Category Archives: YouTube

A Family Affair– SACCONEJOLY’s familial presence on YouTube

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Sacconejoly


SACCONEJOLY is a Youtube channel surrounding the daily lives of the Saccone-Joly family. As of June 2016, the channel has roughly 1,600,000 subscribers. The channel has been up since 2009.

Anna and Jonathan Saccone-Joly upload a video to YouTube every single day. For the last few years, their daily vlogs have shown their lives with Emilia, their three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, their two-year-old son Eduardo, and their six Maltese dogs. The family’s decision to have a go at daily vlogging came to a head on June 14, 2010, and they’ve yet to stop.

Videos are uploaded every day at 6 p.m. – the aura is that of a reality TV show, though much more consistent and actually real. In a 2014 article with the Telegraph, Anna and Jonathan said that although they used to share about 60 percent of their lives with their audience, that number has dropped down to about 40 percent now that they have children. One of their most popular uploads is their daughter Emilia’s birth video. However, many of their videos are simply of the “day in the life” variety; that’s part of what makes them so appealing.

The content of SACCONEJOLYs videos begin with a 7 A.M. wakeup, and much of the content is routine: Jonathan addresses the audience with an introduction, there are shots of what’s for breakfast; most days, Jonathan takes Emilia to school, with a little song to begin the ride (“Are you ready for the [pause] school run?”). He returns to the house only to head off for his personal training session with Anna; lunch, time spent with Eduardo, Emilia’s return from school, possibly business meetings. Evenings often see the kids eating dinner first, and then sometimes Anna and Jonathan will have a date night on their own in town. The vlogs end with a “Bye, friends!” and the audience knows that tomorrow, at 6 P.M. sharp, they’ll be watching a new video not unlike the one they’ve just finished.

Although it may seem irritatingly repetitive to watch the same sort of content on a daily basis, that’s part of what makes it so comforting. In the same Telegraph article, Jonathan discusses why they don’t talk about anything too serious or controversial on their channel. “When you’ve had a crap day at work you come home and you want to stick on the Saccone-Jolys. You don’t want to watch something to remind you about the hardships. You want to watch this little fun life with these funny kids and the dogs and Anna and Jonathan.” Viewers, many of whom are young adults with children of their own, appreciate the consistency in having a happy family on camera. Perhaps it helps them to feel that, if Jonathan and Anna seem to be having a great go at this whole parenting and family business, then maybe they can as well. And if viewers are having a rough time, they can at least always count on the Saccone-Jolys to put a smile on their faces.

The Zoella revolution

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“Ahhh look how cute!” Beauty Vlogger Zoella says giddily, unwrapping her new makeup in front of 10 million subscribers.

In 2009, Zoe Sugg was just an intern at an interior design house, when she decided to start blogging. It only took her a few months to rise to fame with her pinterest-worthy collection of beauty hacks, favorite hauls, and fashion tips. By the end of the first year she was blasting out videos to over 1,000 subscribers and last February, hit 10 million.

While Zoe has taught us all how to french braid and what products we would HAVE to buy if any of us ever make it to London, she has also done leaps and bounds with her platform as Youtube star.

She has published 2 books, her first one record-breaking in sales, launched her own beauty line (another sale phenomenon), and is the Digital Ambassador for Mind, a mental health charity, where she openly discusses her anxiety. Oh, and did we mention she’s only 26?

While her hair might be perfectly messy, she shows all of her subscribes that life is sometimes unperfectly messy and it’s ok to roll with that. Her sense of humor, and convivial regard for anything that doesn’t go according to plan, has kept Zoella relevant and thriving in the Youtube sphere while also winning her awards like: Cosmopolitan’s Most Established Beauty Blog, A Teen Choice Award for Favorite Blogger, and over 290 million video views.

She’s cute, she’s bubbly, and she’s just as excited about new mascara as the rest of us. Plus, she’s proved beauty is only one tool in her makeup kit. Her channel now includes an arsenal of DIY videos both for self and home, tons of hysterical relationship advice, and even some party planning hacks—if you’re feeling really adventurous.

I still regard her as the reigning queen of online beauty. But hey, she taught me how to braid, and that’s more than I can say for my own mother, so i think those awards are well deserved.

Hot as a Sanne

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Sanne has been an influential part of YouTube, from the start. After nine years of making videos, she now has over 150,000 subscribers. Sanne is popular for her well-known book videos, where she discusses books, reviews the novels she’s read recently, and keeps viewers up to date on the publishing industry. Just three years ago, she moved from her home in The Netherlands, to London, to pursue a career in the publishing industry and in social media producing.

