A couple of weeks ago I posted a preview of an upcoming personal project, promising that I would reveal more soon. Here is that reveal – I’m starting my own YouTube channel.
I made a teaser video – check it out (and like and subscribe!):
What’s Model Life about?
Well, it’s about modelling and especially modelling flooding. However, there are already lots of channels out there that can explain to you the technical details of modelling, and do it way better than I ever could, so I want to take a sideways look instead. Expect videos on the ