey I started to see more of him and fellow YouTuber (and now fiancee) Kandee Johnson.
I have this voyeuristic interest in watching people get along. There are so many grey layers to all our relationships (even ones outside of significant others) that it’s nice to escape sometimes into a relationship that appears pure.
While Kandee and Michael’s relationship obviously faces adversity from time to time, that’s off camera. And it’s hard not to admire their infectious optimism and light-hearted nature. They work naturally together. In the above video, Kandee is applying make-up to Michael’s eye.
Kandee: “Girls do this every day.” Michael: “Tell them to stop.”
Joe Goes
For a man who works so hard at his medium, his interview style challenges the conventions of what the traditional interview model would offer. Maybe that’s why he’s so likeable.
Joe Goes is a series where Joe goes to events and places and interviews people. It’s a comedy show, and Joe’s shtick is to pose mildly offensive or perverse questions in order to incite the interviewee. This particular routine isn’t completely innovative, but Joe also does these blank stare shots of him in his locations and with his interviewees. It’s the mark of someone who understands himself. Joe is a bit awkward and creepy himself, so he owns it.
He asks one girl, “if your sun burns, and your skin peels, can I have some of it?” The girl laughs, reluctantly agrees and tells him to sell it on eBay. Joe goes, “No, I’m making a girl out of it.”