A View From Olan's Bedroom (Video Aesthetics)

I've been and Olan Rogers fan since the days of Balloon Shop, before he became a one-man show. While we used to see him in many skit-based videos, he now does essentially "Story-Telling" videos from his bedroom, using a new set of techniques. My area to focus on are these new techniques, and how Olan uses them to present himself to his target audience.

There are several things that help to make Olan's show what it is. First let's talk about the setting, and why he prefers to do the videos in his room. When we watch Olan in his bedroom during a video, it's as if we've stepped into his own little world. It's as if we're more in the mind of Olan Rogers as he gives us insight into his world through whatever story he is telling. This setting is casual, inviting, and low-energy.

Olan's editing techniques are similar to a rising collective of other youtube channels, where the video is simply a person talking to their audience. The style these people use takes many short clips and phrases of the person talking and essentially stacks them together. This creates a high-energy atmosphere since the video can cut at any time and Olan could be doing anything in a moment's notice. This style works for Olan because of how goofy and spontaneous he can be.

The last thing I'd like to talk about is how Olan presents himself not through the aesthetic elements in his videos, but in his personality and character he plays during these videos. Olan Rogers has several main things going into his presentation. For example he uses a very interesting set of vocabulary, using many "quirky" words. His emphasis and annunciation of these words draws lots of over-the-top high energy as well which makes the video funny and keep them moving forward and not boring. He keeps the energy very high in his face as well, being a dynamic reader. Lots of silly faces are certain to be seen through his videos.

Overall Olan's videos are like taking a quick walk through his world, as he spills the bright and various colors of his mind out for us to do with as we please. I choose to laugh, and I think that there is something to take away from his videos. He seems very happy and excited in his videos which is contagious and makes us happy and excited about whatever he is talking about. I also do know that Olan plans to do more complicated videos in the future (if he can scratch up the money for it) which is exciting for me.

               So after last week of critiquing the infamous show of 2012 "Honey Boo Boo"

           I have decided to take on another path. I have decided to critique the short youtube videos of Olan Rogers who has made a name for himself in the comedy world. My topic that I would like to discuss is about the charity that Olan Rogers has generously donated after sales from his clothing line.

Since the new year of 2012 his apparel shop has donated some of their sales to needy kids around his area.

                  From his own site he includes a quote from himself... "This is a team effort too because your guys support makes this possible thank you from the bottom of my heart and know you guys are changing some kids lives for the better! :)"

       

              Not only is Olan Rogers striving to be a comedian but, he is also a very thoughtful person when it comes to profit and distribution.

        

Ratings (Love him!)

Olan has some very popular videos and people really do seem to like watching him. One of his videos, Ghost in the stalls, has over 3 million views. There are endless pages of comments and people say how much they love him and how much they laugh because of him. One person went as far as saying "I just peed a little bit!" I personally love Olan's videos. I think that he is very funny. His stories don't even have to be that great but the way he presents them makes a world of difference! One of the only comments I have found that says anything about the way he does his videos says that they don't like the way he keeps looking to the left. He replies to this person with a very adult and informing comment saying "It's pretty awkward staring straight into the lens of a camera. In film they tell you never to stare into the lens of a camera, it's a habit to want to look away. Not to mention there is a weeping angel in my room." I think it is very professional the way he handles this. I know that there are people who do not like Olan or the way he presents himself. One of the women I work with does not like him because she says he's just "another spaz telling a story." There are a lot of older people who think this. I think that the people that follow Olan the most are younger. He does say "poop" a lot and makes childish jokes but to younger generations that is funny. One reason I think his ratings are also high is because some people will watch his videos multiple times (guilty). There are a lot of people that comment and say "IT'S MONDAY!!!(Is it bad that every Monday I come and watch this?)." Even one of his lower viewed videos still has over 3,000 views. In his video Midnight Claw, Olan talks about how a bat got its nail hooked into his sock because his socks were to long in the front. He has about 570,000 views on this video! One of the things people comment about a lot is that his sock situation is relatable. Thats another reason I think people like his videos so much. He talks about everyday things that happen, which if I were telling the story it may just seem like another story, but when Olan tells it he adds a lot of character and humor which makes it better and more likable. He also promotes his videos with clothing that he makes which helps his ratings. He can make a shirt that says "It's a Monday!" and when someone sees their friend wear this shirt every Monday they're like "WHAT THE POOP!"  Some of the money he makes from the clothing line goes to help needy kids. When people hear this it makes them want to buy more of his clothes and watch more of his videos to find out why he has a bear that is holding an axe with arrows shoved into his pelt and has a bag full of arrows but no bow, on a shirt.  I think overall Olan does a lot to make people happy and its the little things that will take you places in life. I personally think that Olan is fantastic and that he should keep doing what he's doing!

Olan Rogers' Other Video Work

While his YouTube channel mainly focuses on his minimal story videos, Olan Rogers has much more up his creative sleeve to offer.

Before Olan Rogers the channel existed, Olan Rogers the man was part of another YouTube group, BaloonShop. A comedy group, their videos derived their humor from quick cuts, strange situations and a general awkward and quirky atmosphere. And yelling - lots of yelling and loud noises.

BaloonShop seems to have gone on hiatus, as their last uploaded video is from 2010, but the sense of humor present in those videos has been carried over to some of Olan's personal videos. Same kind of quick cuts, yelling, and quirky atmosphere, but with a different supporting cast.

...and then, right when you thought he was a one trick pony, there comes his episodic series's. New Prime showed a somewhat new side of Olan Rogers, making a five part sci-fi adventure series with more varied camera work and a much more complex script (meaning these videos have an actual story line, rather than the joke-focused approach of his other videos). The first few episodes are still definitely made in the mindset of his other comedy videos, just with a more dramatic overtone. By part five, though, there's some actual drama put in - and it works quite well. Rogers is clearly trying to branch out from his previous work into a more...lets say, artistic style of film making.

This stylistic change is definitely starting to take over Rogers's channel, as seen by one of his more recent videos, a trailer for a new series called Pop Rocket. With a higher production quality, some serious dramatic acting and more expansive costumes and sets, Rogers is showing everyone what he can really do. With the gaps in his comedy videos becoming larger, it's clear that he's putting all of his focus into this new series. Only time will tell how it turns out, but if it's anything like this trailer, it's definitely something to look out for.

Olan Rogers is a comedian?

So last week the team critiqued, "Hunny Boo Boo Child." This week we are focusing on a comedian named Olan Rogers or is he a comedian............. Anyone can sit here and talk about and say the word "poop". But because he says it does it make it funny? I find it very interesting that America chooses to watch this guy every month or so. The man even gets roughly a million views every 2 months!!!! The man is selling out stadiums by talking about "poop."Olan also is very scitzafrentic. We find this funny because he seems like him spazing out. We as Americans think that anything to do with bodily functions whether it be farting or poop is extremely funny. REALLY!!!!!! COME ON AMERICA!!!!!!! We laugh at some of the dumbest things!!!!!! I mean, people also watch a kid named Fred who just changes his voice and acts spazmatic too!!!! He even got his own movie!!!! Here look at it for yourself!!! I posted a link to Fred so people could see what i am talking about. WAKE UP AMERICA!!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9MA0eW8yyw

CCT Week 2: Olan Rogers

The next piece of media we're going to be focusing on are the videos of Olan Rogers. He puts out videos on his YouTube channel somewhat sporadically, with an average of a month or so between uploads. He also runs an apparel shop, and has done work with BalloonShop and on other videos.

His channel can be found here, and one of his videos is embedded below.