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Interview: Review It Yourself Podcast
342 Plays1 year ago
In this episode, Satsunami is joined by Sean from the Review It Yourself podcast to discuss all things podcasting! From the joys of collaboration to the many hurdles of making a show, join the discussion to see how things have changed for the duo during their content creating journey.
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:00:05
Speaker
Welcome to Chatsunami.
00:00:16
Speaker
Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of Chatsunami. My name's Satsunami and joining me today is another fellow podcaster. You might have heard his voice before reviewing the good, the bad and sometimes the ugly of the fellow model.
Philosophical Podcasting and Cultural Reflections
00:00:34
Speaker
That of course is Sean from the Review Yourself podcast. Sean, welcome to Chatsunami. Cheers, Chatsu. Nice to be here. Honestly, this is a long time in the making for you coming onto my show. I have to say
00:00:46
Speaker
it happened. It's like you and Luke from Nerdstalgic. I probably thought, oh it won't be so long since you spoke but if I looked I bet it's two or three months, if not a bit before Christmas maybe. Been a while. Yeah that's true because I was on, oh it was the last time I was on your show because we have done a couple of collaborations with Stillgame and especially the Bake Off. Those episodes got quite philosophical didn't they? Yeah they did yeah.
00:01:10
Speaker
Oh, we'd never finished that. We all got so sick of it. Everyone gave up. I think we did the semi-final. My mum didn't want to do it. Luke was busy and I just couldn't be bothered. I was just like nah, can't be bothered. No wonder though. And all we'll say is if you want to hear our full opinions then definitely go over to the Review It Yourself podcast and listen to those episodes because honestly not only would they have a lot of fun to record for, it was basically like a free therapy session wasn't it for both of us.
00:01:37
Speaker
I think so yeah and you don't expect that when you start a cheeky Bake Off series but it happens that way doesn't it?
Lockdown Memories and Podcast Beginnings
00:01:44
Speaker
I mean that's the thing though and this is honestly such a British thing to start off the episode to be fair saying oh you look forward to the Bake Off when it comes back and everything but I mean it is one of those shows that every year it comes around and you're like oh I can't wait for it and if it doesn't turn out ironically enough like the cakes, if it doesn't turn out the way you hope it does then it's like a waste of time isn't it?
00:02:07
Speaker
Yeah, you feel a bit, you feel a bit bitter. Yeah. You know, like too much lemon has been shoved in it. You don't, you feel a bit, I don't know. The best bake-off year was in the middle of lockdowns because it felt, you know, a little bit of kind of normality, but. And speaking of the lockdown times, which, you know, I'm pulling you back into, oh, I can't believe, as of this episode, I can't believe that is a good two to three years ago now, isn't it? Since that all kicked off.
00:02:31
Speaker
I think it's a week because I checked my foot. I don't know why I've still got the text on it, you know, and it said stay, stay in your home. And I think it's on the 27th of the third. So I think it's almost a week till three years since that all started. I don't know where it's gone. I don't know where it's because I got someone, oh, when was the last time you saw something? Oh, a couple of years ago. And you go, no, no, I can't have been. It was before then. And you think it was before the lockdowns two years. So you think it's like five and you think, my God, it was just.
00:02:54
Speaker
because funny enough, I was actually talking to my co-host the other day and we were talking about how during the beginning of the lockdown, obviously, everybody couldn't get out. I'm actually just wondering, people listening to this in the future and thinking, what lockdown, what you were in your house? You didn't have toilet paper, what?
00:03:11
Speaker
him, but it was weird to think that for a solid, I mean, year and a half practically, but you know, you could barely see anybody, but I always remember for that whole year, I couldn't see, obviously, nobody could see any of their friends and so on, and I remember he had dropped something off at my house, obviously, within social distancing. Get that disclaimer in there, sir, too. Oh, absolutely. But it was just, it was so weird, though, seeing him, you know, like, in the gate, as it were. And I was just like, oh my God, another human.
00:03:41
Speaker
I haven't seen you in ages. So out of curiosity, looking back in the podcast and obviously that relatively dark time in a lot of people's lives, because I've interviewed quite a few people on the show and a lot of them have said that the reason they've started doing their content creation was because of the lockdown, especially in the heat of the 2020s and everything.
Podcast Evolution and Hosting Dynamics
00:04:04
Speaker
But from what I saw with your show, your started, am I right in saying it started in October 2021?
00:04:11
Speaker
Yeah, spot on. So I'm one of the strange ones who didn't start during lockdown. I'd never really heard a podcast. It's never had anything to do with them. I thought podcasts were something Ricky... Honestly, I'm not lying. This is just what I thought podcasts were something Ricky Gervais has invented. And I kind of knew he'd done it with Carl Pilkington because I loved the nadita bra. Didn't know an awful lot about it and was working and my mate who I'd worked with for quite a while now.
00:04:32
Speaker
few years just to kind of make it where you'd go around and you'd watch films and you'd just have a laugh and just, you know, just take the piss out of each other. And we were in a Wetherspoons, all the greatest ideas happened. Oh, of course. He said, why don't we start a podcast? I was like, what do you mean? Well, what's a podcast? And he sat and kind of basically explained to me, it's like a free farm, kind of like a radio show, but it's not live. And I thought, oh, okay. I was like, I don't want to do that. It's like, I have no interest in doing that. Like why would I, I don't want to be out there like that. Why would I want to do that?
00:04:58
Speaker
And he was like, no, it'll be fun. So he kind of coaxed me into it after, after a couple of, uh, star of paramans, probably. And I said, all right, we'll, we'll give it a go. And we started, I think maybe June, July, 2021. I did a show cause good friends, but very, very different shows we watched growing up. So this is true. Honest to God. I was never allowed to watch. I didn't watch like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Wasn't allowed to watch Power Rangers because my grandma thought it was, uh, violent.
00:05:20
Speaker
So I didn't watch like Dragon Ball Z stuff. I didn't have any interest in those, never watched them. My dad wouldn't have certain American shows on cause he couldn't stand the, the voices or the accents or whatever. Although like he loved Star Trek. I didn't watch an awful lot of the films he loves. So he like loves Dragon Ball Z. What was the other way he loves that? I'd never loved Star Wars. I'm not a Star Wars guy. I've never had been. I'm a Star Trek, the old stuff, the good stuff.
00:05:42
Speaker
but I've never seen any Star Wars stuff until he kind of dragged me into it. And he said, why don't we do a review show with the two of us? But we ended up calling it, I think, Reluctant Reviews because it was kind of, each week I would pick something, but he hadn't seen films like Armageddon, Braveheart. And I was like, where have you been? And he was like, well, where have you been? You've never seen Star Wars. I was like, fair point. That was how the show started. And it only lasted about, I think it lasted about 28 episodes or something until he said, I don't want to do it. It's like he wasn't in the right frame of mind to do it. And he was busy with jobs and moving.
00:06:11
Speaker
He basically said, look, you keep doing it. You clearly love it. Like enjoy it more than I do. I think like do it yourself, keep doing it. And that was where the idea for the title came from. I didn't want to call it do it yourself for obvious reasons, if you're dirty minded or the fact that someone thought it might be like some kind of carpentry show. And that was kind of, so I spun off and started doing my own. I always, always helped the hope that he would come back. He came back for a Star Wars episode that did relatively well, but he just never happened. I always thought he'd take a bit of time and he would come back.
00:06:37
Speaker
So when I started first like two or three months, which is weird to say, um, my episodes were very like, not a great sell for people listening, but they weren't great. They were just me kind of reading through the description of a film. The odd thing where I'd get a name wrong or whatever. And I was never going to have guests because I didn't know how you approach people. Strange it is. Imagine that now, but I didn't kind of have
00:06:55
Speaker
I approached people like that and then started talking to a fellow Scotsman of yours, although he lives in London, but let him off. Ryan Walker from the Walk the Line podcast. And he was like, well, I'll come on. We'll do Die Hard. And it was my first ever guest. And then it just ran from there. Even though it was really short-lived, podcasting with a co-host is difficult in some ways because you've got all organized stuff around your work and stuff like that.
00:07:15
Speaker
on the other hand when you do it on your own it's sometimes easier because you can just fire it up and do an episode like right here right now if you want to if you've got you know the time to do that that's kind of where review yourself came from i'm happy with the earlier episodes but i think i got better with guests it's always something that i kind of thought i'd go back to like episodes on my own which i have done for my period because i had
00:07:33
Speaker
I don't believe in, I know some people doing that's fair enough, but I don't believe in having a guest on and then saying, oh, by the way, I'm putting a put you behind a paywall because it's like, well, they're kind of, you know, audience might, if you were on mine now, it would be with my audience. Your audience would want to listen to you, but I'm like, no, I'm going to put it behind wherever. I kind of thought at one point, well, what would happen if, heaven forbid, if people stopped guesting, would I continue on my own? But we'll have to see. I can clearly talk as you've no doubt noticed.
Social Media and Audience Engagement
00:07:56
Speaker
Of course. I mean, that is a good treat for someone who runs a podcast to be fair.
