I conducted an interview with Liam Velasquez and Adrian Castro on the topic of media production and creation. Liam Velasquez is the owner of the YouTube channel Dorito God, and Adrian Castro is the owner of Castro Studios. I decided to interview both Liam and Adrian because they have worked together in a couple of pieces, and they have known each other for more than seven years. Adrian has been heavily involved in the production of small films, scriptwriting, and video editing. Liam has extensive insight on audio and video editing, specifically with Audacity and video editing software.
- What got you both into media production, specifically videography and streaming?
Liam: I had some opinions to share out to the world. I found a way to do that. I personally think there are numbers of ways to do that. Putting videos together seemed the most interesting to me.
Adrian: I find it really fun. I love to hear people’s ideas and share them with others.
- What did you start with, how have you evolved?
Liam: I started with a project in high school, Romeo and Juliet, and it was very bad. I learned a lot of what not to do. The experience helped me evolve. In terms of evolution, the software is very important for editing. The first one I made was with Microsoft video maker. With sound, it can be difficult since I started with my phone. I tried to use a sock and my hand to soften the “p” sound, and usually a pop socket works best.
Adrian: I started with making home videos, and short films with the iPhone. The first YouTube video was the same project we worked with Liam. I have more variety on my channel in the most recent time. I used to utilize iMovie, now I’m using HitFilm Pro, and I tend to use Audacity for the sound. I personally like to work on collaborations.
- Could you mention any limitations you have or used to have about producing something?
Liam: A good camera is hard to come by, especially if one doesn’t have the funds to own or rent one. The university (VCU) tends to lend them, but it’s hard to get one. A good microphone can be difficult to find.
Adrian: It’s more so to finding the people to do the production. I currently don’t have a sound mic because I don’t have someone to carry the sound pole. You have to work with what you got. Finding and keeping people on projects can be difficult.
- Based on the videos of the channels, I’ve noticed there’s a common style of video, why is that? Audience?
Liam: My content is going for the “nerdy” crowd.
Adrian: My content is mostly for my friends. If you know me, then you might like my content. If you see a movie, you try to see it because of the actor, but I definitely try to not be on that side.
- How good is YouTube?
Liam: I think it’s at the top right now. It’s so accessible because one can access a very short video very easily. Other sites don’t really have that. Twitch is focused on live streaming. YouTube is not perfect, but it works very well. The organization may involve itself into the creation with the larger channels, but it shouldn’t be an issue.
Adrian: I think it’s a necessary evil right now. It is geared to be more of a corporate message, but it used to be more about the creators of the videos. It’s friendly to advertisers so now people would pay for that stuff. The cable content is also shared on there, which makes it harder for competitors like Twitch.
- Where do you see yourself in a couple years?
Liam: I hopefully will produce more videos so I can get more viewers. I don’t see this as my living, but something I like to do for fun.
Adrian: For the projects of mine, I do have a lot of work to do, but I do it for my community, because I also find it very fun.
- If you could give one tip to a person who wants to start producing media, what would it be and why?
Liam: The number one thing is to improve on the very first production one makes or works on. Try to change it up, and try to improve in all of the aspects and diversify yourself with everything.
Adrian: I believe posting consistently is another good tip. Having a consistent schedule is important because the chances of maintaining audience and viewers is higher. There are channels that post a video in a very large time gap, and their successful with it, but I don’t recommend it. It is better to start posting consistently.