Creative Process

A Journey into Artistry and Video Editing

When I was just a kid, I used to create things I dreamed of having, like….. (a PlayStation 1, play kitchen, car, dog, etc.). My mom bought me my very first PC back in 2002 when I was 12 years old; before then, I did have “my very own PC…” it was just made from cardboard. It had a motherboard, video card, and even a huge monitor. Living in Eastern Europe in the 90s also meant that we couldn’t buy, let’s say, a Spider-Man costume, which I dreamed of having on my 10th birthday, so I made one myself out of an old t-shirt I had. I would also replicate various movie and cartoon scenes in my room, building a small castle out of wooden chairs and pretending to be a knight saving a queen or my own spaceship – a table covered with curtains. For as long as I can remember, I would build absolutely anything and by any means necessary to satisfy my wishes and imagination. This practical approach to creating things I desired has since thoughtfully transferred to my artistry: creative work and video editing.

Crafting Videos to Match Imagination

When I produce my videos, everything must look and sound exactly how I imagined it. Take the Spider-Man parody video, for example; I had absolutely no clue how to actually make some of the scenes I had initially envisioned, i.e., cutting a character from the scenes, removing objects from the background, or adding some body replacement effect. I will spend an entire week covering a subject and learning how to do it precisely, and all of that, just for the sake of the 3-second shot, because that’s how I saw it originally, and it must look exactly like that.

Dedication to Precision in Video Production

I would wake up at 9 am and start using the ‘mask’ tool to cut a character from one scene and put him in another, frame by frame; by the time I was done, it would have been over 12 hours, but I got my desired result… despite not paying attention to time, food, or any other necessary things I should have done during that day. Every joke must be well-timed and cooked. There’s a frame missing in one of the shots? I will render entire projects all over again for many hours. One of the sound effects appears to be a little bit too loud. I will re-check the entire audio sequence and make sure it fits properly. The color saturation of the Thomas trains in my newest YouTube thumbnail doesn’t match by a few pixels. I will re-create the entire thumbnail from scratch. For my audience, it’s just a silly, funnily crafted gig, but for me, it’s a work of art and dedication. No matter the scene's or video's purpose, it must look impeccable.

Crafting Compelling Narratives with Meaningful Morals

Let’s take the example of one of my latest videos on Sam’s Room channel, ‘Thomas the TANK & Friends Brick Rigs Movie.’ The entire movie takes place in a video game, Brick Rigs, and it took about 2 to 3 weeks to create. First, I write a basic script for my story. Who is the main character? What will he start as and end up as? What is the purpose and morale of the story? What can my younger audience learn from it and, perhaps, use as an example to deal with something in their own lives? So, I wrote a character named ‘Tank,’ who starts up as somebody who isn’t confident and seeks attention from other ‘Trains.’ After being bullied and mistreated, ‘Tank’ meets this little ‘Blocksworld’ train, who becomes his best friend and helps him gain the confidence he lacks. As the story progresses, ‘Tank’ finally starts believing in himself, eventually saving his friend and getting other engines to like him. But most importantly, he doesn’t strive for perfection or seek any attention he desires earlier on; he finally realizes his purpose in this virtual world and what makes him happy.

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Crafting Scenes and Engaging Voiceovers

After the script was finished, I wrote some dialogue lines and brief characteristics of the trains. The next step was filming earlier scenes, building green screens in the virtual environment, doing some stop motion, putting lights on the train tracks, adjusting the camera angles, and so on. Once the first scenes are done, I start looking for voice actors from all over the internet, providing them with their respective lines and describing how each train must sound. The voice lines are merged with the original game audio, with added wind breeze effects and street ambiance sounds like birds chirping.

Soundtracks and Effects for Visual Perfection

Each scene also has its own mood, bringing us to yet another time-consuming process: finding a proper soundtrack to match it. And finally, I add lots of different sound effects, like a train crashing, exploding buildings, or a car driving by. After the scenes are completed, with all the visual and sound effects done, I combine and mix them according to my script or, in the case of an outstanding performance from a certain voice actor, re-write some sequences altogether. Before the very final render and eventual upload to YouTube, each frame and soundbite is checked and re-checked again until everything is absolute perfection.

Crafting Atmosphere with Soundtracks and Effects

Creativity and art are both incredibly subjective topics. Most of the time, on one side of the coin, you see a gaming video with some talking trains moving around and crashing, while on the other side, it’s a full-blown YouTube short movie with lots of preparations, a fully-fledged story with its own meaning, and exceptionally well-crafted characters with their own motives and morales. When we consume some piece of entertainment, we might not realize all the work that went into it, but as long as it serves its purpose, makes my audience laugh, feel good, and cheer for that little train I created – my work is a success.

From VHS to YouTube, Every Frame Crafted by Me

It’s also worth noting that from the very first short clips I filmed on VHS in my living room back in the 90s to the latest Thomas & Friends YouTube videos, I’ve always been “a one-man team.” Every piece of editing and filming, whether covering the latest Spider-Man movie news at 3am or riding a Thomas train in Roblox, has always been just me. Every edit, every soundbite, and every story and idea comes from my own imagination and is crafted by yours truly. I take great pride in being able to be a solo creator.

Solo Productions from Concept to Completion

Despite inevitable struggles in creating particular scenes or effects, I’ve never asked for help, worked with any corporation, hired an editor, or had somebody develop a video idea on my behalf. My productions capture one of those occasions when you see the credits roll and realize that the director, screenwriter, and actor are just one guy. I always have lots of ideas, and my imagination has no limits, so I will always strive to make my creative vision come to life at its fullest, just like my “first” cardboard computer.