RekRap2

Creator Breakdown #1
 Who is RekRap2?
-Second Biggest Sub Count on the Lifesteal SMP*

-Gained Just Shy of 1 Million Subscribers between

April 2021-Jun 18 2022

-134,102,318 total views

-All with content with personality**

*(all stats were collected on 07/07/2022) **This is important as rekrap2 built a community while getting views.
 Did He Get Lucky? Yes and No…
-Success = Hard Work + Opportunity

-Anyone can get lucky, but it takes hard work to continually grow.

-This means if we break Down The 4 Key Moments from Rekraps’s channel,
we can find out the question of “How did Rekrap Grow so fast?”

1. His First Viral Video - “I Learned to do Dream's Insane Boat MLG”

2. The Popularisation and emergence of the SMP Niche
3. His Second Viral Video - “Can you beat Minecraft in Adventure Mode?”
4. His Third Viral Video “This Streamer Thought he could Trap me…”
 And The Final Question…
What Did Rekrap Learn Before April 2021 That lead to him
becoming the new breakout Creator in Minecraft?

And Can We Learn this “Secret” Too?

 Well, the first things he learnt was on
his Dream Video.
-So let’s break down the thumbnail, title and actual
contents video…

-But first, let's contextualise why this video was so

impressive.
Part One: One Video Can Change a
Channel…

-5.2M Views in 3 Weeks

-Ranks top in Search for “Dream Boat

MLG” and 4th in “Dream Boat Clutch”

-Plus Dream’s attention!

 Thumbnail: Colour Theory
C
A B

A
B C

B A C

-This Thumbnail loosely uses Triad, Which makes the elements

of the thumbnail contrast

-This thumbnail also uses 3 elements to keep the thumbnail

simple and easy to understand
 Thumbnail: Composition
-O Using the Rule of Thirds*, Dream’s face is right on
the grid. This is important as it means the viewers
eyes focus on Dream

-Only What is needed is in the thumbnail. Even

though there is “dead space”, it helps bring into
focus Dream.

-The angle of the thumbnail makes the thumbnail

more intense, as looking up at Dream gives scale to
the thumbnail.

*The Rule of thirds is a photography technique to create

balance in a photo.
 Thumbnail Techniques
Technique A: Trend jacking. This thumbnail
E capitalized on the gap in the market when Dream
made his Boat Clutch.
A
C> Technique B: Colour blocking. By Making the
B background all black, it means your eyes are
drawn to Dream’s Skin. **Contrast= Focus**
D
Technique C: Showing the boat means you know
exactly what the idea of the video centres
around… Dream’s boat clutch!

Technique D: Mid Action. This means to continue

the storyline of the video… you must click on the
video.

Technique E: Make it POP: The moon grabs the

viewers attention… meaning your eyes are drawn
to Dream
“I Learned to do Dream's Insane Boat MLG”
-Rekrap2 uses what’s known as the ‘Challenge’
format of titles

-This format is: “I Past Tense Verb Did this impressive

spectacle”. (examples on left)

-This format gives;

● Credibility to the challenge, since it’s in past
tense
● Is simple and easy to understand
● And clearly shows the payoff / value proposition
of the video

- HOWEVER, you must must confirm the click ASAP

with this format or your audience will feel clickbaited

-Dream’s Boat MLG was a highly searched phrase as

the clip spread like wildfire. However, there was very
few high quality videos out on it. This
Learn was a gap
More About in the
Title Formats Here
“I Learned to do Dream's Insane Boat MLG”
- This title uses 5 bits of Unconscious Biases to hook you:

1. Curiosity Gap: A gap in information which makes you curios.

Therefore, you must click to see if it’s possible

2. Affinity Bias: You connect with people easier with similar

interests. You both watch Dream so are more likely to become a
fan of RekRap

3. The Halo Effect: People that do impressive things are more

likeable. We learned Rekrap did a impressive clutch which makes
him more likeable when we click

4. Contrast effect: Contrasting two events to exaggerate the

challenge. he contrasts the association of the words “learned”
and “insane” to make the feat more impressive

5. Targeting Newer People learning a Skill: The keyword “I

Learned” shows Rekrap just learned this skill… and you can to.
Sound Design in the Intro
-Listen Very Closely To The Music, Listen for Sound
Effects and The Exclamation of the Voice Over.

