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When it comes to creating a successful YouTube or Vimeo channel, recording your first video is just a fraction of the work that needs to be done. After that comes the really hard part: trying to direct new viewers to your content. Luckily, it doesn’t all have to be left to chance. There are some concrete steps you can take in attracting an audience to your page. Some of this requires trial and error, but don’t sweat it — we’re about to give you some of the best tips to drive more traffic to your channel.

Choose Your Username Wisely
Before you do anything, you’ll have to choose a username for your platform account of choice. This username will be representative of you and your content, so it’s crucial you choose thoughtfully.

First and foremost, pick a name that relates to a central theme of your content. Whether it be beauty, automotive, or a personal vlog, pick a name that’s going to remind viewers of you and your unique appeal — make it catchy and easy to remember! Think about it this way, a name with a lot of numbers or random letters isn’t one that someone can easily search. Names like Pewdiepie and VanossGaming are unique and help viewers create associations with the content’s main personality or subject. Whatever name you choose, make sure you keep it consistent across any other platforms you may share your content on.

Use Social Media
Don’t just leave your videos on one platform and hope for the best; post them everywhere you can. Utilizing other popular social platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat can help establish and promote your video channel across a wider range of individuals.
Just be careful to keep your content where it belongs. Constantly sharing on other people’s pages or in their comments can look desperate There’s a fine line between enticing people and annoying people. Don’t lose your cool for the sake of advertising.

Networking Will Take You Far
If you’re the only one sharing your videos, you’ll only get so far. You need to network to make a splash.

You can improve your reach by working with influencers – online personalities, bloggers and even bigger video creators than yourself. Someone making a shout-out for you to his or her already dedicated fan base is incredible free publicity.

Create Interesting, On-Point Titles
We aren’t suggesting you go full-on clickbait like “This One Weird Trick…” or “You’ll Never Believe How I…,” but now that videos are so ubiquitous on the web, your titles need to make your content findable.

The process of naming your videos should be similar to naming your channel. Pick something that’s memorable, clearly related to the content, easily searchable, and ideally catchy or clever. You need to title your videos in a way that stands out as uniquely your own and grabs the attention of your audience while maintaining a strong enough connection to the central theme of the video. You want to engage, not confuse.

Captions And Subtitles
The important thing to remember is that the Internet is truly the Worldwide Web. This means that if you want the most viewers possible, you need to cater to as many people around the world as possible.

One thing that helps generate international and local views is the use of subtitles and captions. Doing so allows inclusion of more deaf, hard of hearing, or even fully hearing local and foreign individuals. Even if you can only include English subtitles, you’re more likely to catch viewers scrolling by with the audio off or even non-native English speakers whose reading comprehension is better than auditory.

Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a technique that has become rather commonplace for online content. Don’t worry, though, it isn’t as difficult as it sounds. Actually, all you need to do is decide what your video’s main topic is.

There are several keyword generators, such as lsigraph.com, that will help you find the best keywords. These keywords should be inserted into the title and description of your video as many times as possible without sounding unnatural. The more you do this, the higher your video should come up in search engine results when the keyword is searched.

We hope our tips help you with your video sharing endeavors! For more help improving your video creation and distribution, download the Cinamaker Creator’s Mobile Studio and check out our blog!

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Today we’re bringing you some seriously spooky Hollywood hacks just in time for Halloween. Learn the ways of filmmakers like Kubrick, Hitchcock, and more in this handy listicle, perfect for up and coming creators with big ideas, but little funding. 13 is about to be your lucky number.

1) Master the dolly-zoom, or Vertigo effect, by moving the camera towards the subject while zooming out at the same time. It might take some practice, but this trick is dizzyingly simple.

2) Don’t have a dolly? Use a wheelchair or any other comparable wheeled conveyance to give your shots some movement.

3) If you’re looking to create a foggy dream sequence, rub some vaseline on the lense of your camera. It’s messy, but worth it. Just be careful when you clean it off.

4) Need another eerie light hack? Make your own cucoloris! Create cool shadows and casts by cutting patterns into cardboard or other light-proof materials and hold it in front of your light source. Choose the best angle for diffusing the light to severity you want. The closer to the light the sharper the shadow, the farther the foggier. You can also try using natural shapes like fronds and other leaves to create such effects.

5) Keep your budget low from the get-go by writing with minimal characters and even more minimal set changes. In television, scripts like this are called “bottles episodes.”

6) Shooting your horror masterpiece in black and white? Fake blood just got a lot sweeter — just use some chocolate syrup. If you’re filming in color, work in some red dye.

7) Not shooting human blood? Crack open a glow stick and mix it with some clear lubricant like they did for predator blood in Predator. Perfect for Aliens, Fairies, Goblins, or whatever otherworldly creatures you may dream up.

