I know YouTube has entrenched itself as the website for anyone who wants their video to be seen by a large audience, but getting an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel isn’t necessarily a guarantee that you’ll make any money as an entertainer. I think that YouTube has become way too oversaturated, which can present a problem if you want to stand out from the pack.

I do believe that a good video will stand out and generate some kind of buzz among people, but how many of the right people are going to see it? You might say that every person is potentially the ‘right person’ and I won’t deny that word-of-mouth can be a powerful ally in garnering interesting your work, but there IS an industry of professionals that do what you do for a living and most of them might not be bothered to troll through hundreds of thousands of videos to get to yours.

I think of YouTube as a good general testing ground, however, there are other great sites where people who actually work in the same field as yourself, can see your work. Vimeo is a great site I came across for those who are looking for exposure and critique from their peers. The great advantage to this site is that if you shot your film in HD, their site allows it’s members to show it at that very same quality, which is great if you’re a cinematographer and you really want people to appreciate how you painstakingly lit your movie.

The trouble with YouTube is that it shows movies in Flash, although now you have a ‘high quality’ option, I still don’t think it’s optimal for the aspiring pro. Just check out this cool video shot on the new RED camera of skaters jumping off stairs. I just love this site; the option to watch films in HD is phenomenal. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the REDcam, I’m going to be doing a little article on it soon. I will say this though; it will bring film-like images within closer reach of even the tightest student budget.

In the meantime, just check out this short film by Ayz Waraich, shot on a prosumer level HDV camera for under a thousand dollars. This shows what you can do with a short, snappy story and a little Final Cut Pro know-how. It’s inspirational to see what a little imagination and technical ingenuity can create, but the key is to get yourself out there and put your stuff wherever you can. Don’t just settle for the sites that are popular, seek out ones that are made by and for people that have the same interests as you do. I’ve found the criticism and feedback to be indispensable to making me want to get better at what I do and sometimes mutually beneficial working relationships can be made.

I’ll be looking more into where you can go to get industry professionals to look at and critique your work (and maybe even buy it!) as well as websites, online festivals and methods to improve your craft at this level and the ones that will come.