-0:03 (Music Beat emphasises payoff)

-0:08 (Change in Music Tempo shows change in

narrative + increase in stakes)

-0:11-0:16 (sound effect of camera creates

progression… like a makeshift dramatic riser as it
emphasises Dream’s jump)

-0:19 (Music is synched up again to the boat clutch)

-The Music is not just slapped on, it works with the

video to build the story and the emotion of the
video turns mystical
● How Can Someone Like me do this INSANE
clutch?
● What Secret Does dream know about the
 1 Breakdown of the Intros Script
Shows Dream Doing the Clutch “OMG- That Was Dream, Pulling off the craziest
stunt I’ve ever seen.”
● The Hook works because it’s right in the action, Dream’s shout of OMG is an energy builder and
it’s a spectacle, then saying

● “That was Dream” quickly Integrates RekRap’s voice over into the video, and serves as a bridge
between the hook and confirming the click, as it does both.

● By instantly showing Dream’s boat clutch and contextualising it means he Confirms the Clicks.
Confirming the click is important as it shows the viewer they haven’t been clickbaited and
reminds the viewer of the title of the video. This reminder means that after 12+ seconds of ads
they don’t lose interest/forget the idea of the video.

For More Examples of this

breakdown click here Hook With integration Confirm The Click
 2 Breakdown of the Intros Script
“Can a average guy like me pull it off?“
● The Premise Shows The Goal of the video in a concise and fun way. Clearly outlining the goal
means you show the audience the value proposition of the video.

● The Stakes and Twist of the video are connected:

○ Being a “Average guy” is a Stake as it means that Rekrap has something to prove. If he
loses, it shows he will always be an average guy… if he succeeds then he will prove the
ordinary person can be extraordinary with enough hard work. This is a Primal Feeling, as a
caveman can understand Pride and embarrassment.

○ Being a “Average Guy” is a Twist (also known as a USP) because it means the story will be
a underdog story. As this progresses, the boat clutch becomes an antagonist and Rekrap
is the protagonist.
For More Examples of this
breakdown click here
Premise Stakes Twist
Progression / Overcoming Problems.
-When you overcome a challenge, this makes the viewer have a mini
payoff, which re-engages the audience because solving a problem
releases dopamine.

-Within the first minute 4 problems were shown, and three were
solved.
1. Boat Clutch at 0:03
2. Rekrap Solving the height of the tower at 0:23, 0:29 and 0:37
(Always use a pattern of three if having a montage of solving)
3. Rekrap then fails at 0:51 which raises the stakes
4. Rekrap Explains that the clutch is EVEN HARDER at 0:59

-Rekrap makes a pattern of three by overcoming 3 challenges,

which he then breaks to emphasise the challenge of the clutch.

-Having harder challenges means a bigger payoff at the end of the

video, however, you must also have mini payoffs to tease the payoff
 Anchoring progression with comparison
-To contextualise how much progression Rekrap is
making, he compares himself to Dream

-This is known as Anchoring your progression, which

#1 clearly shows your progression to the audience.

← Rek -If you think of your videos as a journey from point A

Dream ↓ to point B you must:
● Show where point A and B is
#2 ●
Clearly Always Head Towards B
● Have setbacks that make you lose progress
← Rek
-You must also go under a transformation
← Dream
#3 throughout the video, as it’s also about the journey
and not always the destination.
From a To Someone as
“Average Guy” good as Dream
Screenshot #1
Screenshot #2 ← Story & Progression
Screenshot #3 →
 Using Cross Cutting To ‘Hide’ Context
0:47-0:52 Action (Death)
0:52-1:08 Context (explanation to why it’s hard)
1:08-1:10 Action (Reaction “What?”)
1:10-1:14 Context + Action (How much time?)
1:14-1:18 Action (Reaction “What? No…”)
1:18-1:21 Context (Opens curiosity, why is this relevant?)
1:21-1:23 Action (Reaction “That’s Insaaaaane”)
1:23-1:27 Context (But there’s something you don’t know…)
1:27-1:29 Action (Reaction “That’s not enough time!”)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
-This is known as multi narrative content, as there’s two
pieces of action to focus on, layered on top of each other

Live Voiceover -This means that the context of the video doesn’t become
boring, while delivering important information that is
necessary to the viewer.

