“I wanted to tell you I enjoy all the b-roll clips you include in your videos. It really makes them very entertaining as well as educational. I work in post production sound for film and television and I’m curious to know what your work flow is. What programs do you use to put your videos together? Your videos have a great personality to them.”
When I first started out I used a Panasonic GS9 camcorder I won as a prize at a convention I attended a few years back, Windows Movie Maker, and whatever obviously non-commercial images I found wandering around the web. As the videos became more popular I paid a little closer attention to possible copyright problems, so for a long time most of the “stock” images came from the Prelinger Collection at archive.org, along with free stuff from iStockphoto, Footagefirm, and Motionloops (I signed up for their email newsletters and they would periodically send out free samples). I get static images from Morguefile. About a year ago I moved from WMM to Sony Vegas (I tried a demo of After Effects but it brought my poor PC to its knees). I also recently bought some image and sound library materials from Digitial Juice when they were on a steep discount (I picked up some animations from Digital Juice as well). I just bought a Canon HV20 HD camcorder last month.
Mark you are our hero. I learned to shave from you. Keep the videos coming.
I am Larry from Louisville,KY.
I just started one week ago using a Edwin Jagger DE89L with a Feather Blade. I must have been right on with technique, because I only had two nicks, (the same place even with cartridge razors.) I have learned EVERYTHING from you and my wife says I am obsessed with shaving now. I love shaving it is so much fun. So far I have tried Feather, Mekur and Derby DE blades and my favorite is Feather it gives me the BBS shave with 2 passes and the using an advanced technique such as buffing or J-hooking. So far so good, my wife also said my face looks better than it has in years. Thank you so much for the tutoring.
Hey Mantic,
I absolutely love your videos. They are put together very well and are incredibly enjoyable to watch. I have been quote unquote wetshaving for several years with the Canned GOO you so readily denounce (and occasionally KMF with a cheap brush). I finally have tired of the horrible ingrowns and irritation I was getting and so I decided to try a real lathering cream and a better brush as well as experimenting with a DE. Your videos have been a huge help in getting me started on the right path.
Thanks and keep up the great work/hobby.
Hi Jack, welcome! I would say the first step is to learn how to make a traditional lather. That usually results in a dramatically better shave no matter what razor you’re using. If after learning how to make a proper lather you still have a little irritation or you want a little more control over your shave, then tackle a DE like a Merkur.
Your videos are great.
I’ve used electric shavers starting with the one-minute Remington back in, ahem, the 1950’s when I was in high school, then blades from time to time when I’d hack away to try to get a close shave without aid of any proper instruction and, over the course of 50 years I tried various new-fangled variations. Finally, had to take blood-thinner medication and found that the nuisance of dealing with excessive bleeding caused by the hacking from using a poor technique was more than I wanted, so I chose a Philips electric shaver. Very convenient, fairly quick, but the result was a disappointingly short time in which to enjoy the comfort of a smooth face. A somewhat improved technique along with my 25 or 30 year-old Gillette Atra and Edge gel was cut short when the Atra simply would no longer accept or reject the cartridges… just after I’d bought a bunch of replacements, of course.
eBay and Google to the rescue: a number of web sites showed barbers here and abroad using various techniques. Interesting, but not terribly useful to someone who wants to do it himself. eBay has Atras that I could purchase, but research suggested that that wouldn’t be a compelling solution to the problem.
Finally, looked at YouTube and, voila, up popped your videos and some others. Your techniques and pleasing, low-key, tongue-in-cheek (pun intended) humorous style are very persuasive.
So, I tried the hair conditioner technique while in the shower and just using the Walgreen’s disposable and Edge resulted in a remarkably better shave. Some razor-burn, but not a lot. I’m now inspired to move on to bigger and better things. Would the Merkur be the next logical step?
Thanks!
What are the next step or steps for your blog and/or videos? Do you have any teasers or anything?
Do you think there’s a need or room for a shaving podcast?
Hi Fredrik- I like getting the best I can out of the setup I have but its nice to improve the “production values” when I can. I just recently added a USB microphone from M-Audio and I’ve been playing with it a little. It really seems to help my voice-overs. But I think I’m done with upgrading for a while. A new PC will probably be next (so I can edit in HD, which I can’t do now) but I’m in no rush.
