Unveiling the Mind of a Vlogging Maestro
Bite me… I may go off the rails, but today I want to share an amazing breakdown video I found on YouTube about a vlogger and content creator who epitomizes the OG of vlogging on YouTube.
Can you guess who he is?
Clue 1:Before him, VLOG is kinda lame with shaky video, home quality production video. His video is very high quality in term of production value.
Clue 2: He’s known for his extremely high work ethic and embodies hustle culture. Producing and uploading videos daily for a staggering 800 days.
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Thus far does any name come to mind? If you do, oh boy I am sure you are as excited as I am. If you don’t. Never mind one last clue…
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Clue 3: His breakout video is titled “Bike Lanes”, where he rode his bike in the city trip and fall due to obstacle (vehicle or object) getting in the way of the Bike Lanes; from which solidifying his reputation as a social commentator
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Drum Roll please…….
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Casey Neistat
Love him or hate him, you have to admit his vlogs are entertaining. Almost every video takes you on a journey, telling a story.
Seriously at least in my own personal experience, once I watch his video it is hard not to watch until the end..
Recently, I stumbled upon an interview where he walked through his thought process on one of his videos.
There are too many learning points to cover from this breakdown video, but I’ll focus on those related to the story I’m about to share:
Key takeaway
1. He’s done countless reps, making content creation intuitive. He committed to releasing one video per day, honing his craft
2. He follows a few rules for each video:
– Implements a 3-act story structure: intro, build-up, climax, resolution.
– Puts himself in the viewer’s shoes during edits, ensuring the content is engaging and valuable.
– Crafts an excellent hook to trigger excitement and withhold information, keeping viewers engaged.
– Maps out shots during editing, refining his vlogging skills with each video.
3. To make people care, he must genuinely care. He ensures viewers see his passion and dedication.
4. Editing is where the magic happens. With each video edited, he levels up, enhancing all aspects of his vlogs.
What Casey said about loving the editing process resonates with me.
In video making – editing allows us to improve our craft by learning what to record better. Of course you can go the sophisticated routed to have story board and mapping out shots before the camera even roll.. But the truth of the matter until the rubber meets the road, we cannot really know what will work and what doesn’t.
This is true for me in many aspects in my life be it in photography, writing or video making .. Only when we review our works during edits we began to see things we may not see before and learn from it how to improve ourselves. Today I will specifically focus on my dental photography and writing journey.
Dental Insights: My Journey of Dental Photography
Today, I want to share my journey from taking photos – how I started with a smartphone and gradually over time evolving the setup until I have a dedicated Mirrorless Setup with Light System (using Softbox)
When I started dentistry, taking photos of my work wasn’t a priority. It seemed unnecessary amidst focusing on improving my restorative techniques. Taking photos added another layer of complexity and mental fatigue.
Imagine the struggle to have an excellent caries removal and optimize cavity design, applying rubber dam isolation and struggle to invert the dam to have a secure field, the struggle to fit the right matrix going back and forth to get and excellent seal and adaptation… etc. On top of that to de-glove and re-glove taking photos for each step. It is mentally draining.
Firstly it is hard trying to train and develop each micro skills in Restorative Dentistry at once let alone Dental Photography. Trying to train everything at once not only reduce my work efficiency, by draining my mental energy too much by constant task switching my restorative work quality drops significantly.
Secondly after all that struggle, looking back at my earlier work is really painful. Why? Because it reveals how bad my work really is. Even after a job well done, the photos still turns out bad – the lighting was off, the composition was bad, or the photos were not focus in the right places. Simply said the photos are not IG Worthy
What kept me going in this time period is trusting the 10,000 hour rule and the need to swallow a bitter pill… That is realizing that the first 100 case/repetition will suck… So I need to just suck it up and push through 100 case/repetition as fast I could. This mindset I find is applicable in any skill pursuit, at least for me. It help numb the pain of having to put in the work and still getting subpar results during the start-up phase.
By doing enough rep, over time I will ascend through the “4 Stages of Competence”. Negotiating with my own self, to train myself on taking photos and documenting my cases for at least the next 30 days and if I still did not manage to get one good case I will call it quits and stop this pursuit altogether.
