Do you like this idea?
 

So I’ve had this idea in my head the last few days and can’t shake it. I’m planning on spending the next year or so travelling and wondered about producing high quality short videos of top home aquariums around the world while I'm at it. I inadvertedly started this with a shoddy video of Chingchai’s tank 8 years ago.

Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself but it could be expanded to aquarists and academics doing interesting things (Jamie Craggs and the like) or in the field at actual reefs for coral restoration, farming etc.

Kind of following this format for these architecture videos:
https://youtu.be/KXNIx4sfzns?t=6

Short and snappy, say 5 minutes long with the owner giving a voiceover describing the system with some nice visuals of the tank in it's surroundings.

A complimentary idea is to also film a static high quality shot of the tank from the best angle for a long time: 15-30 minutes with some relaxing royalty-free music over the top.

What do you think of the ideas? I don’t follow many coral YouTubers, is there a niche for this type of thing?

Any feedback, suggestions or tips? Most importantly, would you enjoy it?

I would say it would have to be a passion project if you wanted to do it. Basically, do it if YOU would love to do it, otherwise it will be a chore to do it, and you'll end up resenting it.. even if you have a following.

Thanks for your reply! For sure I have a personal interest to do it, I wanted to gauge enthusiasm from the community and had kind of hoped for more!

Sounds like a cool idea to me!

I have a long story, but to keep it short: I can tell you from experience that it takes some serious dedication. I've run 2 of these over the past 10 years. One is the reason I'm now retired.

Don't look at if other people would enjoy it. Look at if you have the time and dedication to do it. You're essentially doing it for yourself, and if other people like it, that's an added bonus. I've seen tons of friends do these over the years after they saw what I did. They started, did a couple episodes, didn't see the "results" they wanted to see, and gave up.

If you are going to do it, start small. One episode a month. Don't skip a month. Always put them out at the same time. Then if you see that you're enjoying it, go to twice a month. Always released on the same day, and time. Then move to once a week. Again, always on the same day and at the same time. Your audience will become use to seeing new episodes... if you forget one, you'll lose viewership.

It's fun in the beginning. When you have a huge audience it becomes a job. My week was planned out around my shooting schedule.

Monday, meet with video guys to talk about what the episode would be about. Storyboard the episode

Tuesday, show up to location to shoot B roll.

Wednesday, previous week's episode would launch at 2pm PST

Thursday, shoot A roll at new location.

Friday, Voiceovers.

I had a team of 3 video guys. Two with cameras, one for audio.

And that wasn't even my full time job.

Cheers for your input Michael!


Thanks so much for telling your story, Bonanza. I think what you've described is the best way to look at it, and having the structure you've described eg once a month at a regular schedule is a great starting place.

I'm certainly going to pursue this and shall post an update here in due course.

Thanks all