00:08:01
Speaker
Well it's kind of my job talking to people and I meet lots of different people on a daily basis so if I wasn't good at talking to people I'd probably struggle. I'm actually quite curious because you were obviously were just saying there about how you used to have a co-host and sometimes you've done solo episodes. Would you say the solo episodes are easier or would you say they're kind of
00:08:22
Speaker
harder because I can totally see the pros and cons with a lot of them like if you watch a film or something then you think oh this is a fantastic film I want to rave about this but then you get someone on who might have a completely different opinion which can be good sometimes but
00:08:37
Speaker
They're easier to edit, they're easier to record, they're easier to do. I don't find them as much fun because as much as sometimes in my episodes and I'm editing, I think, will you shut the fuck up and let your guest talk? Sometimes when you record on your own, there's no one to bounce off. So for example, and I'm going back over the Halloween series now.
00:08:54
Speaker
I reviewed the original Halloween, John Carpenter's and then Rick Rosenthal's Halloween too. And I think those reviews like 15 minutes and 18 minutes long or something like that, which is, I mean, that's an introduction for me nowadays. That's absolutely nothing for such like amazing films. So, and I was also quite inexperienced. I didn't know because I'd done a podcast and was enjoying that kind of form of it. I started doing podcasts as a pair.
00:09:16
Speaker
And then you lose, not lose your friend, but you lose like your co-host. So you're like, right. Well, how do I do it on my own? And I'm very much someone who I like to bounce off somebody else because they can give you ideas. Oh yeah. I liked that bit. And what about this next bit? What did you think of this bit and that? So it was tough in that sense. And then for a while I was thinking, I don't, I don't know how far I'd go with this.
00:09:33
Speaker
But I do prefer with a guest, even if, I mean, sometimes you need to do one and it doesn't quite gel, but that's human life. You're not going to, you're not going to have like amazing episodes every week, but not to be, I mean, no one is like, there's not been harsh, but no one is really. I've just found like a great little group of people that I'm, you know, I'm expanded that, that kind of like my regulars, you know, so it might be Bill or it might be Ben. I want to get them on an episode together actually. Cause I want to say welcome Bill and Ben, but
00:09:58
Speaker
Yeah, that's quite happened, Jeff. Ben's too busy jet-setting. So you don't have yourself, Luke, Sarah, loads of, probably Lassa, my German correspondent. So, you know, you get all these different kinds of people who give you something different and you know, you're going to have a good conversation. That's, that's what I enjoy.
00:10:13
Speaker
amazing though isn't it the amount of people that you actually do meet through podcasting which I know that sounds kind of weird to say like oh it's a common interest and you're meeting all these people with that common interest and you're coming together but I mean I always remember before I started podcasting personally I did a lot of streaming in 2020 and it wasn't until I think November 2020 was when I fully started throwing myself into the podcasting scene and everything and I
00:10:41
Speaker
got to say I mean obviously bar you know one or two minor things that pop up you know what I mean there's always a drama or two yeah seems to be getting more like that recently yeah I don't know why I don't know why like really pedantic responses I put fun because my majority audience are American I think they're like 54% UK is like 38 it's dropped Germany and then Australia and I think whatever else
00:11:08
Speaker
And you know, you get people listening. I poke fun at things. So on my last episode that I've recorded with, we were talking about Halloween and they said hangers. So like we talked about Michael Myers and I was saying, Oh yeah, you twist the coat hanger. She jabs him in the eye and he said hangers. And I was like, don't you say coat hangers? Like, cause we say coat hangers for whether they're on a coat or not. So, but I like little things. So I poke fun and stuff like that. And I got a really pedantic response. Like there's no right or wrong way to do it. I was like,
00:11:33
Speaker
I'm just joking for Christ's sake, we're talking about films, don't worry about it, what's the matter with you? I keep you that concerned about a bit of joking on Twitter, get off Twitter but I suppose if that happened there'd be nobody on Twitter would they? I mean that's Twitter being Twitter to be fair. Like I always remember years ago, this kind of solidified it for me that no matter how big or small you are on Twitter, you're always going to get that one person.
00:11:55
Speaker
who's going to call you out for something but nothing, you know, important or nothing controversial or anything because I always remember I think I was playing Battlefront 2, the Star Wars game, and I remember I was playing through and I didn't realize that there were unlockable characters that you could play as and everything and
00:12:14
Speaker
I was like, oh wow, this is really cool, you know, after all these years, I never knew. So I took to Twitter, you know, I just put it on saying, oh, this is cool, they're from this particular show. And then I remember this guy, like, completely losing it being like, well, actually, it's this and that. Half of me wanted to go back to him and say, well, actually, you're wrong, because blah, blah, blah. But then the other half, you kind of think, life's too short. That's what people want, I think sometimes.
00:12:38
Speaker
I mean, I think, you know, turn your phone off on your laptop and go out and talk to people. It's a lot of the stuff I see, I see on the socials and it makes you very kind of fed up of them because there's people on there and they might be talking about a film and all of a sudden they'll throw politics into it and, oh, this film's very divisive. No, it's a film? If I say it's shit and you say it's good, all right, well, well, well, we'll agree. Let's have a chat about it. But I'd never get like annoyed or bothered about it. Or when did we start equating politics with this apart of this? So I don't like them. What's that got to do with anything?
00:13:06
Speaker
I have no interest whatsoever in who you vote for, and you have no interest in who I vote. It's none of my business, it's none of your business either. I think part of that's because Twitter, I know it's a bit different in different parts of the world, but I don't get it. That's why I haven't got any rules on my podcast, barring no politics, no pandering, which is just a kind of jokey way of saying, I don't care if everybody else likes it. If I don't like it, I'm going to say so, which I think everyone should be like, and then no point was just a joke because I just ramble on.
00:13:34
Speaker
Yeah, it does do your head in some times because for a long time, the little small part of Twitter we've got with the people doing the podcast and particularly indie podcasts has been really nice and quite sweet. And yeah, the odd odd ball, but that's life. And you know, you just crack on with it. And recently it seems to be coming, not only is the reach of Twitter seemingly it's absolutely fallen through the floor. I mean, I don't know about you, but like go back about three or four months. Some of our posts were getting seen by like a thousand people, which is like, whoa, that's mad. Now you're talking like 60, 70, you know what I mean?
00:14:03
Speaker
What the hell's going on? I completely agree. I've seen a complete drop. I have to say, I remember actually saying that on Twitter and then ironically enough that tweet got viewed quite a lot and I was like, oh great, I've just shot myself in the foot with that one. But no, I completely agree. Like ever since the obvious takeover of Twitter and everything, there has been a significant drop and I feel as if that definitely hurts. I mean, not even just podcasts. There's like any indie content creator who wants to put themselves out
00:14:33
Speaker
there because I mean it was bad enough when I was trying to promote myself with streaming and obviously everyone in their mother wants to be like a streamer so like having to battle or not battle that's the wrong word but having to get yourself noticed and then obviously the algorithm or whatever works in the background if that's not helping you then it's just pushing you back and you do think well why am I on Twitter why am I on this if yeah it's not gonna help
00:14:58
Speaker
No, it's good for interaction.
Celebrity Influence and Podcast Authenticity
00:15:00
Speaker
I'll give it that. Oh, yeah. But, I mean, to be fair, though, I've seen a bit of a pick up on Instagram, so maybe that's the way to go. I don't know. Yeah, you do have days where you just think I could very easily just get rid of this because it doesn't sit my numbers aren't exactly flying through the roof. So what's the point? But we'll see. We'll see. It is quite a demoralizing thing. Going on to a slight negative and I apologize for bringing down the mood. I know we're lighthearted. I swear I'll look back.
00:15:23
Speaker
We're Scotsmen in Northern Englishmen, what were you expecting? You're not going to deposit it for very long, is it? Yeah, I don't want to say, but you know, it's true, it's true. The stereotype is real, but it can be demoralising though. Have you found out yourself that whenever you look at an episode and you think, oh, I've put my heart and soul into this, or oh, I've put a lot of effort, I thought it went really well, and then all of a sudden
00:15:44
Speaker
it doesn't do as well yeah it's odd it's it's very very odd and there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for it the episodes that i have that consistently do well across the board in that four of them are in my top 10 listened they're the ones with bill and i love talking to bill i i said to bill we had a really like a proper good chat offer like when we weren't recording i just about how it was going for us both and we were like really honest because bill is like he is
00:16:08
Speaker
As he sounds, that was part of the reason why I first contacted him and he knows this. I contacted Bill from Bill Gates Bad Views because he's so positive. I thought, there's no way this lad's this positive. This has got to be an act. And I'm not saying he was fake. He knows what I mean. He takes it. He knows what I mean. I talked to him. I thought, my God, this is actually what you're like. But we had a proper down to earth conversation. And I said to him, the reason why I haven't stopped doing the podcast, if I'm honest, is because I've met some brilliant people. And I thought, well, I could stop podcasting, but I wouldn't chat with them and I wouldn't chat with them. And it's a funny thing, but it
00:16:37
Speaker
can be read demoralising when you do an episode and you listen to it and you're laughing and you think this is good this and it doesn't seem to have much impact and then you see and i know you shouldn't compare yourself but of course you do because it's human like i don't believe anyone who says you don't they don't compare themselves you might listen to some other podcasts that are doing really well and fair play to them like i would you know i'm not trying to drag people down right now of course but not but you listen to some others and think as ben from film vloggers put it it's no shit of the mind so where are they going right where am i going you know
00:17:03
Speaker
you don't know and that's part of the thing with podcasting is you just don't know and another thing is that yeah there's there's all like you get followed by hundreds of or maybe thousands if you're lucky of like indie podcasters and people who might watch where's the rest where's all the other people where's the actual audience because it's all right having like hundreds of podcasters on it but
00:17:22
Speaker
Where are these millions that listen to Joe Rogan every week? I'm not saying my podcast's anywhere near that. I've never listened to an episode I've seen clips. We've all stumbled across clips, but you know, fair play. But you just wonder where are all these millions? And I don't think it helps with, I think you put, did you put the question up about, or corrected on it about famous people having podcasts? And I mean, every show now, every bloody show, it
00:17:44
Speaker
has a podcast like The Last of Us, listen to The Last of Us podcast, I'm like why? Podcasts like seems to be quite a unique thing and yet it seems to just be like every BBC sport podcast and you're like really? I love listening to podcasts about my football team but the majority of them are independent because they're just fans talking about something or that I love because it's like talking to your mate which is what I like from my podcast so.
