This is How We Bingham - An Interview with Branden Bingham

Hey Everyone

Welcome to a very special blog.

If you are a regular viewer of You Tube you may have come across the channel
This is How We Bingham 
(click on the link to check out their channel and subscribe for their daily Vlogs)


I came across these guys through their famous and beautiful cat Lazzy who is also a You Tube star, this video has been picked up by many social media platforms but to see how he earned his nickname The Frozen Kitten check this video out here

Now I am completely honoured to have both Mindy and Branden onboard for this interview which will give you a look into one of You Tubes biggest Vlogger family's

Starting off with part one of the interview is Branden


Q1 - What made you guys start vlogging? 
B -Wow, this is a big one. We've been asked this so many times and the best thing I can come up with is that it was a gradual process and not so much a singular decision. i've always loved creating family videos. I got really into it with the purchase of my first GoPro. We'd document trips to the water park or family vacations and I'd make a sick "highlight" video of our activities. People would ask for longer videos or more "talking" in the videos. We tried vlogging and I think over the course of a full year we posted five vlogs. LOLOLOL, we sucked at it and I hated it. It felt so weird to talk to a camera in my face, especially in public. We didn't know what to shoot or how to shoot a daily vlog. I didn't know how to edit it, what to leave in and what to take out. Editing took days sometimes and the idea of a daily vlog seemed impossible with the amount of effort that went into each one. From there, I think we just never stopped loving sharing our lives and documenting our journey. Over time we got better at the mechanics of it all and improved our process, but since our passion for documenting life was so strong we were able to power through the awkward and difficult start into vlogging and eventually get to where it is today. And we still LOVE it!! 

Q2 - When you guys moved into daily vlogging how long did it take for it to become natural, I've done a few vlogs now and getting used to talking to a camera takes a lot of practise but you guys look so natural doing it.
B - Oh, I answered a lot of this in my first response. But I'd say it took a good few months or more for it to become "natural" and I think even still we continue to improve and streamline and just get better at the storytelling and sharing. Just when we get the routine down we like to shake it up and try new things to keep improving the content and experience for our YouTube family around the world! I'd say to this day Mindy is still much better at addressing the camera in public than I am. I do great in the house but I still look around for a quiet moment in public before I start shouting and waving my hand. Not Mindy though, she just turns the camera on and goes for it! Any situation, any time, any place. She's kind of awesome like that ;)

Q3 - I know from running two blogs a lot goes in to work behind the scenes with promotion can you give an idea what works goes in behind the scenes with getting the vlog up every day.
B - Yikes, this could be a whole series of blog posts on its own! This is definitely the part most people don't see or consider. Even as an avid YouTube consumer and content creator, I never realized all that went into it until I actually tried doing it on my own. There's the obvious filming that goes on throughout the day. Take for example my ridiculous attempt at changing a tire. But I can't just change the tire, I need to set up multiple angles of the tire being changed. Think through a POV shot, then a wider angle, then maybe a medium distance shot. Create some dialogue that will help the viewer understand what's going on and takes them through the process of what I'm feeling, how it's going, how I'm reacting to the situation. For the most part you are just living your life as normal, but when you're planning on sharing it with hundreds of thousands of people you have to think through how you are going to present that to them in the most engaging way. Oh man, I just realized I've only talked about the filming so far! And that's usually the easiest part. So then of course there's the editing and that begins once the kids go to bed and can last up to about five hours depending on the amount of content shot that day. It's difficult at times because since I am the one editing but Mindy does the bulk of the filming while i'm at work, I'm usually seeing the footage for the first time when I sit down to edit it. So it's reviewing and editing all in one sitting. I usually go to bed around 2 or 3am but in the last couple months have gotten much more efficient with my time and with the help of Mindy getting the kids into bed I am able to start earlier and am often done editing by midnight or 1am. As I've gotten better at the editing part, instead of getting to bed sooner I've found other areas to improve on. I'll spend more time on the thumbnail or do additional research for keyword tags and applicable titles. There's of course the daily question of what are we going to film and show the world today. Some days there's just not anything "epic" going on. But we've learned over time that our audience is ok with that and they just like to be a part of our day, even when that means sitting around the house doing nothing. And we love them for that! We try to keep up on our other social channels as well so we'll do Insta stories throughout the day and make daily posts to Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to let people know when our latest vlog has posted. I guess other than that it's just something that is always on your mind. You never stop thinking about creating and sharing moments in life. Something big happens and your first thought is where's the camera! It becomes second nature and takes much less thought over time. And if you love it, it never seems to get in the way.

