During Ryan Conklin's Army R&R leave in September, 2009, he spent a lot of the time in New York City, with his friends and former Real World Brooklyn roommates Baya Voce and Scott Herman. One of the things he did with Scott was learn more about how Scott set up a YouTube channel for his fitness and other videos and how he went about promoting it. Ryan is very interested in creating and appearing in videos. He decided to get some on-the-job experience from Scott by appearing in one of Scott's creations. On his last day in New York, Ryan did an ad-lib video scene with Scott, sitting on a park bench near Scott's apartment. As Scott turned on the camera and framed the shot, Ryan sat on the bench and sang the opening line of a song: "Sitting on a park bench..." He asked Scott if Scott remembered the song. Scott said he did and that it was sung by John "Mellenkemp". Ryan instinctively said "No!" thinking it was somebody else, but then said he didn't know for sure who it was. Scott replied he thought it was John Mellen something. Ryan tried to help by stating (almost correctly) that that singer's name was originally John Mellencamp, then John Cougar Mellencamp, then John Cougar, then back to John Mellencamp. [The second and third variations should be switched. BTW, he's from Indiana.] Actually, the song wasn't by Mellencamp at all. It's Aqualung by Jethro Tull.
As they continued on, the sounds of sirens blared in the background. Scott pointed out that city distractions have been a bother for him on a lot of the videos he has recorded outdoors. He said his meal plan video took like a 100 takes to get it right, which is to say without the sound of a bus horn blowing during it.
Ryan made a suggestion to Scott for a video that Scott should make. Ryan said he would like to see Scott do a video where Scott plays The Incredible Hulk. [You may remember that Ryan once told Devyn Simone's friend on the phone that he, Ryan, not Scott, was the roommate that had been in Men's Health and that he looked similar to the Incredible Hulk. "I'm like an albino Incredible Hulk."] Ryan said that Scott should do a regular workout video, but do it as the Hulk character in costume. Ryan said he would be glad to film it in few months, when he is home for good.
That was the segue for Scott to announce that Ryan would be starting a new YouTube channel. Ryan explained that besides spending time with the people he likes the most (pointing at Scott), he was learning from Scott more about the YouTube world. Ryan said he planned to start making videos even while he is in Iraq, although it would be hard to do because of the bad internet connection.
Ryan is excited about the kind of stuff he will be able to do when he is out of the Army. Ryan said plans to make some "quirky, random videos - pranks, stupid stunts, whatever makes me laugh."
The video ends with some reality TV, unscripted drama, as they both flee the bench in fear after seeing a nearby squirrel with an odd patch of fur missing from the back of its neck. The video changes from a Scott Herman Fitness video to something from Animal Planet as Scott gives the squirrel a close-up.
Another lesson for Ryan on the unpredictable nature of the video making business.
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