ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

How to Create a Collaborative Video for YouTube

Updated on April 25, 2013

The tricky part about starting a collaboration is finding someone who wants to collaborate with you, especially if you're new to YouTube or don't have many or any YouTube friends.

Source

How to Ask Someone to Collaborate

When asking someone to collaborate, it's easier if you've already met them or are on a friendly basis. If you have one YouTube friend, you can easily ask them to introduce you to the other video creators that they know. This way you can build up your network of YouTubers.

Another way to find someone to collaborate is to reach out to YouTubers that you admire. A note to watch out for: be sure that you're on the same video editing experience. If you're just starting out, don't think that someone big on YouTube is going to have the time or the will to collaborate with you. Not because they're mean or being jerks, but also keep in mind that they probably get thousands of messages and inquiries a day. It's easier to connect with people on the same level, or number of subscribers are you.

Don't be afraid of getting rejected. All you can do is try. You never know if someone would be interested in collaborating with you until you ask. There are some people who are open to collaboration and some who are not.

Source

Simple Steps to Setting up a Collaboration

  1. Find someone you want to collaborate with and ask them if they'd like to make a video with you.
  2. Start planning and brainstorming ideas together. Decide who will do what. (via the internet or in person)
  3. Set the shoot date and location.
  4. Film, edit and finish the video. Make any tweaks your partner(s) would like to see made.
  5. Upload your collaboration and spread the word!


Source

Planning the Collaboration

After you find someone who wants to collaborate, it's time to start talking to each other. If you already have ideas for a script, shoot them over to your partner and work on the script together.

Depending on what kind of video you'll be doing, you may not have to worry about working on a script. An example is, if you're just going to be interviewed or if you're going to be a personality in one of their videos.

The first step with your collaboration is going to be working out what your video is about, who's going to do what and what you're going to need. Work on any script details, costumes or sets that you'll need for your video. Be sure to include your partner in the planning process. They may have some valuable ideas and suggestions, and the whole point of collaborating is to learn from one another.

Planning the Shoot and Video Details

If you are collaborating with someone who's living far away, or working in your spare time, it may be easier to work out the details of the video shoot and plan the video over the internet before getting together to talk over details. Be sure to put in the effort needed to review and edit the script, send ideas for the location and keep in touch with whoever you want to collaborate with.

Actually getting to the point of filming and creating the video may take months, depending on peoples' schedules. Be patient and keep engaged. The internet and Skype have made collaborating with people in different states, and even different countries, a lot easier. Take advantage of it.

Some Important Questions to Answer:

  • Are you going to be bringing the video equipment and sound?
  • Who's house/where are you shooting at?
  • Who's going to edit the video and sync the sound?
  • Whose channel will you release the video on?
  • Is there a deadline?
  • Do you need to audition actors, locations or create costumes?

Do you enjoy collaborating on videos with other YouTubers?

See results

Finishing the Video

After finishing the video, be sure to give your collaborator a shout out in your video and be absolutely sure to link to their channel (in your video description, annotations, an outro screen, etc). Collaborations are a great way to expand your audience by being introduced to another YouTubers' audience so this experience will be beneficial to all of you.

You want to make sure that you stay on friendly turns and stay connected after the video is done, you never know when a new opportunity to collaborate will pop-up. Even if the video didn't go as planned, or it was harder to cooperate than you expected, be sure to stay on professional or friendly terms when you part ways.

YouTube is a community based creative website and your reputation will be known beyond just this one experience.

Do you usually meet YouTubers for the first time in person or online?

See results

What to Expect when Collaborating

Know that there will be compromises.

Like all creative efforts, there is going to be a level of compromise between you and whoever you are collaborating with. The more people that are collaborating, the more opinions and suggestions that will be thrown around, and the harder you'll have to work as a team to complete the video.

There will more likely be some kind of disagreement of which idea to pursue and you very well may have to compromise on a couple aspects of the music video. If this is your first time collaborating, be sure to remember to not anything personally, as there is always ideas thrown around before a video is completed. Working as a team is a good way to grown and learn as both a musician and an artist.

Learn to work with both your schedules.

YouTubers are known for having a crazy schedule. Don't be surprised if the only time that you are able to get together ends up being around midnight and you have to shoot until 5am. Be willing to come to an agreement and work at finding a time to get together that works for both of you.

Many projects are put off simply because there is not a time that works for all members who are collaborating, especially if some or all of you are working part-time or full-time jobs on the side. Ideally, you want to be working in such a way that there is a level of flexibility that will allow you to take off days from work (if applicable) or be open to working crazy hours. The pay off is the outcome, so work hard to achieve it!

Set a deadline for both of you.

This is helpful so that one person doesn't end up sitting on their end of the project. There's nothing worse than completeing your end and having to nag your partner to actually finish what they said they were going to do.

Of course there are circumstances to every situation, but I often find that setting a deadline, even a rough one, helps keep videos on track.

An Example of an Amazing Collaborative Video

The above is a trailer for the YouTube series "Becoming YouTube" which features a lot of popular YouTubers who share their experiences, stories and short films. It's definitely an interesting watch to avid YouTubers, and it steers away from the collaborations where you only collaborate to get someone more popular in your video to drive views.

Instead, this video focuses on creating a better video with the help of many collaborators.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)