With regards to creating participating on-line content material, there’s lots you are able to do to maintain your viewers’ consideration. New Rockstar’s livestream “The Breakroom” has found a manner to offer extremely participating content material on a constant foundation. They leverage livestreaming as a time-saving software for manufacturing. We discuss with New Rockstars Producer John Costa about what it takes to provide “The Breakroom.” He shares how creators can maximize their assets to create constant movies they love.
New Rockstars
Subscribers: 3.86M
Uploads: 2,719
Video views: 1,622,535,517
Content material sort: Leisure
Consumer created: Oct eighth, 20011
Background
The New Rockstars YouTube channel has been round since 2011. Initially, they targeted on interviewing new media YouTube creators, then dubbed the ‘new rockstars.’ At this time, the channel focuses on popular culture and leisure. Their programming contains BREAKDOWN, a present devoted to discovering Easter eggs and missable particulars from widespread motion pictures and TV exhibits. There’s additionally “The Breakroom,” a reside present that talks in regards to the newest information in leisure.
John joined the New Rockstars group in 2019 as a contract editor. On the time he wasn’t a devoted editor, however he had expertise enhancing his personal initiatives previously. He shares, “I know how to string a story together, and I know the technical aspects of how to edit. I went to film school where I had to edit all my own stuff.”
WHEN I WAS A BEGINNER, YOU HAVE TO EDIT ALL YOUR OWN CONTENT, AND I DIDN’T REALLY HAVE ANY GOOD EDITING QUALIFICATIONS BUT I HAD A FRIEND WHO WORKED HERE AND NEEDED PEOPLE TO EDIT VIDEOS AND I WAS LIKE, ‘HEY, I’LL TRY TO TAKE A SWING AT IT.’
After a while, John was employed as a full-time editor. After that, he grew to become the post-production supervisor for New Rockstars.
Throughout this time, John oversaw the entire video initiatives that went out at New Rockstars. Every bit of content material shares a typical purpose — resonance. “It’s so easy to forget that there are people that you’re creating content for,” says John. “You’re not creating content for a number…[what] we’re trying to do is give people just an hour of a day. If they need an hour of [non-sense], we want them to have fun with these people they feel like they have gotten to know.”
In the beginning of 2022, John Costa moved out of post-production and right into a producer place. The primary challenge John produced was a collection referred to as Health Origins. This collection revolved round hosts competing in a collection of superhero-inspired health routines.
This was a singular challenge for John. “We had a sponsorship deal with DoorDash, and we were trying to figure out how to integrate food with what we do, which is pop culture and entertainment. We settled on this weird idea, which was getting nerds into shape… an origin story of people becoming their superhero selves.”
This challenge was enjoyable and served as a proving floor for himself and the group that they have been in a position to do greater than they thought.
The start of “The Breakroom“
“The Breakroom” is a five-day-a-week livestream present that discusses the newest in popular culture media. The purpose of the present is to be each informative and enjoyable, shares Costa.
“We’re so busy now; it’s hard to get together with your friends. If you need someone to hang out with, we’re always going to be there. If we can give that to people, that’s awesome. That’s the thing that I find the most satisfying, is giving people something that they were maybe missing.”
The primary episode streamed on Might 2, 2022, however the present was in growth nicely earlier than that.
On the time, New Rockstars was excited by entering into reside productions.
John recollects, “After ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ came out, we thought it would be fun to get together on a Zoom call and give our initial impressions.” The group livestreamed a Zoom name to see how their viewers would reply.
The responses have been overwhelmingly constructive, shares Costa. With that, they spent the following 5 months creating the present. It took lots of work as a result of it was a reside present; there have been many components they wanted to check out reside. “We really wanted to throw [the show] on its feet,” John shares. They recorded a number of reside exhibits and took time to determine what labored the most effective and what didn’t.
Suggestions was crucial, so that they leveraged Discord as a check viewers for his or her non-public streams. Describing the method, John shares, “Once we got comfortable with a product that we could show real people, we had 45 to 50 members of our Discord just like, ‘Hey, here’s a cool show that we’re working on; we’re just trying some things out. Check it out if you want to come to watch.’” This check viewers gave precious suggestions that allow them know they have been headed in the best path with the present.
“IT’S ALWAYS DIFFERENT WHEN YOU PUT SOMETHING OUT IN FRONT OF AN AUDIENCE, BECAUSE YOU START TO SWEAT A LITTLE BIT MORE. AS SOON AS YOU PUT SOMETHING OUT YOU’RE LIKE, ‘OKAY, I DIDN’T REALLY LIKE HOW THAT WENT; I DIDN’T REALLY LIKE HOW THAT WENT — THAT ACTUALLY WENT PRETTY WELL. PEOPLE ARE COMPLAINING ABOUT THIS THING BUT I REALLY THINK THAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT THIS OTHER THING, SO THAT STARTED TO BECOME REALLY HELPFUL AS WELL.”
Livestream workflow
Getting ready for a livestream is crucial as a result of it’s — nicely — reside. There aren’t any second takes or do-overs. By their livestream assessments, the New Rockstars group has developed a workflow that has allowed them to create extra content material in much less time.
