longest video essay on youtube

Favoree's guide to YouTube

13 Best Video Essay YouTubers in 2024 According to Viewers

Tamara Indriana

First of all, what even is a video essay ?

The line between video essays and documentaries is often muddy. While both video essays and documentaries use audiovisual elements to convey ideas and narratives, they differ in their focus, narrative structure, visual style, and intended audience.

Video essays offer critical analysis and interpretation of visual media, while documentaries provide factual information on real-life events and experiences. One key tip to distinguish between the two is that documentaries focus on getting answers from primary sources , like conducting interviews.

Video essays have gained popularity in recent years, particularly on YouTube. The accessibility of digital editing tools and visual media makes it easier than ever for aspiring filmmakers, critics, and scholars to produce and share their own video essays with the world.

In this article, we have compiled a list of the best video essayists on YouTube. Join us as we unravel the intricacies of these digital storytellers who put their viewers on the edge of their seats.

If video essays are not your cup of tea and you’re looking for something more educational, check out our article on the best documentary YouTube channels .

13 Top Video Essay YouTube Channels in 2024

This list is compiled from the opinions of  Favoree  and  Reddit  users.

In no particular order:

1.  EmpLemon  – 1.2M Subscribers

Emplemon blends elements of documentary-style storytelling with humor and cultural critique. Through his videos, Emplemon tells stories about internet culture, dissecting its quirks with razor-sharp wit and insight.

His contents elicit a rollercoaster of emotions, from laughter at absurd internet phenomena to contemplation of the impact of online communities on society.

2.  ContraPoints  – 1.8M Subscribers

Natalie Wynn, better known as Contrapoints, makes incisive video essays about social topics. Initially gaining fame for providing leftist rebuttals to right-wing content, Wynn’s dark humor and elaborate productions captivate audiences.

While her style has evolved to include more intimate settings, Wynn’s content remains intellectually stimulating, featuring detailed philosophical discussions presented in a visually stunning manner.

Natalie is not only an icon for her video essays, she’s also one of the most influential Trans creators on YouTube .

3.  ColdFusion  – 4.7M Subscribers

ColdFusion is a prominent YouTube channel making high-quality videos on corporations and their scandals. The channel’s soothing narration style contributes to a relaxing viewing experience.

With professional editing and a focus on interesting subject matter, ColdFusion delivers compelling insights into the latest trends and developments shaping the world of business and technology.

Check out our article on the best economics YouTube channel if you’re interested in improving your financial knowledge!

4.  Wendigoon  – 3.4M Subscribers

Wendigoon’s exploration of horror and supernatural phenomena certainly gives viewers goosebumps. With a focus on topics like urban legends , paranormal encounters, and mysterious occurrences, Wendigoon delivers chilling narratives that leave viewers intrigued and unsettled.

The channel’s immersive storytelling and atmospheric visuals evoke a sense of unease, drawing audiences into the eerie world of the unknown. Wendigoon’s expertly crafted videos combine suspenseful narration with haunting imagery, creating an unforgettable viewing experience.

Can’t get enough of chilling true crime stories? Our article on the best true crime YouTube channels will help you find more creators to watch.

5.  hbomberguy  – 1.6M Subscribers

Hbomberguy is a highly respected YouTuber famous for his well-researched video essays. With a focus on various topics ranging from video games to social critiques of modernity, Hbomberguy delivers arguments backed by cited facts. His recent video that exposed Internet Historian has gotten the most attention and discourse.

Despite a sporadic upload schedule, his content is eagerly anticipated, offering deep dives into internet culture and thought-provoking analyses.

6.  Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell  – 21.8M Subscribers

Kurzgesagt is incredible at explaining complex scientific concepts and philosophical ideas in a simple way. Through stunning art and animation, Kurzgesagt brings these topics to life.

Covering a wide range of subjects from space exploration to biology, the channel’s videos are both educational and visually captivating, leaving viewers feeling inspired and enlightened. Kurzgesagt offers an immersive journey into the wonders of the universe, sparking curiosity and wonder in audiences worldwide.

7.  Fredrik Knudsen  – 1.2M Subscribers

A cult favorite, Fredrik Knudsen’s acclaimed series “Down the Rabbit Hole” investigates obscure corners of the internet and perplexing aspects of history.

Known for his unbiased and objective approach, Knudsen presents his subjects in a neutral manner, allowing facts to speak for themselves. His thought-provoking content offers insights into the complexities of human experiences and internet phenomena.

8.  blameitonjorge  – 1.7M Subscribers

Blameitonjorge is beloved for his videos centered around lost media, creepy events, and obscure topics. With a soothing and friendly voice, Jorge’s narration style is modest, respectful, and intelligently humorous, offering a refreshing contrast to typical list-making channels.

His videos cover a diverse range of subjects, including UFO sightings, nostalgia, horror movies, true crime, and Mexican urban legends, all presented with meticulous research and informative editing. Blameitonjorge’s efforts to uncover unanswered mysteries and controversies breathe new life into forgotten topics.

9.  Solar Sands  – 1.3M Subscribers

Solar Sands, an American YouTuber, specializes in video essays analyzing and reviewing art, culture, and archaeology. His long form contents concentrate on retrospectives on various aspects of artistic quality, including the history of low-resolution paintings in Minecraft and analyses of artists like Trevor Henderson .

Solar Sands’ content offers unusual insights into the world of art and culture, appealing to viewers interested in thought-provoking discussions and analyses.

10.  Philosophy Tube  – 1.5M Subscribers

Abigail Thorn, AKA Philosophy Tube, is a British YouTuber exploring philosophy, politics, and personal identity through theatrical presentations and insightful discussions. Abigail’s well-researched content creates a deeper understanding of complex topics and provides support for those grappling with personal identity.

Her inclusive and authentic approach transforms philosophical concepts into accessible narratives, while her openness about her transgender journey inspires self-acceptance in viewers. With a blend of academic rigor and theatrical flair, Philosophy Tube continues to educate and entertain her audiences.

Want a deeper understanding of philosophy without breaking the bank? Check out the best philosophy YouTube channels to learn more!

11. Super Eyepatch Wolf – 1.7M Subscribers

John Walsh, also known as Super Eyepatch Wolf , is an Irish YouTuber renowned for his analytical-style videos primarily focused on anime, with occasional forays into manga and video games.

Unlike many other anime YouTubers, his presentation style stands out for its calm and passionate delivery. His content resonates with audiences seeking thoughtful analysis and insightful commentary.

12. Folding Ideas – 920K Subscribers

Dan Olson or Folding Ideas is a YouTube channel offering long-form video essays on internet culture. From NFTs to nuggets, he makes any topic interesting and will leave you looking for more.

While the writing can occasionally seem overly clever, Dan Olson’s thoroughly researched insights provide valuable perspectives into tech grifts and other media. Despite only uploading every few months, the channel’s in-depth and insightful content is highly appreciated by viewers.

13. Jacob Geller – 1.2M Subscribers

Jacob Geller offers thought-provoking video essays that seamlessly blend topics such as video games, history, politics, and more. With a dark yet empathetic tone, Geller digs deep into philosophical, ethical, metaphysical, and psychological themes, using gaming as a springboard for discussions.

Whether discussing a specific video game mod or architectural design, Jacob’s talent shines through in his insightful videos, offering a deep exploration of video games with surprising depth.

Why are video essays important?

Video essays are important as they provide a platform for creators to offer nuanced interpretations and critical perspectives on various subjects. They serve as engaging educational tools, stimulating discussions and deepening understanding of visual media and cultural phenomena.

What are the benefits of video essays?

