YouTube Stars!

Today I was checking the stats for this blog, http://YouTubeStars.com, and I noticed that we now have over a million page views! Thanks to everyone for visiting our blog over the years. We have almost 300 posts and have talked to you about nearly a thousand YouTube videos and their makers. We have been here for over 6 years now and we're still going strong. We have plenty of guest writers who have made excellent contributions to our site. Our weekly YouTube Top 100 Chart continues to get lots of views as well. So again, thanks to all our readers!

Labels: blog, million, one million views, Viewed, YouTube, YouTubeStars

posted by KennyCrane at 9/14/2012 06:48:00 PM 2 Comments

This post features a review of videomaker Levni (Lev) Yilmaz whose YouTube Channels are AgentXPQ and ingredientxvideo - written by Guest Blogger, Anna.

Anna's YouTube channel is Annaconda1984.

Visit her channel and watch some of the 199 videos she has uploaded. Anna has almost 15 Thousand Subscribers and about 300 Thousand Channel Views!

My favorites include Anna's singing duet with KrisShred and her compilation with 18 YouTubers reciting The Raven by Poe.

Anna's article is below...

But first, The News!

This week's Featured Video on our Top 100 and Top 200 Charts is a pretty cool original pop song called "Library Girl" by ReinaDelCid. She dedicates it "To all kindred nerds." Check out our Top 100 and Top 200 Charts of the Most Subscribed YouTube Channels every week!


Did you know that YouTube has a Blog? It's good to drop by there regularly to see what's new on our favorite website. Here's some stories you may have missed.

• YouTube Leanback is a new feature that lets you watch a stream of custom picked videos without having to do anything - just bring up the site, lean back, and watch!
  Read more...
• Ask Katy Perry a question and vote on the questions, until July 18th, hurry!
  Read More...
• The new YouTube Partner Grant Program will advance future ad earnings to accepted partners; apply now!
  Read More...
• YouTube now supports videos filmed at 4096 by 2304 pixel resolution; that's way more than 4 times bigger than HD!
  Read More...

Now, here is Anna's article!



The Mystery of AgentXPQ

Lev Yilmaz is like the Picasso of YouTube, except he colors in with wonderful stories instead of paint. Most likely if you are not struck by contagious creativity
during watching one of his short films then you will feel it shortly after you have finished viewing one of his animations. Perhaps you will even join a film school to start animating, yourself. Many animation students might dream about working for colossal cartoon studios like Pixar but would you rather be a technician and work on Nemo's tail for 10 years or be a story teller and create something of your own?

If you are an animation enthusiast, you must have come across the impressive and inspiring series "Tales of Mere Existence" by AgentXPQ (Lev Yilmaz). This artist and film maker tells stories based on his life, described on his website as "stuff you think but don't talk about"; episodes of humorous, self and socio-critical cartoons in which most of us find moments from our own lives we identify with and often smile about.

We encounter common situations like arguing about which film you are going to watch with your boyfriend or a mother and her concerns, and it may seem like a caricature of our own mamas...



If you really like his comics, you probably own a copy of Lev Yilmaz's book; your
companion "Sunny Side Down" will brighten the day, not just when you are feeling
low. How many of you know about his other channel though? In 2007, Lev and his brother launched the channel ingredientxvideo, where you can see a combination of many different types of videos. You can watch the baby steps of "Tales of Mere Existence," which back then had great stories. This is probably the x factor in both usernames but the ingredient evolved with the influence of Picasso's, "The Mystery of Picasso" from 1956...



into a cool 007 Agent. The technique he uses is similar to the painting technique Picasso used, filming while working on a transparent canvas. You can also see some puppet animations and a skit or two on his alternative channel, and some animations (not always technically perfect but narratively beautiful).

In the "Hellhammer" skit, we see Lev and his brother's poetic sides...



It's the kind of video one could watch over and over again. Last but not least, Lev is a superhero even if he denies it in Evildraft...



His special power is to cheer people up and entertain, and it's real, genuine happiness he spreads - not the artificial smiles which often surround us. Most people try to cover lack of ideas and plot though great special effects. AgentXPQ is a perfect example of a channel that doesn't need sparks; the stories move and make the viewer think and sometimes one might even learn something from them.

