Big Idea

The argument in one line.

The main barrier to vlogging is psychological, not technical — beginners who reframe cringe as growth and document daily with just a phone will out-produce beginners who wait until they own the 'right' gear.

Who This Is For

Read if. Skip if.

READ IF YOU ARE…

You've never posted a vlog because you feel awkward on camera or convinced yourself you need better equipment first.
You already film day-in-the-life or week-in-the-life content but your footage feels boring or your videos run too long.
You want a repeatable folder system for organizing daily footage before you sit down to edit.
You're looking for a menu of concrete shot types (establishing, wide, medium, portrait, overhead, POV, over-the-shoulder, macro) to vary your visuals.

SKIP IF…

You're already shooting cinematic multi-camera vlogs and want advanced color/sound/editing technique — this stays at the beginner-to-intermediate level.
You want a hands-on software tutorial — the editing section is a bullet-point list of principles, not a screen-recorded Premiere walkthrough.

TL;DR

The full version, fast.

The video argues that mindset, not gear, is the real bottleneck for new vloggers: treat vlogging as a practiced skill, expect to cringe, accept there's no single 'right' way to do it, and remember your self-conscious thoughts aren't facts. From there it gives concrete starting gear (a phone, a clip-on mic like the Rode Wireless Go, a tripod with MagSafe mount), a menu of eight shot types to mix into daily footage, three storytelling structures (time-frame-plus-identity, an on-camera objective/challenge, or 'after-effect' post-production storytelling), a day-by-day SSD folder system for organizing raw footage, and four editing habits: front-load the best moment as the hook, cut far more than feels comfortable, show instead of narrate, and study other creators' vlogs analytically to develop a personal style.

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Chapters

Where the time goes.

00:00 – 00:31

01 · Intro

States the promise of the video and previews the five sections: mindset, gear, filming, storytelling, editing.

00:31 – 03:57

02 · Mindset Shifts

Four reframes for camera anxiety: vlogging as a practiced skill, leaning into cringe, rejecting a single 'right' way to vlog, and treating self-conscious thoughts as non-factual.

03:57 – 07:43

03 · Gear Recommendations

Argues a phone is enough (citing a creator who shoots ~90% on phone), then recommends a clip-on wireless mic and a magnetic tripod as the only two add-ons worth buying.

07:43 – 10:14

04 · Camera Settings

Resolution/frame-rate guidance by use case (1080p30 for casual, 4K60 for cinematic or cross-platform cropping), plus stabilization and HDR toggles.

10:14 – 14:54

05 · Film Angles & Shots

A menu of eight shot types (establishing, wide, medium, portrait, close-up, overhead, POV, over-the-shoulder, macro) with guidance on when to use each; pivots into a Storyblocks stock-footage sponsor segment.

14:54 – 18:05

06 · Simple Storytelling Hacks

Three narrative structures: time-frame-plus-identity, an on-camera objective/challenge, and 'after-effect' storytelling assembled in the edit.

18:05 – 21:08

07 · Organizing Footage

A daily SSD-based folder system (a-roll / b-roll / voiceover / graphics per day) used during an active edit, archived to a hard drive once a video ships.

21:08 – 26:29

08 · Process for Editing Vlogs

Four editing habits: build the hook last from the best clips, cut roughly half of a first-pass edit, replace talking-head explanation with b-roll plus voiceover, and study other creators' vlogs analytically.

Atomic Insights

Lines worth screenshotting.