👈 Rekrap also visually shows the cuts between his live

reaction and voice over by cutting to black and white
The Storyline follows a Three Act structure
Beat 1: (0:00-0:49) Set Stakes & Set Up Challenge

ACT I Beat 2: (0:49-1:29) Build stakes & show difficulty

Beat 3: (1:29-2:14) Strategy, Breakdown, Context

6 7 8 9
Beat 4: (2:14-2:50) All is Lost, Creates doubt

4 5 ACT II Beat 5: (2:50-3:45) The “Comeback”

1 2 3
Beat 6: (3:45-4:05) The Rug Pull

Beat 7: (4:05-4:53) All Mini Hurdles Completed

☝️To Create a good story, you must have ACT III Beat 8: (4:53-5:35) The Climax
connected events that build towards a climax.
Beat 9: (5:35-5:52) Payoff
-Instead of ‘then this happened’, Rekrap says
‘This happened, therefore this happened but
this happened.’
Most Importantly, It Makes Me Feel Something
👈 This is Rekrap’s “secret” to making people watch longer…
he doesn’t trick you into watching longer.

What I mean by this, is that there’s no formulaic approach

with his videos and no manipulative re engagement tricks…
it’s just good content. If you find out why it’s good content,
then you can get millions of views… so change your mindset!

When making videos don’t think:

● How will I trick the “algorithm” into recommending me?
● How will I trick my viewers into watching longer?
● How will I trick my viewers into clicking my videos?
● What secrets is there to get more views?

Instead, do Think:
If your viewers are entertained they will: ● How will I make this the best video for my viewers?
● Naturally click your videos ● How can I best serve my viewers?
● Organically watch your videos ● How can I make my viewers laugh or smile?
● Watch all your videos ● How can I make good videos?
● Recommend your videos to friends ● How can I make my videos a little better than my last?
This helped to kick-start the channel

-Most channels get one video that blows up their

whole channel

-Airrack had their channels blow up after buying

Logan Paul’s Couches went viral 👉
So What Can You Learn From Section One?
-You must have a viral video idea

-You must be able to make a clickable thumbnail with

the idea clearly shown, and one single point that
clearly contrasts

-You must have a title that makes the viewer curious

and then make them desire the answer

-You must be able to keep the viewer entertained

while not sacrificing the viewer satisfaction

-You must have progression that the viewer can

clearly understand

-You must have a storyline no matter the content

But Most importantly, How to you keep hype?
After most viral videos, most channel views
decrease

Going “viral too early” can be hurtful according

to Marques Brownlee

But for Rekrap, it wasn’t too early…

This was Rekrap’s second viral video and he

now had the experience to capitalize on the
video

This is because SMP

Videos were about to
become a massive
☝ Example of most channels after a viral hit
trend…
Part Two: Emergence of SMP Niche

-21.1M Channel Views between Jun 21 -

Oct 4

-11 evergreen videos*

-But Most Importantly, 4 outlier

videos**…

-So what made these 4 videos outliers,

👈 **Outlier videos (shown in Purple) are
and why did they get more views?
videos with more views then normal.
 Thumbnail Strategy

☝️All Outlier Videos’ Views Will Be Highlighted in Yellow

 Mid Action Means Mid Story
Passive 🥱 Mid Action😮
-Mid Action thumbnails usually get
more clicks… but why?

-It’s more visually exciting and it

creates a mini story in the
thumbnail.

-This story can only reach its

conclusion if you watch the video,
and watch it to the end.