00:18:05
Speaker
I mean that's something I'm about to not rant about, nicely point out in a minute, but I know exactly the tweet you're talking about. It was from, I think it was Rumble Studio, they were basically saying should celebrities be taking over the podcast space or should they leave it to indie creators and you were making absolutely fantastic points there but
00:18:26
Speaker
Yeah, I'd say on there that it's a double-edged sword, because on the one hand, I completely agree. It is an away pushing the attention away from indie podcasters, but at the same time casting views, another fantastic podcast, they had brought up a very good point of celebrities kind of being used to bring attention to the medium. A bit like how D&D is so popular because of things like Critical Role and well, Stranger Things as well, but that's another episode.
00:18:56
Speaker
at the same time it does bring attention and I can see it in that regard but then on the other hand and this is something that really frustrates me with especially with streaming because when I started streaming I remember I was very hesitant because the stigma was so bad and so negative around it. Everybody said all you have to do is just turn on your camera, play a video game, that's it, you'll be famous and everything and there's a lot of very geeky people to say
00:19:24
Speaker
you should be doing this, you should be doing that and then when you don't achieve those goals then you start to think well am I not cut out for this, am I doing terrible and no not at all. I think as well for podcasting like I don't think it's as prevalent but it's certainly popping up. Just in terms of when you first start out and even up to like a year and you take a lot of advice that doesn't mean all the advice you're going to take is going to be good. Absolutely.
00:19:49
Speaker
Oh, do this, do that. Like, speaking of random Twitter, like someone, I read a tweet saying like, you should always introduce yourself when you start your podcast. Like your episodes, you know, like, hi, I'm Sean from Review It Yourself. I'm like, I don't do that. I introduce the podcast and then my guest. But what is the likelihood someone's going to end up saying, oh, well, they might have it on shuffle and whatever. I'm like, well, if someone has it on shuffle and they enjoy it, then they'll go and find out what I'm called. Like they don't, I don't need to drop a name in it every five seconds.
00:20:13
Speaker
But you do see that kind of, you know, all these things. You read them, I think Spotify doesn't say Frank. Spotify for Podcasters has just put one on today about do this and do that. And you think, well, really? You know, and then you got good pods. I'm on the fence with them. I mean, it's nice to get emails this, that and the other. But when you look at the link, oh, you're number 55 in the all time weekly, indie podcast week, whatever it is.
00:20:32
Speaker
and then you look down the list and the lists are repeated are the lists don't match up with what you've been told and you think well hang on a minute what's going on here? Good Pods is good but you see the majority of the same podcasts up near the top which I suppose you're gonna see but if their mission is to put the spotlight on indie podcasters I appreciate their efforts but I think there's still a long way to go I wouldn't know what I'd do so I'm not saying I know the answers but one thing that I kind of like about podcasting is but I also is one of the biggest gripes is like the lack of feedback you'll get feedback from other podcasters but
00:20:56
Speaker
you feel like a lot of the time you're just kind of screaming at the void in respect of can you put your episode out there and you don't know you don't get anything back from it you don't you know unless i mean there's people who'll give you a very nice like review or maybe do an apple or google reviews whatever but you don't get that kind of feedback of
00:21:12
Speaker
a lot, so it's hard to know where
Balancing Enjoyment and Audience Expectations
00:21:14
Speaker
you're going wrong. I tried to take a lot of people's advice, and then in the end, I was just like, you know what? I don't know when the penny dropped was, but I thought, you know what? I'm just going to make a podcast that I would like to listen to, and that's it. And I gush you about them, and to be fair, I've spoken to Ben, and we've done a few episodes together, and he's a great guy. But that was the first podcast I ever listened to was Film Fluggers, because I typed in films to try and find out what was out there. And it was when I was trying to figure out the name and trying to look and see, well, what were the people going to be called?
00:21:42
Speaker
because I wanted to call it something like faffing around off, you know, something like that. But before I thought about what my friend had said, I listened to theirs and I just absolutely loved it. Making a podcast to other people, like I love film vloggers. I think it's brilliant. You know, you have Ben when he has Fiona, who's his partner. They just argue and Bicker, which I think is hilarious. She's just telling, come on, quicken up. She's Irish. She's like, come on, quicken up. He's a proper waffler.
00:22:04
Speaker
Very much like myself, he just waffles, but he is funny. You've got Ben and Tom, when they do their stuff. I think they went to uni to get them an up show. You tell their good mates that they'll really deep dive into a film and their episodes are good reviews. Then you have Ben and Dan Mackels from Canada, who is big into the Canucks. And their episodes are great. His Dan's really positive. Ben is just miserable. It works like it's a good dynamic. And I've been lucky enough to kind of get in on them. But when I listen to their episodes, they are just a chat between two people or a few people. That's what I want my podcast to be like. People have said, I got to be honest.
00:22:33
Speaker
This is true, this is true, this is static. I had a proper wobble, one of my first proper wobbles about should I continue. And I asked for advice and I got someone to inbox me. I've never kind of collaborated with them or anything. And they said like, Oh, well I've listened to an episode and I can't remember which one it was. And they said, Oh, you tend to go off. This is true. I swear to God. They said you tend to go off on tangents. Maybe if you cut those out, you'd have a good review.
00:22:56
Speaker
But if I cut those out, I wouldn't have anything left. I honestly believe like there's literally millions of podcasts out there, especially about films. So people will listen to it. People will listen to your podcast for you and your co-host. They'll listen, hopefully listen to my episodes because of me and the guests I bring on. And hopefully I make, you know, have a bit of a laugh and pick up a few bits of trivia because there's no point trying to like, this sounds negative, but there's no point trying to make the bestest ever, super just podcast. And that's not me being patronizing to anybody.
00:23:25
Speaker
There's that many out there. It's like, no, instead of trying to, like, be the best, just be the best at what you do, whether it's streaming games, whether it's just chatting about films, whether it's trying to break an American spirit by making him what's really bad films, Bill. We've all been there. Whether it's getting people on to defend their favorite film or going to a bit of history or review the break off, whatever it might be, try and be the best at what you can do. I don't know whether I succeeded, but I'm certainly trying, but I'm at a point now where I'm like, I'll keep what I like. And if I, I think the episode's decent, it'll go out if I don't, well, not that it won't, but that makes sense.
00:23:55
Speaker
No, I completely agree with you, because I mean, going back to when I was talking about other content creators, like especially in either streaming or YouTube or whatever, I feel as if this is like a bad problem, see when it comes to the indie content creators sphere in general, that they idolize one particular type of content creator, you know, whether it's like Gamers 4, PewDiePie, Markiplier, I'm showing my age here, you know, whether it's like them or, you know, with
00:24:25
Speaker
and god forbid someone looking up to Joe Rogan with podcasts or as I said before like Critical Role, you know, they want to be... well not everybody but there's some who want to be like them or they want to be the next type of either podcast or game or content creator whatever and because of that they try to put on like a very fake
00:24:46
Speaker
persona. I mean that's especially the case for YouTubers and things like that. I've seen a lot of that where people use an avatar and pretend, oh I'm a 3,000 year old witch or something like that and it's like, what the hell is going on here on Twitch? But yeah, they really lose themselves on that if that makes sense and they
00:25:05
Speaker
doesn't seem very genuine. I completely agree. I think the people need to feel comfortable with what they're putting across. They can't just sit here and say, oh, I'm going to act like this. I'm going to put on a funny persona. If that's your gimmick and you're good at it, then yeah, by all means, definitely go for it. Go do acting. If you're that good, go act. There's more money in that.
00:25:26
Speaker
Yeah, if you're doing it because you want to be somebody else. Like, I mean, the amount of people who have said things like, oh, I want to be just like Game Grumps or, oh, I want to be like, I was going to make a Bake Off joke there and say, oh, I want to be like Paul Hollywood, but I don't think those words have ever been uttered.
00:25:44
Speaker
Oh, I don't know, he does well with the ladies. Well, oh, that is true, that is true. I take it back, Mr Hollywood. Apologies. Imagine the breakfast in bed. Oh, well. I mean, whether or not it's worth the night before, it's up to your own personal preferences, but imagine the breakfast. Same with Prue Leith, same with Prue. Think of the breakfast. You know what, I think I'll pass on the...