Vlogging is a trainable skill, not a fixed trait — the fix for camera discomfort is repetition, not waiting to feel ready.
The first vlog you ever film should be made for yourself, never posted, and never even watched back — its only job is to lower the stakes.
Comparing your first vlog to an established creator's hundredth ignores that they had hundreds of unseen reps to get there.
Cringing while filming is evidence you're leaving your comfort zone, not evidence you're bad at this.
A negative thought about how you look on camera is not a fact, and other people filming in public are rarely being judged the way you fear you will be.
One popular travel vlogger films roughly 90% of his content on a phone, proof that camera quality is not the growth bottleneck.
Wiping the phone lens before filming produces a noticeably sharper image at zero cost.
A clip-on wireless microphone is the single highest-leverage gear upgrade after a phone, because audio quality affects perceived production value more than video quality.
A magnetic (MagSafe) tripod mount enables far more angle variety than squeeze-clamp phone mounts because it snaps on and off in seconds.
Horizontal 4K footage keeps the option open to crop into vertical for TikTok or Reels later, so it's the safer default even for YouTube-first creators.
Documenting the exact same daily action (like sitting at a desk) on consecutive days naturally pressures you to find a new angle once you notice you've already used the obvious one.
A named on-camera objective or challenge (finish a workout streak, avoid a penalty) gives viewers a reason to keep watching beyond curiosity about your day.
Some of the most effective vlogs are constructed entirely in the edit — filming without knowing the story yet and discovering the narrative in post via voiceover.
Editing the hook last, after reviewing all footage from the full week, makes it possible to front-load only the objectively best clip instead of guessing what the best moment will be while still filming.
A realistic first-pass edit will run roughly double the intended final length — a 5-minute daily target regularly starts as a 10-12 minute cut.
Repeating the same point in slightly different words to 'sound smarter' is one of the most common and safest things to cut from a talking-head edit.
Replacing a talking-head explanation with b-roll plus a short voiceover is usually a stronger edit than filming yourself narrating the same information.
Watching other creators' vlogs analytically — noting exactly where you personally lose interest — is a faster path to developing a personal editing style than tutorials alone.

Takeaway

Beginners quit from fear, not from missing gear.

WHAT TO LEARN

The habits that separate people who actually start vlogging from people who stay stuck are almost entirely mental, not equipment-based, and the fastest fix is lowering the stakes on your very first attempt.

Treat your first attempt at any camera-facing skill as private practice with zero stakes — never intended to be watched back or posted — so perfectionism can't block you from starting.
Reframe the discomfort of doing something new on camera as a sign you're growing, not a sign you're doing it wrong.
A negative thought about how you're being perceived is not evidence of anything; other people are far less focused on judging you than your anxiety suggests.
Audio quality has an outsized effect on how professional content feels compared to video quality, so a cheap clip-on microphone is a higher-leverage purchase than a camera upgrade.
Filming the same routine repeatedly naturally teaches you to vary your angles, because repetition makes the lack of visual variety obvious to you before anyone else notices it.
Giving a piece of content an explicit goal or stakes (a challenge, a deadline, a penalty for failure) gives an audience a concrete reason to keep watching beyond curiosity.
A realistic first draft of anything you're trying to shorten will usually run about twice as long as the final version — budget for a heavy second and third cutting pass rather than assuming one pass is enough.
When you catch yourself repeating the same point in different words to sound more thorough, that repetition is one of the safest things to cut.
Showing an outcome visually and narrating briefly over it usually communicates more efficiently than explaining the same thing out loud at length.

Glossary

Terms worth knowing.

B-roll: Supplementary footage (scenery, hands, objects, establishing shots) cut alongside the main subject footage to add visual variety or cover narration.
A-roll: The primary footage of the subject on camera, typically the talking-head or main-action shots that carry the story.
Establishing shot: A wide shot at the start of a scene that shows the viewer where the action is taking place, before cutting to closer footage.
Overhead shot: A top-down camera angle, commonly used in food or desk-work content, shot from directly above the subject.
POV shot: Point-of-view footage framed to look like it's coming from the subject's own eyes, so the viewer feels they are experiencing the moment firsthand.
Over-the-shoulder shot: A shot framed from behind one subject's shoulder looking toward another subject or activity, used to make the viewer feel present in the scene.
Rule of thirds: A composition guideline that places key visual elements along imaginary lines dividing the frame into thirds, rather than dead-center, for a more balanced shot.
Time-frame-plus-identity structure: A vlog framing device that pairs a duration (a day, a week) with a role or identity (content creator, student, traveler) to instantly set viewer expectations, e.g. 'a week in the life of a content creator.'
After-effect storytelling: An editing approach where footage is filmed without a predetermined narrative, and the story is discovered and assembled afterward in post-production, often narrated with voiceover added later.

Resources

Things they pointed at.

08:25toolRode Wireless GO

08:39toolSmallRig microphone

12:38toolStoryblocks (sponsor) ↗

13:16toolSony ZV-E10

19:13channelRyan Trahan (referenced as example creator)

20:00channelLinda Sun (referenced as example creator)

Quotables

Lines you could clip.

