Bjørn's Tesla Model S videos

[tinm]

PewDiePie, not my cuppa tea, but he is doing pretty darn well on YouTube without a voice coach.

Bjorn has developed a unique brand and I for one can't wait to see what he does with more time during week to work on videos.

I also wish the US had a Nimber service. Lest we forget, Bjorn has done a huge service not only to Tesla but to Nimber as well.

 

[Freudianly]

The question remains : Bjorn wants to reach beyond his core audience of Tesla fans, how does he achieve that ? We care more about the substance of his videos, we learned to know him well over time, we relate to him as one of the most passionate Tesla fans, but many people out there are used to professional communication every day on all kinds of media, are not Tesla fans but just curious about Tesla, and some of them may not take him seriously when hearing him the first time, and will go back to videos made by professional auto magazines with journalists who have proper American or British accents and exude the coolness of comedians.

 

[Model 3]

The question remains : Bjorn wants to reach beyond his core audience of Tesla fans, how hoes he achieve that ? We care more about the substance of his videos, we learned to know him well over time, we relate to him as one of the most passionate Tesla fans, but many people out there are used to professional communication every day on all kinds of media, are not Tesla fans but just curious about Tesla, and some of them may not take him seriously when hearing him the first time, and will go back to videos made by professional auto magazines with journalists who have proper American or British accents and exude the coolness of comedians.

People are different, some like a polished "truth", and others prefer a raw and unpolished truth. But which of these two versions is most convincing for the doubters? My experience is often that the more polished communication, the more "polished" is also "truth" they communicate ....

 

[Johan]

A good microphone though is never wrong. I'd get a Zoom H1. Then sync your audio to video using Pluraleyes. Works wonderfully, no need for clapping to sync.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Did people not see the dedicated video where Bjorn talks about and compares several different microphones (in and out of the car), and chooses the best one? As far as sound recording goes, I'm pretty sure he's on top of that for optimal audio results.

Also, for example, here's a "professional" vlogger that does car reviews ("regularcars"). He has a more ostensibly "professional" voice. I watched ONE car review (the P85), and I'll NEVER WATCH ANOTHER one of his reviews or videos: Regular Car Reviews: 2014 Tesla Model S P85 - YouTube His audio and voice might be more "professional" than Bjorns, but he's so damn annoying, arrogant, and smug it's a complete turn-off.

No, Bjorn, I like you just the way you are.

 

[Freudianly]

Bjorn : 14,435 subscribers • 4,207,084 views. Joined Jan 1, 2010.
Regular Car Reviews : 206,866 subscribers • 30,904,856 views. Joined Jan 12, 2012.
Singers and comedians work on their voice with a coach but maintain the uniqueness of their voice.

 

[JohnSnowNW]

Bjorn : 14,435 subscribers • 4,207,084 views. Joined Jan 1, 2010.
Regular Car Reviews : 206,866 subscribers • 30,904,856 views. Joined Jan 12, 2012.
Singers and comedians work on their voice with a coach but maintain the uniqueness of their voice.

What is you're point? These are two completely different channels. The Car Review channel has almost 100 more videos, and by its nature reaches a wider audience base.

Correlation does not imply causation...

 

[Freudianly]

HankLloydRight brought him up. What is your point ?
I shall add this : the guy has 7 times more views but 14 times more subscribers. So Bjorn is 50% less efficient at getting people to subscribe. Maybe trying to be more professional in very aspect of his job would increase his subscribing rate.

 

[HankLloydRight]

HankLloydRight brought him up. What is your point ?

You said:

If you want to become a professional car tester for an international audience, one thing that could help make your videos more professional would be taking lessons with a voice coach, like actors and people in the mass-media do, to acquire the same accent as people on CNN for example, and also a smoother flow, and more confidence. Most of your fans probably will not tell you out of kindness, but the truth is if you work on it, your voice could be more pleasant.

And I posted an example of someone that fits all your criteria, but is a colossal douchwaffle. So you can have the best audio equipment and 'professional' voice, but that won't change what attracts people to a Vlogger. My point wasn't "who has more "subscribers" or views -- it's that there are many factors that go into it.

My point was that Bjorn is Bjorn, and changing his voice probably isn't going to help or hurt his viewership who happens to appreciate his authenticity. Something I can't say about the RCR douchewaffle.

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HankLloydRight brought him up. What is your point ?
I shall add this : the guy has 7 times more views but 14 times more subscribers. So Bjorn is 50% less efficient at getting people to subscribe. Maybe trying to be more professional in very aspect of his job would increase his subscribing rate.

And that guy reviews and vlogs just about anything, including walking around a junkyard, so his target audience is huge. Or maybe it's because his audience likes colossal douchewaffles?

Bjorn ONLY vlogs about Tesla so his target audience is appropriately smaller.

 

[JohnSnowNW]

HankLloydRight brought him up. What is your point ?
I shall add this : the guy has 7 times more views but 14 times more subscribers. So Bjorn is 50% less efficient at getting people to subscribe. Maybe trying to be more professional in very aspect of his job would increase his subscribing rate.