00:26:06
Speaker
I think I'll just get a premiere in up the road. Just get me a premiere. I know it's like, what, ยฃ10 extra? Ah, that's fine, that's fine. I'll get one of those heated horses. Oh yeah, anyway, my nightmares aside.
Future Plans and Audience Feedback
00:26:21
Speaker
The good point, but yeah, sacrifices have to be made. So it is, it is all like, I think people will work out when you're not being genuine. I just think they will. Cause you just, especially indie podcasters, I was just, I don't know why you do it, but we're just people talking to the microphone, either with a friend or like this with, you know, Peter from other places. I think if you, if you try, God, how exhausted, I couldn't be bothered. Could you? I couldn't be bothered. I couldn't be bothered. Like it's like, Oh, I can't be fussed. You know, I was going to say one thing and this is true.
00:26:50
Speaker
I'll continue to podcast for as long as I enjoy it and as long as it's fun and then I will stop and think that was a good few years. I've been lately thinking I would get two years, which is about another six months and a couple of weeks and see how I do. And then if I decide right, yeah, I've had a good run. It was a good run, but not to have something different, but maybe I'd keep guessing on people if they wanted, but I don't know because I've put out that much stuff.
00:27:14
Speaker
I think I've calmed down to once a week, so I don't think I'll burn myself out. Get to a couple of years in and think, right, you've dedicated two years of your life, not like, of your life, because I do work at it. But you've dedicated two years of effort of putting an episode out every week, which I think is something that I don't think gets appreciated enough in terms of like, that's a big effort, that. Like, someone asked me if I worked. Yeah, I worked.
00:27:34
Speaker
Do you think I'd do well? But yeah, yeah, I will. I'll do it for as long as I enjoy it. And then when I feel like, you know, I don't enjoy it anymore or it's taken up too much time, then it will end. Not to get depressing. It's just, I'm quite pragmatic like that. I'll do it for as long as I enjoy it. And then, but I do that two years does have a, it's a point in my head that I've got what I think of it. Let's say if I haven't seen much growth, but I suppose that's probably the best way of putting it, but I just ignore my childishness. But that's probably what I'm thinking is, is it get a couple of years in and see what I think.
00:28:01
Speaker
But that's the thing though that I think a lot of new podcasters and especially listeners I think don't really take into account to be honest. The fact that it is practically like a second job, it irritates me so damn much when I see people who maybe they are successful with.
00:28:20
Speaker
podcasting and you know what, like all power to them. Fantastic job. But I hate whenever I see these kind of podcasters who through whatever means they've accumulated like a small following and everything and then suddenly they think that because
00:28:36
Speaker
they're at this kind of pinnacle that they'll start giving out their advice as gospel. But don't get me wrong, there are a few who have done the same thing and they give out absolutely fantastic advice and everything so it's not to detract from that but it's ones that kind of get too big for the boots. You'll know the ones that mean that they'll kind of be like, you have to do this, you have to do that, acting as if
00:28:57
Speaker
It's like a catch-all solution. And I've moaned about this on Twitter before, but it is that idea that, oh, if you do this, you do that. And beyond the basics, obviously, goods, audio quality or editing and things, that's the bare basics. But when it comes to things like, oh, you have to do this, you have to do that, or like that person said to you, you have to cut your tangents out.
00:29:18
Speaker
think they were being genuinely helpful and it wasn't Mark from visually stunning movie podcast the only reason i say that is because before then i've just realized i made before way back when he gave me the idea to snip out the tangents and make extra episodes out of them i did for a while so it wasn't him it was was later than that i just i had to point out just in case yeah i've definitely mentioned before that he suggested the tangents but no it was it was a different thing of
00:29:38
Speaker
eliminate them all together and then you'd have a review. I said, well, how many people is that there? Do you get a review of something? I want this to be like, I've just recorded earlier on today, Halloween Kills, you know, with the Film Effect podcast, Ed from there. That was such a, I'd never chatted with him before. Such, such a good conversation, such a good review. And he came into it thinking I was going to do shit all over the film. And I genuinely enjoyed it. And we had a really good deep dive into it. A couple of Loomis impressions thrown in there.
00:30:01
Speaker
Has Michael killed again? And all that. It was really good fun. And you know, I have episodes, I've charted my episodes like that, where I think, you know what, I've really enjoyed that. But I'm going to say it, and I don't want it, this sounds awful, but you know when people say, oh, I do it if no one listened, I'm like, would you? Would you really? Like, I wouldn't. I tell a lot, I would chat to a group of maybe six, seven people that I would want to keep in touch with.
00:30:22
Speaker
outside of that because you do it to hope that people will enjoy it although get something different from it i'm not a big podcast guy but i follow youtubers i don't have a youtube channel or anything but i watch certain youtubers who i won't name because people are like oh they're like whatever i watch podcasts about films and about politics and all sorts of different stuff
00:30:39
Speaker
I love it and I enjoy them and I watch them because I like the people and I like the way they put things across. I can't remember the last time I went on to Rotten Tomatoes ever and read. Oh, I read the audience ones at the bottom. I don't read the critic ones. I have no interest in them whatsoever. I have no interest in some of them from the bigger sites because, well, who pays them? Certain films, they can't all be amazing. They can't all be that good. This just isn't possible by the law of averages. So I've gone to see films purely because a certain YouTube has gone, oh, that was really good. Oh, okay then.
00:31:06
Speaker
So I'd like to think that people would be like, well, you know, review it yourself. You know, I might get different episodes and different guests, but I'm going to get exactly what Sean thinks. I don't think I sugarcoat it. I might be polite with guests if I disagree with the film. I'm not going to kind of kick off and be like, no, no, no.
00:31:21
Speaker
like I would never get like that because it wouldn't last long getting guests on for a start and it's rude but at the same time I am very comfortable to be like no this no I'm sorry like Clayton bless him from men who like men who like movies when he came on a we reviewed it was good fun but before when we reviewed Rob Zombie's Halloween 2 and I was like no I'm sorry this is dreadful that was really bad
00:31:42
Speaker
It's not quite lying about it. It'd be like, oh, it was amazing. No, I didn't enjoy it, but you can have it. These people forget, well, certainly on Twitter and other social medias, that you can vehemently disagree with somebody, but still have a civil discourse. It's not impossible. It's not. It's quite, you know, and you learn things. No one's ever been convinced that they were wrong by being shouted at ever in human history as anybody else. See, I'm getting all history now.
00:32:04
Speaker
No one's ever been convinced. If I turned up at your street corner and started shouting at you, it works. And you're right. You've voted for this. Hang on a minute. It's never going to convince anybody. You've talked to people. And then it's like, well, I don't agree 99% of what you said, but I can see why you think that way. But maybe it's not because of that. Maybe it's because of that. This is why I don't do politics. Sorry.
00:32:24
Speaker
No, you're fine. The thing about podcasting though is it's a very personal thing. It is definitely you exposing your ideals and opinions and things
Diverse Opinions in Media Discussions
00:32:35
Speaker
through. Even something as silly as, for example, video games, films, TV shows, you know, things that if you had an opinion about it, you having a positive or a negative opinion,
00:32:45
Speaker
really isn't gonna affect things and the wider scope of things because there's been a lot of things that I've said, oh this is rubbish and then I thought oh my god what if people think that this is the worst thing ever or whatever but I mean at the end of the day that's why I put a lot of disclaimers in my episodes and they'll say things like
00:33:04
Speaker
this is my opinion and whether or not you enjoy this, go for it. Like especially because I've reviewed a lot of video game franchises like the Sonic the Hedgehog series which is infamous for a lot of fans getting heated, the same with anime as well. There's a lot of fans that if you say certain things they'll go, oh I don't like this or I don't agree with you and it's perfectly fine.
00:33:27
Speaker
it's passion it's passion isn't it yeah exactly i think it's it's been seen in big franchises where people aren't happy with the way they go but the vocal minority will be the ones who maybe go on certain sites and say oh it's amazing it's amazing well if people you know people are passionate about something they're going to go one way or the other maybe that's part of the beauty of being maybe not for yourself because you're getting a bit of a following but
00:33:47
Speaker
Maybe for a small indie podcast to let myself in, you're not that kind of, you haven't been listened to that much that people would get annoyed. But then with what you say, I mean, I would never tell anybody not to watch your film, but I would jokingly say stuff like, probably already said it on this one, I'd say, oh, you know, when you want to tell somebody, oh, don't waste your time, honestly. But if you want to go spend your time and watch it, come back and we'll talk about how bad it was. I'd never say to somebody like that, you should never like it. It's just an opinion. But I think hopefully it comes across all right.