-3 of the 4 outlier videos were mid

action, and 3 out of 4 of the worst
performing videos were passive

👈 (The thumbnails shown in mid

action are outliers)
☝️6.4M views in total (as of 10/07/22) 15M views in total (as of 10/07/22)☝️
 Have One Clear Focus
One Focus Multiple Focuses
-One clear focus brings clarity and
clearness to a thumbnail

-Viewers decide to click on a

thumbnail within 10-20ms

-So creating clarity means that

viewers can process the information
of a thumbnail quickly!
-Multiple focuses takes a long time for a
viewer to process

-If a thumbnail is confusing and unclear,

a viewer will scroll on instead of trying
to decipher your thumbnail
 How Do You Create Focus? P1
Contrasting colors:

Oxidised and Non-Oxidised Copper are Complementary Colors. (Colors and Theory shown below)

To find out if your thumbnail colors pop, use a color picker to get the hex code of a color, and plot it
using a color wheel

Theory ☝️ In Practise ☝️
How Do You Create Focus? P2
Framing:

-The slanted blocks and angle of

the thumbnail creates focus

-This is because the slant of the

blocks guide the viewer towards the
focal point of the thumbnail

-I like to call these viewer guard

rails.
How Do You Create Focus? P3
Make the Impossible Possible:

-This grabs your focus as breaking

bedrock shouldn’t be possible

-Rekrap then over delivers by

saying he traps his friend using
bedrock

-However, it is important to know

that this strategy only works if
you use an unedited thumbnail!
 Search Optimised Titles
-”My Minecraft Starter House is 100% Copper”

-”I Broke Bedrock to Trap my Friends”

“-So I Joined a YouTuber Anarchy SMP…”

-”I Transformed a Minecraft Village for 1.17”

-”Minecraft Ore Hunt 2 VS 1”

-”I built an UNDERGROUND Pyramid in Minecraft 1.17”

☝️Rekrap targets search in these videos

Meaning, he can get new viewers from search, those new

viewers then watch another Rekrap video, helping his own
videos appear in suggested.

Search Suggested Key Words

Pace Changes to Re-engage and hook
0:00-0:09 Slow pace, but slowly builds towards

0:09-0:11 Energy Increaser

0:11-0:15 Famous last words foreshadow challenge

0:16-0:22 Mixes fast past gameplay with slow paced commentary

0:22-0:25 Energy increased again

0:25-0:28 Pay off increased as we saw the struggle Rekrap went

through to get the redstone to work

0:28-0:31 Energy increaser + slow paced commentary

Prioritised Flow and Pacing
Rekrap Uses L and J cuts to create a silky smooth pacing that
feels connected.

Rekrap prioritises the pacing and flow over satisfaction in the

this section.

This is effective as the viewer wants to hear more of the

satisfying sounds when waxing the copper

By breaking the wax section into two parts, it delays this

satisfaction.

Rekrap also makes the grinding section of this video fun and
easily digestible.

By using a mix of viewer satisfaction, and retention

techniques such as fast pacing, Rekrap hits the criteria of a
great video.
 Rekrap’s use of g g g g
Social currency
Triggers
Emotion
The Science of Viral Content
Public
Practical value 👈 (The more you use, the more potential for virality)
Stories

-Rekrap uses the copper block as a Trigger for his channel. IE: You
see the block and think of Rek

-Rekrap uses Emotion to make you laugh, meaning you would be

more willing to share the video.

-Rekrap used Public These smp videos started the road map for SMP creators to copy

-Rekrap uses Practical value as he shows you the new update and you learn facts about the new update
through the video

-Rekrap uses Stories to make the viewer invest their emotions into the video
Stakes and Building of Tension
-Rekrap constantly builds and releases tension, which releases
dopamine, which results in you watching for longer.

-For example the story from 0:00-4:53:

● Branzy has made secret bases in rekraps house therefore
Rekrap will make even more secret bases in his house.
● But Rekrap is so confident he put all of his diamonds in the
base, therefore, it must be well hidden
● 👈 But Branzy has logged onto the server, therefore Rekrap
must sneak around while building the secret base,
therefore he has friend try to distract Branzy.

-☝️Therefores progress the story, buts creates twists and stakes

-Rekrap builds up tension and releases tension, slowly building to

the payoff of the video

-Having tension building constantly burns out an audience,

 Show AND Tell
-Many people drill home the concept that you must show
not tell, but I argue you should show AND tell in the intro

-You see, you should be telling the audience what they

need to know (not describing the events), while showing
what you are talking about

-Most importantly, Rekrap uses a minimal amount of B roll

-Where as many traditional SMP creators use B roll in the

intro, it distracts from the intro and doesn’t feel connected

-If B roll Distracts from the story, then it shouldn’t be in

the video

-Example of B Roll that distracts 👉

In total, 14% of the audience left,

which was 55,000 people
Characters (Storytelling)
-In this video, Rekrap makes sure that we don’t trust anyone:
● From the fact that Parrot could be a traitor at 1:04
● To Clown being threatening at 4:15
● To Ashswagg Hacking at 5:21

-However, as the narrative builds, they go after the main

antagonist, Clown.