01:38

“Don't compare your first vlog to someone else's hundredth or thousandth.”

tight, standalone advice with no setup needed→ TikTok hook↗ Tweet quote

02:36

“Cringing is not a sign of you don't know what to do or you weren't made for this. It's a sign that you're pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone.”

reframes a universal fear in one clean line→ IG reel cold open↗ Tweet quote

24:41

“We are biased and we want to leave every single moment in our vlogs because it feels important to us. I mean, it was us. It happened to us.”

names a relatable editing trap in a self-aware, quotable way→ newsletter pull-quote↗ Tweet quote

The Script

Word for word.

Read-along

Don't just watch it. Burn it in.

See every word as it's spoken — crank it to 2× and still catch all of it. The same dual-channel trick behind Amazon's Kindle + Audible.

metaphorstory

00:00If you wanna learn how to film and edit vlog style YouTube videos like this one, then keep watching because in this video, I wanna walk through everything that you need to know. The mindset shifts to help you get comfortable filming vlogs, gear recommendations, filming, angles, shots, how to make vlogs more engaging, simple storytelling hacks, and of course my process for organizing and editing vlogs.

00:22As always, timestamps are below. Use them if you need them. Let's jump in to mindset shifts.

00:26I'm gonna start here because usually when I'm talking to my students and they're asking me about filming vlogs, some of their first hesitations is just not knowing how to show up on camera or how to film vlogs. And what I find is that mindset is usually the number one thing that holds people back from even filming vlog style content.

00:42So that's why we're starting with mindset. First mindset shift is vlogging is a muscle. It's a skill just like learning to play the piano, swimming, or storytelling.

00:51The more you do it, the easier it becomes. Your job right now with vlogging is not to be perfect. It's not.

00:57It's to practice. So what I want you to do if it's your first vlog, I want you to vlog for yourself.

01:04Not for your channel, not for your followers or subscribers, just vlog for you because this first vlog that you do never has to see the light of day. You never have to edit it.

01:13You never have to post it. You never have to watch the footage back. I just want you to do a vlog for you.

01:18Don't put the unnecessary pressure on yourself for this first vlog or any vlog to be perfect. When you do this practice, I want you to just pay attention to other thoughts or challenges that come up as you start exercising that vlog muscle.

01:33And I think this goes without saying under this mindset shift, but, like, don't compare your first vlog to someone else's hundredth or thousandth. Like, every creator that you are watching started somewhere with their vlogs.

01:47The difference is that they've had hundreds of opportunities to improve, so don't compare your first to someone else's millionth. Second mindset shift is to lean into the cringe or the discomfort.

01:59It is okay to cringe at yourself. I cringe at myself all the time when I'm filming. I'll say something, and then I'll immediately regret it and tell my editors, cut that out.

02:08That was cringey. It is completely normal. Cringing is not a sign of you don't know what to do or you weren't made for this.

02:15It's not a sign for that. All it is is a sign that you are a little uncomfortable and you're pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone and that is good news because when you push yourself outside of your comfort zone, that's actually you growing. So, yeah, it will feel weird.

02:30It will feel uncomfortable, but that's just because you are leveling up to a place that you've never been before. Third mindset shift.

02:37There is no right way to vlog. Do what works best for you. Your vlog doesn't have to be aesthetic.

02:45It doesn't have to be talking to the camera all day. It doesn't even have to be every day. You could vlog once a month, once a week.

02:52It could be talking. It could be voice over. It could be casual with minimum editing or it could be fast paced cutting.

02:59It doesn't matter. There is no one way or right way to vlog.

03:03Start with the style that feels comfortable for you and you'll build from there. In starting and just creating, naturally over time, you will develop your own unique style that's authentically you.

03:15And number four, your thoughts are not reality. They're just thoughts. Just because you think, oh, I look uncomfortable or even somebody who talks about filming in public and how you think, oh my gosh, all of these people are judging me.

03:31All of those thoughts just because they come to you, that doesn't mean they're true. Your thoughts are only thoughts. You cannot control how other people perceive you when you're filming in public.

03:42And honestly, when I'm out and about and I see somebody else filming, I am not judging them. I'm thinking like, oh my gosh, that's so cool.

03:49I wish I had the confidence to film like that. Just because you think something that doesn't make it true. Those are a few basic mindset shifts.