“The Breakroom” is primarily run via an ATEM Mini Excessive ISO reside manufacturing switcher. The switcher permits them to run and function 4 Blackmagic Studio Digital camera 4k Execs that may report independently.
From there, the present is operated via an interface that offers John and his group all of the capabilities they should run the present. In addition they make use of a plugin referred to as Bitfocus Companion. This software program permits them to set presets for the present on the press of a button. One instance John displayed was their “starting soon” preset. As soon as pressed, it mutes all of the microphones, brings up a scene in OBS, and begins taking part in music instantly. This has been essentially the most game-changing useful resource, John shares. “This is a $200 piece of equipment — the stream deck — and with this piece of software, we got to be saving $10,000 or something.”
“WE’VE BEEN SAYING THIS FOREVER, PROSUMER OR CONSUMER PRODUCTS ARE GETTING SO GOOD AND SO INEXPENSIVE, AND WITH THAT COMBINED WITH THE SOFTWARE, WE CAN PUT UP A SHOW THAT IS AS GOOD AS THE THINGS YOU SEE ON TV.”
Pre-show prep
With the technical aspect of the manufacturing set, the following step is to create the content material. A number of members of the New Rockstars group contribute to the method, together with devoted researchers and writers. As a result of the present is primarily a information present, the present revolves round headlines. The second half of the present is ‘Mandatory Fun.’ In John’s phrases, it’s simply the group going to do one thing silly.
“We have a great researcher and she pulls a bunch of headlines for us at 2:00 AM when she’s ready to go to bed. She’s a night owl, so it works out well.” From there, he places collectively a top level view for the present. Subsequent, John leads a gathering with one other producer and the forged to get suggestions. It’s necessary that the forged has a buy-in as nicely. “ … if they’re not into it, the show’s not going to be good. If they’re not into it, the audience might not be into it. Having a bunch of people’s opinions that I trust [is] so useful. Maybe that’s not actually a good idea, and they’re all super smart — a couple of them are producers and writers themselves, so that’s really helpful.”
As soon as the assembly wraps, the New Rockstars group works to get the technical features of the present, giving them three hours to complete.
As a result of they deal with the manufacturing like a information present, they need to plan for when information breaks after they’ve prepped the present.
“SO, THAT’S THE REALLY COOL THING ABOUT THIS SHOW IS WHEN NEWS BREAKS 30 MINUTES BEFORE WE’RE ABOUT TO GO LIVE. THAT’S SO ENERGIZING, THAT’S SO FUN!”
The workflow John and his group have created for “The Breakroom” has. Different exhibits have taken benefit of their setup, permitting them to shoot the footage and successfully edit in actual time.
THAT HAS BEEN A HUGE BENEFIT OF DOING THIS SHOW. WE SAVED A LITTLE BIT OF MONEY ON EDITING COST, AND WE SAVED A TON OF TIME. IT WOULD TAKE FIVE OR SIX HOURS TO EDIT THAT VIDEO AND NOW IT’S DONE BY THE TIME WE’RE DONE TAPING IT, WHICH IS AMAZING.
For those who’re trying to get began livestreaming, don’t fall into the gear lure. John advises you not solely to begin with what you might have, however to begin with who you recognize. Relating, he shares, “The stereotypical answer is, ‘Hey, our phones are so good right now; you can livestream from your phone on TikTok. You can have a huge audience just on your phone.’ That’s totally true, but I think that doesn’t always resonate with [everyone]. Some people are like, ‘my ambitions are bigger than my phone.’”
Recalling a time when he first moved to LA years in the past, “The best piece of advice I got was from a screenwriter that I ran into at a screening. He was like, ‘Stop asking people like me for help and advice. Get the people together that you know and come up with them. You will make friends in this industry, and the friends that you make in this industry [will be how you make it].’”
It’s extra than simply understanding the best individuals, John elaborates; it’s about making use of your assets. You could not have the gear you wish to get began, however it’s possible you’ll know individuals who do.
PEOPLE ARE LIKE, “OH, DON’T GO TO FILM SCHOOL. IT’S NOT GOING TO TEACH YOU ANYTHING.” THAT IS ALMOST TRUE, BUT THE THING THAT I GAINED THE MOST OUT OF FILM SCHOOL WAS THE FREEDOM TO MAKE A TON OF MISTAKES, AND I MET SO MANY COOL PEOPLE THAT WANTED TO MAKE THE SAME STUFF THAT I DID.
Reflecting, John says, “Our first livestream test was probably March 20th; we didn’t go live until May 2nd. We had the luxury of being able to do tests that were not public. As soon as you can make something, you’re going to start learning, and you’re going to start getting better. You’re going to learn so much by making things.”
New Rockstar’s “The Breakroom” makes use of livestreaming to create extremely participating content material and save time for creators. Producing a multi-camera reside present takes a substantial amount of tech and coordination. As John has identified, the necessary first step to take is to not purchase gear — however to make the most of your assets. In case your aspirations are larger than your digital camera, join with different creators. Your first manufacturing isn’t going to be excellent, however it is going to get you began down the trail of getting higher.