00:34:13
Speaker
think it was probably the mid to late 2000s slash early 2010s where there would be a lot of very popular creators that would come on and whether it be for film reviews or video game reviews and they would be purposely like a character they would be purposely over the top and very aggressive with their opinions and say this is the worst thing ever and oh it's terrible and you know don't get me wrong there is a place for that in comedy
00:34:42
Speaker
and everything but when you get people who adopt that personality and then they try to make like a similar show, similar podcasts and things and they're like oh if you like this then you know because nobody wants to be like oh boy someone's talking about my favourite TV show or my favourite game or my favourite film and then hear some random person from across the pond saying oh yeah this is the worst thing ever, I hate it, I hate it, I hate everyone who likes it and you think at the end of the day we're doing this to entertain
00:35:11
Speaker
not only everyone else but ourselves as well. But if you love it, if you love it, do I have anything I love that much? Red Dwarf for example, my favourite comedy ever. Somebody could come back and say, a lot of people do, I think everything from series 7 onwards is dreadful.
00:35:26
Speaker
right then you rant about it well not rant you kick off about it i'm not bothered because your opinion on something does not yours but somebody else's opinion on something doesn't affect my opinion on it which is something i've never i don't understand that when it's like oh well i love this well i hate it i think it's terrible and the people like well you you know you're missing this and you're missing that well i'm not trying to convince i'm not trying to convince you it's bad so why are you trying to convince me it's good it's just my opinion and i just i think the last
00:35:49
Speaker
10, 12 years, I think, the world's gone in a way of where we know we need people who agree, we'll know. Diversity of opinion is absolutely beautiful, great, it's what you need. Of course that's going to mean, well, outside of film podcasting, of course that's going to mean some people, all things, all views that are horrendous. But back in the, you know, the wide world, but that's just, it's an unfortunate fact of life. But inside podcasting, it's like, well, yeah, people are going to dislike it, but I'm not going to bother me. I've got work and I've got my cars on, I've got this to sort out, I don't care less.
00:36:17
Speaker
You know, even if someone, it's like, you know, like you want star reviews, I've got two of them. Two of them, and you think, put no comment as to why, which I always think, oh, at least let me know. Like, if it's because I say I don't like too much, which is just a sad fact where I'm from, then like, fine, let me know. But the fact that someone's taking the time to say that, it's like, I remember once when another podcaster, you know, joking, they gave me four stars on Good Pods because I didn't know, because I'd never seen the Rocky Horror Picture Shop when I was doing a review. And a lot of people kind of jumped in my defense,
00:36:45
Speaker
You don't do that to other podcasters, we're all five star. And I thought, well, no, it was a joke. And I knew they'd done it. And we had a laugh, you know, over the chat about it. And oh, don't worry about it. I was just happy to get the flipping interaction. I don't care. I don't care what people give me. And I also don't agree. I don't think you should go around giving one stars, but don't go around five star on people for the sake of it. Because if there's a bit of feedback you want to give somebody, then, you know, oh, I like this, but this part doesn't really work for me. Great. Cause then you can take it on board and think, are they right?
00:37:13
Speaker
If someone said to me, oh, I've listened to The Whale, we've just done The Whale, and the first 10, 15 minutes I talked about Harry Potter, because it's tied in to what we're talking about, but, you know, you go off on a tangent, but that's a natural conversation, which is what I want my podcast to be. If someone came back and said, well, I've listened to that whale review, and I like half of it, but either half of it was kind of pointless, I'm like, well, yeah, I understand why you'd think like that, but I like it, it was part of the conversation, and I don't keep everything in, but
00:37:37
Speaker
know that's fair enough but thank you very you know they've given me three stars oh thank you thank you for your rapture thank you for listening and maybe if you didn't like this one maybe go check out one of my ones with Bill or one of my ones with you know like you like cooking cooking or cooking go and listen to the to the make-off ones you know different things like that I don't take it personally in that way or at least I don't you know I mean I can't say if I got like a slew of abuse I wouldn't be a bit shocked but you know
00:37:57
Speaker
But people are tired of their opinions and if they don't like what you've done, they at least have listened to it and taken their time. That's another thing, people taking their time are listening to an hour and a half of my podcast. I listen to other people's podcasts. If it's bills, I listen to it on the drive home or the drive to work sometimes depending on when he puts it out. If it's one of film flowers, I might have to do it over maybe half an hour for my lunch and then maybe a bit on the way home or the way to work or whatever. So you make time for these within your day, so I don't take that for granted.
00:38:23
Speaker
because I mean, I think the issue comes from, say when people disagree, but then they use that opinion as absolute fact, or rather they treat it like absolute fact and be like, oh well, because I don't like, because this is a thing that I've never really understood too much
00:38:39
Speaker
where there's like a lot of people who say that they'll say oh I don't like tangents and podcasts and things and obviously if you're listening to see a historical podcast and they spend like the first 50 minutes on something completely different and then maybe like five minutes at the end on the actual topic okay yeah I can understand that if it's like a factual one or maybe an audio drama or something like I can understand it for that
00:39:03
Speaker
bit for especially for like you and I with our podcast where we're just talking to people, we're trying to make it out or trying to make it like a conversation. You don't want people to think that it's just so cut and dry and boring and as you said before like diversity especially in podcasting is a wonderful thing. It exposes you to so many different ideas not only with
00:39:26
Speaker
the hosts but also the way they conduct the episodes and everything because seeing all honesty I think I would be thoroughly bored. See if everybody's was just exactly the same, cut and dry, just straight to the facts and everything and kind of hoping onto one of your earlier points there just about not going with the consensus. There was a film I saw I think it must have been a couple of months ago when it came out called Smile. Have you seen it? No, not yet.
00:39:54
Speaker
Smile was, it was like, it was some weird horror film where people go around and they get possessed by like this weird demon thing and they start smiling creepily. And I remember when I actually saw this particular film in the cinema with my partner, the entire audience, I don't know, maybe this is a Scottish thing, so I don't know like how well it did in North England either, but like the whole audience was just laughing and rolling their eyes and going, oh my
00:40:22
Speaker
God, but see when you went on the internet, you would think it was Oscar-worthy. Everybody was raving about at five stars that creepiest thing you would ever see. And I personally thought it was terrible, but at the same time, yeah, it's going back to what you were saying that you don't want to dictate to people. You don't want to say, oh, you should be watching this, you shouldn't be watching that.
00:40:44
Speaker
I'm suspicious when people rate things so highly that I'm like, well, what, nothing? And then I also see a lot of, and this isn't just podcasts, this is across the board of, I don't know, say like, I've not seen Smile, but as an example, oh, I went to see this film, acting wasn't great, script wasn't great, it wasn't directed very well, but I had a few laughs, seven out of 10. I'm like, what? Are you just described the majority of a film? That's like saying I've bought a new car, doesn't run, got no wheels, got no tacks, windscreen's falling out. It's like the loner from the mask.
00:41:14
Speaker
Yeah, not a bad runabout, 8 out of 10. What? It doesn't work? I get a bit suspicious when things are like, oh my God, 5 out of 5, 10 out of 10, never seen anything as good in my life. You're like, really? Okay. Fair enough. Like, okay. Yeah, go for it. Tell me why. Like there's nothing you could have picked out that was like, I mean, maybe this is just a typical Northern pessimism, but is there nothing that you found was like, even my favorite films that I can still go, hmm,
00:41:38
Speaker
Yeah, I know where people are coming from. I get why people would say it. You know, like Halloween Kills, when that review's out, there's a lot of bits where I'm like, yeah, I really enjoyed this film, but I can see why people don't like the fact that they sideline Laurie, or where people don't like the fact they say Evil dies tonight 29 times. I get where people might not be happy with this, and I get that. And I try to look at it from as many points as I can.
00:41:58
Speaker
but then I've still got my opinion in the middle of it so it's that thing really that kind of thing really is because for me indie podcast is the majority of them they're not saying what they're saying cause they're gonna get like money from it or access to the next red carpet or the next the next press screen and whatever and I'm not I'm not saying people
00:42:13
Speaker
go to those things like I'm no judgment on them I'm just saying like there's nothing in it for the majority of any podcasters so they'll tell you what they think. In terms of films they'll say I didn't like it or I liked it because it's not like they don't work for any of the companies or they're not paid by it. I'm not trying to be all really conspiratorial about it but because there's nothing in it for them I think it's you're gonna get more of an honest opinion in a way maybe that's a bit not an honest opinion but you know I just prefer to get my reviews from places like that than I do from some like
00:42:39
Speaker
big site or whatever. It's that idea though of critical thinking now isn't it? Which seems like a weird thing to say about you know, especially for films but it's that idea of like you're looking at a reviewer for a film or like a podcast or whatever and on the one hand you get what you were saying, the five out of ten that's the best thing ever, it cured my illness kind of thing but then you get the other people who are just downright
00:43:05
Speaker
negative about it but they're negative not because the films bad or anything, it's because of their disposition like they think oh I don't like this actor or oh I think this change from the book or whatever is bad therefore the whole film's bad you know and it is that kind of worry that you are thinking I mean you want to take everything with a grain of salt but it is that balance, it definitely is that balance and I do think you personally like with your show you do have
00:43:33
Speaker
like a lot of good
Experimenting with Podcast Formats
00:43:34
Speaker
points. Obviously the Review It Yourself podcast is great and I'm not just saying that because you are on. You do make a lot of good points and a lot of balance points when it needs to be said because I feel as if, especially with new podcasters, there's nothing wrong. Would you agree with this? There's nothing wrong with, you know, maybe being a bit unbalanced at the beginning but then trying to find your feet later on to establish your niche.
