Digital SpiceBox. Three Components of a Successful ASMR Video. The world is divided into two types of people those that experience ASMR,

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1 1 The world is divided into two types of people those that experience ASMR, and those that don t! Figure 1 ASMR Triggers Congratulation, your are a tinglehead! You experience relaxing tingles that when triggered by certain sensory stimuli spread all the way from the back of your neck into your spine. It feels so pleasing and relaxing that certain people refer to the sensation as braingasm. Maybe it was the voice of your first grade teacher that initially triggered a similar sensation in you? Perhaps you go to get a haircut more often than others because you feel the tingly sensation spreading all over your body, when the attentive stylist gently washes your hair. But all this is old news, isn t it? Because one night, anxious and unable to sleep, you hopped on YouTube and landed on a whisper video. And just like that you ve discovered that others also respond in a similar way to head massages and certain voices because just like you they have ASMR. ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. It s not a scientific name because at this time there are no studies conducted on the effects of ASMT triggers on the brain. And it makes it harder to quantify because not everyone responds to ASMR.

2 2 What we need at this point, writes Steven Novella, Director of General Neurology at the Yale School of Medicine, on his Neuroscience blog, are functional MRI and transcranial magnetic stimulation studies that look at what is happening in the brains of people while experiencing ASMR versus typical controls. Are their brains really different, and in what way? I also wonder if the same or similar experience can be artificially induced in typical (non-asmr) people. 1 After watching numerous ASMR videos you are ready to return a favor to the whisper community, and you ve decided to make your own ASMR content. But how do you produce a successful ASMR video? A strategy for a successful ASMR video involves three instrumental components Form, Content, and Technology. Lets start from Form. FORM First things first! Take some time to meditate on the various options relating to form and delivery. Are you feeling comfortable being on camera, or would you prefer starting with a still image and relying primarily on your voice to carry out the piece? Personality and appearance of some ASMRtists drive their films; while others might chose to show only a part of their body like their torso and their hands as they folding origami paper, for instance. Yet others rely solely on their voice to facilitate relaxation, and all the viewers see is a still image of a forest or a sunset. When you ve made up your mind whether you ll be on camera, now it s time to think about the sound track. Are you interested in primarily using your voice to stimulate tingles? Or would you rather trigger your viewer by creating sound effects like crinkling a paper bag, or running your fingers through the bristles of a hairbrush, or maybe typing rhythmically on a keyboard? Experimenting with various forms of presentation, while figuring out your ASMR niche is perfectly acceptable. All mentioned above considerations are valid 1

3 3 consideration relating to form and delivery. But remember, if you are not comfortable being center frame, don t feel you re obligated to. It s better making a video with tingling sound effects, a relaxing audio track, and a single still as your visual; rather than counteracting the intention of ASMR by generating an anxious reaction in your viewer because they will always subconsciously notice if you feel out of place on camera. TRIGGERS & CONTENT After deciding on your video s look and sound, it s time to think about the meat and potatoes of your film its content. This is where you get to plot out the storyline and plant the triggers, which would hopefully release a tingelicious physical response in your audience. Jeff Thomson, the creator of a popular ASMR website, The ASMR Lab, 2 mentions seven common triggers ASMRtists use in their films: Whispering; Scratching and tapping; Blowing; Turning pages; Personal attention; Touching head (for instance, head massage or hair brushing); And Bob Ross a painter, and a star of The Joy of Painting, an American PBS program, who apparently has induced virginal ASMR responses in tingleheads across the world. Bob s tantalizing paint- smearing technique, and his calming and positive narration that is often centers on trivialities (such as squirrels or cherry tomatoes), keeps Ross videos popular among tingle- hunters 2 asmr- triggers/ Figure 2 Bob Ross

4 4 even after his death. Certainly people who have ASMR respond to various triggers, and often to more than one. Naturally, video producers combine multiple sensory stimuli in a single piece to enhance the viewer s experience. It is also a wise marketing approach because it maximizes the chances for a single video to be appreciated by a wider audience. So how do you create interesting content, and attract ASMR folks to your channel? You could always start by sharing your own interests with others. There are many successful ASMR videos where the artist simply shares mundane details with their audience. For instance, the person might share the contents of their purse on screen, while filming their hands going slowly through various objects inside the bag. If you are considering making such a video, an effective ASMR technique is to tap your fingers on various containers while introducing the object to the camera. Running your nails slowly across certain fabrics and surfaces is also a common tactic to trigger tingles. Another mundane yet successful scenario option is to film you brushing hair or applying makeup. Some content creators stage such activities, and make it very involved and theatrical. But you can keep it real and relatively uncomplicated by taping your personal grooming routine as you prepare for the day. Such videos incorporate multiple and powerful triggers. For instance, you could whisper rather than using regular volume and intonation. There s another potent trigger playing out in this type of film Personal Attention. To elicit a pleasing sensory response in your own video you might decide to gently and slowly caress your skin with a fluffy brush. Figure 3 To take your ASMRart a notch higher consider role- playing. Some of the most successful ASMRtist, like Maria of Gentle Whispering 3 and Ally of ASMR Requests 4, create involved, well- researched, and thought- out video productions. Recently, for example, Maria has created a 42- minute- long ASMR video where she played the role of an esthetician. Addressing the camera as her Maria, Gentle Whispering 3 Gentle Whispering YouTube channel: 4 ASMR Requests YouTube channel:

5 5 client in soft Russian accent and attentive manner, Maria appeared dressed for the part. Emphasizing personal attention she reclined the camera to make the viewer s experience more realistic. Maria used a wide variety of props, including a real steamer, letting it bubble and steam in time for a facial. Whether you give your viewers a Cranial Nerve examination or prepping them to battle aliens, it is important to research the topic and spend time on building an original script. It is easy to get caught in other s content, and end up producing redundant video. So research your topic, engage your creative muscles, and don t waste time by beating a dead ASMR horse. And please research your topic and scenario. It is a major downer to get all excited about a new video, and then realize that the producer has no clue about the topic they re enacting. Lets imagine that you ve decided to appear as a gypsy fortuneteller and divine by pulling some tarot cards, but have no idea what any of the cards you re pulling mean so you just make things up as you go. You must realize that someone out there reads tarot cards; and when they realize that all you ve done is dress up, they ll surely turn off the video and probably never visit your channel again. Figure 4 Ally, ASMR Requests

6 6 But you might want to invent your subject altogether. Interestingly, ASMR lends itself easily to the genre of Sci- Fi, where uber creative ASMRtist come up with original, and literally out of this world, content. If you are considering enticing futuristic tingles, I highly recommend checking out the amazing ASMR Request channel for inspiration. Ally, the ASMRrtist responsible for creating an ASMR sci- fi series The Departure, produces top- notch videos with original content, superb videography, and seamless, studio standard, special effects. EQUIPMENT & TECHNOLOGY After mentioning ASMR Requests it is only natural to transition and discuss the technology you might consider to use in your videos. If you ve been around the ASMR community, or just started watching tingle videos, you know that Binaural is an important term that is often featured in video titles. So what is Binaural? Binaural recording are two channel recordings created by placing two Omnidirectional microphones in or as close to the ears as is practical. Using this technique, the location information contained in the frequency. Amplitude and phase responses of the left and right channels closely match the cues required by human auditory system to localize sound sources. Positioned in this way, these Binaural microphones accurately capture sonic information coming from all directions and will produce extremely realistic recordings when listened to through headphones. 5 In other words, these are two microphones that if spaced as if located on the ears of a person, will make the listener feel as if they are real life participants in the video. Naturally, the enhanced real- life atmosphere induces a higher physical sensation so you might want to invest in a Binaural microphone, giving your viewers a 3- D, enhanced sound experience. 5

7 7 However, the most important tool you need to create you videos is obviously a camera. For best results aim at a High Definition recorder. Today, many ASMRtist go for using their smart phones instead of cameras. Lets take iphone 5 for example: It has HD recording capability; It offers a decent sound recording; and. Drum roll. You can flip your screen, so you see yourself while recording. Whether you chose to record with a video camera or a smart phone, do yourself a favor and get a tripod. Tripods as cheap as $5 can be found on ebay and Amazon. Remember, all you need is to be able to mount your recording device on the tripod, and then move and adjust the tripod depending on your environment. Finally, to share your video with the world you d probably want to edit it. If you have no experience with digital editing, you might consider the simple and useful tools sites like YouTube make available when you use their sites. For a more advanced level of presentation you can work with editing software, like imovie, provided freely when you purchase a PC. Nevertheless, if you want your videos to look polished and professional, while having more editing tools at your disposal, I would recommend using FinalCut Pro or Adobe Premiere. To sum up, here are the three components to a successful ASMR video: (1) Consider the Form of your presentation, while meditating on how at this time you feel about appearing on screen. Remember, being comfortable in your own skin = being comfortable on the screen. So take your time, and build your self- confidence with time. (2) Decide on the content you d like to present, including as many triggers as possible so your viewer gets the most from your films, while your audience continue to grow. (3) Invest in a good mike, shoot in HD, and figure out your editing approach. Follow these three, simple ASMR stepping- stones, and you are golden! Good luck and happy tingles!