I have a crazy idea and I want to hear your opinion!

[phantom000]

YouTube.com has all kinds of content creators. Some of them are successful enough that they generate ad revenue or attract a corporate sponsor, or both. So for creating my own content my idea was to create short animated films. Now, obviously creating anything close to Disney or Pixar would be way beyond me but that is not what aiming for, at least not at first. These would be more like story boards but with sound and voices added to make it a little more like film or television.

What do you think?

 

[Maryn]

I think it's not exactly self-publishing, so I'm going to scoot your post over to Screenwriting. It's closer to that than anything else.

You know the drill: hands inside the thread until the Fasten Seatbelts sign is no longer illuminated.

 

[Brightdreamer]

FWIW, I've seen several animated shorts on YouTube, of varying degrees of quality. Many seem to be from animation school students, others are independently developed.

Is anyone doing what you're thinking of doing, more specifically? Does there seem to be a market for it? Have you researched what it takes to get monetized? (From what I understand, it's not nearly as easy as "post the thing, get paid", and the rules and algorithms and such keep changing.) Have you talked to anyone who does this, to get their input, or at least read stuff or watched interviews with such people to get a feel for how they do what they do?

As a more general comment, ideas are a dime a dozen. The execution is what matters (though, if you're dealing with internet algorithms, that won't be the only factor).

I'd say give it a shot, but do your homework first.

 

[allswell]

It's a neat idea and certainly one I've seen on YouTube before, though I typically only check out story board videos of movies or shows I already know. Otherwise they can be a little slow for my taste.

The real issue with this, as with many things on the internet / social media, is standing out in the crowd. And it's very crowded out there. But if you can find your niche audience I don't see why it can't work.

 

[moonjelly]

Hi Phantomooo, I think it's a great idea and I've seen many people find success by choosing to share their work on a social platform like YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok. It is completely doable but if your goal is to build an audience, grow your channel, or earn revenue, there's more to it than simply posting your work.

Visibility is one of the biggest issues content creators face. Even the best idea or the highest quality short can quickly get buried under all the new content that is constantly uploaded to any platform. To be successful, you need people to actually see what you're posting. This can be achieved through marketing, understanding your target audience, posting consistently, and being familiar with how your chosen social platform works (algorithm, trends, tools), just to name a few.

While there's a lot that goes into the success of these ventures, that also means there's a lot of knowledge and resources available to you should you want more information. A little research and planning goes a long way!

 

[Cyia]

These would be more like story boards but with sound and voices added to make it a little more like film or television.

What you're describing are "animatics." A semi-animated, sketched out sequence of events with a soundtrack of some sort. I know there were some popular ones a while back that strung together the songs from "Hamilton" into a not-quite full production.

Another version would be done in something like Roblox, which has also been used to recreate musical theater. The most complete one is a version of "Six."

Also, if you're into animation, be aware that Procreate is *supposedly* preparing to launch an open platform similar to Roblox, but with much more realistic output via the Unreal Engine. It might be an avenue fit to your purpose.

Just as an FYI, the algorithm prioritizes people who post regularly (at least once a week), meaning you'll likely have better luck if you create a bank of uploads, and then schedule them on a regular basis to try and build an audience.

Good luck.