Q4 - Can you both name your top 3 vlogs and why?
B - I tend to like the "epic" ones. High energy, fast cut edits, thumping music, and some kind of outdoor activity that involves screaming. Hahaha, with more than 400 videos posted to our channel, I can't say these are for sure my top 3 but I love our 100K celebration series. It was something we were looking forward to for so long and we wanted to so bad to do something big and something that would be fun for our YouTube family to enjoy and I really think it was an amazing week of fun and epic vlogs. Gosh, it's really hard to think of specific vlogs! I LOVE our annual recap videos. The Best of Bingham. They are the biggest pain to make (just time consuming) but when you put all the epicness from an entire year into one video it's just amazing to look back and go woah, what a year!  Another one, even though I don't love that it happened, is Krew's broken collar bone vlog. We had no idea it would be the third most watched video on our channel when it was happening but what I love is that it shows throughout just how much our family loves each other. It's filled with tenderness and kindness and thoughtfulness. It's got some playful humor, tough spirits, and great attitudes. I'm glad it's one so many people got to see.

Q5 - What's been your funniest moments?
B - Well it's always fun to make fun of me. My lack of handiness around the house. My excessive use of the hand. The words and phrases I'm too old to be using. I kinda love it. Some of the things the kids will say and do can be hilarious too. Especially when they've been watching us vlog for so long they pick up on things and somehow coming out of their mouths it's ten times cuter and more hilarious. 

Q6 - I found you guys from Lazzy's original frozen kitten video - Does it feel surreal when you know your videos are watched world wide?
B - I don't think we've ever really wrapped our head around the number of people watching world wide. Sometimes we'll be at a concert or sporting event and look around the sold out arena and go, wow there are four times this many people subscribed to our YouTube channel. Or woah, more people watched today's video than are at this Justin TImberlake concert. That kind of stuff just makes you go wow, but we quickly move on and don't give it too much thought. I still like to feel like we're just making fun family movies to share with family and friends.

Q7 - Hitting 100k was an epic achievement - that aside what has been your favourite memory since you started this journey? 
B - One of my greatest memories has to be the letters we receive from our subscribers around the world. People who say they didn't use to spend much time together as a family but now they gather every night for some "Bingham Time". Or people who share stories of severe depression who are only able to get out of bed if they start the day watching one of our vlogs. There was one individual who had suffered from and wrestled with extreme depression so hard and for so long that they had decided to stop fighting. They made arrangements to end their life and decided to scan their social feeds one last time before saying farewell. They came across our vlog and found themselves watching one after the other after other until eventually the sun came up and the next day began. I don't think I'll ever get over that one. That one keeps me going at night when I'm tired or the daily grind gets too hard or I'm not sure if this is what we should be doing or if it's worth all the effort or if it even matters at all. Stories like that remind me this is much bigger than us. It's bigger than the Binghams. It's bigger than fun videos uploaded to YouTube. 

None of this is possible without each and every one of our loyal YouTube family members. We are overwhelmed daily with the love and support and sincere interest in our lives and the lives of our kids. We say it all the time but we truly believe we have been blessed with the best YouTube family out there!


I have to say a huge thank you to both Braden and Mindy for agreeing to take part with this interview, don't forget to go and check out their daily vlogs on You Tube. Part 2 of the interview with Mindy will follow very soon don't forget to pop back and check it out. 

Thanks for checking out the blog, don't forget to leave comments below and check back for Mindy's interview which will be on the way soon

Love Holly 

x

Comments

  1. Thank you for this insight into what goes on behind the scenes with Branden and Mindy. This is a calling to them. Its not a hobby or side job. And we love, LOVE them for it. I suffer from bipolar manic depression. Watching these guys is so soothing. I wind up watching several vlogs a day. I never get tired of them. I actually think of them, feel for them more than a lot of my own family, (except for my sons and their families, who I live for).

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    Replies
    1. I know what you mean I've been watching them since March of 2020 when the pandemic started. They feel like part of my family.
      Brandon almost feels like a brother to me just from watching their family videos. Hope someday to meet the Bingham's.

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    2. I have been watching them for a while and it has been cool to see their personalities come out.

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