Video essays offer benefits such as fostering critical thinking, providing accessible and entertaining educational content, and offering a fresh approach to the analysis and exploration of visual media.

What’s the difference between a video essay and a documentary?

The difference lies in their focus, narrative structure, visual style, and intended audience. While video essays offer critical analysis and interpretation of visual media, documentaries provide factual information on real-life events and experiences, often by obtaining answers from primary sources through interviews.

Is video essay a genre?

Video essay is not a genre in the traditional sense. Rather, it is a format or style of content creation that can encompass a wide range of subjects and approaches, from film analysis to cultural critique.

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The video essay boom

Hour-long YouTube videos are thriving in the TikTok era. Their popularity reflects our desire for more nuanced content online.

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The video essay’s reintroduction into my adult life was, like many things, a side effect of the pandemic. On days when I couldn’t bring myself to read recreationally, I tried to unwind after work by watching hours and hours of YouTube.

My pseudo-intellectual superego, however, soon became dissatisfied with the brain-numbing monotony of “day in the life” vlogs, old Bon Appétit test kitchen videos, and makeup tutorials. I wanted content that was entertaining, but simultaneously informational, thoughtful, and analytical. In short, I wanted something that gave the impression that I, the passive viewer, was smart. Enter: the video essay.

Video essays have been around for about a decade, if not more, on YouTube. There is some debate over how the form preceded the platform; some film scholars believe the video essay was born out of and remains heavily influenced by essay films , a type of nonfiction filmmaking. Regardless, YouTube has become the undisputed home of the contemporary video essay. Since 2012, when the platform began to prioritize watch-time over views , the genre flourished. These videos became a significant part of the 2010s YouTube landscape, and were popularized by creators across film, politics, and academic subcultures.

Today, there are video essays devoted to virtually any topic you can think of, ranging anywhere from about 10 minutes to upward of an hour. The video essay has been a means to entertain fan theories , explore the lore of a video game or a historical deep dive , explain or critique a social media trend , or like most written essays, expound upon an argument, hypothesis , or curiosity proposed by the creator.

Some of the best-known video essay creators — Lindsay Ellis, Natalie Wynn of ContraPoints, and Abigail Thorn of PhilosophyTube — are often associated with BreadTube , an umbrella term for a group of left-leaning, long-form YouTubers who provide intellectualized commentary on political and cultural topics.

It’s not an exaggeration to claim that I — and many of my fellow Gen Zers — were raised on video essays, academically and intellectually. They were helpful resources for late-night cramming sessions (thanks Crash Course), and responsible for introducing a generation to first-person commentary on all sorts of cultural and political phenomena. Now, the kids who grew up on this content are producing their own.

“Video essays are a form that has lent itself particularly well to pop culture because of its analytical nature,” Madeline Buxton, the culture and trends manager at YouTube, told me. “We are starting to see more creators using video essays to comment on growing trends across social media. They’re serving as sort of real-time internet historians by helping viewers understand not just what is a trend, but the larger cultural context of something.”

any video that starts with "the rise and fall of" I'm clicking on it no matter the topic — zae | industry plant (@ItsZaeOk) February 23, 2022

A lot has been said about the video essay and its ever-shifting parameters . What does seem newly relevant is how the video essay is becoming repackaged, as long-form video creators find a home on platforms besides YouTube. This has played out concurrently with the pandemic-era shift toward short-form video, with Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube respectively launching Reels, Spotlight, and Shorts to compete against TikTok.

TikTok’s sudden, unwavering rise has proven the viability of bite-size content, and the app’s addictive nature has spawned fears about young people’s dwindling attention spans. Yet, the prevailing popularity of video essays, from new and old creators alike, suggests otherwise. Audiences have not been deterred from watching lengthy videos, nor has the short-form pivot significantly affected creators and their output. Emerging video essayists aren’t shying away from length or nuance, even while using TikTok or Reels as a supplement to grow their online following.

One can even argue that we are witnessing the video essay’s golden era . Run times are longer than ever, while more and more creators are producing long-form videos. The growth of “creator economy” crowdfunding tools, especially during the pandemic, has allowed video essayists to take longer breaks between uploads while retaining their production quality.

“I do feel some pressure to make my videos longer because my audience continues to ask for it,” said Tiffany Ferguson, a YouTube creator specializing in media criticism and pop culture commentary. “I’ve seen comments, both on my own videos and those I watch, where fans are like, ‘Yes, you’re feeding us,’ when it comes to longer videos, especially the hour to two-hour ones. In a way, the mentality seems to be: The longer the better.”

In a Medium post last April, the blogger A. Khaled remarked that viewers were “willing to indulge user-generated content that is as long as a multi-million dollar cinematic production by a major Hollywood studio” — a notion that seemed improbable just a few years ago, even to the most popular video essayists. To creators, this hunger for well-edited, long-form video is unprecedented and uniquely suitable for pandemic times.

The internet might’ve changed what we pay attention to, but it hasn’t entirely shortened our attention span, argued Jessica Maddox, an assistant professor of digital media technology at the University of Alabama. “It has made us more selective about the things we want to devote our attention to,” she told me. “People are willing to devote time to content they find interesting.”

Every viewer is different, of course. I find that my attention starts to wane around the 20-minute mark if I’m actively watching and doing nothing else — although I will admit to once spending a non-consecutive four hours on an epic Twin Peaks explainer . Last month, the channel Folding Ideas published a two-hour video essay on “the problem with NFTs,” which has garnered more than 6 million views so far.

Hour-plus-long videos can be hits, depending on the creator, the subject matter, the production quality, and the audience base that the content attracts. There will always be an early drop-off point with some viewers, according to Ferguson, who make it about two to five minutes into a video essay. Those numbers don’t often concern her; she trusts that her devoted subscribers will be interested enough to stick around.

“About half of my viewers watch up to the halfway point, and a smaller group finishes the entire video,” Ferguson said. “It’s just how YouTube is. If your video is longer than two minutes, I think you’re going to see that drop-off regardless if it’s for a video that’s 15 or 60 minutes long.”

Some video essayists have experimented with shorter content as a topic testing ground for longer videos or as a discovery tool to reach new audiences, whether it be on the same platform (like Shorts) or an entirely different one (like TikTok).

“Short-form video can expose people to topics or types of content they’re not super familiar with yet,” Maddox said. “Shorts are almost like a sampling of what you can get with long-form content.” The growth of Shorts, according to Buxton of YouTube, has given rise to this class of “hybrid creators,” who alternate between short- and long-form content. They can also be a starting point for new creators, who are not yet comfortable with scripting a 30-minute video.

Queline Meadows, a student in Ithaca College’s screen cultures program, became interested in how young people were using TikTok to casually talk about film, using editing techniques that borrowed heavily from video essays. She created her own YouTube video essay titled “The Rise of Film TikTok” to analyze the phenomenon, and produces both TikTok micro-essays and lengthy videos.

“I think people have a desire to understand things more deeply,” Meadows told me. “Even with TikTok, I find it hard to unfold an argument or explore multiple angles of a subject. Once people get tired of the hot takes, they want to sit with something that’s more nuanced and in-depth.”

@que1ine link in bio #fyp #filmtok #filmtiktok #videoessay ♬ Swing Lynn - Harmless

It’s common for TikTokers to tease a multi-part video to gain followers. Many have attempted to direct viewers to their YouTube channel and other platforms for longer content. On the contrary, it’s in TikTok’s best interests to retain creators — and therefore viewers — on the app. In late February, TikTok announced plans to extend its maximum video length from three minutes to 10 minutes , more than tripling a video’s run-time possibility. This decision arrived months after TikTok’s move last July to start offering three-minute videos .