03:55I'll probably touch on a few more throughout the video, but now I wanna dive straight into gear recommendations. One of the most common concerns I hear from creators who want to start vlogging is, well, I don't have the right camera yet or I don't know what camera to get, but honestly, you do not need a lot of gear to get started.

04:12I know everyone says, oh, you could just start with a phone. Just log with your phone. Use your phone.

04:17Here's proof. One of my favorite YouTubers, Ryan Trahan films 90% of his content with his phone.

04:25That is it. And he has millions and millions of subscribers. Literally go watch any of his videos.

04:31He's filming on his phone. Even my own vlog that I posted, my week in the life of a content creator, I filmed the whole thing on my phone.

04:38I was the same way. Thinking about gear would stop me from vlogging because I didn't wanna have to think about my camera settings anytime I moved around the house and have to set up my camera and adjust the settings and the white balance and all the terminology like that stopped me from vlogging for so long. But my week in the life of a content creator was the easiest vlog I had ever done because I lowered the barrier of entry.

05:02I lowered the friction that I was feeling and told myself just document with your phone. Just use your phone and see what happens. It was amazing.

05:09So if you're going to be filming on your phone, number one tip is to clean off your lens. You would not believe the quality difference it makes when you clean your lens.

05:19So give your camera a little wipey and your quality will instantly improve. Now alongside your phone, there are two pieces of gear that I recommend adding to your setup. First is a good microphone because good quality audio can make a huge difference in how your video sounds and even feels to somebody watching, especially if you're filming out and about having a microphone to just capture your audio quality is such a game changer.

05:44For my vlog and honestly all of my short form content, I used the Rode Wireless GoMic micro micro in white.

05:52This is so easy to use. You just set it up with an app one time, and then it's good to go basically for forever. The mic that I was using before the Rode mic was the SmallRig mic.

06:03So if you are looking for, like, a more budget friendly option, you can look into the SmallRig brand. And then you're probably gonna want a tripod. For your tripod, you wanna make sure that it can go at least up to your eye level, if not more.

06:14And for me, personally, I love having the magnetic tripod. I've had a bunch with, like, the the stands that you have to, like, squeeze on your phone, and it just you can't get as much variety with your angles and shots.

06:28So MagSafe, if your phone doesn't have the magnetic option, just get a phone case that has the MagSafe on it, and that way you're able to just, like, snap it on and you can just, like, adjust any angle. It is so efficient and it made my vlogs so so so much easier.

06:44That is all that you need to create vlogs for a very, very, very, very, very long time. Let's be real. Don't let gear be the thing that stops you from getting started.

06:53I'll be sure to link all of my personal favorite gear recommendations down below including options if you want to up level your gear or you want to invest in gear. Like, for example, right now, I'm filming on my Sony z v e 10.

07:05That's what I film most of my talking head content for my YouTube videos. So if you want to explore other camera options, I'll leave a link down below. If you've learned one new thing so far, consider hitting the thumbs up since it's gonna tell YouTube that other creators like yourself will find this video valuable and be sure to show it to the right people.

07:22And if you learn two new things by the end of this video, I want you to consider subscribing since it's a free way to support my channel and it allows me to continue to make free content like this for you every single week. I think YouTube had said that 60% of viewers are not subscribed on my videos. So if that's you, just check the subscribe down below and make sure you're subscribed.

07:44Now let's get into filming because there's a lot that can go into filming. You have, like, your camera settings, angles, capturing b roll, all the things starting with camera settings, especially if you're using your phone.

07:56You got plenty of options. You got lots of options when it comes to camera settings. So let me just open up my phone and show you.

08:01If you're recording horizontally and you're doing standard day in the life content for YouTube, there's nothing cinematic. It's just casual lifestyle content.

08:10You could record at ten eighty thirty frames per second. Now if you have a little bit more experience with your camera, setting up good shots, you want more aesthetic or moody vlogs, then I would suggest changing to four k at 60 frames per second.

08:24I also recommend four k if you're filming horizontally but want the option to crop in to repost to other short form platforms. Now if you're doing vertical vlogs for, like, TikTok, YouTube, Shorts, and again, it's casual, day in the life, you could just do ten eighty at 30 frames per second.

08:41But, if you want more cinematic up level feel, then four k at 60 frames per second. I always have enhanced stabilization turned on, and I don't love HDR video, so I'll turn it off.