00:44:00
Speaker
Yeah I agree, I think just to address the point before that about being over any negative, I think the majority, the majority of people who might be seen as negative about something, I think a lot of it comes from disappointment and what does disappointment come from? Passionate, like your favourite book is getting adapted for the TV or the big screen and it comes along and you go...
00:44:19
Speaker
you know that it disappointed personally sometimes i'm a little bit annoyed not annoyed sometimes i'm a little bit irked by only a little bit by the fact that i might have read a book and then i go and see the film and i'm like wasn't a big fan of that and then when i get told it's perfect i'm like what what am i not seeing skyfall's a great example although i've not read the book because there isn't one but
00:44:36
Speaker
Skyfall or Spectre or No Time to Die, like really massively highly rated films. And I'm like, I don't see it. I've tried with Skyfall. Honestly, I've really, really tried. I've watched it multiple times to try and think, right, maybe this time I'm missing something. What is everybody else seeing that I'm not? And sometimes you just can't see it. I don't know what people are seeing, but I think that's the beauty in films. I've got beauty in podcasts as well.
00:44:58
Speaker
in such a massive, like a film that one person might think, oh, I won't watch that. I don't talk to me about it. I won't entertain it. Someone could absolutely love it. It got me to a really rough time or whatever. That's fantastic. I think at the root of 99.9% of people's opinions, especially on films and TV and media and stuff, it is from passion and disappointment because something hasn't lived up to what they want. I think Star Wars, although I'm not into it, I've got friends who were massively into it. I think that's the root of that. The expectations is how good they were, well, not were,
00:45:28
Speaker
that have good the originals seem to be in there you know were the prequels as good and then would the what do they call it the last trilogy i don't know what they call it legacy trilogy or whatever they call it oh the sickle trilogy yeah yeah that's a once i've got a clue but i seriously in terms of like there there's a like a massive thing around them of like this disappointment well just because somebody doesn't like it doesn't automatically mean they don't like it because of who's in it or because of who's directed it it didn't work for them people have every every right to like not see how serious it is though it shouldn't even be this serious like at the end of the day it's
00:45:56
Speaker
like a indie podcast the majority of people like regular working people who you know or they could not be working for whatever reason regular people who are watching a film and then they come on and they say oh you know what I thought this was all right then I might get you know a mate on or someone that you know or another podcast that say oh well what did you think about this what about that bit what about this bit and it's just it's just a chat and no it doesn't matter in a bad way but it doesn't what does it matter like people getting really upset about it we're watching millionaires play act
00:46:22
Speaker
This is not something to get bothered about. You know, we're watching millionaires get, you know, they get paid a lot of money to pretend and to act, you know, and that's not me doing it down. And I've interpolated them for working out and getting the money they've got. But why get so bothered about it? I mean, that's, oh, there's bootridge coming from you. Well, maybe a bit. Yeah, I've got my faults. You know, I come on and I have a bit of a whinge about something. I didn't like this or I didn't like that. Even like the Monday, 2017, which I think, oh, don't talk to me about that. But I don't for one minute think that anybody on that film who put the hard work in was going out there to make an awful film. I don't think that at all.
00:46:52
Speaker
Every film there's pressures and they take time, you know, because I'm one of these people who watches the behind the scenes stuff. It doesn't have a lot, there's hundreds of people, sometimes thousands that pull together to get that film finished and I want, you know, it's not a comment on them or their hard work. Sometimes it just doesn't work. For one person in particular, it's a weird one innit. The thing is as well though, I mean you made a good point there about that there are so many people that do work on it and I feel as if when people have
00:47:16
Speaker
so much choice nowadays, let's face it, with the internet, you know, you have so much choice for media, for content and things like that. I'm bringing it back onto podcasts for a second. The amount of podcasts that you will hear, for example, as you brought up at the beginning with like the BBC or podcasts like that, that have been produced very professionally with like a team of editors and things. So when you get a podcast,
00:47:42
Speaker
that is an anti-podcast like mine especially feels that there's so much that I could do to kind of clean up and everything and you know what it's like as well when you compare your recent episodes to the first couple episodes because I remember listening to my early episodes thinking they're not so bad you know they're not bad and then I compare them to the new ones and I think oh sweet jesus I should have taken out that I should have taken out this yeah my first episode was recorded on my phone
00:48:31
Speaker
Oh really?
00:48:51
Speaker
But that's part of the fun though, because if it was all doom and gloom, why no one would listen to podcasts.
00:48:59
Speaker
I feel as if some people who do, you know, they'll put themselves out there and they'll be like, oh, this is what you should do, that's what you should do. And they kind of forget, A, the fact that sometimes it should be light-hearted, like obviously I'm not saying things like true crime podcasts should be light-hearted, obviously not, but at the same time,
00:49:18
Speaker
you want to make it your own thing, you want to make it as you were saying like a conversation, you want to make it into something that people recognise and they feel like they can approach because I mean there's nothing worse than jumping into like episodes, I don't know, a hundred of something and then the people are just like well if you haven't listened to the other 99 episodes what are you doing here? Get back and listen to the very first thing. I have to admit whenever someone says I can't
00:49:43
Speaker
I remember who it was. It was one of my friends. It was like, oh, I'm listening to your podcast. I really love it. And I'm like, oh my God, that's so lovely of you. Thank you so much. And they went, yeah. And they sent me a screening shot and it was episode one. And I was like, oh no, oh no, no, no. It's like, you've probably seen it going around, but you know that raking bad gift.
00:50:02
Speaker
of the main character. He's like locked in a car and he's like banging against the window like yelling. He's just like, that's how I feel. I'm just like, no, don't listen to episode one. There's so many better episodes than you're trying to think about. It's all about groaning over at the end of the day.
00:50:18
Speaker
and just as you said you summed it up perfectly earlier but it is all about having fun and enjoying it for yourself because I mean people are going to know though if you're not enjoying it and you're just kind of reading that off a script it's quite monotone like today I am reviewing a B movie it was okay
00:50:39
Speaker
I meant this earlier, we all have our own personal preferences and podcasts. I don't mind ones that go on tangents, but if I click on something and I have to listen to like 15 minutes of talking about, and I know some podcasts do this and Fair Play them, but we have charted in all these countries and these are the hosts and podcasts that overuse music. I'm not a big fan of, but that's the difference. I think of a podcast.
00:50:58
Speaker
because the podcasts I like are conversations. I like those. I don't mind bits in between or tangents or bits in music, but I don't, when the next bit and then there's like a minute of like a tune, I'm like, I want you to crack on with it. I try and listen to different podcasts and then, you know, I don't know, maybe the conversational podcasters is a smaller kind of niche than I thought it was because I've listened to quite a few recently where they seem to be, and fair play to them, but I tried it for a few episodes, not many, where, you know, try to do different segments. I tried to bring a rating system in, which was ripped off from my old podcast.
00:51:27
Speaker
stuff like, uh, I wouldn't watch it even if I was on a plane. And the reason I've never, the lowest rating was the reason I've never done drugs was to avoid experiences like this stuff like that. But then, you know, you do it and then you think, Oh no, like I've tried to put on a beginning bit with a, who the podcast is. And then I've tried to put like a back bit on with, well, I've never put the back bit on about, about all you've listened to this and that and the other. Some podcasts do it, but then he builds one of them. I have no interest. I've tried to do it, but then I feel like I'm trying to make it too much like somebody else's.
00:51:52
Speaker
And I like the fact that every episode you hear, that sigh is a different one. So the, you know, oh, review yourself. It's a new sigh every week, because it's like, although sometimes it's not a sigh, sometimes it's a different noise for whatever reason, if I've stupidly downed a glass of rum or whatever I've done.
Podcast Identity and Branding
00:52:09
Speaker
So don't usually drink that. That's an episode that's going up as well. Oh, well, kind of, I don't know, do something daft. I don't, I don't start with an impression, but I don't know, something different. It's all about trial and error, right? Enough.
00:52:18
Speaker
Kind of as a closing point but I do think that what you're doing in particular with your podcast is fantastic. You establish that you get other podcasters to come on your show and everything, you know, obviously the one and only Satsunami of course, to talk about Stillgame which was a fantastic episode, you know, you have Luke as well, you had Bill as you said, you had so many people coming on and
00:52:41
Speaker
you're getting exposed to so many different opinions and different chemistries to bounce off of. So you're definitely varying things up, which I think is fantastic, personally. As you said, although all your episodes do work, I'm not suggesting that all they don't, but it's as you were saying that sometimes, you know, some episodes won't work, some will be better than others, you know.
00:53:03
Speaker
Some sad series don't work. I tried, explain it yourself. And this is no slight on the people who came on. It was more my issue in that I have to be more interview-y-esque, and it just didn't feel a good fit for me. So it's not a comment on the guests. But I did like two or three episodes of that, I think, where it was meant to be, come on and explain something in your country like ice hockey or American football. Come on and tell me about something.