8) If your characters are falling (from the sky, not in love), take a tip from J.J. Abrams and hack your scenery with some large mirrors. Instead of expensive CGI, film your subjects from above as they fail over a mirror reflecting the clouds. Don’t get your camera in the shot though! This may call for multiple takes.

9) This next trick hails from Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Remember the floating pen? No CGI required. If you need to make a small object float in a similar manner, attach it to a pane of transparent glass with two sided tape and slowly rotate the glass in front of the camera.

10) If your film has some spooky or unnatural sounds, try your hand at foley! Foley artists create sounds for the film after shooting with a toolkit of odd objects and instruments. Need to make the sound of a rough blow to the head? Crack a watermelon. Or, check out this page of free foley sound effects.

11) Foley sounds are fun, but don’t forget the real stuff. Filmmaker Tony Errico, a producer and sound engineer, says “Always record a ‘wild track’ – or ambient sound… one minute of total silence on a set, before or after the main shooting – to have a neutral background sound. ” This will help you set your audio levels in post, so everyone sounds like they’re in the same location at the same time.

12) Filming a risky or hyper-precise scene? Do it in reverse! The best example is James Cameron’s Aliens. Instead of letting the facehugger leap at Sigourney weaver. They acted the scene backwards and then reversed the footage. This way, they could be sure the action ended precisely as it was intended.

13) Finally, probably the cheapest trick here for adding an element of unease to your films is mastering the “dutch tilt.” This deliberately slanted camera angle is a classic dramatic effect to give your cinematography a little extra oomph.

Happy Halloween!

-cover photo from Halloween 2 (1981) c/o IMDB-

Raise your hand if you’ve ever become so mesmerized by a makeup video that you totally forgot why you went on your phone in the first place!

Alright, everyone’s hands should be raised. C’mon people. Don’t lie to yourselves. We’re all guilty here — but that’s ok! Makeup is an art just like any other, and watching talented artists at work is always gratifying. Last week, our team had the privilege to capture one of these captivating videos with our own Cinamaker technology thanks to local artist Wyatt. Now we’re sharing our experience so that you too can make your own professional quality tutorials using just smartphones with the Cinamaker Capture app and a tablet with Director Pad.

Before we get started, check out our behind-the-scenes shoot to get acquainted with our setup.

Because we use Cinamaker premium, we get the most out of our shoot with four different camera assistants in four unique angles. If you’re using our consumer app from the app store, you’ll only have two — but don’t worry, that means you’re still offering twice as many angles as most tutorials.

That being said, the best way to start your setup is to choose your angles wisely. For makeup, you’ll obviously need at least one tight shot of you or your subject’s face. Your second (or third or fourth) are then up to you. Maybe you want another tight shot to a specific part of your face, or one that focuses on your hands as they pick up new palettes and tools from the table. You could also capture your makeup station with a wider shot from your counter or table up. To highlight each new brush or product, just hold them up to the camera before you start using them (as you’ve probably seen in many other videos).

Ok, so you’ve decided on your angles, now how do you prop up your cameras?? At the Cinamaker studio, we use mic stands with smartphone mount attachments to create our sleek setup. If you don’t have anything comparable, you could always use some tiny tripods or get creative with a pop socket or selfie stick. Hands also work really well! They’re not always perfectly steady, but if you’re working on a team, it’s probably the fastest, easiest way to go.

Once your camera assistants are locked into place (or into your friends’ hands), get out your tablet and open the Director Pad app. Next, make sure the network ID there matches your camera assistants — if they aren’t automatically set to the same code, pick a unique number and set the network IDs manually in each device’s settings.

You’re almost ready to get started! But first — and maybe this goes without saying — play around a bit with your setup and make sure you’re well lit. And most importantly, make sure you have your look down. Rehearse a little bit, say some tongue twisters, and now you’re good to go!

If you have a designated director, they’ll be able to operate the Director Pad switchboard in real time — so if you’re feeling up to it, you could stream your tutorial live on Facebook, Youtube, or any other RTMP destination you prefer! If you’re filming solo, you can still live stream, but your hands will be too full of makeup to switch between angles.

Whether or not you choose to live stream, at the end of your tutorial, the footage from each camera will be saved and ready to edit from the Director Pad app. Or, if you prefer to do your post production editing elsewhere, you can just upload the files to your computer and work in your favorite application. You’ll have everything you need to transition seamlessly from angle to angle, giving viewers an up close look at your craft in action.

Now the fun part — share share share!

We can’t wait to see your videos as we scroll through our social feeds and inevitably become entranced in the incredible works of art you create.

Happy Cinamaking!

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You’ve just finished binge watching all of Stranger Things season two. Now it’s time to broadcast your reactions and predictions to the world. Complete this Choose Your Own Adventure to find out whether your live stream game is a total win or an absolute fail…

We hope you enjoyed your adventure! If you want to make sure your real-life live streams are a success, check out this article on how to stream like a pro. 

Now go enjoy your new episodes and, please, binge responsibly.