08:52For anyone filming at four k, just make sure that your settings on your app that you're posting to, like if you're posting to TikTok or you're posting to Instagram, make sure your settings within the app allows for high quality uploads. Then my biggest tip when it comes to actually filming yourself and or even b roll, It's just to document.

09:11The more you document your day to day, the more you'll start to see opportunity to play with variations of shots. For example, if every day Monday through Friday, I'm doing a vlog and I'm doing the same thing every I sit down at my desk every single day, Monday through Friday. The first day I film it, I'm like, cool.

09:26I got an angle. I sit down at my desk. Tuesday, I'm like, cool.

09:29I'm gonna document me sitting on my desk and then I'm like, wait. I already got this angle. I wanna try a new angle.

09:34So when you're just documenting and you get in the habit of doing it every day, naturally, you start to challenge yourself to play around with different angles or composition or just up leveling your skill overall.

09:47This could be playing with the rule of thirds or leading lines. If you want a little bit more, like, step by step tutorial for how to film aesthetic content, I have a full video breakdown that talks through, like, the technical of, like, k.

10:00This is how to place your video for rule of thirds. This is how to add some dimension. So you can watch that video next.

10:05But for my beginner vloggers, just document what you do every single day. And the more you do it, you can start to add variety to your shots.

10:15Let me give you some examples of different shots and angles that you could film the next time you vlog. First is the establishing shot.

10:23This is like setting the scene and giving the viewers context for where they are or where you are in your vlog. If you're filming a weekend in New York City vlog, this could be like a wide shot of the city skyline or a busy street or Times Square.

10:40Then you have a wide shot. Wide shot captures the full scene, but now with you in it. Maybe this is you walking along a busy street or walking into a coffee shop.

10:51Typically, the shot shows a little bit more full body. Then we have the medium shot. This brings viewers in a little bit closer to the action.

10:59So if your wide shot is full body, medium shot might be, like, hips up. Then we have our portrait shot. I think this is one of the most common vlog shots.

11:09You know, it's just focused on you and your face. I think torso up is the best way to represent what portrait shots are. This is typically when you're filming your updates, you're talking to your viewers, you're bringing them along throughout your day, that's like your main portrait shot.

11:24Then you have different close-up shots that you could get. These are bringing viewers into the details of what you're doing, you know, the steam coming off of your coffee shop, your fingers typing on a keyboard, turning the pages in a book. Now to spice things up a little bit, you also have the overhead shot.

11:40I really like this one because I feel like it's a really unique point of view that not a lot of people can capture. So when you do capture it, it brings a lot of excitement to the vlogs. This is like the top down shot that we see a lot of food content creators get.

11:54Another angle is like the POV shots because this helps viewers feel like they're experiencing a moment with you.

12:00Maybe they're walking with you through a busy street or shopping, grabbing something from a shelf, like any sort of POV shot where they feel like they're looking through your eyes is really cool. Next is over the shoulder.

12:13This angle makes viewers feel like they're kind of there observing you, with you, hanging out with you. It takes a little extra setup, but I do feel like it can make your vlog look a little more cinematic. We also have different macro type shots.

12:26We had, like, our general close ups, but macro gets even closer. It's like being able to see a bead of water dripping down the side of your glass. These shots add texture and help the story within the moment.

12:41Now I know I just threw a bunch of options at you, and you might be thinking, there is no way I could film all of these shots by myself. Well, the good news is that you don't have to because a lot of the examples that I just showed you came from Storyblocks. Now I love using Storyblocks to help with the visual storytelling of my content here on my channel.

13:03Filming extra b roll on top of your main footage can feel like a lot, so I always go to my Storyblocks account, and then I'll find everything that I need during post production. Now for those of you who are new to this channel or you haven't heard of Storyblocks, they are a 100% human made stock media library essential for creators.

13:23So if you need anything like stock footage, music, sound effects, motion graphics, templates, you could find all of that through them without having to jump between a bunch of different sites to find everything.

13:36One of the biggest things that slows creators down is, like, stopping every few minutes to go search for assets when they're editing, and Storyblock solves that by putting footage, music, sound effects, images, and templates all in one place so that you can stay focused on editing instead of having to go hunt everything down.