So, I kept at it. Day in day out, keep getting “ugly results” till one fateful day – doing a Composite Veneer/Restoration to close a Median Diastema. The result turns out to be breath taking. This one case alone gives me hope and empowering me to continuing on my pursuit to level up my dental photography.
Like Casey, I learn a lot reviewing the photos I took each day at the end of the day. Making mental notes of what I needed to improve upon.
Good or bad photos I learn from both. Personally, I feel by reviewing it outside the treatment, it allows me to reflect on the case outside that tunnel vision allowing me to identify each aspect of the photos and make a mental note on how to improve the micro-skill for both restorative dentistry and dental photography.
Once I committed to the process, I began to iterate my photography setup like Iron Man’s suits.
(Of course I am not saying I took photos for all cases, but for most restorative cases yes. I am not trying to paint an unrealistic picture, ya. I am only human)
This photo below summarizes my journey from MK1 al the way to the current setup.
If you have been following me on IG, literally all my photos are taken with my Mobile phone with LED Lighting – MK4. You can argue the photos turns out to be good enough.
(In my hand at least MK 6 is totally unusable for posterior arch)
So why did I decide to transition to Mirrorless Camera. Partly because of a fateful day where my phone broke down. So instead of forking out another RM3k++ for a new phone (flagship phone is needed for an acceptable mobile dental photography in my experience), I have decided its time to buy a dedicated Macro Lens. I took that it as a sign telling me that its time to move forward with my Dental Photography journey.
I am grateful for all the reps I did early on my career, so when its time to use the full setup. I only struggle for 2 weeks until the process is no longer giving any added friction vs using Mobile Dental Photography + LED Light.
So here is the summary of my current Setup
– Body = Sony A6000
– Lens = Sony FE 90mm F2.8
– Light System = Twin Flash – Godox MF12 (2 unit), Godox X2T (wireless trigger)
– Diffusion System = Twin Fixlite
If you are wondering about the photo results using this current setup. All I can say is that it is “Coming Soon” on my IG. lol
To summarize..
1. Accept that the first 100 attempts will sucks. Embrace the learning curve. The faster you accept this reality, the faster you can take action and thus the faster the result.
2. Focus on developing the muscle memory and habits, develop muscle memory and habits to ease transitions between tools and techniques.
3. The more reps we put into something, the more the Micro skill will compound and see the magic of “Compounding Interest”. Have Deliberate Practice in mind when it comes to anything.
3. Invest in both equipment and skills for optimal results. Sometimes, something good enough is good enough, but other time you just cannot DIY or try to Optimize something inferior. You just need to invest in a the most optimize tool to deliver the result you need consistently.
Non-Dental Insights: My Writing Journey – Unlocking Potential through Editing
I’ll be candid – I’m not a natural writer. However, I’ve rediscovered the joy of writing and the power of editing to improve my craft.
Unlike gifted authors who effortlessly produce polished drafts, my writing process involves multiple phases:
1. Brain dump the main idea.
2. Refine the idea.
3. Write and enrich with storytelling.
4. Edit.
5. Publish.
Editing is where the magic happens, refining raw ideas into polished pieces. While compartmentalizing my workflow has its strengths, it also poses challenges in maintaining momentum.
Many times in the past video projects that I have reach editing process simply scrap as I have loss that excitement to see it through until the end. That is why after deep reflection, I feel the need to change my content creation and sharing to a much simpler medium.
Transitioning from producing video content for Youtube & Tiktok to writing has been liberating. Writing allows for efficient expression of ideas allowing myself to put more reps in building something for my own.
In conclusion, editing serves as a catalyst for growth across various creative endeavors. Just as Casey mastered vlogging through repetition, I aim to internalize writing skills through consistent practice.
Now, onto the fun part…
What I Enjoyed This Week: A Cinematic Dive into WALL STREET BETS!
“Dumb Money” offers a captivating portrayal of a pivotal moment in financial history, specifically the saga of Wall Street Bets. If you enjoy movies that dissect the complexities of the financial market without overdramatizing events, this film is a must-watch. For deeper insights, I recommend the documentary “Eat The Rich – Gamestop Saga.” (both are currently on Netflix)
Additionally, “The Big Short” and “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” provide compelling insights into past financial crises, offering valuable lessons for today’s investors
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That is all for today friends..
If you have any question or feedbacks, drop me an email or dm me on my Instagram (@dr.syafiq24)
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