A couple weeks ago, I finally bought a set of wireless mics. I had been wanting and maybe even needing a set for a long time as a way to record the random conversations I seem to have with people out in the world on any given day. I’d been looking at them for a while, but I saw a review that Curtis Judd did—who was one of my favorite audio YouTubers—and I thought, “I'm just gonna get these. They'll be fine.” I had been going back-and-forth between the Røde Wireless Go IIs and the DJI Mics and then saw these Hollylands and thought, “You know what? I'm just gonna get them. The reviews are great (but specifically because I trusted Curtis).” So I bought them and they were just packaged so well and the design of the packaging was so well thought out—and borderline meticulous—that I decided I needed to do a video about it and talk about why those kinds of details are important—at least important to me.
It wasn’t going to be an unboxing, really, because it seems like in so many of them they just tear through the box like a kid at Christmas in order to get to the product. I wanted to shine a light or highlight some of the things that I really liked about the packaging and point out some of the things about how packaging and branding can elevate our perception or opinion of a product. More than that, it was a way for me to get into video on my terms. I have been wanting to figure out a way to do video that didn't involve me being on camera. For some reason—and it’s not a phobia—I just don't want to be a personality, per se, on YouTube. I love audio too much to have it spoiled and I don't want to demand so much of your attention. So I thought this is a way that I can “do video” but do it on my terms and be in and out in 5 or 10 minutes, so that I’m not demanding a ton of time from the viewer.
The other thing that it would allow me to do is learn. I don’t know a lot about video. I’ve done three YouTube videos before this one in the past three or four years and that’s it. This was number four. It’s just not a skill that I’m very adept at yet, so I thought that this would also be a way for me to learn something new because that’s kind of what my thing is. Almost every job I’ve ever had—every creative job, anyway—I got hired not really knowing how I was going to do the job—and it started right out of college. My first “professional” creative job out of college was as the prop master for the Texas Shakespeare Festival. I was a technical theater major, so of course I had made props as part of the curriculum. Not a lot of them, but I was still very confident—to a fault, some who knew me then I’m sure would say. So when I presented my portfolio and was asked whether I could do x, y, or z, of course I said yes. Then I made it my business to learn and study and make damn sure I was ready to do the job. And I think I did very well.
Years later, I had made the transition to web development and was working at a small agency in Claremont, California. I kept a large three-ring binder filled with images of my favorite websites. I had them in plastic sleeves the way you would store negatives—on one side of the page was a color print of the homepage and on the other was the HTML source code so that I could dissect how the sites were built. I was always learning and applying, learning and applying. That job led to a brief gig at GeoCities, which led to heading up a small web shop, which led to getting hired as an art director at Universal Studios. The point is, nearly everything I’ve done has built upon what came before it. Sometimes the paths and connections were obvious, but not always. Granted, I have a lot of natural ability in terms of figuring things out—some of that I think I get from my dad. But for a lot of the jobs I’ve had, I didn’t fully know what I was doing, but I knew enough to know what I could do and what I still needed to learn. As Bill and I touched on in the last episode of On Taking Pictures, I had confidence as well as competence.
All this to say, I saw this video as an opportunity not just keep learning and to challenge myself creatively and technically, but also as an exercise in getting out of my own way. Historically, I am amazing at creating obstacles and finding reasons not to do something that I know I can otherwise do. My mom used to say that I should have been a lawyer because I can talk myself into or out of just about anything. I get great ideas all the time, but I end up talking myself out of pursuing most of them. With this particular video, I knew it was going to be short. I mean, how much time can you spend talking about a box of mics? Turns out, just about six minutes. I knew that I wouldn’t have to commit to a giant block of time, so it was almost like I didn’t even have enough time to second guess myself. I had already written, filmed, edited, done the voiceover, and posted it before I could find enough reasons to talk myself out of it.
Actually, there was one little thing that did manage to get in my head for a minute. As you may know, I’ve been plunking around with electronic music and synths for a couple years now and I found myself getting really upset that I wasn’t able to write and perform the music that I wanted for the video. I had done everything else, so of course I should be able to come with a simple but still really cool jazzy little pop number. But here’s the thing: I don’t write music and I don’t even really play the piano. Still, I managed to get a little bent out of shape at myself over it, which was a perfect opening for Resistance to pop in and whisper that maybe I shouldn’t even do it. Keep in mind that the video was otherwise completely done and just needed 30 or so seconds of intro and outro music. But because I couldn’t write the music, the whole thing was crap—and I must be crap for not being able to do it. Fortunately, I was able to see the ridiculousness of the situation and find some music and hit the upload button before my lesser self convinced me to jettison the whole thing.
I think the majority of my creative life has been about consciously putting myself in situations where I had to develop new skills to do the job—at least to do the job well. I’m not really sure why—maybe just to prove to myself that I could do it. A therapist might say that at least some of it was (is) a reaction to my dad and his whole thing about artists being “a dime a dozen.” At the same time, there have been a number of experiences that have offered me the opportunity to overcome some of the old tapes and obstacles that tend to play on a loop in my head. This video is definitely one of them. For years, I’ve told myself stories of why I didn’t want to do video—too difficult, too hard to monetize, too…whatever. But the truth is, like so many other endeavors, if I shift how I look at it just a little, like turning a kaleidoscope, a new scene drops into place. And just like when I share my paintings, my photographs, or even these Iterations, I ultimately have zero control over how many people see it, like it, or feel compelled to comment or connect with me about it. And even if I did, those things are not the reason to do it and, for me, they never really have been.
QUESTIONS
Do you prefer to take on a job or a creative project knowing that you’re prepared enough to guarantee a specific outcome, or is uncertainly part of the fuel that drives your creativity?
LINKS
My video “unboxing” of the Hollyland Lark Max mics
Hollyland Lark Max - 2-Person Wireless Microphone
Curtis Judd - Hollyland Lark Max Review
Bravo Jeffery, keep putting your ideas into action and pushing past the voice of doubt.
Long ago, I read a book cover “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway.” This helped me so much and gave me wings to try. Like you I learned by doing and pushing through fear and doubt is a game changer.
Your work is great, your presentation style is engaging, informed and sensitive.
Thank you for sharing.
You’re asking a really good question. I guess for me I try two things. First be awake, aware, prepared, and available. Second, I go with what I learned about the value of the humanities - the ability to approach an unknown body of material, research it, organize it, and comment upon it effectively. My second approach appears to resonate with what you do. My first approach gets me ready to implement the second on. Again thank you for a great question.