Sanne helped make the popular name “BookTube” popular, and was one of the first to establish a book related niche on the Internet. After nine years, she says that her biggest advice to new “BookTubers” is to continue making content. She also recommends sticking with it for nine years—that’s how she mastered it.

Sanne has always kept a friendly and honest tone in her videos, making viewers happy to listen to her reviews and hear her opinions. She also places a big importance on feminism and diversity in her reviews, and more often than not, will prioritize those titles. Her bright and kind energy makes it difficult for anyone who stumbles across her videos to find them anything but entertaining.

Sanne uses some basic and thoughtful techniques in her videos, and keeps these ideas consistent throughout her channel. Sanne always has a bright and simple background and setup to her videos. It is never hard to see anything, and she always seems to have a clean space around her. Although this is more of an aesthetic choice, it really does keep viewers more alert to what she is saying, rather than on what is happening around her. Another technique she uses is to keep her videos short. The BookTube community is known for having longer, more in-depth videos about books.  But Sanne keeps her videos short and sweet, so that it doesn’t seem like a chore to watch one, and it doesn’t have time to get dull.

Sanne’s consistency with videos has always been her strong suit. She does not have a specific day of the week when she posts videos, having spoken out about her deadline anxiety in the past, but she consistently uploads videos weekly, making her one of the few truly successful YouTubers. It wouldn’t be hard, especially when reading and book shopping is concerned, to take weeks, from finding content to upload to a channel about the topic—but Sanne always seems to be ready for what’s next, without making viewers feel overwhelmed by the amount of books she talks about. Anybody who wants to begin a channel like hers, should truly subscribe.

Kickstarter Parody: Give Me Your Money!

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This YouTube video is a parody on Kickstarter videos. In it, I am presenting a revolutionary idea of a vacuum cleaner that operates on its own. Except the vacuum cleaner does not work. In fact, this vacuum cleaner does not exist.

However, my viewership does not know that, so I presented this imaginary vacuum cleaner to my audience, hoping they will be tricked into believing such a contraption exists. I also ask for money, but not in exchange for one of my revolutionary vacuum cleaners. I just ask for money.

This video can also be used to show how Kickstarter videos can be effective. All the creators have to do is the exact opposite of everything I did.

Watch the parody / free lesson on putting together a great Kickstarter video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRx60QsiheQ&feature=youtu.be

John Henry Days Book Trailer

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Colson Whitehead’s second novel, John Henry Days, is a complex book that intertwines multiple narratives and themes into a cohesive plot. As much as I enjoyed reading the book, I thought it might be hard to reduce to just one 30 second book trailer.

I had many questions as to how I could construct this video. Should I pull quotes from the book for a voice-over? I reviewed some of the major plot lines and devices, but no one sentence really combined these issues together. What if I used a song about John Henry? Besides issues of copyright, the folk tale of John Henry (and Whitehead’s re-imagining of John Henry) did not jive with the fast-paced work song and ballad. I did have a grand time listening to Harry Belafonte and Johnny Cash while researching for this video, though.

Eventually, I was inspired most by the cover artwork. Railroads track throughout the book, tying John Henry’s story into that of disaffected “junkateer” J. Sutter. I also tried to tease the audience with the book reviews from the cover. I hope that, by keeping it simple, I have created enough of a mystery to pique a viewer’s interest in the book.

The Thirteenth Tale: A Gothic Suspense Book Trailer

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In Diane Setterfield’s Gothic suspense novel, The Thirteenth Tale, daughter of a bookstore owner, Margaret Lea, and Vida Winter, the famous English novelist, set out on an incredible adventure digging into Ms. Winter’s past in order to produce her first true biography. I’ll start by telling you that Vida Winter is not her real name. And that is the least interesting part of this incredible story. As a lover of books, I’ve read quite a few in this genre and never has one presented a plot twist as remarkable as this one. If this book were just now being published, I think its Gothic charm and eerie story line could make for an excellent book trailer. If I were running the show, this is how I would do it:

If this trailer intrigues you, please go out and buy the book. If you’re not a book lover, but the plot still appeals to you, check out BBC’s adaptation of the novel. I haven’t watched it myself, as I learned about it today, but it’s next on my list!

Magic Bites Book Trailer

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Several years ago, when I decided to expand my reading list from mainly young adult fiction, I started looking for more adult books in the fantasy genre I had become addicted to. While browsing the fiction section of my local bookstore, I came across a new genre: urban fantasy. And thus began the binge reading… Several series into my new addiction I was looking for the newest book by Patricia Briggs when I happened to pick up a copy of Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews that was on the same shelf.

