You should have your unique list of inspirations, perspectives, and character by now - or at least some thoughts around these three themes. Please don’t panic if you’re in the position where you have quite limited thoughts around these things, it might be that you’ve only just really started thinking about this kind of stuff, and it can take time, it’s a ongoing process.
In this lesson, we’re going to discuss the following:
And by the end of this lesson, you’ll use your list from previous lessons to generate a number of ideas for your project.
If you want to hear me say the best place to get ideas is the YouTube Trending page and just do what everyone is doing, this is the wrong course for that. I’m going way deeper than that sh*t.
While the YouTube Trending page may offer some popular ideas, there are many other ways to generate unique and original ideas. Thinking outside the “YouTube box” and exploring new avenues, like your own box, will be really beneficial for creating unique ideas.
So, ideas. Where do they come from? In its simplest form, ideas come from daily life and experiences.. That’s what life is really, it’s experiences. I could be walking somewhere, see something in a supermarket, see something online, be watching a film, or in the shower weirdly, I’m often very in my head, and I could think, “ooh, that could work as a video”. I was actually cycling to my studio the other day, and there’s this huge building site with diggers and everything, and my brain goes “hmm wonder if I can do a cool transition in a year or so time when it’s built”. It’s a fairly constant thing, and it’s really just by living life, these ideas come up.
Here are a few strategies you could try: (I’m not gonna lie, this is the first part of the course that has been ripped from the internet, but I think some of them could be useful)
Brainstorming: Take some time to brainstorm ideas without any limitations or judgement. Write down every idea that comes to mind, even if it seems silly or unrealistic. You may be surprised at how many viable ideas you can generate, or what comes out when you see them together.
Research: Look into topics that interest you. Think about the gaps in the market and how you could offer something unique.
Collaborate: If you like collaborating with people, reach out to other creators in your niche and work together on a project. Working with someone else can often lead to new and exciting ideas - personally, I’m not a big collaborator if I’m honest, I like control over everything. But that doesn’t mean it’s not something you’d like to do!
Get inspired by your surroundings: Take a walk, visit a museum, consume life, and do something else that gets you out of your normal routine. Sometimes inspiration can come from completely unexpected places - and that’s often the best kind as well!
Keep track of your ideas: Carry a notebook with you or use a note-taking app to jot down any ideas that come to mind throughout the day . You never know when an idea will strike, so it's essential to capture it when it does. We’re going to talk more about this in a minute.
Remember, the best ideas often come from taking risks and trying something new. Don't be afraid to experiment and see what works for you.
Everyone will naturally have different ways their brain works and, therefore, different ways to develop video ideas. Because I’m always thinking about content and making videos, I generally just consume life as it comes, and the ideas just come to me through that everyday life. And then, those ideas will usually align with the messages I want to put into the world around content creation - because they’re so much made up of my core values.
Your process for coming up with ideas could look completely different. What is certain, though, is the 3 key components we highlighted in this module - Your inspirations, Your perspective, and Your character will make up the foundation for which your idea will kind of, sit on. So be aware of what you surround yourself with, as it will no doubt play into your content ideas.
As soon as I get an idea, I get my phone out, and I make a note of the idea, just literally a few words and a short description that will remind me of the idea in the future. This is so important to do because, honestly, you forget these things without making a note. You think you won’t, but you always do.
I use an app called ‘Notion’ to organise my ideas - I really like it because each concept will have its own page. I can come back and add more notes to the idea and organise it all easily by creating categories and assigning them for the type of content. It all syncs up between your phone and the desktop app, so you can write some stuff on your phone and then carry it on later on desktop… yeah, I like it. Check it out via my affiliate link here if you like, I’ll post it below this video if you’d like to use that: https://affiliate.notion.so/jqoswljkks7r
However, you don’t have to use that. The free app on your phone, “notes” or whatever, I did that for years, and it’s fine too.
And remember, not everything has to get produced. I probably have around 5 ideas for every one video that gets made - which is the right way around. It’s vital to prioritise wherever your energy is best felt. Say you’ve been working on something for a few hours or days, but then suddenly you have another idea that you’d like to film and edit.. then do that, and go for it. The other idea will still be there later on. Plus people don’t know about what you didn’t make, only what you do make! Energy is so important and it shows in the content, so when you have it, use it!
So if I was going to think about my inspirations, my perspective, and my character, I would end up with something a little like this.
Note:- This list will naturally change over the years as you grow as a person, and your content will too. I’ll probably look back at this list and be like “c’monnnn why’d you write that!”
Your inspirations
Your perspectives
Your character
Casey Neistat
Studio Setup
Honesty / Realism
Colin and Samir (and the people they interview)
BTS from working in video production
Bad Jokes (even at my expense)
Music
YouTube / Creator economy
Not great with words
So many other YTers in smaller ways (Make.Art.Now , Dan Mace, “The New YT Wave”, Gawx Art)
Working with Dave
I care about the detail
With the above chart in mind, I'm going to list 3 ideas, and you'll see exactly how all of these ideas relate to some of the above things, in some way.
(as a side note, these ideas are genuine ideas I do want to do, so by the time you’re watching this, they may already exist on my channel).
Idea 1 - "B*itch better have my money"
This is an idea around the Rihanna song "B*tch better have my money", where in the story, I'm a creator sending an invoice to a client. And I got wayyy over the top with it - think money guns, think breaking stuff, think anything cliche rich.
It'd also be a one take video, so there's a good opportunity there to do a behind the scenes angle - which I actually think could end up performing better than the main video.
Idea 2 - A YouTuber sequence breakdown
I’ve got a few videos that I’ve wanted to make a breakdown of, where I break down the scenes and show exactly how that creator has done what they’re showing.. Kind of like a Behind of scenes of someone else’s video. There’s a creator called LifeOfRiza who’s popped off recently, and there’s a scene where she’s pushing a trolley in a supermarket. I want to break that down and get a trolley in here - that would be fun!
Idea 3 - Energy is a depleting asset
You only have so much energy to give out into the world - that’s really how life works. I think it’d be cool to make a video to try and visualise this in some way. Could maybe use one of those “life in weeks” charts?
I think out of these 3, I'd like to produce my video on the “How you use your Energy” video. I think for the sake of this course, it's got a good balance of talking to camera, filming B roll, and other little potential sequences.
Ok, so now it's on to you, and your task for this lesson.
Your next task is to generate some ideas for the content you’ll be making. Get a list going. I want to see at least 3 rough ideas for a piece of content. Take all the time you need. Some people will pause the video and write them down straight away, and some people will want to take the remaining week to think about what I’ve talked about and come up with some ideas. You do whatever works for you.
(Remember, you can use the PDF file as a template if you’d like)
The ideas don’t have to be new. They just need to be something that you want to make.
YOU are the important part here - you’re doing this course for you. So forget about impressing friends, family or anyone else to be proud of you. This is about making something that you want to make and that you will be proud of - so don’t be afraid to get weird with it if you wish to, or just keep it straight edge, it’s up to your inspirations, your perspectives and your character.
BONUS TIP: Something to consider is that this isn’t a process that you sit down, write out in 20 minutes, and boom, you’ve got it. This is something that is constantly developing the more you do it. I do think it’s really easy to spend too much time overthinking these things - “what type of creator do I want to be?” “are people gonna like that?” “should I do this trend on TikTok?". So don’t feel down if you’re struggling a bit. These things will come out the longer you do them - the more you act. I do believe that you learn so much more by action, testing, and practice than do you … over thinking.
