YouTube Fantasy
The written word is limping, from too much running, trying to escape video and emojis. Writers like myself don’t want to admit it but the world is totally visual, you see me, I see you and people love video for many reasons, including:
Hair: That colour suits her. I’m glad she rinsed out that yellow.
Clothes: I love those gym pants. I must get a pair.
Weight: Wow! He has lost a lot of weight.
Demeanor: She doesn’t look happy, but that is understandable. Their divorce was brutal.
Perception: His English is very good for someone born in the Third World.
Race: But, he doesn’t look Japanese.
What was the video all about? That is what I want to know. Few people remember because they were so enthralled by the ‘look’, which brings me back to why I’m contemplating doing a YouTube stint.
It won’t be about writing because it is a non-starter, not visually friendly at all. What can I say to the camera about writing? I switch on my computer and this is the power button. Giles, can you zoom on it? I call up the work in progress: I fell in Love with an Emoji. I try typing. Nothing. I stare at the screen. Nothing. I stand up to make coffee. Giles, can you zoom in my frustration?
So, you can seen that videos about writing are out. How about cooking? I am food inclined so I can have a video called Throw Down. That is what African Americans call cooking, throwing down veggies or meat on the chopping board, then into the pot.
Throw Down will definitey have more page views than this blog because I will pay particular attention to hair, make-up, clothes and smiling, but there is a stumbling block. Production costs.
I need a budget to pay Giles, rent production space or turn my place into a mini-studio. We need decent camera equipment, lights, production drivers, a make-up artist, a wardrobe consultant, a ‘food beggar’ that will convince supermarkets and farmers to donate eggs, pumpkin and mushrooms, we need ….. that’s it, the list is too long. I can’t do it.
The morale of the story is: I respect people who spend money on YouTube accounts with the hope that they will get paid with cash money or endorsements, one day. Now back to that tortoise: the written word.
By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.
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