As TikTok inches into YouTube-length territory, Spotify, too, has introduced video on its platform, while YouTube has similarly signaled an interest in podcasting . In October, Spotify began introducing “video podcasts,” which allows listeners (or rather, viewers) to watch episodes. Users have the option to toggle between actively watching a podcast or traditionally listening to one.

What’s interesting about the video podcast is how Spotify is positioning it as an interchangeable, if not more intimate, alternative to a pure audio podcast. The video essay, then, appears to occupy a middle ground between podcast and traditional video by making use of these key elements. For creators, the boundaries are no longer so easy to define.

“Some video essay subcultures are more visual than others, while others are less so,” said Ferguson, who was approached by Spotify to upload her YouTube video essays onto the platform last year. “I was already in the process of trying to upload just the audio of my old videos since that’s more convenient for people to listen to and save on their podcast app. My reasoning has always been to make my content more accessible.”

To Ferguson, podcasts are a natural byproduct of the video essay. Many viewers are already consuming lengthy videos as ambient entertainment, as content to passively listen to while doing other tasks. The video essay is not a static format, and its development is heavily shaped by platforms, which play a crucial role in algorithmically determining how such content is received and promoted. Some of these changes are reflective of cultural shifts, too.

Maddox, who researches digital culture and media, has a theory that social media discourse is becoming less reactionary. She described it as a “simmering down” of the hot take, which is often associated with cancel culture . These days, more creators are approaching controversy from a removed, secondhand standpoint; they seem less interested in engendering drama for clicks. “People are still providing their opinions, but in conjunction with deep analysis,” Maddox said. “I think it says a lot about the state of the world and what holds people’s attention.”

no u know what i HATE video essay slander......... they r forever gonna be my fav background noise YES i enjoy the lofi nintendo music and YES i want a 3 hour video explaining the importance of the hair color of someone from a show i've never watched — ☻smiley☻ (@smiley_jpeg) January 19, 2022

That’s the power of the video essay. Its basic premise — whether the video is a mini-explainer or explores a 40-minute hypothesis — requires the creator to, at the very least, do their research. This often leads to personal disclaimers and summaries of alternative opinions or perspectives, which is very different from the more self-centered “reaction videos” and “story time” clickbait side of YouTube.

“The things I’m talking about are bigger than me. I recognize the limitations of my own experience,” Ferguson said. “Once I started talking about intersections of race, gender, sexuality — so many experiences that were different from my own — I couldn’t just share my own narrow, straight, white woman perspective. I have to provide context.”

This doesn’t change the solipsistic nature of the internet, but it is a positive gear shift, at least in the realm of social media discourse, that makes being chronically online a little less soul-crushing. The video essay, in a way, encourages us to engage in good faith with ideas that we might not typically entertain or think of ourselves. Video essays can’t solve the many problems of the internet (or the world, for that matter), but they can certainly make learning about them a little more bearable.

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What is a Video Essay? The Art of the Video Analysis Essay

I n the era of the internet and Youtube, the video essay has become an increasingly popular means of expressing ideas and concepts. However, there is a bit of an enigma behind the construction of the video essay largely due to the vagueness of the term.

What defines a video analysis essay? What is a video essay supposed to be about? In this article, we’ll take a look at the foundation of these videos and the various ways writers and editors use them creatively. Let’s dive in.

Watch: Our Best Film Video Essays of the Year

Subscribe for more filmmaking videos like this.

What is a video essay?

First, let’s define video essay.

There is narrative film, documentary film, short films, and then there is the video essay. What is its role within the realm of visual media? Let’s begin with the video essay definition. 

VIDEO ESSAY DEFINITION

A video essay is a video that analyzes a specific topic, theme, person or thesis. Because video essays are a rather new form, they can be difficult to define, but recognizable nonetheless. To put it simply, they are essays in video form that aim to persuade, educate, or critique. 

These essays have become increasingly popular within the era of Youtube and with many creatives writing video essays on topics such as politics, music, film, and pop culture. 

What is a video essay used for?

• To persuade an audience of a thesis
• To educate on a specific subject
• To analyze and/or critique 

What is a video essay based on?

Establish a thesis.

Video analysis essays lack distinguished boundaries since there are countless topics a video essayist can tackle. Most essays, however, begin with a thesis. 

How Christopher Nolan Elevates the Movie Montage  •  Video Analysis Essays

Good essays often have a point to make. This point, or thesis, should be at the heart of every video analysis essay and is what binds the video together. 

Related Posts

• Stanley Kubrick Directing Style Explained →
• A Filmmaker’s Guide to Nolan’s Directing Style →
• How to Write a Voice Over Montage in a Script →

interviews in video essay

Utilize interviews.

A key determinant for the structure of an essay is the source of the ideas. A common source for this are interviews from experts in the field. These interviews can be cut and rearranged to support a thesis. 

Roger Deakins on "Learning to Light"  •  Video Analysis Essays

Utilizing first hand interviews is a great way to utilize ethos into the rhetoric of a video. However, it can be limiting since you are given a limited amount to work with. Voice over scripts, however, can give you the room to say anything. 

How to create the best video essays on Youtube

Write voice over scripts.

Voice over (VO) scripts allow video essayists to write out exactly what they want to say. This is one of the most common ways to structure a video analysis essay since it gives more freedom to the writer. It is also a great technique to use when taking on large topics.

In this video, it would have been difficult to explain every type of camera lens by cutting sound bites from interviews of filmmakers. A voice over script, on the other hand, allowed us to communicate information directly when and where we wanted to.

Ultimate Guide to Camera Lenses  •  Video essay examples

Some of the most famous video essayists like Every Frame a Painting and Nerdwriter1 utilize voice over to capitalize on their strength in writing video analysis essays. However, if you’re more of an editor than a writer, the next type of essay will be more up your alley. 

Video analysis essay without a script

Edit a supercut.

Rather than leaning on interview sound bites or voice over, the supercut video depends more on editing. You might be thinking “What is a video essay without writing?” The beauty of the video essay is that the writing can be done throughout the editing. Supercuts create arguments or themes visually through specific sequences. 

Another one of the great video essay channels, Screen Junkies, put together a supercut of the last decade in cinema. The video could be called a portrait of the last decade in cinema.

2010 - 2019: A Decade In Film  •  Best videos on Youtube

This video is rather general as it visually establishes the theme of art during a general time period. Other essays can be much more specific. 

Critical essays

Video essays are a uniquely effective means of creating an argument. This is especially true in critical essays. This type of video critiques the facets of a specific topic. 

In this video, by one of the best video essay channels, Every Frame a Painting, the topic of the film score is analyzed and critiqued — specifically temp film score.

Every Frame a Painting Marvel Symphonic Universe  •  Essay examples

Of course, not all essays critique the work of artists. Persuasion of an opinion is only one way to use the video form. Another popular use is to educate. 

• The Different Types of Camera Lenses →
• Write and Create Professionally Formatted Screenplays →
• How to Create Unforgettable Film Moments with Music →

Video analysis essay

Visual analysis.

One of the biggest advantages that video analysis essays have over traditional, written essays is the use of visuals. The use of visuals has allowed video essayists to display the subject or work that they are analyzing. It has also allowed them to be more specific with what they are analyzing. Writing video essays entails structuring both words and visuals. 

Take this video on There Will Be Blood for example. In a traditional, written essay, the writer would have had to first explain what occurs in the film then make their analysis and repeat.

This can be extremely inefficient and redundant. By analyzing the scene through a video, the points and lessons are much more clear and efficient. 

There Will Be Blood  •   Subscribe on YouTube

Through these video analysis essays, the scene of a film becomes support for a claim rather than the topic of the essay. 