I was under the impression that I made my point. But, the point again is that you are attributing the guys style to his "success." When it's the range of his content that attracts viewers. Here's an example:

Bjorn: attracts those interested in Tesla/Model S

RCR: attracts those interested in automobiles

You can see how one of these categories might have a larger pool.

 

[Johan]

I was under the impression that I made my point. But, the point again is that you are attributing the guys style to his "success." When it's the range of his content that attracts viewers. Here's an example:

Bjorn: attracts those interested in Tesla/Model S

RCR: attracts those interested in automobiles

You can see how one of these categories might have a larger pool.

Why on earth would you want to mess up a good argument by bringing common sense and logic in to the discussion?!?

 

[Freudianly]

The thing is : Bjorn wants to become a professional youtuber to make more money. He wants to go from an amateur to a one-man business. To become a successful businessman, one has to be self-critical and willing to improve oneself in every possible way. The competition for attention and advertising money on youtube is fierce. So he has to change things. So far, he has decided to buy a new camera, and to publish videos more often. Will his current viewers spend more time each week watching his videos ? I do not think so, since we have a limited amount of time and other things to do. So he will have to attract new viewers. How will he achieve that ? To go beyond his small fanbase of outliers, he has to appeal to people who are more conformistic, who are less tolerant of differences. Clothes, face, voice, demeanor, all that matters immensely. So far he has worked mainly on substance because that is what we care more about, but we are in the minority on youtube. Now he has to work on style. Any successful communication professional will concur. I am being realistic. You are too sentimental.

 

[Yggdrasill]

There's always the risk of alienating the base. For instance, I used to watch Transport Evolved videos, but then they became so polished the point was gone for me.

There's not much wrong with the quality of Bjørns videos, he just needs time to work on the concept and time to make more videos. Currently, Bjørn is making several kinds of videos:

- Nimber runs
- Vacation trips
- Feature reviews
- Races
- Record attempts

If he can develop each format and add others, making a number of videos each week, he can appeal to a much wider audience. Some will come for the feature reviews, some will come for the Nimber videos, others will come across a link to a record attempt in the media.

 

[Electroman]

The main thing is, Bjorn lives and breaths with his Models S and blogs about it. So he is taken seriously.

The others simply drive around for a day and try to give the impression that they are the authority on that. They all can be great smooth talkers, but that means nothing to me.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Funny thing is, Bjørn must be getting a kick out of this discussion of what's best for Bjørn.

 

[StephenM]

Funny thing is, Bjørn must be getting a kick out of this discussion of what's best for Bjørn.

Agreed. I think Freudianly is genuinely trying to give helpful feedback/suggestions for Bjorn, and many others (including myself) disagree with the assessment, but I think it was a suggestion made in good faith.
I'm confident Bjorn will do what he thinks is best for him, which will result in a more genuine product in the end.

 

[pmoa]

A lot of this should get moved to the snippiness thread. This is Bjorns video thread fellas.

 

[tinm]

A request for Bjorn:

I'm not sure if you've ever been to this place or done a video.... How about doing a video of the Millennium Falcon (or the new X) driving across the bridges of The Atlantic Road? Using a drone camera of course!

Photo taken from The Atlantic Road website.

 

[ATC@LWSK]

A request for Bjorn:

I'm not sure if you've ever been to this place or done a video.... How about doing a video of the Millennium Falcon (or the new X) driving across the bridges of The Atlantic Road? Using a drone camera of course!

View attachment 92443

Photo taken from The Atlantic Road website.

Awesome idea, +1 for this! Pretty please?

 

[Bjorn]

I guess I could have done some voice training and changed my accent. But for now I don't have time for that. As long as people understand what I'm saying then it's good enough for my viewers, I suppose. However, I'm constantly trying to improve and perfect my videos. Try to look at my first videos or at my Vimeo channel. My videos have been steadily improving. As for the sound nowadays, I use a lapel microphone and Zoom H4n when I'm inside the car. When I'm parked, the DM-100 mounted on the camera works fine.

For post-editing, I usually apply a highpass at around 80-100 Hz to eliminate the deepest bass when driving. The Zoom H4n also has a built-in highpass that cuts down the low frequency before recording to avoid clipping. Sound is very important indeed for videos. That's why I would never use low quality music and avoid bad sound if possible. My worst sound experience is probably race #1. I also start turning on flight mode on the phone to avoid static noise from EDGE traffic when recording. The dead cat on the camcorder mic is always on because you never know when there will be wind.

When editing videos I also try to adjust the gain between music and speech so the levels are about the same. I have watched some Indian movies. Speech are low and music are way too loud.

I have an eye for details. So little by little, my videos improve. They are far from perfect even today, 8 years after I started making videos.

As for the Atlantic road. This summer my wife and I went there. Unfortunately I was still recovering from a flu and didn't feel like shooting too much video. I did fly my drone earlier in the trip. But I noticed several times that the birds were aggressive. During that time, the birds have babies. So they are extra aggressive. There are lots of videos on YouTube where birds attack drones. So I didn't want my drone to end up in the sea.