-This is interesting because:

● They don’t know how many hearts Clown has
● They don’t know how good he really is at pvp
● And the plan they used fail

-And it’s interesting since it’s a 4v1… and Clown wins

-Finally, the narrative is incomplete, what will happen next in

this storyline? Then Rekrap gives you two videos you can
watch, quenching your thirst for more content, which increases
session time
So What Can You Learn From Section Two?
-Having your thumbnail mid action can increase CTR

-If you Complicated Ideas = Less Clicks

-Realising and building tension helps re-engage an

audience and results in better payoffs

-Use STEPPS as a checklist to see if it has a higher

likelihood of virality and shareability

-The flow and feel of the video should be used to increase

retention, effects of payoffs and buidling an audience

-Building characters in your videos and a engaging story

can naturally increase retention and increase the effect of
the payoff.
 Then Something Surprising Happened…

-But, was Rekrap putting all his eggs in one

basket? You see, most channels views can crash if
a niche dies…

-So how can you reduce the damage if you do?

-Rekrap experimented by uploading a non-smp

☝ Channel Dying after Niche dies, video…
especially with no audience building
-And the results were surprising…
Part Three: A Turn of Events

-4.8M Channel Views in 2 Weeks

-An outlier video outside the SMP niche

-Second most viewed video

-Most liked Rekrap video

-Second Most Commented Rekrap Video

👈 A SB737 Comment
 Thumbnail: Focus
-This thumbnail’s arrow and glow of the tree creates a
focus point in the screenshot
2
-The text then naturally captures your eye (source)

1 -Finally, the colors of Rekrap’s skin contrast, which makes

our eyes look at him
3
-This Makes us see the wood, the text “Can’t break” then
Rekrap (in the sequence of 1,2,3 shown on the thumbnail)

-This makes use fully understand the situation, Rekrap

cannot mine the wood even though he has an axe

-This makes us curious as to why!

Thumbnail: Mid Action
-But the biggest reason why this thumbnail works so
well is because it is mid action, meaning mid story

-This is Rekrap’s best thumbnail in the middle of action

in my opinion because the viewer is confused why
Rekrap cannot break the tree

-This means that the title and the thumbnail works as a

wombo combo

-You are first curious why Rekrap can’t break, then a

new value proposition is presented to you… can you
beat Minecraft in Adventure mode???

-This combo is the reason I would bet that this video

has Rekrap’s highest CTR on his channel
Title: Answering the Unanswerable
-This title works because the idea of the video is
build for virality

-This video is not only a challenge, but a live

reaction to it.

👈 This is inline with Paddy Galloway’s

assessment of what categories viral videos go
into

-In addition, the question can only be answered

by clicking on the video!
 Breakdown of the Intros Script
“Adventure mode is the hardest gamemode. You
want wood, but you can’t break blocks… so you
use a creeper but you can’t place blocks either”
‘I’m Out’. “

“This Gamemode forces you to climb with boats,

use creepers as pickakes and loot villagers! Ok
the last one is pretty normal, but I’m also in
Hardcore. If I die once, the world is deleted. “

“So Can We Beat This Game in Adventure mode?”

Kills a bunch of Sheep. “I think we are going to
call it a day for food collecting”
☝️We Are Pretty Far into the breakdown, so
see if you can spot any methods he has
used before in this intro! There are also a
few new methods as well!
 Breakdown of the Intros Script P1
“Adventure mode is the hardest gamemode. You want wood, but you can’t
break blocks… so you use a creeper but you can’t place blocks either” I’m Out

-The Hook works as it quantifies the challenge… it is the hardest thing you can do in Minecraft

-The use of Show and Tell Highlights an increase in challenge. You can’t do the most basic things on
Minecraft, like break and place blocks (This also confirms the click as the title showed Rekrap not being able
to break wood)

-The comedic joke is used as a Break in context as the intro would be too heavy on context. Therefore, this
comedic beat is used to give the viewers a break, as well as set the tone of the video.