Dissect an artist

Essays that focus on analysis do not always focus on a work of art. Oftentimes, they focus on the artist themself. In this type of essay, a thesis is typically made about an artist’s style or approach. The work of that artist is then used to support this thesis.

Nerdwriter1, one of the best video essays on Youtube, creates this type to analyze filmmakers, actors, photographers or in this case, iconic painters. 

Caravaggio: Master Of Light  •  Best video essays on YouTube

In the world of film, the artist video analysis essay tends to cover auteur filmmakers. Auteur filmmakers tend to have distinct styles and repetitive techniques that many filmmakers learn from and use in their own work. 

Stanley Kubrick is perhaps the most notable example. In this video, we analyze Kubrick’s best films and the techniques he uses that make so many of us drawn to his films. 

Why We're Obsessed with Stanley Kubrick Movies  •  Video essay examples

Critical essays and analytical essays choose to focus on a piece of work or an artist. Essays that aim to educate, however, draw on various sources to teach technique and the purpose behind those techniques. 

What is a video essay written about?

Historical analysis.

Another popular type of essay is historical analysis. Video analysis essays are a great medium to analyze the history of a specific topic. They are an opportunity for essayists to share their research as well as their opinion on history. 

Our video on aspect ratio , for example, analyzes how aspect ratios began in cinema and how they continue to evolve. We also make and support the claim that the 2:1 aspect ratio is becoming increasingly popular among filmmakers. 

Why More Directors are Switching to 18:9  •  Video analysis essay

Analyzing the work of great artists inherently yields a lesson to be learned. Some essays teach more directly.

• Types of Camera Movements in Film Explained →
• What is Aspect Ratio? A Formula for Framing Success →
• Visualize your scenes with intuitive online shotlist software →

Writing video essays about technique

Teach technique.

Educational essays designed to teach are typically more direct. They tend to be more valuable for those looking to create art rather than solely analyze it.

In this video, we explain every type of camera movement and the storytelling value of each. Educational essays must be based on research, evidence, and facts rather than opinion.

Ultimate Guide to Camera Movement  •  Best video essays on YouTube

As you can see, there are many reasons why the video essay has become an increasingly popular means of communicating information. Its ability to use both sound and picture makes it efficient and effective. It also draws on the language of filmmaking to express ideas through editing. But it also gives writers the creative freedom they love. 

Writing video essays is a new art form that many channels have set high standards for. What is a video essay supposed to be about? That’s up to you. 

Organize Post Production Workflow

The quality of an essay largely depends on the quality of the edit. If editing is not your strong suit, check out our next article. We dive into tips and techniques that will help you organize your Post-Production workflow to edit like a pro. 

Up Next: Post Production →

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READ MORE: The video essay boom (Vox)

Video essays are thriving in the TikTok era, even while platforms like YouTube are pivoting to promote short-form content. According to Vox , their popularity reflects our desire for more nuanced content online.

Video essays have been around for a decade or more on YouTube. Since 2012, when the platform began to prioritize watch-time over views , the genre has flourished.

READ MORE: YouTube search, now optimized for time watched (YouTube)

Today, there are video essays devoted to virtually any topic you can think of, ranging anywhere from about 10 minutes to upward of an hour.

“Video essays are a form that has lent itself particularly well to pop culture because of its analytical nature,” Madeline Buxton, the culture and trends manager at YouTube, tells Vox . “We’re starting to see more creators using video essays to comment on growing trends across social media. They’re serving as sort of real-time internet historians by helping viewers understand not just what is a trend, but the larger cultural context of something.”

To Vox writer Terry Nguyen , what seems especially relevant is how the video essay is becoming repackaged, as long-form video creators find a home on platforms besides YouTube. This has played out concurrently with the pandemic-era shift toward short-form video, with Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube respectively launching Reels, Spotlight, and Shorts to compete against TikTok.

Yet audiences have not been deterred from watching lengthy videos on TikTok either. Emerging video essayists aren’t shying away from length or nuance, even while using TikTok or Reels as a supplement to grow their online following, Nguyen finds.

She points to the growth of “creator economy” crowdfunding tools , especially during the pandemic, that have allowed video essayists to take longer breaks between uploads while retaining their production quality.

READ MORE: Virtual tips are helping content creators actually make money (Vox)

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YouTube creator Tiffany Ferguson admits to feeling some pressure from audiences to make her videos longer.

“I’ve seen comments, both on my own videos and those I watch, where fans are like, ‘Yes, you’re feeding us,’ when it comes to longer videos, especially the hour to two-hour ones. In a way, the mentality seems to be: The longer the better.”

In a Medium post, “ We Live in the Golden Age of Video Essays ,” blogger A. Khaled remarked that viewers were “willing to indulge user-generated content that is as long as a multi-million dollar cinematic production by a major Hollywood studio” — a notion that seemed improbable just a few years ago, even to the most popular video essayists. To creators, this hunger for well-edited, long-form video is unprecedented and uniquely suited to pandemic times.

READ MORE: We Live in the Golden Age of Video Essays (Medium)

Last month, the YouTube channel Folding Ideas published a two-hour video essay on “ the problem with NFTs ,” which has garnered more than 6.4 million views to date.

Hour-plus-long videos can be hits, depending on the creator, the subject matter, the production quality, and the audience base that the content attracts. There will always be an early drop-off point with some viewers, who make it roughly two to five minutes into a video essay.

“About half of my viewers watch up to the halfway point, and a smaller group finishes the entire video,” Ferguson said. “It’s just how YouTube is. If your video is longer than two minutes, I think you’re going to see that drop-off regardless if it’s for a video that’s 15 or 60 minutes long.”

Some video essayists have experimented with shorter content as a topic testing ground for longer videos or as a discovery tool to reach new audiences, whether it be on the same platform (like Shorts) or an entirely different one (like TikTok).

“The video essay is not a static format, and its development is heavily shaped by platforms, which play a crucial role in algorithmically determining how such content is received and promoted. Some of these changes are reflective of cultural shifts, too.”

The growth of shorts, according to Buxton, has given rise to this class of “hybrid creators,” who alternate between short- and long-form content. They can also be a starting point for new creators, who are not yet comfortable with scripting a 30-minute video.

“It’s common for TikTokers to tease a multi-part video to gain followers,” Nguyen reports. “Many have attempted to direct viewers to their YouTube channel and other platforms for longer content. On the contrary, it’s in TikTok’s best interests to retain creators — and therefore viewers — on the app.”

In late February, TikTok announced plans to extend its maximum video length from three minutes to 10 minutes, more than tripling a video’s run-time possibility.

READ MORE: TikTok expands maximum video length to 10 minutes (The Verge)

Last October, Spotify introduced “ video podcasts ,” which allows users the option of toggling between actively watching a podcast or traditionally listening to one.

READ MORE: Introducing Video Podcasts on Spotify (Spotify)

What’s interesting about the video podcast, Nguyen suggests, is how Spotify is positioning itself as an interchangeable, if not more intimate, alternative to a pure audio podcast: “The video essay, then, appears to occupy a middle ground between podcast and traditional video by making use of these key elements. For creators, the boundaries are no longer so easy to define,” she writes.

The video essay is not a static format, and its development is heavily shaped by platforms, which play a crucial role in algorithmically determining how such content is received and promoted. Some of these changes are reflective of cultural shifts, too.

That’s because the basic premise of the video essay — whether the video is a mini-explainer or explores a 40-minute hypothesis — requires the creator to, at the very least, do their research. This often leads to personal disclaimers and summaries of alternative opinions or perspectives, which is very different from the more self-centered “reaction videos” and “story time” clickbait side of YouTube.

