Why

I watch a lot of YouTube. I'm kind of a TED, VICE, Veritasium kind of person - I like to learn. To my amazement Casey Neistat became a total must see every day (when he was still regularly vlogging). I didn't even know why. It just had to be in my daily consumption. Missing an episode felt like missing a limb - I was totally addicted. One of the reasons to watch became the need to understand what was so interesting about it. The conclusion became that it was just very entertaining with the fun stuff that Casey did and a good tempo for showing all of it. Besides being charismatic on camera.

In a few months I'll be taking a few month trip to the Caribbean to visit some friends. There is going to be some sort of blog about it for sure and thus the urge came to have a video blog about it (since I already have this written blog anyway). There are many reasons for it. Firstly the Caribbean is a dream vacation spot and something I'd like to remember. Secondly it's something I'd love to show my family. Thirdly, if anyone else is interested, why not have them enjoy the footage, if it turns out enjoyable that is.

What's even deeper is that I would love to have an online presence and contact with the younger people of my country (thus the vlog is going to be in English). It's not about being cool (cuz I'm not), but through this connection giving life advice can be pursued. And I don't believe myself to be much of a guru either, but I am doing well in life and had a pretty hard time in school - perhaps I can help kids live a more fulfilling life? It's one of my life goals anyway so if I don't do this now that would be a major opportunity to pass.

Another reason is that stepping out of your comfort zone and doing stuff that frightens you is the best way to develop yourself as a person. Anything worthwhile I've ever done has been with great fear. Like moving to England for studies or forcefully switching career paths to be a software developer. Life gets better every year and the challenges are what grow it.

Should the filming begin when I land in Barbados or when I leave for the airport? Don't really want to jump in with no understanding of vlogging so the right time is to start right now. One of my productivity tips is to start whatever you want to do immediately or don't bother with it at all. So here I go..

Camera

When choosing the camera there are 3 main points to it:

  • Must be cheap (in case it breaks/gets lost/gets stolen)
  • Proper zoom capability (creates a good movie like quality)
  • Slow-motion capability (extra movie like)

Since it's got to be cheap stuff like resolution and filming in the dark are not something to focus on, as they seem to be pretty much the same across the board. There is no 4K $200 camera.

It took some research, but only like some hours until I found my match. The Panasonic HC-V180. Going to buy this in a few days and try it out.

I'm going to write about what my approach to making the video is, but what's important is that story trumps equipment thus I'm not taking any more time choosing gear and just getting into practising storytelling.