Creating the perfect ‘viral’ video is something many YouTubers have yet to achieve.
However, when it comes to YouTuber Mark Rober, I think it’s safe to say the guy knows how to get it done…
Again..
And again…
And again...
Time and time again Mark’s videos have absolutely crushed it on a global scale and soared into the ten-of-millions of views.
Today we’ll be dissecting one of his most viral videos, ‘Carnival Scam Science’ to find out “Mark Rober Scam Science” (ok... minus the scam)....
Core principles needed to break 75 MILLION Views.
How To Create Tension
The first 10 seconds of the video hooks the viewer in with Mark measuring a basketball hoop.
Why the hell would he be doing that??
Carnival basketball hoop height is different from standard hoop height.
We instantly suspect the odds are not in the players favour. He’s created tension, and you’re sure as hell not clicking off the video until you get that resolved.
Mark beautifully executes one of our core editing principles: High Energy Moments
by showing his excitement for the video topic in his delivery to camera.
Followed by a strong transition. A quick push catapults us into the next scene using motion and sound to keep momentum.
Utilize Visual Variety
Visual variety is another core principle used in the next scene where Mark talks to the camera about his plan for the video topic. A few key things to note here:
- The introduction to the video is confidently pitched with HIGH ENERGY
- Multiple camera angles boost energy AND visual variety
- Location backdrop establishes the setting and video topic
- B roll shows the viewer key moments of topic discussion
B roll shots tell a story by showing players losing carnival games… something we can all relate to!
Mark also tells us to stay tuned at 00:36 by saying “But there is hope”.
This compels us to keep watching to find out his secrets!
Introduce a well-known character
Placing a well known character from another world into your video can do a lot for viewer engagement.
No one knows Mark’s friend, but we all know the New York Metts means he’s a pro and should win a lot of these games, right?
Remember the core principle: visual variety?
We see that again throughout this scene:
- Dynamic, interesting shots introduce the pitcher for the New York Metts
- AUDIO B roll with Sound to sell high energy transitions
- A speed reversed shot of the pitcher winning lots of prizes is interesting
- The same shot zooms in & out with the drum beat of the music track
The key elements to this scene are visual variety through dynamic shots and AUDIO.
NEVER Forget the Audio
Audio is something that is highly underrated. Audio can help you with:
- Motivation
- Increase energy
- Keep viewers engaged
- Building Emotions
- Adding in sound FX to highlight something important
Audio is another core editing principle that can help create high energy throughout your video.
High energy will always be better for view retention.
Start to think about how you can incorporate these core principles into your videos to boost the energy AND the rewards.
How to reward your viewers throughout your video!
Mark rewards viewers for staying with a huge amount of free value and handy tips, backed up by factual evidence over the next few minutes of the video.
He continues to set up future rewards to keep you hooked.
At 2:07 he mentions a specific Carnival game and says “I will address this later”. I guess we’ll have to keep watching to find out, right?
We are introduced to different types of games, and their levels of difficulty, backed up again by factual evidence.
This is key, he’s doing the research you would never have thought was needed..
And proving that it definitely is needed in Carnival Games!
Make The Viewing Experience EASY For Your Audience
So we’ve talked about visual variety, dynamic shots, quality audio & transitions.
Naturally, Mark also makes good use of title graphics as well.
But in his case it’s nothing fancy, literally white text on a black screen.
You don’t need a fancy animation team to make a 75M+ viewed video.
One thing to note, Mark uses a lot of numbers to support his experiments.
If you talk about numbers a lot, you have to visualize them! No one wants to be doing math while watching YouTube… he makes the viewing experience easy.
The Impossible Game: Always Deliver The Payoff
- Another strong transition pushes us right into the grand finale
- the reward that was promised a whopping FIVE MINUTES ago
- we’re all still here...
Waiting with baited breath to find out which of these freaking games we’ve been wasting all of our pocket money on FOR YEARS.
The ladder game, it’s so simple, and Mark kills it yet again.
- Mark stands behind a DIY experiment version of the game
- IT’S SO COOL because he keeps the video so fluid, but we’re back at his house!
- Again we have multiple camera angles: dynamic shots for high energy
- Visual variety: The Broll cuts away to the real world Carnival ladder game
- Animation: Nothing fancy, a simple red circle to highlight which area to look at
It’s only at the video’s end, once all the promises have been delivered upon, that Mark asks a CTA “Please consider subscribing”.
It’s so understated that you’d think he had forgotten to even ask, but it makes sense.
Ask for something after you have delivered, not before!
Mark Rober is a masterclass in audience retention. The key editing takeaways from his work include:
- Visual variety
- Dynamic camera angles
- High energy
- Quality audio
- Strong transitions
- A kick-ass video topic
If you implement even just a few of these core principles into your own videos, I can pretty much guarantee your viewers will stick around for longer and many will even come back for more!
Until next time,
The Dragonfruit Media Team
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