“The things I’m talking about are bigger than me. I recognize the limitations of my own experience,” Ferguson reports. “Once I started talking about intersections of race, gender, sexuality — so many experiences that were different from my own — I couldn’t just share my own narrow, straight, white woman perspective. I have to provide context.”

This is a positive shift, Nguyen concludes. “A video essay, in a way, encourages us to engage in good faith with ideas that we might not typically entertain or think of ourselves.”

Are you interested in contributing ideas, suggestions or opinions? We’d love to hear from you. Email us here .

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An eight-hour recap of Victorious? The ‘unhinged’ longform videos taking over YouTube

We’re told our attention spans are dying, but creators are cashing in from insanely long videos – which millions are watching

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A s short-form video app TikTok continues to dominate, it’s not uncommon to hear people decry the apparent destruction of the attention span. And from the emergence of TikTok copycats like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, the tech giants are actually banking on it.

But for creators like Quinton Hoover, who has amassed nearly 750,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel Quinton Reviews , the story is not that simple. Because when he hit “post” on his latest video – a goliath, eight-hour spoken essay dissecting the final two seasons of long-since cancelled Nickelodeon sitcom Victorious – he knew millions of people were going to watch and enjoy every minute of it.

“I often see viral posts of people just discussing at first the ridiculousness of this [video] existing – and then actually getting into it,” he says.

Hoover is in the middle of a wildly popular longform series reexamining the cultural phenomenon that was Nickelodeon’s sitcom cinematic universe. Starting with iCarly in June last year, the four videos published have collectively accrued 17m views with a total run time of nearly 22 hours – every minute filled with Hoover’s scripted analytical commentary.

“There’s a certain ‘meme’ quality to them … there’s something quite funny about a Victorious video that’s five hours,” he says. He played into that in his second Victorious release, recording a 20-minute extra segment just to get it over the eight-hour mark – to “really piss people off,” he laughs.

But instead of pissing people off, these videos have propelled the 25-year-old to new heights of popularity.

“It feels like they’re taking part in an experience by watching my content, in a way that I just don’t think I got that out of [my] 20-minute videos,” he says

My therapist: The eight-hour Victorious video isn't real, it can't hurt you. The eight-hour Victorious video: pic.twitter.com/e5xy4EW9fB — Laura Crone (@downwithlcc) March 13, 2022

Why not. Why shouldn't I watch the 8-hour long video talking about the Nickelodeon show Victorious. pic.twitter.com/edjMykaGp1 — Nipah 🐣 (@NipahDUBS) March 8, 2022

Hoover isn’t an outlier; in recent years, ultra-long video essays have exploded in popularity on YouTube .

There’s a two-and-a-half-hour look at the 2010’s supernatural teen drama The Vampire Diaries (9.3m views); an hour and 45 minute-long discussion about the sociopolitical roots of Envy (4.6m views); and a three-and-a-half-hour review of a Zelda video game (7.3m views).

pic.twitter.com/itBXS3VNnK — Mattastrophe (@gregheffishere) May 7, 2022

“This idea that our attention spans have completely been eroded is not totally true,” says Ashley Chang, a culture and trends manager at YouTube. “Clearly, this is high-value content to their audience, which is kind of surprising and wonderful, I think.

“I also think it’s interesting that – as you see in the comments – a lot of people aren’t even familiar with the source material. So, to me, also, a part of this phenomenon is the charisma of the creator – people just like spending time with them.”

Chang cites, as an example, Mike’s Mic: an Australian creator who unpacks the TV show Pretty Little Liars across a series of three movie-length videos.

Mike’s Mic – real name Michael Messineo – said he decided to go long-form when he began to burn out posting 10-20 minute videos each week.

“It was getting to the point where, for me, it started to feel a little bit repetitive,” he says.

“But Pretty Little Liars is one of the things that I’m hyper-fixated on. Like, till I die, I will be obsessed. So I thought, ‘OK, it’d be super fun to spend a lot of time and make this series.”

Conscious of the cultural trend towards short-form content, Messineo attempted to cut his first video down – but eventually resigned himself to a nearly two-hour-long final cut. “People seemed to respond really well to it,” he says. Titled “An appropriately unhinged recap of Pretty Little Liars (part 1)“, it ended up getting close to 5m views. “And then the second one was even bigger.”

‘This huge rabbit hole has consumed two years of my life’

If it works, it can pay off: higher-value ads placed in long-form videos generally make up for the income that’s lost from not uploading weekly. But they aren’t an easy win for the creators – especially those like Messineo, who use YouTube as their primary source of income.

“[The first video] took about two months, and in that two months, I wasn’t uploading anything … I essentially wasn’t really making money at all,” he says. “And with YouTube, if you spend two months on something and then it doesn’t pay off, then it’s like, you’re done.”

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Hoover’s reviews of shows like iCarly and Victorious take hundreds if not thousands of hours to produce, he says – or between four and seven months, with him sometimes working every day.

And his audience keeps wanting more – a 10-hour one, an 18-hour one.

“It’s great but it’s gotten to the point where … I have to make time for myself, even though that used to be the thing I was trying to get away from.”

So why are people so willing to dedicate hours of their time, across multiple days, to watch videos filmed from someone’s bedroom?

Perhaps with short-form video apps satisfying people’s itch for immediate entertainment, YouTube has started to fill a different place in people’s lives – whether as a music service, a source of atmospheric background noise, or, in the case of the labour intensive video essay, a replacement for traditional TV programming. It has analogies to video game streaming platform Twitch, where people will regularly tune in for hours on end to watch someone else play.

While Chang was hesitant to link the trend directly to the rise of TikTok, he agreed something new was happening.

“This kind of content tends to over-index on larger screens [such as a] connected television. That tells me that people are watching this kind of content in much the same way that they would watch a movie or a TV show,” he says.

“I think we’re beginning to see what feature-length content on YouTube could be, and to me, it’s really exciting.”

Hoover shares the sentiment.

“This whole thing ended up being this huge rabbit hole which has consumed two years of my life, and yet has coincidentally been the most successful thing I guess I’ve ever done.

“I’m terrified to see where it will lead next.”

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Creators are mitigating burnout with long-form YouTube videos

ANAHEIM, Calif. — While some VidCon attendees lined up for hours to try Squishmallow's "human claw machine" and packed into the Dream SMP panel to see their favorite Minecraft role-players, YouTuber Jenny Nicholson quietly posted her first YouTube video of the year.

The hour-and-20-minute dive into church plays — in which Nicholson plunged into the "cinematic universe" of a Canadian evangelical church's elaborate retellings of movies like "The Dark Knight" — seemed to counter the push for shorter content seen at VidCon. This year’s annual conference, where TikTok was the official partner for the first time, catered to short-form video content. (NBC News was a sponsor of the event.)

A massive installation of TikTok’s logo was on display front and center of the Anaheim Convention Center, where the conference took place. The majority of the event's billed "Featured Creators" primarily use TikTok as their main source of engagement.

Outside the convention center, a sprawling YouTube Shorts exhibit invited fans to post short videos for the chance to win custom snacks curated by popular creators. Instagram’s parent company, Meta, hosted an exclusive lounge on the top floor of the convention center, where staffers recorded participants before a variety of backdrops and assisted them in editing transitions and adding music to post to Reels. 

Social media platforms, creators and industry leaders alike may be scrambling to compete with bite-size content. But long-form YouTube videos — from a 50-minute video essay about the rise and fall of a popular creator to a two-hour-deep dive into a Reddit conspiracy theory — have endured the TikTok boom. 

