Many people are involved in content creation because platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and others pay.
In your opinion, should passion play a larger role in content creation, or should people become content creators just because they get paid for their work?
What do you know about the monetization process?
Victor Audu maintains that even though people in the profession are generating money, you still need to know what you’re doing and do your homework before entering the field. If your purpose for being there is to get paid, you have certain responsibilities.
It’s great if it’s a passion, as some individuals may pursue it for years without stopping, but it will be perfect if you make money doing what you love.
It’s an excellent idea to make money from your passion. Although content creators are making money from something new, they still need to know what they’re doing because, in the end, they will give up if it doesn’t work.
What are your thoughts on this?
Some of these platforms do not pay content creators in Nigeria, such as TikTok, where many individuals will be using data, dancing, and participating in challenges, as well as Instagram.
Victor said even though the platform isn’t paying you, there are other ways to sell your services as a Creator.
If you’re looking for a platform that will only pay you the way YouTube does, it’s not going to be sustainable, because as a video reference content creator. I’m not a lifestyle Creator, I’m someone who creates for businesses and Brands. I don’t need to have a strong personal account to create content, because I have the skill to do it.
People should not become influencers simply because Instagram or TikTok will pay them.
It is beneficial to have a skill set because there are other ways to monetize out there. rather than waiting for the application to pay you.
Because even when the app starts paying, you must still meet specific requirements.
For YouTube: 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 view hours. Perhaps in the future, this will need to change.
People should not be waiting for that to happen; instead, they should look for alternatives to make money and monetize their work.
What impact has social media had on audience engagement and content creation?
There are certain disadvantages, and I believe they outweigh the benefits.
You may now receive information quickly by just following someone you desire.
There are many people you can follow now, but the downside is that as a Creator, you’re now creating content for a business, and you need to find a good hook, which is essential because people’s retention of span sponsors is so low now, it’s terrible, like three seconds, they’re gone, and most people don’t pay attention.
For creators like us, it’s harder to sell a message, because you’re advertising business.
What about the algorithm? There are instances when you work so hard and spend so much money, yet there is never any engagement.
Victor maintains that in 2021 reels came because Instagram was a picture-driven platform and people loved it.
When the reel came, people were threatened, reels helped people.
Algorithms will constantly determine ways to change.
It’s harder now because everybody is a Creator, and the algorithms are changing. You have to find ways to reinvent yourself because what you are doing might not be working.
If the retention span is 3 seconds or used to be 10 seconds before and now it’s 5 Seconds, you need to have a better hook and better ways to tell your stories.
There are other tools you can use when you’re trying to display visual images to people, we have sound designs. As a Creator, you have to reinvent yourself and always try to learn the algorithm and make it work for you.
The algorithm is always going to change, so as a Creator, you need to learn how to work with it, not try to condemn it.
How should content creators or independent creators like you and so many others out there, navigate these changes and Trends?
Audu said we should be ready to work with it because the world is always changing and social media is just growing. We should learn how to work with the tools so that it will help us as creators.
As someone who creates videos daily, I have some apps that help me get ideas and inspiration.
We have to always reinvent ourselves and try to learn new things, take more courses, and more actions.
If you have AI and you learn how to use AI for yourself, you can get scripts easily, you can get content Story Board, and all those mood boards easily.
Before you had to do it manually, you drew it, now Ai has made life easier for us, and we should take advantage of what we have right now.
What are some of the challenges you think content creators face when trying to adapt to this technology, especially in Nigeria
Victor Audu adds that some content creators are lazy and aren’t putting in more work to get good results and another thing is memory space is one of the biggest challenges, also paying for apps and others, if you’re using an iPhone it’s hard to pay for all these types of things like Apple cards won’t work. There are some occurrences where people do a job and send it to the clients, and they will come back and ask you questions about it, space is one of the biggest things.
You will be paying for space because these videos carry a lot of files on them, unlike before, when you could have like 10 gigs or even 20 gigs worth of footage that you might not use then.
The majority of people are reluctant to use these gadgets since most local videographers and cinematographers prefer to work by hand. However, since the devices have become more widely available, particularly in Nigeria, some people have stopped using them.
Creative bloggers are trying to come up with ideas, it’s a competitive market everybody’s trying to create something and trying to put stories out there. Victor added
How could these space-related problems that you describe be resolved?
We should find ways to make sure our Dollar Card works and fund it so that it can be used to pay for iCloud. These funds play a big role in this issue of space because if you want to make life easier for yourself as a content creator, you need funds.
We have iCloud, Google Drive, and other platforms that sell storage space, but if you can’t pay for iCloud and others, there are hard drives, but hard drives are expensive, you can get hard drives to back up your work and also tell your clients to keep their copy too.
Do you think some laws or regulations are setting back the content creation space In Nigeria?
Victor adds, for now, I will not state that there are laws in Nigeria that attempt to impose difficulties on content creators; rather, there are no laws that attempt to prevent content creation.
You’re set as long as you have a gadget, such as a phone, that can record video, right now to be a Creator you need funds to get gadgets and these gadgets are expensive.
You can start small, with no taxation and the market is free.
Regarding certain persons not owning every social media account, what can you say?
There is one major issue that stands out: most applications seem the same; X resembles threads, YouTube now resembles Instagram, and TikTok resembles YouTube as well.
What can you say about this, and how does it affect your work?