13:54For example, maybe I'm talking about how I worked from a coffee shop, but I forgot to film it or like I was in a rush and I wasn't able to film it. I can search for clips and story blocks, drag them into Premiere, and instantly make that section of my vlog feel more complete. Plus, like I said, the library is 100% human made and created by real filmmakers and artists.

14:17At the beginning of every project when I'm organizing my footage, I create a folder for music, another for sound effects, and one for stock media. That way I have everything organized when I do start editing. And the best part is that everything is 100% royalty free and precleared for commercial use.

14:35So you can use everything in your YouTube videos and never have to worry about running into copyright issues ever. So if you wanna start telling better stories with the tools that I use, head to storyblocks.com/modernmillie. They're also offering a limited time discount for my audience that is only available through the link below.

14:54Our fourth vlogging tip that we're going to be going over is simple storytelling hacks because I feel like that also holds people back. It's like thinking, well, my life isn't even interesting enough to vlog so I'm not gonna do it.

15:06And honestly, I used to think the same thing. For me, my life feels mundane. Like, just because I'm doing the same thing every day, I'm like, oh, I'm gonna set my desk and work.

15:14Oh, I'm gonna set my desk and work. Like, for me, my life just feels ordinary. But ordinary to you might be super interesting to thousands, if not millions of other people.

15:26Remember, your thoughts are not reality. So to help make your vlogs a little bit more interesting, I wanted to share some simple storytelling techniques that you could use in your next vlog.

15:37Technique number one is the time frame plus identity vlog. This is one of the easiest ways and most common that I see creators use, and that's by combining a time frame with your identity. This is the classic week in the life of a content creator.

15:54So the time frame is we're gonna do a week of vlogging, and your identity is a content creator. Time frame. Day.

16:01Day in the life of a identity student. Weekend in New York City as a solo traveler.

16:10Come with me to my nine to five as an accountant. Technique number two, the objective. This one is my favorite storytelling trick because it's something that I noticed Ryan Trahan implement a lot in his videos.

16:22So while he might be filming like a travel vlog, throughout his trip, he's actually working towards a goal or objective. Maybe he's collecting things from every city that he visits.

16:35Maybe he's trying to complete a challenge before the end of the video. This objective or goal gives the viewers a reason to keep watching. For my vlog, I challenged myself to train every single day since I'm training for a triathlon.

16:49And if I missed a workout, my repercussion was I had to buy my trainer coffee, and I wasn't allowed to have coffee for myself, which was like, that's a big deal for me.

17:01High stakes. Now suddenly, viewers aren't just watching a week in my life. They're also checking to see whether I'm actually going to complete the challenge that I set for myself at the very beginning.

17:11There's lots of fun ways to do this. Just binge a bunch of Ryan Trahan videos, and you could get inspired. Technique number three is what I call the after effect.

17:20This is when you're okay with not having a storyline until after you film. A lot of people thinks you have to vlog every single day and show your face and talk to the camera and tell the story as you go in real time, but if you don't know where the storyline is going, you don't have to do that.

17:36One of my favorite creators that implements this really really well is Linda Sun. She documents her life.

17:43She has footage for all of her vlogs, but the story is actually figured out in post production when she's editing. She'll do voice over to tell you the story beginning to end and then put little bits of her talking to the camera when she vlogged that week, but most of the storyline is actually driven after effect after she's already filmed.

18:01So those are three different storytelling techniques that you can experiment with in your next vlogs. Now let's talk about organizing footage. When you're vlogging, you're going to end up with a lot of footage from every single day, especially if you're not sure which direction your video is going and you're just like, okay.

18:16I'm gonna capture and document everything. This is where I highly recommend staying organized from day one.

18:23Here's a system that I used for my week in a life vlog. At the end of each day, I transferred all of the footage that was from my phone and moved it onto my SSD. This portable SSD, this is where all of my active projects live.

18:39So if I'm working on a vlog, I had Monday, I'm like, cool. Filmed all of Monday's content on my phone.

18:44Let me just airdrop it to my computer and back everything up that says like Monday right here. I put everything here because it clears up space on my phone and it clears up space on my computer. I don't have to worry about like saving footage there and taking up space.

18:58Put everything here even because when I edit, all of the editing energy is here instead of on my computer. I feel like if you edit off of your computer, it can get laggy, especially if you're editing on a laptop.

19:10I'm always editing off of an SSD. Then on my SSD, I organize everything by day so that nothing gets mixed up.