The motto of the subreddit r/mealtimevideos is “Click and Consume.” The community of 2 million members organizes posts by video length, from 5 to 7 minutes to over an hour. On TikTok, lists of long-form video recommendations consistently go viral. YouTube playlists like “ best video essays about random niche subjects ” and “ video essays to fall asleep to ” provide hours of background noise.   

Nicholson, who attended VidCon as a Featured Creator, noted the demand for longer, nostalgic content on a panel featuring pop culture commentary YouTubers.

Even though it does the complete opposite of what industry experts and many established creators recommended, like posting frequently to engage with viewers, Nicholson's church play video was viewed more than a million times in the few days since she posted it. She and other creators who specialize in documentary-style deep dives, pop culture analyses and video essay takes have carved out a niche of viewers who demand quality over frequency.

For creators, the videos are a win-win situation: Their audiences love long-form videos as much as creators love making them. Specializing in feature-length videos has helped manage burnout, some creators say, because the content is easier to monetize than most short-form video options.

“People just want to put something on,” said Kevin Perjurer, the documentarian behind the “Defunctland” YouTube channel covering defunct theme parks and discontinued children’s TV. 

Creating feature-length videos helps Perjurer feel less feel pressured to post regular updates, he said. And for the most part, his audience remain invested.

“I think my audience is kind of along for the ride as far as whatever I’m doing,” Perjurer said. 

The demand for longer videos

Nicholson theorizes that the long-form genre remains popular because viewers enjoy consuming content without actively engaging with it. TikTok videos, for example, require viewers’ full attention, even if they’re scrolling through their For You pages. 

“There’s definitely a market for the stuff you can just put on and you don’t have to touch your phone and go to a new video because it’s not going to end on you while you’re doing your tasks,” Nicholson said. 

Nicholson’s YouTube content runs from just under half an hour to well over two, but her most popular videos are the longer ones. Her hour-and-a-half-long review of the book “Trigger Warning” garnered 5.4 million views, and her 2½-hour video on “The Vampire Diaries” series has 8.7 million views. Nicholson said that she avoids checking her channel’s analytics for her own sake but that she knows viewership drops off at about 30 seconds in. The viewers who stay, she said, typically stay for the entirety of the videos. 

Perjurer said long-form videos appeal to audiences who don't want to actively engage with content, unlike on TikTok.

“You’re constantly making decisions, whether you know it or not,” Perjurer said. “TikTok is such a decision-based platform. You’re making a decision even if you enjoy a video. You decided to keep watching, and every second of that video you’re making a decision.” 

Certain topics necessitate length and nuance. Kat Blaque, who also attended VidCon as a Featured Creator, makes content about the intersections of LGBTQ issues, race and pop culture.

She said that when she first began posting on YouTube nearly 15 years ago, she tried to keep her videos under 5 minutes but realized that for the conversations she wanted to elevate, “it’s not always productive to do it short-form.” 

“With the internet and YouTube, it kind of democratizes a lot of conversations,” Blaque said. “I talk a lot about sexual violence, sexual assault, trauma, things like that. I’ve made several very long videos where I talk about that sort of thing. ... I know that for me, hearing other people, how they process their own stuff, is productive for me.”

TikTok’s tendency to facilitate discussions about race, sexuality and other nuanced topics without context has been a source of frustration for many creators. It’s nearly impossible to have a productive conversation within the app’s 3-minute time limit, which concerns Blaque, because the algorithm “sometimes rewards misleading stuff by the nature of it being short.” 

“I think a lot of people just want to sit with you for a while.” 

youtuber kat blaque

Blaque said that even if she covers everything she wants to in a video essay, she has faced pressure from her viewers to make longer content and gotten comments from viewers asking why some of her video essays were only 10 minutes long. 

“I think I have a talent for making very heavy short videos, but sometimes people don’t want that,” Blaque said. “I think a lot of people just want to sit with you for a while.” 

Monetizing content is more sustainable

Monetizing longer videos can also be more sustainable than making it big on short-form video platforms.

Blaque will use YouTube Shorts to advertise her videos, which “does help you algorithmically,” because YouTube promotes them. 

“Sometimes it’s a different audience. Some people don’t want to sit through the long video. Some people are only going to want to see the short clip,” Blaque said. “And that’s the way that they get reached. So what I started to do is take clips from my longer content as a way of increasing engagement, because it does absolutely increase engagement.” 

Reaching a “different audience” using Shorts does drive traffic to her main channel, Blaque said, but “you don’t make a lot of money on Shorts.” 

“I will always make more money on my longer-form content on my YouTube channel,” Blaque said. “But I look at Shorts as like advertisements.” 

YouTube launched a $100 million YouTube Shorts fund last year to encourage creators to use the short-form feature, which YouTube’s director of discovery, Todd Beaupré, and Jimmy Donaldson, the creator known as MrBeast, highlighted during their VidCon panel about YouTube’s algorithm . 

TikTok’s Creator Fund reportedly pays 2 to 4 cents per 1,000 views, and it requires creators to have 10,000 followers and at least 100,000 authentic video views to qualify. Hank Green, who founded VidCon in 2010 with John Green, his brother, has expressed concern this year that the Creator Fund is being distributed among more creators than when it launched in 2020, which means creators are getting less per view. Green himself said his payout fell from 5 cents per 1,000 views to 2.5 cents per 1,000 views over the last two years, even though his account got more engagement than it did in 2020. 

Blaque said she made some cash off of Instagram Reels, which distributes bonuses to creators of thousands of dollars for posts. The factors that determine the bonuses are unclear, with creators reporting that they were offered $600 to $8,500 a month for their posts. 

Neither YouTube Shorts payouts nor TikTok’s Creator Fund payouts compare to those of the YouTube Partner Program. Users don’t have to be part of the partnership program to receive money from the Shorts fund — YouTube says it will distribute “bonuses” from the fund based on a channel’s Shorts performance each month. 

Qualifying as a partner, meanwhile, grants creators ad revenue from AdSense, which places ads throughout their videos, as well as a cut of subscription-based YouTube Premium revenue. The partnership program gives creators incentives to post higher-quality content over posting frequently, Perjurer said, unlike its Shorts fund and TikTok’s Creator Fund. 

“That’s based on your watch time,” Perjurer said. “It’s not based on clicks. It’s not based on views. You put out a long video, you’re guaranteed to get more watch time.” 

Mitigating burnout 

It took Blaque years to let go of feeling “beholden” to her audience’s demands for content. She said her viewers often expect her to make a video about “every single anti-LGBTQ thing.” The pressure to produce videos became an emotional burden.

“A lot of times when I look back at videos, I don’t particularly care for videos that I felt pressured to make,” Blaque said. “My mentality has really shifted a lot. There’s a lot of dark [expletive] happening right now. I don’t want to dwell on that, and I don’t think that the people who follow me want to dwell on that. I don’t emotionally want to do that.” 

Other long-form creators post less. 

Perjurer has posted on Defunctland just twice this year. A video he posted in November about the history of Disney’s FastPass, which was an hour and 43 minutes long, has more than 12 million views. Perjurer said the back catalog of monetized videos like the one he made about FastPass continues to attract viewers, which allows him to space out his posts and take the time to produce a thoroughly researched video. 

“Every time we put out new content and somebody finds us, they have five years’ worth of stuff to look at,” said Perjurer, who launched Defunctland in 2017. “The beauty of the feature piece is, I think, that you’re not reminding people that they’re forgetting about you.” 

Perjurer said some long-form creators may release supplementary media, such as shorter content that takes less time to produce or the occasional Twitch stream, to continue engaging with their audiences. He describes his typical feature-length content as "tentpole videos."

