Vocabulary

guy	consume	comment
jello	zombie	mechanism
fun	involve	face-to-face
niece	free time	slow-motion
fulfill	segment	dashboard
accent	amateur	control panel
fire (3)	income	trigger (2)
freak	frown on	abundance
mega	shortage	ammunition
source	slingshot	inspiration
niche	addicted	first of all
engage	constant	full length
funny	lifelong	backyard
evolve	scout (3)	feature film
cookie	release	proceeds

 
 
 
 
 

Video

 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

This guy knows how to make mega slingshots: he fires cookies at jello targets. Every week, Jorg Sprave produces a new YouTube video.

Is he crazy? No he’s just having a lot of fun.

“I’ve become addicted to YouTube, and I can’t live without it.”

In real live, Jorg Sprave is a businessman working in the electronics industry. But he’s always spent his free time building slingshots.

Four years ago, he posted his first YouTube video. Every weekend the 48 year old produces a new video in his backyard, in a small town north of Nuremberg. His niece Yulia, presses the button.

He finances the expense of slow-motion camera with proceeds from his videos which are linked to ads. YouTube gives him a portion of the two to eight thousand euros generated each month.

“I never thought I could make so much money doing this kind of thing — and for most of the time, I didn’t. For more than three years, it helped pay a little bit for my materials…but now it’s turned into a good income.”

His slingshot channel has nearly 300,000 subscribers. The German amateur filmmaker shoots his films in English.

“Hello and welcome to the slingshot channel.”

His strong German accent is part of the act.

“So if you’re in here, it’s kind of your control panel here; the dashboard. You have the winch, which you can use to cock the mechanism, to pull the rubber. And you have the trigger here.”

Jorg Sprave says he can speak English without an accent — but fans love his German pronunciation.

What they love most though is when he hits the target.

Jorg Sprave is no gun freak; that’s why he often uses food.

There’s always a few people who frown on it and say I shouldn’t waste food. I say there’s an abundance of food. I don’t think there’s a shortage somewhere because I shot a cookie with a slingshot. I think it’s better for me to use food as ammunition instead of consuming it myself.”

His video channel gets eight hundred to a thousand comments a day. Jorg Sprave says contact with his fans is important and a source of inspiration.

Sometimes he even meets his friends face-to-face, like here at the YouTube Video Day in Cologne. His slingshot channel is one of Germany’s most successful channels internationally.

And there are good reasons for that success.

“First of all, they have a very strong passion, a niche content that audience likes, and they are very regular and constant in uploading,” says Sara Mormino, YouTube Talent Scout. “A second thing is that they engage with their audience, meaning that they speak to their audience. They involve them in the creative process. And they continuously evolve their videos.”

Jorg Sprave has even bigger plans for his video. He wants to fulfill his lifetime dream of becoming an actor.

“I want to make a zombie movie. A full length feature film that I will release in segments in YouTube.”

YouTube is covering part of the costs. And production has already begun.

 

 

Questions

1. Jorg Sprave makes and uploads videos about travel and cooking. True or false?

2. For Jorg, is making YouTube videos tedious and grueling?

3. What is Jorg’s “real” job or profession?

4. Does he work alone or do others help him make videos?

5. Jorg narrates his videos in German. Is this correct or incorrect? Does he speaks with a strong German accent? Why does he speak with a strong German accent? Is his English bad?

6. Do some people criticize Jorg’s videos? Why do some people criticize Jorg’s videos?

7. Jorg’s ultimate goal is to become a very successful electronics businessman. He wants to have a very successful business. Is this right or wrong?
 
 
A. Is there an idea or message or lesson of this video?

B. Do you often watch Youtube? Are you a fan of certain channels or types of videos?

C. Have your friends, classmates, or colleagues made amateur videos and uploaded them on YouTube?

D. What sort of (YouTube) videos would you like to make? What kind of videos could you produce?

E. What might happen in the future?