00:53:25
Speaker
it didn't it just didn't kind of work for me and they didn't do particularly well and i wasn't very happy with the way i done them because as much as it's like oh it was a good conversation yeah but i didn't like how they came out from me not from anybody else not my guest it was more me and i thought i don't like this way of trying to do things where you kind of i'm a gobshite i wanted to talk but no it was i struggled to do that kind of oh blah blah
00:53:47
Speaker
So that didn't continue to defend it yourself series. There's so many people who seem to want to come on and talk about a film that they love might be like different films. And you know, I've done a lot of M. Night Shyamalan films on there. And actually I've got quite, I've enjoyed a lot of the M. Night Shyamalan films, strangely. I think as you get older and you kind of, you grow up a bit and you think, right, go into this and have a unique experience and just go with it. Don't go into it thinking it's going to be something like you did when you were 15 or whatever. So I've enjoyed a few of them. So.
00:54:13
Speaker
And it also forces me to watch films I've never seen, which I like because I'm one of these people, I would happily watch The Mummy every day till that time. 1999 version, everybody. No, that 2017 crap. But yeah, that's what I like about it. But then some things you pick up, some things you don't. Started the video podcast, I did the Visit It Yourself. There's so much more work goes into that that, yeah, I don't know if it's something I put on the back burner until, I don't know.
00:54:37
Speaker
I've got one of those that I need to finish but it's been filmed for like four months so I need to find the time to put it together and but it takes so much longer to get a video podcast to where I'm happy with it that I have quite high standards for what I put out because well because I want it to be as good as I can make it. Yeah some episodes might come out and I've had my microphone too close and the audio's not perfect or whatever and I've done my best to try and sort it out with the free equipment that I use.
00:55:00
Speaker
So I think they're all passable. I'm not trying to be like thing me in that, but I try and do my best to every episode I put out to be quite happy with them. But I'm not afraid to drop things that I don't think are working or to try something new because I just fancy it. And if I do one of them and it works or I do one of them and I go, that's not really going to work. I had the Bake Off series. That was, that was just came from a chat between me and Luke, where it was like, and all of a sudden we somehow figured out, oh, you're watching the Bake Off. Yeah, you are. I love it. Yeah.
00:55:25
Speaker
And then we just decided to do that and then the show sickened us a little bit. And then, you know, the fabulous Sato who you listened to as well in between my ramblings. You came on and we watched those and you know, I'm hoping to get Luke back. And yourself, if you'd like, we're going to do a review of the celebrity one I've just done, which should be like a nice daft little, because I haven't spoken to Luke since we did those. Well, I mean, like, done a podcast with him because he's being crazy busy that lad. He never, like, she doesn't think he does, honestly.
00:55:48
Speaker
To be fair though, every time I hop onto Twitter, his tweets usually pop up first. Whenever Twitter's not playing Silly Buggers, mind you. Whenever you see his content, he does a good job at networking, I have to say. Every time I see him, I'm like,
00:56:05
Speaker
how does he have the energy? Like even Ash struggle having to put out things because I'm putting them out and I'm like my old weary bones aren't what they used to be on the internet. Yeah he does well. But then there's like and there's all sorts like I've got an episode with Luke planned but we've been trying to do for months. The line The Witch and the Wardrobe, the BBC adaptation which I saw. Oh I love that one. Yeah I've got a box set with all of them, with the four of them that the BBC did. Prince Caspian, The Silver Chair, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader have cost. Because I always remember
00:56:34
Speaker
years and years ago I watched the Line the Witch and the Wardrobe adaptation and I always remember they had the... I remember this scene where they go to visit the beavers and they have them dressed up in like human-sized beaver costumes and I remember I went to see the, I think it was a 2005 remake. And Luke's reviewed that actually, he's done... yeah that's worth a listen to. Sorry about that.
00:56:58
Speaker
Yeah, I remember the first time I watched that and being severely disappointed that the B-verse were CGI and not people with B-versus. Because I was like, where's the people with the B-versus here? Although they had the fantastic Ray Winston and Don French doing the voices, so they kind of made up for it a little bit.
00:57:16
Speaker
And I'm interested, because I haven't seen the line that which in the wardrobe, the BBC, since I was in primary school, I haven't seen it for years. It was like when they again show my age, you know, where the prefects had pushed in this massive telly on wheels that you put the video in. Oh, I don't even know. I remember that. Yeah. Sit like me a cat. Yeah.
00:57:32
Speaker
Yeah that's, oh that should be good. I don't mind doing the odd film and I'm straight and my timings don't work. I've released a Halloween episode after Christmas, I released a Christmas episode way before Christmas. I'm doing the Halloween series now rather than in October. I do what I fancy at the time and yeah it's
00:57:47
Speaker
Maybe it comes across a bit ramshackle and a bit like, oh, you're doing loads of this and loads of that. But then a lot of the time I get a lot of episodes recently with Lassa from fans about films. And he picks films that I've never seen before. I don't know how I hadn't seen some of them. And then we have a good chat about the three Musketeers, the Tim Curry version, which I've never seen. And I've really enjoyed that one with Chris O'Donnell and Keith O'Sullivan and Charlie Sheen and Oliver Platt. And I was like, oh, I've never seen these before. And I love that. That's coming out soon.
00:58:13
Speaker
I do all sorts, I think, I don't know if it's a strength or it's a weakness, I couldn't tell you, but I think if anyone dips in to have a look at the episode I've got, there's surely something in there that you'll want to listen to. I might do the odd historical or something, or I haven't done a Titanic thing for a while, so I think I'll probably do something to do with that soon, but yeah, it's just all sorts. Hopefully something for everybody, hopefully.
00:58:32
Speaker
Again, there's arguments for and against it, but that is the positives of not having a particular focus on a particular set of films or a particular series or anything. The fact that you can go out and collaborate with other podcasters, especially with Luke. I have to admit, I need to get him on. But as a closing point, before we do wrap up and get you to tell these lovely listeners where you can find your content, I'm going to ask one thing. It's about your icon for the podcast.
00:59:02
Speaker
cast? Yeah, what's the inspiration behind it? Because to describe it for the listeners at home, you've got the review-it-yourself text, which is self-explanatory. On the right-hand side, you've got a scene from Titanic and on the left you've got Mr Blobby. And no, I'm not going to explain that to anyone outside of the UK. Just type in Mr Blobby into Google and enjoy your nightmares.
00:59:26
Speaker
So right, well it wasn't my original podcast logo so I didn't have it for a good year until I got that one maybe. My original logo was like retrofitted from the Reluctant Reviews podcast. It was meant to have me driving and my friend who can't drive on the roof holding like a big old-fashioned camera with real coming out the back of it and Reluctant Reviews on it.
00:59:45
Speaker
And then whilst it was getting made by someone I worked with, I had to, oh, I don't want to do it anymore. So I had to retrofit it for review itself. So I was never, I was happy with the logo, the design, but it was never what I intended. If that made sense, it was never meant to be for this. I asked around Ben from Film Floggers said that he gets his artwork for his brilliant website, filmfloggers.com. He liked that show. If he's listened to this far, he probably will. His art on that is done by Paul from SP Film Viewers. Or as Ben says, Paul, because he's from down south and that's a cheap shot, isn't it?
01:00:15
Speaker
so i contacted Paul and he said well what do you want so my idea was i wanted it to show that it was kind of a film podcast but then to have a bit of leeway so yeah as you said it's got well he also did my visit it yourself logo as well
01:00:30
Speaker
It's quite obscure, but cover your ears, Satsu. But it's got the Georgia slag, the England flag behind it, which a lot of people kind of saw in the circle. And I wanted it to have, I knew that I wanted to have Titanic on it for obvious reasons. One of my favourite films. I love loads about the history. I wanted the mummy to be on it. And I loved that look of the mummy in the sand. So I wanted that on there.
01:00:51
Speaker
And then I thought, what can I put on it that's quintessentially British? And I did an episode with, and I haven't done one with them for a while, so I need to get them back on. But the Wait What podcast trio, who are from down south, and they're great. They do all sorts of, I recommend listening to those guys. And we did an episode where we were talking about how Mr. Blobby was like, they were saying he was nightmare fuel. And my dad dressed up as Mr. Blobby and chased me at like someone's bed to pack or something anyway. And we had a big laugh and they was like, oh, you shoot, we should die. And I was like, well,
01:01:16
Speaker
I think it was. It was a great laugh. And then when I was thinking about what can it be, what can this like really, you think you're not really going to see? I was like, yeah, Mr. Bobby. So that's why it became as it was. And I think that I can't remember if the pointing was Paul's idea or whether it was mine, but honestly, I think it might have been mine. I think I wanted it from, because I like my history. So it reminded me of the Lord Kitchener posted from World War I.
01:01:40
Speaker
on the first World War where your country needs you. Funnily enough, when I got plastered all over the country, he was killed a week later when the ship he was on was copied by a German U-book. But here's to you there for you. But that's a very famous poster and the pointing finger. I wanted to review it yourself like you.