“On something as important as your main channel, it’s kind of this spaced-out content that you work really hard on,” he said. “I am so thrilled that there seems to be a step away from the 2017, 2018 YouTube that I started in, which was very much ‘Wait, you didn’t post last week, I thought you died.’ Now it’s ‘I can tell you worked really hard on this and it paid off.’ It’s an audience that’s evolving in a good way.” 

While the YouTube algorithm does recommend videos, seeking out content often involves more intention that stumbling upon a video via TikTok’s For You page. Long-form creators don’t need to make the same bids for viewer attention once they’ve established themselves in their niche — their content may not have the same reach on YouTube as it does on TikTok, but sustained engagement from a smaller audience is more valuable than high viewership on a single viral video. 

Nicholson’s supplementary media is on Patreon , where a subscription costs $1 to $25. The lowest membership tier grants subscribers access to Patreon-exclusive monthly videos from Nicholson, while the $5 tier allows subscribers to vote on the topic of the next monthly video. The highest membership tier lets subscribers submit the video topic ideas that the mid-tier subscribers vote on each month. 

“The burnout really came from, like, I noticed the views going up. I feel like as a YouTuber you want the views to go up, but the more it kept happening, the more I felt like people had higher expectations for each video."

youtuber jenny nicholson

Creating videos for Patreon, where she doesn’t have to brainstorm video ideas and people “didn’t care as much,” has relieved Nicholson of both financial stress and the pressure to outperform herself. When her channel began gaining traction in early 2020, demand for new content became “higher than ever,” Nicholson said, and she “got into this huge funk” over creating better and better content. 

“The burnout really came from, like, I noticed the views going up. I feel like as a YouTuber you want the views to go up, but the more it kept happening, the more I felt like people had higher expectations for each video,” Nicholson said. “It’s, like, more views, and people are nice, which is good, but then you’re like my next one has to be as good or my next one has to be better. You can’t keep getting better infinitely. There’s a ceiling in your abilities.” 

Nicholson pivoted to posting primarily on Patreon about a year ago. She said that the videos she posts for subscribers typically average around an hour long and that, behind a paywall, viewers are less likely to “uncharitably read in to” everything she says. It’s easier to share an unpopular opinion — especially when it comes to pop culture takes — with people who are more willing to hear out her arguments. 

Nicholson said she used to worry about her channel’s losing relevance because she doesn’t post as much on it, but the anticipation for her videos is reassuring. 

“I used to be more afraid of it — I feel like I worry all the time about what the algorithm is doing,” Nicholson said. “It’s like this big mysterious monster to everybody, and you only have a vague idea of how it works. But I was optimistic that it seems like there were enough people waiting for content that when I do put something out, people will probably show up for it.” 

Morgan Sung is a trends reporter for NBC News Digital.

What Is The Longest Video on YouTube ever & some interesting facts? 

Youtube, the world's leading video-sharing platform, hosts millions of videos, with new content being uploaded every day. as a result, one may wonder about the longest video on the platform.

Have you ever wondered what the longest video on YouTube is ? YouTube is the most popular video-sharing platform worldwide, with millions of videos being uploaded every day. In this article, we will explore the longest video on YouTube, how long it is, and what it’s all about. Let’s dive in! 

• 1 What is the longest video on YouTube ever?
• 2 How long can a YouTube video be?
• 3 How long can a YouTube live stream be?
• 4.1 1 – How Does the Longest Video Compare to Other Long Videos on YouTube?
• 4.2 2 – Can You Make Money from the Longest Video on YouTube?
• 4.3 3 –  Is the Longest Video on YouTube Worth Watching?
• 4.4 4 – Top 10 longest YouTube videos 

What is the longest video on YouTube ever?

The longest video on YouTube is currently held by Jonathan Harchick, who uploaded a video titled “THE LONGEST VIDEO ON YOUTUBE – 596 HOURS” on December 31, 2016. Harchick says about this longest YouTube video that “I challenge anyone to try and make a longer video.” The video is exactly as advertised – an astounding 596 hours, 31 minutes, and 10 seconds long, which amounts to over 24 days of uninterrupted footage.

The video is essentially a compilation of thousands of clips from other videos, TV shows, and movies that Harchick pieced together to create this mammoth video. He uploaded the video as an experiment to see how long a video he could upload on YouTube. While the video is not meant to be watched in one sitting, it’s perfect to play in the background while doing other things.

The clips in the video range from music videos to news broadcasts, and the compilation itself has become something of a cultural phenomenon, with viewers tuning in to see how long they can last before giving up. Currently, the video has over 12 million views and over 155,000 likes. 

It’s worth noting that the longest video on YouTube is not the most-watched video on the platform. That honor belongs to Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito” music video, which has amassed over 7.6 billion views. Nonetheless, Harchick’s video is undoubtedly impressive, especially given its length and the effort it took to put together.

How long can a YouTube video be?

The length of a YouTube video is an important factor to consider for creators who want to engage their audience effectively. Generally, the maximum length of a YouTube video is 12 hours for most users. This should be more than enough for the majority of purposes. However, there are some exceptions to this rule.

For instance, if you have a verified account and have demonstrated a good track record of adhering to YouTube’s community guidelines, you may be able to upload longer videos up to 128 GB in size. This is a considerable increase in video length and file size, and it can be useful for creators who want to produce more in-depth content or longer-form video essays.

It’s important to keep in mind that longer videos can also take longer to upload and process, which means it may take some time before your video is available for viewers to watch. Additionally, longer videos may also be more challenging for viewers to consume in one sitting, so it’s generally a good idea to keep videos concise and focused on a specific topic to ensure engagement.

How long can a YouTube live stream be?

Before we dive into the world of the longest YouTube videos, it’s essential to understand how long a YouTube live stream can be. Live streams are different from regular videos, as they are streamed in real-time. A live stream can go on for hours or even days, depending on the creator’s preference.

In general, a standard live stream can last up to 12 hours, after which YouTube will automatically end the stream. However, if a creator has a special reason to stream for longer, they can request an extension from YouTube. This request is called a ‘hard cut extension’ and can allow the creator to stream for up to 24 hours. If the creator still needs more time, they can request another extension, but this is rare and only granted in exceptional circumstances.

Some long YouTube videos-related topics

1 – how does the longest video compare to other long videos on youtube.

While the longest video on YouTube is an impressive feat, it is not the only long video on the platform. There are many other videos on YouTube that are several hours or even days long. For example, there are videos of live streams that have run continuously for weeks or even months!

2 – Can You Make Money from the Longest Video on YouTube?

No, it’s unlikely that anyone could make any significant money from the longest video on YouTube. YouTube’s monetization policies require that videos be at least 8 minutes long and meet certain other requirements. As the longest video on YouTube is 596.5 hours long, it does not meet these requirements and therefore cannot be monetized.

3 –  Is the Longest Video on YouTube Worth Watching?

The longest video on YouTube is not intended to be watched in its entirety. However, if you’re curious, you can skip around the video and see some of the clips that Harchick included. The video is a fascinating experiment and an impressive feat of endurance, but it’s not for everyone.

