Want to be a big YouTube sensation or just make money on the platform but don’t like the sounds of getting in front of the camera? That might seem like something of an insurmountable problem but the good news is that there are plenty of ways you can get around this problem and create footage for YouTube without needing to film yourself.
Here are just a selection of different options for you that work very well…
Let’s Plays and Game Streaming
One easy option is to record footage of gameplay on your favorite games. This is something that is very popular on YouTube and of course you don’t need to go in front of the camera at all for it! You can choose to include commentaries or even to upload videos with no commentary – both are very popular and both are very easy to create!
The best part is that there are so many popular games out there – many of which don’t get much content made for them. Choose the right game and you can find its fan base, quickly exposing your channel to a huge audience!
Slideshows and Whiteboard Animations
Check out ‘ASAP Science’ if you want an example of a great channel that doesn’t include any footage of the creators. This channel uses an animation drawn on a whiteboard and a voiceover in order to explain a number of interesting scientific concepts. It’s a great channel that has a lot of subscribers and it’s something you can do yourself quite easily with the right software. VideoScribe is one example of a channel that does this well.
Still Images and Slides
Another great option is to make your videos using still images and slideshows. There’s no reason that you need actual animated footage in your videos and if you choose the right images, you can simply record a voiceover and that will do nicely!
This essentially becomes much more of a podcast than an actual video but that works very well and a number of creators have managed to become very successful using this strategy.One of the best examples out there is the amazing Mr. Sunday Movies.
This creator makes funny videos about pop-culture films. While he never goes in front of the camera, he is very well known thanks to his hilarious comments and regular uploads. Interviews also work very well in this format.
Top Tens
A top ten apps video, top ten movie fight scenes video or any other top ten can be made by stringing together footage that you have acquired without there even necessarily being any reason for you to narrate. You can use captions, title cards or just leave the videos themselves to do the talking.
Edits and Mashups
This brings us to the option of creating super-cuts, edits and mashups. Just take a look at the popularity of Cassette Boy, who makes videos that string together footage of famous people making them say funny things. Then there’s the incredibly popular ‘Cinema Sins’ that cuts together mistakes in blockbuster films and then points out the mistakes they made in editing etc.
Another great example is ‘People Are Awesome’. These are simply montages of people doing incredible stunts. As long as you make sure you’re okay to use the footage you choose, there’s no reason that you can’t make similar montages yourself.
Tutorials
Tech tutorials in particular are very easy to make with no need to go on camera. This is because you can make them by simply using screen capture software on your computer. There are plenty of great tech tutorials that work like this, including tutorials for programming, for using certain software or for solving computer problems.
Stunts and Funnies
Cat videos are huge and if you have a willing cat, then there’s no reason you can set up some funny videos yourself. Likewise, there’s nothing to stop you making funny videos of dogs or other animals, creating elaborate structures and knocking them down, or otherwise using objects, animals and the environment to be the subjects of your films.
One very popular YouTube channel is the ‘SlowMo Guys’. These guys bought a super highspeed camera long before they were common place and used them to film all sorts of things in slow motion. For example, they might film a bullet going through a watermelon, a water balloon, a firework or someone getting punched.
All these things they did with themselves being on camera – but there’s no reason you couldn’t do something very similar with no need to go on film yourself. Even a product review can be conducted entirely without you making an appearance using only B-Roll!