19:18So my folder structure looks like this. We have the week and the life folder. Within that, we have every single day.

19:23Right? Monday through Friday. Within Monday, I have multiple folders.

19:29An a roll folder, a b roll folder, voice overs, and graphics. Graphics is anything extra that I want to have on screen or use when editing.

19:40Like, anything that I downloaded from Storyblocks will probably be in the graphics folder. I do the same thing for each day folder. Same thing for Tuesday, a roll, b roll, voice over graphics, and so on.

19:50I like to do this one day at a time because my content and what I filmed is, like, fresh in my head. So after I air drop everything to my computer, it's easy for me to look at the clips and be like, oh, yeah. That was a roll.

20:01That's b roll. Here's my voice over. Cool.

20:05Everything's organized. Peace out, girl scout. Let me start on Tuesday.

20:08I will edit everything off of this one. I'll get into editing tips in a second. But then after the video is edited, posted, published, I'm happy, I'm gonna drag all of the content, everything from the vlog that was on the SSD, and I'm gonna move it to my hard drive.

20:26That way, this sad boy, it keeps clearing up space for new active vlogs or videos that I'm working on. And anything that's done, I can archive it, and I could just save it and have a backup of it if I ever need to reference it again here. A common question people ask me is after you transfer everything from your phone to the SSD or to a hard drive, should you delete it?

20:47That is completely up to you. For me, I do delete stuff because I don't always want my camera roll to be filled with, like, business stuff. I also want my camera roll to be like for me and my family and like of my baby.

21:00So I try to keep my camera roll clean and have most of my business stuff either in Google Drive or on my hard drives. Now that we've talked about gear and filming and organizing footage, let's dive into editing.

21:15Now, honestly, I wanted this video when I was first conceptualizing this video that you're watching. I was like, oh my gosh.

21:21I wanna do a full filming, editing, step by step. And then as we were outlining it, I'm like, oh, this is gonna be like a three hour video because it's gonna show the filming.

21:29And then I'm gonna do like an editing tutorial. And I'm like, I don't think we have enough time to turn that around so quickly. So scratch that, turn this into bullet points.

21:38And if you want a separate, like, step by step editing tutorial where I'm, like, actually in Adobe Premiere Pro editing a vlog and showing you my full process for that, then you could drop a comment down below and let me know if that's something that would be helpful. For now, I just wanna give you some of my top tips for editing vlogs that are either fast paced or ways to keep people interested and watching.

22:02So let's first, tip number one, talk about the hook. There are so many different ways to edit a hook for a vlog, and I think it'll all depend on the type of vlog that you're creating. Like I said, there is no one way or right way to vlog just like with these tips.

22:17These aren't like you have to do this. These are just like suggestions for you to like take and leap with.

22:23So an example of a solid hook for somebody using the time frame and identity technique, so day in the life or week in the life of a content creator, a great hook could be after you finish editing your video, edit the hook last, and then look for, like, all the best clips throughout the week and move some of the best clips to the front.

22:43Front load those first ten seconds of, like, little clips of the best moments of your week or the disasters like you spilled your coffee all over your new carpet. Right? Put that clip at the very beginning.

22:53Start with the most intense moment. Tease the most intense moments in those first few seconds. It could be just the clip playing by itself or it could be a voice over where it's like, it was at this point when I knew everything was falling apart.

23:07That's the hook. You know what I mean? So, like, start with the most intense moment or peak moment of your vlog and then leave them hanging.

23:14Don't show the resolution and then jump straight to the beginning of your vlog. Another way to package the hook for the objective technique is just jump straight into what you're doing and what the objective is.

23:24Ryan Trahan does this in almost all of his videos where he's like, I'm traveling to 50 states in fifty days and blah blah blah. And if I don't, well, you know, like, he jumps straight into what he's doing, the challenge, the objective, and the consequence. Going straight into it and not, like, starting with fluff of, like, so today like, just starting with, like, what the stakes are or what the story is going to be could be a really good hook too.

23:46Now I do go deeper into hooks packaging pacing in a recent video that I posted. It's a video that helps you hit four thousand watch hours faster on YouTube. So if that's something you're interested in, it is on my channel.

23:58You can watch that video. I'll link it in the card above. Tip number two with editing is cut out more than you think you need to.