4 – Top 10 longest YouTube videos 

Top 10 longest YouTube videos ever uploaded are as follows: 

#1 “THE LONGEST VIDEO ON YOUTUBE – 596 HOURS” by Jonathan Harchick (596 hours, 31 minutes, and 8 seconds)

#2 “THE LONGEST YOUTUBE VIDEO EVER – 571 HOURS” by TVFilthyFrank (571 hours, 1 minute, and 9 seconds)

#3 “SUDARSHAN KRIYA LIVE || Day-1 || International Yoga Festival 2016 || Parmarth Niketan” by International Yoga Festival (401 hours, 50 minutes, and 8 seconds)

#4 “JONATHAN’S EXTREME LONGEST VIDEO ON YOUTUBE OF ALL TIME” by Jonathan Harchick (360 hours, 1 minute, and 10 seconds)

#5 “24/7 lofi hip hop radio – beats to study/chill/relax” by Chillhop Music (338 hours, 7 minutes, and 37 seconds)

#6 “The Yogic Prescription: Healing the Body, Strengthening the Mind, and Nurturing the Spirit” by Niroga Institute (252 hours, 2 minutes, and 35 seconds)

#7 “Nature Relaxation Films” by Nature Relaxation Films (214 hours, 43 minutes, and 34 seconds)

#8 “11:11:11:11” by Felix Colgrave (190 hours, 11 minutes, and 11 seconds)

#9 “Prayer for Peace: Religions Together” by soka gakkai (164 hours, 38 minutes, and 50 seconds)

#10  “365 days to Moksha- the Ultimate Journey” by Vishen Lakhiani (147 hours, 56 minutes, and 15 seconds).

It’s important to note that the length of a YouTube video is not necessarily indicative of its quality or popularity. Many shorter videos have had a significant impact on the platform and have achieved widespread recognition and acclaim. Nonetheless, these videos stand as some of the longest content ever uploaded to YouTube.

In short, the longest video on YouTube is “The Longest Video on YouTube – 596.5 Hours Long!” This video is a compilation of thousands of clips from other videos, TV shows, and movies, and was created as an experiment by Jonathan Harchick in 2012. The video is not intended to be watched in its entirety but rather as a background video that you can leave on while doing other things.

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Do you have what it takes to watch the 38-hour-long YouTube video about The Beverly Hillbillies?

The story of Quinton Reviews’ longest video yet is actually about dads

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There’s an art to making an ultra-long YouTube video. For one, you have to make sure it’s broken up into digestible, complete chunks so that people can take natural-feeling breaks. Second, you have to use the length to your advantage. These are all things that Quinton Hoover thinks of when he publishes a video for Quinton Reviews, a pop culture video essay channel that’s recently been devoted to recapping a series episode by episode or breaking down years of history for a show.

Hoover has been a content creator for a decade, with around 881,000 subscribers at the time of publication. For the first several years, he would make skits or 30-minute breakdowns about popular TV shows and Garfield, but he’s become known lately for a slate of videos about 2000s-era Nickelodeon shows — specifically because these videos take longer than a standard eight-hour workday to sit through. For example, his three-part series on Sam & Cat (part of an even longer saga about the iCarly / Victorious universe ) will take over 21 hours to watch. So the fact that he has uploaded another long video about a TV show isn’t novel. This time, though, was different.

On April Fools’ Day 2024, Hoover began uploading his longest video yet , which chronicles the history of The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction , two long-running sitcoms from the 1960s, written and narrated by his dad, Russ Hoover, who would be familiar to fans of the channel. But then viewers looked at the length: 38 hours, 27 minutes, 48 seconds. To put that into perspective, many segments of the video are longer than two-hour movies; the full video will take over a day and a half to watch. It’s not the longest YouTube video ever — that honor belongs to “The Longest Video on YouTube: 596.5 Hours” — but it’s pretty close, especially when you consider it doesn’t contain any loops or many hours of a blank screen.

I was asked to edit about 30 minutes of this video for Quinton! I wonder how long the finished video ended up... OH MY LORD https://t.co/BMn1Zz108w — Devnul (@therealdevnul) April 3, 2024

“So I think that the thing people are going to be most surprised to learn is that this video wasn’t necessarily something that I had planned, it was something that happened to me,” Hoover told Polygon. Hoover’s father had started rewatching those two shows chronologically and decided he wanted to try his hand at a video about them. “[My dad] just walks up to me one day, and he says, ‘Hey, I had an idea. [...] What if, for April Fools’ one day, I talked about the shows that I’m watching?’ And I didn’t think about it. I said, ‘We’re doing that.’”

Hoover worked to help his dad with the project, but he ran into a problem quickly: Russ had a lot to say.

“He sends me the script. And then — I was in shock when I saw it. Because I said, ‘Dad, this Google Doc is like, 400 pages,’” he recounted. “And I was like, ‘Dad, it takes me two and a half minutes to read every page I write. [...] You know how this is gonna be like 40 hours of stuff?’ And I was really, really upset. He thought it was funny.”

Another reason why the video took years to make was because Russ first had to learn how to make one. Hoover helped his father edit and condense his scripts, and also taught him what to explain to the audience. For example, Russ wanted to talk about The Beverly Hillbillies star Buddy Ebsen and, according to Hoover, he initially did not actually explain to the viewers who that was.

“I remember the first month he was recording. I’d sit in the living room while he recorded in his bedroom. I just listened to him record, and then I’d come and knock on the door, and I would go, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’” he said. “‘You need to explain what this thing is. Because you don’t explain these things, you know?’ So it was just a funny process.”

Unfortunately, in 2022, Russ got into a bad car accident, which Hoover described as a “near-death experience,” that required his father to get multiple leg surgeries. The long recovery process meant that Russ suddenly had a lot of downtime. “That was the reason that we got so much of the video done at the end of the day. [...] He just had these awful months and months and months where he just couldn’t get out of bed.

“It was very therapeutic for us to work on this together, to kind of make this art project and have something to do while he got better,” Hoover went on. “And so it was very much about me trying to just share kind of the love I have for my father with some of my viewers.”

There were many other complications in the process, though. There were a lot of technological constraints, which makes sense for a 38-hour video. For one, Adobe Premiere Pro doesn’t allow users to make a video longer than 24 hours, so the video had to be edited in chunks. Then there’s the matter of YouTube video limits. Being verified or in the partner program means you can upload longer videos, but it’s still unclear what the upper limit actually is. As someone who’s repeatedly tested the bounds of what YouTube will allow in terms of video size and length, Hoover says he’s had inconsistent success. For the Beverly Hillbillies video, he uploaded four videos: Two failed, one was stuck in processing, and one eventually succeeded.

The video also just took a lot of effort. According to Hoover, the full video featured the work of around 22 people, took multiple years to make, was written almost entirely by Russ (with transitions by Hoover), and was around 133 GB (and that’s after a ton of compression to make it as small as possible). And, unfortunately for the team, it took over a day to upload and process; it finally went live on April 3, a little too late for a true April Fools’ joke.

Still, the video essay is doing well, all things considered. At the time of writing, it has around 660,000 views (Hoover is aiming for over 1 million). Many of the comments on the video talk about how informative it is, or how it makes sense that Russ would publish longer videos than even his son does (like father, like son). Then there are the jokes about how it’s long enough to basically be a college course.

Hoover generally gets a lot of angry messages and comments when he uploads one of his longer videos, but he says this project has still been a positive experience, at least for his father. Russ isn’t as much of a public figure online and therefore “doesn’t have to experience [the negative comments], which I’m grateful for,” says Hoover.

“There’s a lot of hostility to the stuff that I do that really burns me out,” Hoover said. “I always knew there’d be a certain amount of anger, because that always happens to me now. I can’t release anything anymore. So I’ve definitely gotten that specifically on, like, Twitter, from people that don’t watch my stuff.”

Hoover in general is burned out on his particular video essay format, and told Polygon that he might take a break after this to spend more time with his parents (his dad is doing well, he adds), build some models, go on walks, and decompress. “Doing stuff like that is one of the only ways you can really disconnect from that kind of hyper-consistent negativity. And I think if I just give myself a few months of that, I’ll come back healthier in mind and body.”

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