Context
Soy Zachary is a YouTube channel where Zachary McKinley shares his experience of building a life in Buenos Aires, exploring Argentine culture from the perspective of someone from the U.S. His videos focus on everyday life, cultural differences, and the things that continue to surprise him about Argentina.
Soy Zachary is a YouTube channel where Zachary McKinley shares his experience of building a life in Buenos Aires, exploring Argentine culture from the perspective of someone from the U.S. His videos focus on everyday life, cultural differences, and the things that continue to surprise him about Argentina.
What Was Needed
The videos needed to turn a simple talking-head format into engaging YouTube content while keeping Zachary’s storytelling at the center. The edit had to maintain a natural conversational feel while using pacing, camera changes, B-roll, and music to keep the videos visually dynamic and hold the viewer’s attention.
The Work I Did
I shape each video by tightening pauses and silences, switching between camera angles, and adding subtle zooms to keep the pacing dynamic. I select B-roll from Zachary’s footage library and place it thoughtfully throughout the edit to complement specific moments in the story, along with music, text, and credits where needed.
I also contribute creative ideas and pay attention to how the content performs. After noticing differences in viewership across videos, I reviewed the channel’s stronger-performing content and identified faster pacing as a recurring pattern, then adjusted my editing approach accordingly.
Outcome
The collaboration is ongoing, with the first video I edited reaching 38K views. After later reviewing the channel’s performance and shifting back toward a faster-paced editing style, the two most recent videos I edited reached 19K and 27K views.
The collaboration is ongoing, with the first video I edited reaching 38K views. After later reviewing the channel’s performance and shifting back toward a faster-paced editing style, the two most recent videos I edited reached 19K and 27K views.