Is it so important to have accounts on every application unlike before, when you saw a celebrity putting out, oh this is my Facebook account follow me here, cause whatever you see on Facebook is different from what you see on Instagram, now people even put on their bio, I don’t have Facebook, I don’t have the other one, this is my only social media account.
According to Victor, I don’t think it’s an issue, it all depends on where the people are getting paid from, Twitter now X is paying people, TikTok is paying people, Instagram is paying people, and YouTube is paying people. So you just need to know why people are on these platforms, in terms of people having accounts, some people have all the accounts.
If someone wants to monetize all the accounts, it’s a good thing, maybe having a platform or streaming accounts in every single platform or application, doesn’t affect me and it doesn’t affect my workflow anywhere, but I don’t know about other creators. he added
THE REASON WHY PEOPLE’S FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, AND OTHER ACCOUNTS GET HACKED
Sometimes you’ve spent so much time working on your account and you wake up one morning and somebody is in charge of the account, somebody has taken over the account.
What do you think should be done about hackers?
He said Hackers need encryption in order to accomplish their mission; users should refrain from clicking on Links they are unsure of.
They don’t only hack your account and people need to learn how to identify hackers, they are crazy hackers on the internet, and hackers that can hack your accounts, they need something to bridge in and those are links.
The reason why people’s accounts get hacked is because they’re tapping links.
The experience with hackers
when I was new to content creation, my first account got hacked because I clicked a link.
It’s important to be aware of the kind of links individuals click, even if they are known to you.
These are the most common ways for accounts to be hacked, If you don’t know anyone who can help you recover your account, you’ll have to pay for it.
ALSO: Content Creation And Cinematography Part 1
People need to be more educated in that area because hackers require a bridge, something to be able to bridge in; they cannot simply bridge in; people must understand what they are clicking on.
About verifications, so many people want to give you jobs because they want a verified account, but on the other side, if you look at it, anybody can easily get verified these days, it used to be something cool, but right now you see someone with just 1000 followers even zero followers.
According to Victor Audu, if you’re a business person and you’re betting on verification right now, I don’t think that’s the best thing to do.
Because some people have a million followers and no verification, so I don’t think we should look at that, verification now has become cheap, because anybody can get it now, but before it used to be a big deal.
It’s good if one gets Instagram verified, there are better benefits to it, if you try to start paying for verification now, there are some things there that you might not like, the terms.
People shouldn’t be looking at verified accounts, A verified account doesn’t mean it’s going to sell to people, just because it’s verified, at the end of the day it is the content and the business that matters.
Most of the social media platforms are owned by people who are not Africans, do you think Africans should tap into this billion-dollar market?
Audu said The more we tap into it, the better.
Africans should own social media.
If we can, we should, but foreigners own the platforms, and you can use them for your benefit, I don’t think is a crime, it is a free world, if we decide to create our platform that’s good, but we that is using the platform is benefiting us, so why should we leave it, Let’s find other ways to improve and get more monetized on social media. Victor added.
Conclusion
what advice do you have for upcoming content creators and cinematographers?
The space is still free at the end of the day, but you have to learn new skills and keep on Reinventing yourself because there are some techniques you don’t know right now and you have to step up your game.
If you want to succeed in content creation, you must be consistent.
It would be good if you have little means, because gadgets are very expensive, and the iPhone 10 is over 200k or more, that’s an iPhone 10 Talk of the iPhone 15 which is about 2 million.
We have cameras and drones available, depending on your needs and goals.
It’s not going to be easy, anything good doesn’t come easily in life.
First things first: having a little money will help you. People also need to learn how to constantly reinvent themselves and learn how to be students of the game. Finally, they should learn how to work for free at first because no one will pay them right away; they need to see what they can do first.
Try to maintain consistency on such apps or platforms, and introduce yourself to others. Once you have an audience, you may charge a specific amount of money, and people will pay.
Getting an audience benefits your brand and helps you maintain a consistent grind.
Few Tips For Enhancing Content Creation And Cinematography
Step1: leverage 4K and higher resolutions
Invest in cameras that support 4K or higher resolutions to ensure your content is future-proof and maintains high quality.
Higher resolution footage also provides more flexibility in post-production such as cropping and stabilizing.
Step 2: use proper lenses
Different lenses offer varying depths of field and focal length. For cinematic looks, consider prime lenses for their sharpness, and wide apertures and zoom lenses for facility in different shooting conditions.
Step 3: invest in stabilization equipment
To achieve smooth, cinematic shots, use gimbals, Steadicams, or a higher quality tripod System proper stabilization can significantly enhance the professional look of your footage.
Step 4: understand lighting principles
Use three-point lighting(key light, fill light, and backlight) to create depth and dimension, for more control, consider LED lights with adjustable color temperatures to match the mood of your scene.
Step 5: prioritize quality sound
Excellent audio is equally vital as beautiful pictures. Use high-quality microphones and consider using windshields for outdoor recording. Monitor audio levels with headphones to ensure clear sound capture.
Step 6: utilize color grading
Invest time in color grading to enhance the visual appeal of your footage. Tools like the DaVinci Resolve offer extensive color correction capabilities to achieve a desired mood or style.
finally step 7: Master editing software
Get comfortable with Advanced features in your editing software, such as multicam editing, motion tracking, and keyframing. This can help streamline your workflow and expand your creative options.