*NB- I wrote this last week and forgot to post it! So here it is:
So, this week we learned some beginner lessons in Reddit-ing, and released our most recent Friday sketch, which was specifically made for Halloween:
We really enjoyed filming this one. As much as filming inside one of our homes is fun and all, I'm always much happier with a sketch we shoot on location, and fortunately York has no shortage of old stone graveyards. Unfortunately it meant our lighting and audio took a slight hit, but I think the setting of a vlog parody suits the guerrilla style.
We came up with this idea originally to film with one person, as that week was proving difficult in terms of travel. However, as the sketch evolved, it necessitated multiple characters, and of course the graveyard setting. Originally it was going to be a ghost telling a ghost story about how scary living people are (hence the line about the undead being the living), but it was difficult to find a direction to take it in. At one point we even considered returning to fan-favourite character Mr Harrison; since he is dead in his only appearance, the only way to revisit him is when he is a ghost:
This was also the first week when we have delved into the dizzying world of Reddit. As someone who has never really used Reddit, or indeed any forum, on any regular basis, it was an intimidating prospect, but also one I knew could be an excellent way of reaching a new audience. After speaking with my good friend Jak (of "It's Jak!" sketch fame, found here, as well runner of the excellent 103 Percent Complete Blog, found here), I have put together my top 3 tips for the new Reddit user:
1. Read, Don't Write
As you would expect with forums, people tend to rush there when they have something to say, and scroll through in a bored way when they want something to read. As such, the best thing you can do is find a subreddit you are interested (for example, comedy writing) and then spend some time reading through what people post and, perhaps most crucially, what people upvote. It might sound cynical, but this form of market research means you can not only maximise the payoff from your efforts but also not annoy people but spamming or posting unwanted content.
2: Match Your Content
Finding an audience who are genuinely going to be interested in what you do is vital. We are always of the opinion that it is more valuable to have an engaged and interested viewer than 10 who will watch ten seconds of what we do and then get bored and leave. Therefore, once you have done your reading research, picking the key sub-Reddits to hit will make a big difference. For example, for our Goth sketch, we hit Halloween, Goth, Comedy Writing and Sketch Comedy.
3: Have a slick product
The last part of making a successful pitch on Reddit is making sure what you put out is of a quality you are happy with. This is not necessarily the same as being of the highest quality; after all, you may be limited by time, production quality, resources, experience etc. The main thing is making sure what you put out matches your target quality for that moment. When we started putting out weekly sketches nearly a year ago our standards were a lot lower than they are now, and will likely be a lot higher this time next year. Remember; just because something is of a low quality doesn't mean it shouldn't be shared, but something of a lower quality than are happy with shouldn't be put out there.
- Ben