1
Hook Show And Tell to Highlight Break in Context
 Breakdown of the Intros Script
“This Gamemode forces you to climb with boats, use creepers as pickakes and loot
villagers! Ok the last one is pretty normal, but I’m also in Hardcore. If I die once, the
world is deleted. “
-The use of Show and Tell Highlights the progression of the video. This also helps tease the answers of how
do you mine?

-The Break in context serves the same use as before, giving the viewer breathing room to digest
information and keep the explanation fun.

-The Stakes add another layer of challenge. Now not only does Rekrap have to find a way to beat the game,
he will only get one shot of it

2
Stakes Show And Tell to Highlight Break in Context
 Breakdown of the Intros Script
“So Can We Beat This Game in Adventure mode?” Kills a bunch of Sheep. “I think we are
going to call it a day for food collecting”

-The Premise shows the viewer the goal of the video, beat the game. This gives a clear objective for the
viewer

-The Break In Context Shows the viewer that the video has started. As well well this, it re-engages the
viewer with a sharp increase in energy

-The First Objective Gives the viewer instant satisfaction as Rekrap has already progressed!

3
Premise First objective Break in Context
Rekrap’s Voice over is consistent to create a smooth pace

-Where the video constantly cuts in this video, the

voice over stays connected and smooth

-This creates a consistent pacing, and can let rekrap

increase the pacing at a constant rate.

-It also means that there’s no gaps in the audio,

meaning that there is no dead space

-This keeps the video exciting and entainting

👈 Listen To The Voice Over in this Section, and how the

audio continues to the next scene to continue the fast
pacing of the scene
 Rekrap’s Bucket Content
Bucket content is described as a group of videos that have similar keywords and formats, with
each bucket having a similar topic or theme and the same target audience. (See more)

With this new upload, Rekrap realised he could also start creating in a new bucket I like to call
Optimised Storytelling. Some of his newer videos like “I survived 24 hours in the deep dark” fall
into this bucket. This strategy helps with session time on a channel

Smp Optimised Trend Jack

Vlog/IRL
Content Storytelling
 RekRap Making Superfans

Showing previous
videos do three things A callback for Super Invested fans
depending on the
loyalty of the viewer.

A video that a viewer may of

☝️“Some of you might not
like this name, but on all of
my tools, I just put a period
for their name…” 2:14-2:16
missed, triggering fomo and
increasing session time
Shows that Rekrap has more
videos similar to the one you’re
watching
And he Builds a “Tribe”
-In the book Tribes, Seth Godin talks about how innovation leads to
a Tribe in Marketing and business.

-If we replace the word “Tribe” with “Audience” and “Marketing and
business” with “YouTube”, you get a powerful message

-Innovation leads to building an audience

-Therefore, at 3:56, when Rekrap says that he may of found a way

to legitimately beat hardcore that no one else knows, including the
big YouTuber SB737, Rekrap is innovating as he is doing someone
that no one else has done…

-This content exclusivity means that an audience is more likely to

become a fan as there is no other content that competes with him

-This is also known as a Blue Ocean strategy

While letting his personality shine

-Rekrap Quick fire jokes are quick wins for the audience. This
is one of the techniques described in Superfans by Pat Flynn

-Additionally, due to Rekrap’s personality, use uses some of

the 7 fundamentals of the primal code, which is detailed in
the Book Primal Branding by Patrick Hanlon

-For example, his unique voice and skins are instantly

recognisable for his audience, which is known as an icon.

-Additionally, a common ritual used in Rekrap’s videos is the

cutaway voice over

-As well as this, it’s obvious that Rekrap is the leader in his
videos, like the main character
Finally, he uses the oldest Retention
Technique
-He makes the viewer ask a question, and delays the
answer:

● How will Rekrap beat Adventure mode?

● How will Rekrap build a nether portal?
● How will Rekrap navigate the nether?
● And most importantly, will Rekrap survive?

-The only way to answer these questions… watch the

video longer

-This was a technique was even detailed in the literature

critique “The Art of Fiction” by David Lodge as a
technique to get people to read books for longer
 Interestingly, This Got Him a lot of Subscribers
👈 The Only other time Rekrap got as many
subscribers in one day was this video where he
actively asked for subscribers.

