Due to the prevalence of OTT platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, it is easy to forget the goldmine that is YouTube. We are happy to report that it still has great stuff you can enjoy irrespective of your area of interest. Since it has been around for a long time, and serves as a platform even for amateurs to showcase their works, the variety on display is unmatched.
We trawled through the video-sharing site and found a few interesting things you can watch:
1. VFX Artists’ reaction to Bollywood’s CGI videos
Corridor Digital is a production studio company, whose YouTube channel Corridor Crew has its employees reacting to the quality or the lack of it of computer-generated imagery in movies. Recently, they also delved into Indian movies (clubbed under Bollywood, even if they are not Hindi language). Their videos are full of insight as to what goes into creating visual effects, monsters, and characters in major movies. All of this is accompanied with a lot of laughter in seeing their incredulous reactions. Sometimes they also fix the VFX shots of famous movies if needed. If you have interest in CGI, filmmaking or movies, check out this channel.
2. David F Sandberg’s entire YouTube channel
The Swedish filmmaker David F Sandberg is known for horror short films. He also showed off his big-screen, blockbuster chops with DC Comics movie Shazam!. On his personal YouTube channel, named after his online pseudonym ponysmasher, he shares practical tips about filmmaking, as well as steps to do basic and easy VFX right at your home. He also talks about ways to create your own movies and so on. This channel is nothing short of a masterclass series of videos, and it’s free. Sandberg’s candour will make you his fan, regardless of your opinion about his movies.
3. Ryan George’s Pitch Meeting video series on ScreenRant’s channel
Ryan George is a YouTuber whose Pitch Meeting videos have become extremely popular. These videos — parodies of what the actual pitch meetings of popular TV shows and movies must be like — feature him as both the writer and a studio executive. A corporate backdrop is ‘created’ using green screen. The writer talks about the plot holes, cliches in the movie and the poker-faced exec keeps questioning. The writer more often than not convinces the exec due to the money-making potential of the movie or show. By the end, fans are left wondering how these painfully obvious and limited films got a go ahead.
4. Video-essays in The Take channel
Love video-essays about films or TV shows? Look no further than the channel The Take. It features a host of videos wherein movies are dissected and spoken about at great length. They uncover hidden meanings and even unlock subtexts which you might have missed. The Take covers everything. Even if you have seen Breaking Bad many times, there will be many things in the video embedded below that you missed about the show.
5. History Buffs
Are you a TV and movie fan and interested in history? History Buffs tells you how accurate and true-to-history the movie or show you just watched was. Granted, they are work of fiction but it is always fun to decipher the extent till which the writers researched. Watch this analysis of The Terror to find out how historically accurate the brilliant horror series was.
