Bringing ol' blue back to life.igh: ldFor s
.
Over the month of October 2017, Kevin
posted the four-part series of the F250 revival.
It quickly picked upadecentamount of views.
“I figured, ‘Okay,thisisg oing to do quite
well’;Iwas thinking in the tens of thousands.”
On October 29, DavidTracy, from the car site
Jalopnik, postedastory on the F250 under the
title, ‘I Can’tStop Watching TheseTwoGuys
TrytoReviveaTruck That’sBeen Abandoned for
26 Years’. Tracy includedalink to the videos,
describing them as captivating.
When Kevin checked hisYouTube analytic
data, he sawabig spikeint he viewing figures.
In Februaryheposted another revival video
featuring an old Fiat sports car with an
unwanted guest.Agrumpy possum was living in
the car,and refused to budge. Kevin smiles
at the memory.‘Godblessthepossum!’
Between the possum video and the Jalopnik
reference, viewing figures for the F250
snowballed. The success of the videos brought
in revenue for Kevin and Luke, creating the
opportunity to ‘buy more junk’. For anyone
thinking of trying their hand at making
something similar,theycan offer some hard-
learned advice.
“Take the time to plan out what you intend
to do,” Luke explains. “Wedidn’thaveascript
of what to say,wemade ascene guide, listing
each procedure to go through in order to getthe truck running. It gives you some direction
in whatyour conversation will be and it helps to
createaflow,both for dialogue and for filming.”
Kevin adds: “You see channels where the guy is
just talkingaway. He hasn’tprepared. Stick to
what you are doing, explain it, and keep it short
and relevant. That way,people get what your
thought process is, even when you screw up!”
With the F250, there is genuine humour when
they missavital component prepping the truck
to start. Instead of editing out their mistakes they
are open about them.
“Why edit them out?” says Kevin. “It’s
human nature to drop the ball everynow
andthen. We wanted to take people along
forrthe adventure and see our fails as well as
thhewins.” Speaking of editing, Kevin agrees
it’ssthe bugbear of everyYouTuber.“Youwill
sppend alot longer editing than you ever did
filming. That’swhy you need to plan out your
sccenes before you start. It helps at the other
enndwhen you are trimming footage down to
aa 2200 - oorr 3300 - mmiinnuutteevviiddeeoo.”
“Andmindyourlanguage!”Lukelaughs.
““WhenKevinstartedfilmingagainafterayear in the military, Iwas like ,‘Dude, you cannot
say that!’.” It’sathornyissue forYouTube.
Viewers and potential advertisers shy away from
it. Twoyears on and the F250 is safely tucked
away at Kevin’shome. The Ford is still pulling
in viewers and subscribers. The four part-series
has totalled over eight million views to date.
Junkyard Digs boasts overaquarter-of-a-million
subscribers. Kevin still hunts out old cars for his
channel, but there isacatch .“It doesn’tmatter
what Ido, or what carIfind,all Iever get asked
is, ‘When are you doing another video on the
Ford?’.” He struggles to nail down exactly what
made these videos so successful; after all, dozens
of other channels fix up old pick-up trucks.
Wasitp ublici ty,orapossum? Perhaps part of
the appeal goes beyond the entertainment of
watchingavehicle brought back to life−it taps
something deeper in the psyche of the viewers
−the heroes of the storyventure intoaforgotten
world onaquest to recover an ancient treasure.
Against the odds, the underdogs succeed. It’s
aawwiinnnniinnggffoorrmmuullaa,aassoollddaasstthheewwrriitttteennwwoorrdd.
WhatKevinandLukedid,wastobringtheir
brilliantV 8 versiontothescreen.And if you fancy seeing Kevin
and Luke in action, just search
for ‘F250 Rescue’ onYoutube, or
the JunkyardDigs channel andfill
your boots!
classic-american