Additionally, the like ratio compared to his other videos

is significantly higher (200k Likes with 6.7M views)

Therefore, we can interpret from the data that many

viewers connected with Rekrap from this video, and
this is where the most superfans of Rekrap where
made.

It makes sense then that this is what 👉

Rekrap would want you to watch first
So What Can You Learn From Section 3?
-Taking calculated risks can result in your best videos

-If there’s a lot of context you must say in the intro, break
it up with a joke or energy builder

-Remove unneeded gaps in audio without a purpose

-Building Superfans can help positively impact a channel

-Make the viewers ask questions about what will happen,

and delay the answers

-Use primal branding to create more fans

-Create Buckets (for the same target audience) to

increase the session time on your channel
But Once You’ve consistently get good views,
How do you go beyond?
☝ A Channel That Doesn’t Innovate after
Success! They decline in views and start
to plateau
-You see, most channels when they find something
that works run it into the ground
-They don’t try to innovate or take calculated risks
as it’s scary
-The problem with this, is that without innovation,
audiences get bored, trends decline and channels
die
-So Rekrap continued to make his content better
every upload!
-One of these videos was a massive outlier…
Part Four: The New Age of SMP Videos

-The most consistent highest peak on Rekrap’s channel

(so far 😉)

👈 However, this video performed very well, so I will be

focusing on this outlier to sum up the new age of SMP
videos

-
Thumbnails: Realism
-Having realistic thumbnails is a important choice for
Rekrap for 3 key reasons

● It shows that this video isn’t clickbait. If a viewer

thinks your value proposition is a lie, why would
they click?

● It reflects Rekrap’s content style. A thumbnail is

your viewers first impression of the video, so it
should reflect the content of the video

● They stand out. The thumbnail in the smp niche

used to be highly saturated and highly edited. 👇 This
means these thumbnails would ‘pop’ in suggested.
 Thumbnails: Clear on Mobile
-40.9% of watch time comes from mobile, meaning if your
thumbnail isn’t good on mobile, you cut out 40.9% of the viewers

-In addition, the majority of viewers in the Minecraft niche watch on

mobile because they watch on their parents devices

-This is why if a Minecraft Creator checks their age demographics, a

majority of the viewers are between 30-50. Younger children don’t
Big Clear Thumbnail have their own phone so they’ll use their parents
6M Views

Users Lying about their

age
Small unclear Thumbnail
Less Views

Users on their parents

devices
Title: The three key words
-The fact that Rekrap is going against a streamer is
interesting as streamers are an authority figure

-Using the word Thought foreshadows the fact that

Rekrap will outsmart the authority figure.

-Saying Trap Me Shows the premise to the viewer,

Rekrap has to try and not get trapped. It also has a
negative connotation, and negativity gets more clicks.
Title: Different Hook Points for Different Tiers of Fans
Superfans will click on your video no matter the thumbnail and
title. They will also share your video, so having a title that can easily be
described and explained will increase the amount of people that are “sold”
to watch the video. Basically, you’re doing the hard marketing work for
your superfans, but they are your medium.

Connected fans will know the “Rekrap lore”. Meaning, Rekrap has
the reputation to never be trapped. This means the connected
audience has another reason to watch: “Will Rekrap be finally
trapped on Lifesteal?

Active audiences will click as this is similar to this video.

This means that it’s more likely the active audience will
watch more of Rek’s videos, increasing session time

Casal audiences will click as the Idea of the video

also appeals to a wide audience: ‘don’t get trapped’
This is a primal feeling so appeals broadly
 The Three Elements of a Story:
The Hook The build up The Payoff

“It was a meeting like any Vitalasy cannot be trusted, can parrot
other, until I heard the “THAT WORKED
be trusted? Will Rek be trapped? BEAUTIFULLY!”
Dripstone”
Rekrap’s Storytelling Formula
-Rekrap’s video follows a format that works for him. I didn’t want to
make this section as I don’t want to have people copying Rek’s
formula for a great story, so I will purposely miss out some points

-However, I made this section as I want to explore why Rekrap’s

storytelling is so good, and how you can take the why of how his
story works, and apply the theory yourself

-Copying other YouTubers does not work, which is why the Lifesteal
SMP is at the top of the Minecraft niche

-Like I said previously, innovation builds an audience!