24:04We are biased and we want to leave every single moment in our vlogs because it feels important to us. I mean, it was us. It happened to us.

24:13We want to keep it. When I filmed my week in the life, my goal was to land at around five minutes of content per day. So it's like five minutes for Monday, five minutes for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.

24:24That way the vlog wasn't too long. And my first pass for editing Monday, it was over ten minutes. It was like twelve minutes long.

24:31And that was after I thought I cut a lot. And I was like, oh, how am I supposed to cut six more minutes of footage when it's me and I'm so important? You know?

24:41Like, you'll have to cut more than you think. For me, what I ended up cutting were moments that I repeated myself. So, like, I like to say things one way and then to emphasize my point, I'll say it a new different way to sound smarter or whatever.

24:56And anytime I repeated myself, I was cutting that. It took me a lot of passes before I feel like I had my final vlog where, like, I would watch the whole thing and cut more out. Watch the whole thing and cut more out.

25:08Anytime I was watching and I would lose interest, even for a second, was like, something either needs to go or we need to edit something to keep the retention here. Tip number three, I'm sure you've heard this one before, is to show, don't tell. Talking head moments for me is what was keeping my video running longer.

25:24I was yap yap yap yapping, and I could have summarized what I was saying in, like, two sentences. So instead of having viewers watch me talk to the camera about x y z, I just took that moment to share b roll with them instead, show them what I did, and added voice over after.

25:40Tip number four is to consume vlog content. You will continuously develop your own unique vlog style and for me I feel like the best way to do that is by watching other people's vlogs and identifying what do you like and what do you not like.

25:56What keeps you interested and what gets you bored. Watch vlogs from a analytical perspective and implement a lot of what you love and stay away from what you don't love.

26:07When you're consuming a lot of different style of creators and a lot of vlog styles, you'll be able to kind of piece together your own authenticity with vlogging over time. Honestly, there's so much more I could yap about when it comes to vlogging, editing, and all the things.

26:22If you have any follow-up questions, just let me know down in the comments. Thank you so much for watching, and I'll see you in the next one. Follow your joy.

26:28Bye.

The Hook

The bait, then the rug-pull.

The pitch is a straight promise, not a cold open: watch this and you'll have the mindset, gear list, shot menu, storytelling structure, and editing habits for a vlog-style YouTube video. The video keeps that promise almost too literally, moving through five clearly labeled sections in order with no detours.

Frameworks

Named ideas worth stealing.

00:31list

Four Mindset Shifts for New Vloggers

Vlogging is a muscle — practice, don't aim for perfect
Lean into the cringe — discomfort signals growth
There is no single right way to vlog
Your thoughts are not reality

A four-point reframe for the anxiety that stops most beginners from ever filming their first vlog.

Steal forany beginner-facing course module on camera confidence

10:21list

Eight Vlog Shot Types

Establishing shot
Wide shot
Medium shot
Portrait shot
Close-up shot
Overhead shot
POV shot
Over-the-shoulder shot
Macro shot

A menu of camera angles to intercut so daily footage doesn't feel visually repetitive.

Steal fora shot-list checklist for any solo creator filming b-roll

16:16list

Three Vlog Storytelling Structures

Time-frame + identity (e.g. 'a week in the life of a content creator')
The objective (a goal or challenge running through the footage)
The after-effect (story discovered and voiced over in the edit)

Three reusable narrative scaffolds for turning raw daily footage into a watchable vlog.

Steal forplanning any documentary-style or day-in-the-life content series

19:34model

Daily Footage Folder System

A-roll
B-roll
Voice overs
Graphics

A per-day folder structure on a portable SSD (one parent folder per day, each containing these four subfolders), archived to a hard drive after the video ships.

Steal forany creator drowning in unsorted daily footage

CTA Breakdown

How they asked for the click.

VERBAL ASK

12:38product

“head to storyblocks.com/modernmillie ... they're also offering a limited time discount for my audience”

Mid-roll sponsor read woven directly into the shot-variety section (framed as 'here's where these b-roll examples came from'), rather than a jarring break — softer than a typical pre-roll ad read.

MENTIONED ON CAMERA

12:38toolStoryblocks (sponsor) ↗

FROM THE DESCRIPTION

PRIMARY CTAWhere the creator wants you to go next.

AFFILIATECommission earned if you click.