Raising the bar is HARD, but it is NECCESSARY
Here’s why:
Some backstory first
A little over 5 years ago I made my first video for Youtube. It was a school project where you did anything you wanted whether it was make a video, make a sculpture, comic, teach a skill, etc. You could do anything, but the point of the project was that you had to document the process.
That’s when I had the idea to create a short film since I had barebones equipment to do so:
- A Canon t3i
- some friends to pose as actors/actresses
- A dusty old mic my friend had lying around.
With those 3 things, and a VERY cliche storyline about how a loser gets the girl instead of the jock, my first video was born.
Having said all that, it makes me sad that I don’t have access to that video anymore since it didn’t quite fit the theme that my channel has now become, which is a Cinematic travel video channel.
To cut a long story short — and to get to the point of this article even quicker — I got interested in cinematic color grading, fancy transitions and travel montages that capture the feel of what it was like being there. Basically, Sam Kolder-type stuff. And I can confidently say that from that first video for the school project to how my videos look now, I’ve improved a lot.
The Wall
My time in University was where I really changed the direction of my video-making from short films — which took WAY too much effort and time to make — to vlogs and montages. Making montage videos showcasing fun moments people have became sort of my bread and butter since it was relevant to the Indo Club’s needs.
After 3 years of making videos like this and having people tell me that they look good — Which they don’t — because they didn’t know much about video making, I fell into a false sense of security, a comfort zone, a security blanket where I thought that I was actually good at making videos.
I felt that I was good because no one else in my environment were making videos like me. I was only getting praise and any creative person knows that praise doesn’t improve the quality of your work. If anything, it makes your work suffer.
Raising the Bar
fast forward about 6 months after finishing University and we come to the present.
I’m at home on a Saturday writing a post about being stuck, knowing that I need to improve, and not knowing how.
I listened to a talk given by one of the Heads at GO-JEK. She talked about training your mindset to seek constant improvement and taking your skills up to the next level.
And one of the ways you can do that is to:
Surround yourself with people who are better than you…and LEARN from them.
This is one of the most comfortable things I’ve had to do. You’re essentially putting yourself in a position of vulnerability. It’s a position where you want to reach higher levels of excellence just like the people you surround yourself with, but can’t. It seems like all the work you’re doing doesn’t match up and more times than not, you question whether or not you’re even capable of reaching such standards of quality.
However, you won’t get anywhere by constantly being hard on yourself.
Good things take time.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint. And the thing about marathons is that the journey will take your through winding alleys and open fields.
There are going to times where you’re stuck, but there will also be times where everything falls into place.
All you have to do is believe.
All you have to do is stick with it.