Now, the cover wasn’t anything special, but it was just strange enough to get my attention and spark my curiosity, so I read the summary and even noticed a praise for the series from the very author I was looking for. A few seconds later I was adding the book to the stack in my arms.

Magic Bites turned out to be the first book in the dark, edgy Kate Daniels series by a husband and wife writing team. The series, which depicts a world in which the balance between technology and magic has been destroyed, has since become one of my all-time favorites; it is made all the better thanks to its heroine, Kate, who is just the right amount of snarky and sarcastic while being an epically badass mercenary.

I couldn’t believe there wasn’t already a book trailer for this series, so I attempted to remedy that. Because mentioning events in any of the later books would give unforgivable spoilers, I focused on the first book and the general premise behind the series. I went the text heavy route instead of trying to film a visual heavy trailer because this kind of book would require special effects, tons of props, and several actors, none of which I could pull off in a few days and still do it justice. Nevertheless, the writing and storyline in this series should be enough of a reason to make viewers want more, so focusing on the writing instead of how the events play out should prove an effective alternative to an action packed trailer.

Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s The Nest

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The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney is a compelling, character-driven novel depicting the four adult Plumb siblings as they come together over the complications surrounding their inheritance, or “The Nest.” In it we meet Leo, the driving force behind the story’s conflict, as his mistake impacts each of his sibling’s lives. We follow Bea and her aspirations to be a writer, Jack and his personal demons, and Melody in the throes of beginning a new chapter in life as her children are growing up. Set in the beautiful backdrop of New York City, with an October snowstorm cementing the plot in place, Sweeney takes readers on an emotional ride. The story challenges readers to question what is truly important in life—and to be careful in acting on assumption.

The Nest draws readers in with its beautiful prose, flawed but relatable characters, and what it means to be a family.

Book Trailer: In the Throat of the Valley

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This book trailer is structured around a poem that would appear in the hypothetical book, In the Throat of the Valley. The poem deals with the themes of death, winter, and the acknowledgement of how one life must be taken in order to sustain another. To this end, the book trailer animates the text of the poem over a visual of mist and a soundscape that recalls the cold of winter night. As the poem reflects on its themes, the reader must pay careful attention to the animated text, presented in a blurry, nonlinear fashion that engages the reader with the effort of trying to “figure it out.”

The tone of the trailer is careful to steer away from being openly menacing by means of controlling the soundscape and the text animation itself. The text is an off-red (not a sharp red) and its animations are confusing, though not violent. The soundscape is dark, but it is tranquil and lonely, allowing for a serious, yet unconcerned, contemplation of mortality.

https://youtu.be/4-ob19qNRlI

No More Panda Eyes for AJ

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Dark circles. Bags under the eyes. Panda eyes. Whatever they’re called, we can all relate. Who hasn’t looked in the mirror and seen these gloomy facial features? It’s so easy to get dark circles these days; we’re all working hard. But just because we work hard, doesn’t mean we have to look like we work hard. Is it too much to ask for a bright and rosy complexion even though we feel the complete opposite of bright or rosy (dark and thorny?)?

Donate to this Kickstarter to get rid of AJ’s bags once and for all. Eye creams are expensive and zappy laser treatment is even more expensive, so AJ needs your help in raising funds to buy the most expensive eye creams and to drown her face in them. If that doesn’t work, the plastic surgeon can give her eye bag implants for all she cares. She’s just tired of being compared to a panda, cute as they can be.

AJ will graciously share her results with her donors so they can know which expensive cream works. For triple-digit donors, AJ will personally come to your home and dab some of the expensive eye creams under your eyes. Don’t worry, she’s very gentle.

Emperor Mage

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Emperor Mage is the third book in the Immortals series by Tamora Pierce. A young adult novel written in the early 1990s, it tells the story of Veralidaine “Daine” Sarrasri at 15, two years after her family’s death and her discovery of her Wild Magic.

Daine is thrust into a political world she doesn’t understand when Emperor Ozorne asks her to come look at his sick pet birds. Ozorne tries to use her as a pawn, but she’s already been claimed by Carthak’s patron goddess, the Graveyard Hag.

The Hag is upset that Ozorne has stopped worshipping her like he used to and he’s getting ideas above his station. She grants Daine the ability to raise the dead to scare Ozorne back into worshipping her, but it doesn’t quite work that way.

After seeing someone she loves executed, Daine takes matters into her own hands—with the help of some dinosaur skeletons, a couple hyenas, and a marmoset.

Emperor Mage
The Immortals – Emperor Mage