-
Our new ticketing site is now live! Using either this or the original site (both powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!
Video: Grand Central First Class to Sunderland
- Thread starter AlterEgo
- Start date
- Status
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R
RailUK Forums
Ash Bridge
Established Member
Excellent stuff as usual Paul. 
70014IronDuke
Established Member
- Joined
- 13 Jun 2015
- Messages
- 4,076
Well, on the surface, this is an interesting and pleasant enough video, but OTOH it smacks of 'advertorial' - Did you do this purely as an independent video maker? You don't say whether they paid you for this and/or gave you a freebie ride(s) or ticket(s). For example, you show shots of "freebie goodies" (or some such phrase) - everyone knows there is no such thing - yet you put this in twice - for editorial interest alone, I find that a bit of a stretch.
There is nothing particularly bad or wrong if GC paid you for this, either directly or in kind, but I don't like the feeling of possibly being duped - and I have that here. If this was a commercial job, fine - bu you should be up front and say so.
There is nothing particularly bad or wrong if GC paid you for this, either directly or in kind, but I don't like the feeling of possibly being duped - and I have that here. If this was a commercial job, fine - bu you should be up front and say so.
Happy to clarify!
Not a commercial job at all - I pay for all the travel featured in the videos which appear on my channel. This was shot and cut on an iPhone (with the exception of a few GoPro shots, which I accept are an acquired taste but help to mix up the feel of any video).
If it was a commercial/advertorial it wouldn't have:
- included the menu with greasy stains on it
- included the bag of rubbish upon boarding
- featured an elderly train GC are getting rid of
- had repeated shots of Virgin, explaining they're the dominant operator
- been shot on a miserable day
- enabled advertising on the YouTube video itself (which may advertise competitors!)
- focused on nerdy aspects of the journey like feather indicators
- featured any "window-hanging" shots, even despite my safety disclaimer
and would have:
- included a headline fare
- included better music (!)
- been cut using something other than the default app for iPhone
- included their nicest bit of food from the buffet
- included details of their WiFi
and so on, etc, etc.
Not defending myself but rather trying to explain how to tell between a casual video and a sly promotion online - the internet is, unfortunately, full of them and I, too, have been disappointed to suspect creators on YouTube have failed to disclose a commercial relationship. Transparency is key and I am happy to provide that.
I don't actually need to take commercial gigs; travel is my hobby, and the eventual aim of my channel is to self-fund my hobby. The video has been live for 4 days and has around 4,000 views so far, but the advertising revenue has already paid for 25% of the ticket price for that trip. (Views tail off sharply, so it can take many months for a trip to truly reap its cost back!). I am not a professional filmmaker. At my level - which is a very modest 5,800 subscribers, offers I get are sparse. I have never asked for, or been offered, a free ticket for a journey! (sadly, ha ha.)
My channel aims to simply document my travels and commentary is pitched at the level of a lay person interested in travel, rather than the hardcore rail or aviation enthusiast. I don't go out of my way to review my experience so much as just describe it, with any other thoughts I might have, and I generally try to be upbeat. Most of my subscribers can't aspire to regular premium travel, and nobody wants to subscribe to watch someone living what they'd consider a great lifestyle bitching about it constantly.
The post on this forum accounts for less than 1% of the traffic to this video, and I post only to show the video to a secondary audience.
However, I take suggestions that the video was a commercial gig as a compliment, as I do try and stretch the capabilities of my very basic gear, and rely on royalty free music for the soundtrack.
70014IronDuke
Established Member
- Joined
- 13 Jun 2015
- Messages
- 4,076
Happy to clarify!
Not a commercial job at all - I pay for all the travel featured in the videos which appear on my channel. This was shot and cut on an iPhone (with the exception of a few GoPro shots, which I accept are an acquired taste but help to mix up the feel of any video)....
I am genuinely staggered at the quality you can get on an I-phone.
........
However, I take suggestions that the video was a commercial gig as a compliment, as I do try and stretch the capabilities of my very basic gear, and rely on royalty free music for the soundtrack.
You are welcome to take it as a compliment. Yes, I think I did feel it was a little up-beat, that added to my suspicion it could be a paid-for video, but then you sort of are hoping for something on those lines!
My mind haas been coloured by an experience some years ago when I met a professional blogger on a train in Europe. He was a nice enough guy, but when I read his blog, he beamed about how he was welcomed at the hotel-hostel (it's a kind of hybrid place)l he was staying in - as if it was all spontaneous. This was, of course, totally fake - the hostel knew he was coming, knew who he was, knew he would be writing about them and (I forget exactly now) were probably giving him a couple of free nights. So implying it was a wonderful, friendly spontaneous welcome was a total deception.
(In fact, I know from experience that this particular hostel-hotel IS a friendly place, but that is not the point.)
Looking back at it, you didn't show any of the signs that used to be up on the ECML saying things like "Edinburgh - 200 Miles" - Have they all been taken down? Or do you wizz past them so fast these days on modern trains that they can barely be seen?
All very interesting. Thank you.
Last edited:
Yes, it really is very good. The image stabilisation rivals any "proper" camera and I shoot freehand without any tripod or other equipment. The downside for this is you have to accept poorer contrast at night. The iPhone 7 plus also comes with a slight optical zoom function which helps pick out very distant objects better than ever. However, the image quality of zoomed images is still quite low which is why, if I have lots of these, I put them in a sort of musical collage so you don't get to register how poor the image is. In this video it sort of helped that my plan all along was to do this after York, where the scenery becomes a little bleaker (some coastal sections excepted).
Sadly, though I knew of these signs, I didn't know the exact location of them, so they were gone in an instant before I had the chance to film them! They just zip by the window, and wouldn't have made for good coverage anyway.
They are still there - metal cut out signs, one I think also says "LONDON >>> 250 MILES" or similar.
- Status