He denies his ability to fly but he grows wings like Supermario grabbing a feather, every time a letter hits a paper with a clickety-clack sound. Most superheros fly alone; he takes us with him through time and space on his back, trying to save the world from lack of humor and to erase your frown and change it to a smile.

If you want to discover how it all started, check out his secondary channel ingredientxvideo and if you don't know about AgentXPQ - where have you been, tune in!

Labels: AgentXPQ, Annaconda1984, blog, chart, featured video, ingredientxvideo, ReinaDelCid, YouTube

posted by KennyCrane at 7/13/2010 11:43:00 PM 1 Comments

Last month (in this post), we discussed several videos made about the state of video blogging on YouTube. People were saying that vlogging has changed - no one makes vids anymore just to talk about their lives. It was said that many YouTubers were now trying to be slick and act differently, just to get views. Many lamented the "old days" of YouTube where people were thought to be more honest, and happy to simply get in front of a cam and talk about their regular ordinary lives. It was fun to watch and listen to regular people tell the world about who they were and what they were doing.

As we said last time, for every veteran vlogger who has been around a while and misses the old days, there is a new person just discovering the fun of making video blogs. Here are four young people who have just recently made their First Vlogs. Please watch their videos, encourage them with nice comments, and subscribe if you like their style!

But first, some News! Last week, everyone was talking about the subscriber shrinkage problem. It seems that many YouTubers were surprised to find that they were losing subscribers. A check of the Top 100 Weekly Chart showed that this was indeed true. Many, but not all, of the top YouTubers had decreases in their number of subscribers from the week before. It has been suggested that YouTube is purging old, unused accounts from it's database. This may account for the observed drop in subscribers. Whatever the cause, it appears to have stopped. Have a look at This Week's Top 100 Chart and you'll see that almost everyone Gained Subscribers this week.

In related Top 100 Chart news, the Fred character, formally of JKLproduction, is up 5 positions to number 11 - with a gain of 27,928 new subscribers! Congrats on that Huge jump in subs! Meanwhile, the veteran vlogger and community supporter, Renetto, has dropped another position to number 86 with a weekly Loss of 23 subs. This is surprising, considering his excellent recent series of videos made from poignant and thoughtful essays originally published at NPR. Maybe people don't like it when Renetto is serious. His wacky videos have done the best. The essays have only 4 to 14 thousand views and his TheTropolis vids have barely above 10 thousand views. What does this say about the members of YouTube and what they want from the site?


Now, on with the videos!

First up, is Lucy. Lucy likes Harry Potter, skiing, acting, singing, and... orange juice! On her profile, she says she is an upbeat person, an honors kid, an optimist and a good friend. Lucy made her first video, about Harry Potter, just 2 weeks ago. Here she is with her first vlog, uploaded May 26th. Yes, she IS an upbeat person!




Next, here's Lucie. Lucie lives in the UK and likes 80s music. She talks in this vid about the upcoming Avril Lavigne concert she will be attending (she went, and talks about it in vlog 3). Lucie also talks about school (it's almost over!) and the art exhibition coming up. The vid, from May 27th, is slightly fuzzy and the audio is a little tinny, but Lucie was kind enough to provide subtitles so we could follow along! The word is, Lucie has a new cam in her future!




Now, watch Franny. She just joined YouTube in April and made this first vlog on May 29th, from her bathroom! Her goal was to introduce herself and get 20 video views - she got over 100 so far. Franny likes to wear different clothes and vary her makeup and hair, but despite her screen name, that doesn't make her skitzo! She likes music and YouTube, and says she intends to make more videos. Here is her first effort, enjoy!




Finally, we have Zoe. Zoe lives in the UK and loves music and... Philosophy! Wow, she's only 13, how interesting! Zoe joined YouTube last October and made her first video 3 months back. She went fishing and caught a Pike. This is her first vlog, made on May 29th. She mentions her love of music, writing, reading, YouTube - and of course Philosophy. :) Zoe says she's "a bit different to anyone usually this age," watch and see!

Labels: blog, EllieBee148, JellyBeanQueenX, OMGitsLucy814, SchizoFrannya, Video, vloggers, vlogging

posted by KennyCrane at 6/03/2008 08:45:00 PM 4 Comments