As I mentioned further up the comments, I used to have a “donate” button but I never got any response from it (maybe because its through PayPal). I guess it wouldn’t hurt, so I re-added it.
Hi!
Just wanted to let you know that I enjoy your videos, they are awesome.
When it comes to fidelity of sound and/or video, does it really matter? Isn’t content king? I belive so, and I’m about to watch your ‘wet shaving’ videos again. I think I’m on my third run.
I also saw that you are not making any money of your videos and you are financing them through ad’s and partner deals.
But what if I or someone else have a couple of “bucks” to spare… ?
Keep up the good work!
Best regards,
Fredrik
AlexF- Yes, I do enjoy putting together a video. Its hard work at times (well, not physically hard but hard like trying to figure out how to put all the “parts” together like a jigsaw) but viewers really seem to respond well to them. I’m also hearing good things about the ATR2020.
There are a couple options out there for under $30. They’re by no means studio quality, but there’s only so much improvement you can do before your movie editing software and YouTube compress the audio and limit the benefits. Audio-Technica makes a mic called the “ATR20.” It’s basically designed for podcasting, and has a 3.5mm plug so you can plug it directly into your sound card. Just google it and find your favorite retailer.
The Shure PG48 would be another option, but you’d have to buy a connector adapter to plug it into your computer.
Anyway, I hope you continue making videos. You seem to really enjoy doing it!
AlexF- *Sigh*. Yeah, lighting and audio have been my weak spots for a long time. The new camcorder I bought a few months ago (Canon HV20) was a significant improvement: it has much better low-light capabilities and has a little connector for an external mic. I bought some cheap clamp-on “task lights” from Home Depot and a lapel mic from Radio Shack that really seemed to improve on-camera narrations. Off-camera “voice overs” are another story. I’ve been using a headset with a boom mic. It was really made for dictation and “phone quality” service. I’ve recently been looking around for a studio-quality “vocals” mic but I’m not ready to shell out $100 for something like a Shure SM58. If you have any recommendations I would love to hear them!
Let me first say that I am one of the happy campers who has had real benefits from your videos. They are very well done, informative and of professional quality. However, I do have one piece of constructive criticism. I’m curious about how you are going about recording the voice overs. I think the videos are of great quality but could benefit from a boost in audio fidelity. Again, I searched out info on a better shave and your videos pointed me in the right direction!
ctakim- I had a donation button for a long time but never got anything so I took it off when I added Adsense.
How about putting a paypal button on your blog site for folks that might want to kick in a little $$ for your hobby? If you use the funds to make more videos or buy stuff to do a video review, it would be well worth it? Just a suggestion. You are a hero to the wetshaving community.
great videos,great info, i bought a safety razor after seeing your vids, im 40 and have finaly gotten the best shave of my life, thanks
Nick- I’ve thought about doing a whole shave in a single video, but the 10 minute limit on most of the video sites makes me worry about having to rush through the whole thing.
Mantic, would you consider doing a video of a full routine shave? From first pass all the way to the finish? If you could and plan to it would be awesome for you to add commentary after your shave. The reason I ask is I can never seem to do my neck and the right side of my jawline without irritation.thanks, Nick
Are you making any money off of this yet?
I hope so. 🙂 You totally deserve it, too – after all, you’re bringing a lot of joy to a lot of lives.
No, seriously. I read anecdote after anecdote at a forum (and other places) about just how much of a difference your videos made.
I hope that at the very least, the camera, software, and footage acquisitions are covered.
Keep making them! I enjoy them so much. And I have you to thank for enlightening me to the joys of shaving with a blade and real shaving cream/soap, instead of multi-blade vibrating cartridges and compressed gel-goop. Cheers!
jeremy- Nope. I put Adsense on this blog and participate in the YouTube “Partner” program but I haven’t seen any money yet. I’m doing some video work for one of the wetshaving vendors that I will eventually see some money from. But so far I’m “in the hole.” That’s OK though: I consider it more of a hobby than a job anyway. And its kind of fun to search around for free or low cost resources.
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