01:01:55
Speaker
it's it's a bit odd because it doesn't kind of i did have an idea about six months ago to try and make the podcast more about people reviewing it it sounds a bit odd but i wanted to kind of have reviews from people and then i could talk about that but then to which effort and then it's trying to find like it reviews every week and i thought no but i like the fact that it
01:02:13
Speaker
such an open kind of title that I can review essentially what I want. So originally it was a bit of a secret, well not really, but when I first started I didn't say it, I didn't ever wrote it anyway, I think it was on my description for about a week, but it was meant to be films I'd never seen before and that lasted about three weeks and I was like I'm fed up on this crap, I want to want something I like. It's gone through many erations in terms of what I wanted it to be, it was like a waffler from Northern England with tangents galore and then I changed it to no politics, no pandering, no point because I had
01:02:41
Speaker
I just liked how it sounded and thought it was quite quirky, changed my logo and stuff. So I don't know, I just try different things and that was where the logo idea came from anyway. A bit of a convoluted explanation, but that's what it came about. No, I thought before we wrapped up I had to ask. Nobody ever asks, it's nice to be asked. Because it is a very eye-catching logo, I have to say. Because you know that way when you see some logos and you think, oh, I need some podcasts, there's a podcast, there's a podcast, and then you see yours and you're like,
01:03:06
Speaker
Why are you supposed to be coming out beside Jack and Rose? Yeah, do you know what, as well? It came from an episode, again, dropping him again, it came from an episode that Ben and Fiona did, the Room Diary, that's still, and I'm not blood smart with us, it's genuinely one of the funniest podcasts I've ever listened to.
Platform Availability and Social Strategy
01:03:24
Speaker
I howled when I first listened to it, and Ben goes on a tangent about the indie podcast scene, and he has a bit of a rant, but it's all good nature, it's pork and fawn, it's just being a bit silly with, and he had a joke about the indie podcast,
01:03:35
Speaker
logos and said have you seen some of the shit that's out there? I think he like bleeped it and he's like oh it's dreadful oh like oh look you've got a microphone on your logo does that mean you're a film podcast or whatever so I knew I didn't want a microphone in there but I knew I wanted it to be quirky so that was that was funny enough that was where the idea I'd had it in the back of my head for a while
01:03:54
Speaker
change the logo because as it was never made specifically for the podcast it was made for my old podcast with my friend and I retrofitted it when I what decided to continue which was I am denied for a bit that's where that came from but yeah and then he made a joke that at least somebody listened to him but there you go see if people are complaining about it at least you know they're paying attention but there's always a plus yeah exactly exactly
01:04:15
Speaker
In all seriousness, Sean, thank you so much for coming on and basically talking about your podcast. No, it's been great. I hope it's been all right. It's not a natural fit for me to talk about my podcast. To be honest, I prefer just to talk about a film, but probably why I do mine rather than an interview type thing. That'll be the next episode.
01:04:32
Speaker
I know. And if you want to compare this with another interview podcast that is, please, well, you don't even have to check out mine. Just check out his episodes. The Fantastic Marv from Pods Like Us, who out of everybody, I think he gives the biggest support to like indie podcasters out there because he reviews them. He does a blog every week. I've had more feedback from him about the podcast episodes than anybody. So, and I did an episode with him. So if you want to compare this one, his one is about three hours long now, so be careful. It's a long one. We went off on that one. But yeah, if you want to combine the two, see if I've tripped up and I don't mean it. I'm only joking.
01:05:02
Speaker
See if I've tricked up and made something up. Nah, I'm joking. But you'll probably just get the same iteration of the same story. But nah, it's been a pleasure going on. Satu, and I appreciate the time I do. Before we wrap up, where can these fantastic listeners find your podcast?
01:05:17
Speaker
Spotify, Google, anywhere you can find your podcast hopefully. If you find it in a way you can't find it, which is weird to think it's here. But yeah, don't have a website as of yet. I don't think we're quite there yet. You can find us on Twitter. It's at yourself review. Now be careful because there's a few bots going around at the minute and they seem to like to copy indie podcasters. Well, and amongst others. So yeah, my logo is there. It's a Review It Yourself podcast. That's the
01:05:40
Speaker
title of it now doesn't have an England flag in there anymore because there was an account that copied my title and the flag so it's changed slightly didn't copy my logo sorry copied my name didn't copy the logo sorry so yeah it was a bit of a weird one because technically it's not trying to copy but the title is exactly the same so yeah so attack yourself review there's no underscores no gaps
01:05:58
Speaker
just at yourself review we're on twitter you'll see the logo there and we're on instagram it's review yourself podcast 2021 again review yourself podcast it's the titles on there we're on good pods we're on pod chaser is that about it i think that's about it but yeah feel free to jump over from satsu channel and give it a listen if you want quite an easy transition try some of the episodes that satsu's done try still game and if you don't know what still game is go watch an episode because it's fantastic
01:06:24
Speaker
I was going to say, if you don't know what it is, then you will do by the end of that episode because we went really in depth and that was a great one. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I love shows like that. The whole point of it is that they're still getting for life just because they're all doesn't mean. I hate comedies where they just spent like the old people's daughter Ian Daphne. It's like, no, I mean, a lot of old people in my job and a lot of people would do well to take the wisdom and the advice of people who've lived on the earth for 70, 80, 90 years. They're the people you should listen to, you know.
01:06:53
Speaker
because they've lived a good life and most of the time, but yeah. And does it right to say that you also have a Patreon page as well? I do, yeah, to review it yourself. I started it as a kind of shit or bust in a way. I was thinking, right, I either started it now or I quit. Not because I particularly wanted an income from it because that's a ridiculous thing to try and think of as a new podcaster.
01:07:12
Speaker
But it was just to see, because at the time I was feeling like it wasn't getting listened to and I thought, well, at least if I've got, it gives a fresh impetus of like, right, I'll do a side series. So there's yet more side series. There's the standard tier, which is, instead of the, oh, review it yourself, it's the, eh, not special. That's the side series there where I just, I'm doing more old fashioned type films. So I did a review of The Whale on there, a solo one. There's going to be a public one with Sarah.
01:07:37
Speaker
But I did that. I've done a few John Wayne films, stuff
Listener Engagement and Tools Promotion
01:07:41
Speaker
like that. There's also the upper tier, which is rewatching yourself, which is, I know isn't a word, but go with it. And I'm rewatching all the zombie films in my collection, which is a lot of them. They go out there. So Patreons also get extra two episodes a week for each tier, which means if you get the upper tier, you get four episodes extra a month. So at one point it was one a week, but that was cool.
01:08:02
Speaker
That was too much. That was far too much. So yeah, you live and learn because I was trying to get out three episodes a week and that was just nuts. So yeah, I had the most depressed, the incredible Hulk review you've ever heard in your life, which I called it the incredible Sulk because I was trying to record. There was someone outside revenue engine. My microphone felt, uh, someone had a microphone. Then somebody came and started washing the windows. There was people reversing. That's all. It was just, no, not like you feel like a universe is against you trying to get it recorded. All good fun. So yeah, you can go check us out there.
01:08:29
Speaker
I just want the reiterate as well, definitely go check out Review It Yourself, it is a fantastic podcast and yeah, the films that you have done, they do range from the good, the bad, the ugly and everything but at the same time, definitely go check out it, it is a fantastic film podcast and another tool harder to recommend it.
01:08:48
Speaker
But yeah, if any of you out there want to hear our content as well, you can catch us on the website, potopage.com. I also wanted to get today as well, going off what you were saying. We also have a doppelganger on Twitter.
01:09:04
Speaker
call themselves Chatsunami 2, which thanks the original name. There is technically a Chatsunami on Twitter, but it's someone's name is kind of split up. So, you know, like that's obviously that's perfectly fine. Why didn't they go with Chatsunami? Although, no, that sounds like a Newcastle FC. True, true. Wash your mouth out.
01:09:28
Speaker
I mean, to be fair though, it hasn't put up any, at least as of this episode, it's not put up any profile picture or anything. It's just copied the name Chatsunami with the Scotland flag after it. I've seen some people with, like, American politics in the bios or... Yeah, that was mine, yeah. Well, not mine. The one, yeah, I was... The one for you, yeah. They're just copying a lot of people. So, if you wonderful was on Twitter, full was at ChatsunamiPod,
01:09:54
Speaker
Now you know what I was gonna say actually, don't follow me, listen instead. When you work out how many people, oh no, don't start on the show. When you work out how many percent of the people who follow you actually listen, you think, well, I don't care if you're, not in a bad way, I'd love you to listen, go listen. You don't have to follow me on anything, just go listen. If you want to follow me to find out when stuff's coming out, feel free, but every Monday, 8 a.m., Greenwich Me Time, British Standard Time, British whatever it is now, that's where the new episode will be. At least, that's what will come out. You don't have to create a capability and follow, just listen if you want to, if you enjoy it. Probably should've said that earlier, sorry sassy.
01:10:24
Speaker
Well you're fine. That's what podcasts are for anyway, for chatting away. She'll be with us too. Oh absolutely, yeah. A Scotsman in the Northern, I know. Speaking of Patreon as well, I just want to thank the two patrons that have generously donated. That of course being Robotic Battle Toaster and Sonya. Thank you so much. On that note, thank you all so so much for listening to this episode. As always, stay safe, stay awesome and most importantly, stay hydrated.
01:10:52
Speaker
This episode is sponsored by Zincaster. If you're a podcaster that records remotely like me, then you'll know how challenging it can be to create the podcast you've always wanted. That's where Zincaster comes in. Before I made Zincaster, I was put a naive podcaster, recording on low quality, one-track audio waves.
01:11:28
Speaker
I want you to have the same easy experience I do for all my podcasting and content needs. It's time to share your story.