Kick the Dog / Save the Cat
-Give a reason for the audience to care. A motivation builds
connection with the audience:

● My enemy is trying to trap me and I need to survive

● I want to do Dream’s boat clutch to show I’m not
ordinary
● I want to be the first person to beat Adventure mode
without cheating
● I want to get revenge on my enemy because they
trolled me with secret bases

-If the viewer isn’t connected to the idea, they aren’t

connected to the video, which means they’ll be less
engaged, which means less AVD
Build Dread and the Antagonist
-Rekrap’s goals and the goals of the antagonist are always
the opposite. This means only one person can win

● Clown is killing everyone on the server, I want to

make sure my allies don’t die
● I don’t want to get trapped, Vitalasy wants to trap me
● I want to troll my enemy, but he doesn’t want to be
trolled

-This naturally builds stakes and conflict, and conflict is

fun. However, do not think all conflict is just a fight, make it
interesting!

-Rekrap also builds dread, who can I trust? Where are the
traps? Does this person want to kill me?
Build Stakes and Intro new ones
-Rekrap always has a stake, and introduces new ones
to build towards the payoff.

● “On this server, if you die you lose a heart”. “I’m

in hardcore so if I die the world is deleted” <
Progress stakes, if x happens I loose progress.
● “I’m the new guy on the server, do you think they
will let me survive” < Social stakes

-Having something on the line builds conflict. I don’t

want to lose, because losing means x will happen. I
want to win, because y will happen

-The best stakes have positive things if you win, and a

negative if you loose

-Most common example is betting something!

Have a tense moment at the 1:00 mark
-Rekrap has a tense moment around the one minute mark to
re-enge the audience:

● Here, can Parrot be trusted

● Here, the MLG is even harder than I thought
● Here, I almost summoned the warden that can kill me

-This tension will be realised, creating a sense of progression.

However, it also foreshadows at greater conflict to come
And 75% into the video
-Rekrap has a tense moment to break into Act III of the
narrative

● Here, Rekrap almost dies

● Here, Branzy dies
● Here, Rek shows that windows are possible

-However, this tense moment can be used for comedic effect,

or a dramatic moment
Audio is used to emphasis
-Audio should reflect the emotion of the video. Editing
is a way to condense the emotions and the story into a
easily digestible video

● Here, the music descents as Rek descents

● Here, The audio builds to the payoff, with the
strong beat of the music
● Here, Rek cuts to the beats of the music

-Music is a cheat code to show emotions, so use it

wisely and find the perfect song
So What Can You Learn From Section Four?
-Make sure your thumbnails are easily seen on mobile

-Realistic thumbnails are a great way to show

authenticity

-Think about the connotations of every word in your title

-Think about how different parts of your fandom see your

titles differently.

-Great Storytelling is a must for great videos

-Find out what your audience likes, and don’t blindly copy
others because it works for them
 So what did Rekrap learn in April?
Prioritising the viewers satisfaction is the most important
in YouTube.

There is only on person on the other end of the screen, so

make them happy!
 Rekrap’s Checklists for Success
Rekrap’s Videos are effective because
Rekrap’s Thumbnails are effective because:
1. It is Optimisation ✅
1. It shows the idea ✅
2. It has a sense of progression towards a goal ✅
2. It is simple and clear ✅
3. It has a simple but effective storyline✅
3. It uses contrast to make it stand out✅
4. It makes the viewer feel happy✅

Rekrap’s titles are effective because:

1. It has a clear value proposition ✅

2. It is concise and clear ✅
3. It Creates curiosity and a desire to click on✅

Rekrap’s Audience building is effective because:

1. Rekrap Innovates ✅
2. Rekrap builds superfans✅
3. Rekrap uses primal code✅
 Basically, just make good videos
for your audience!
Finally, make sure to watch this interview for the full story on
Rekrap if You’re interested!

This powerpoint was made in just under 2 days, and took me

over 30 hours to make, so I apologize if there was bad grammar,
I haven’t slept .

Recorded Version
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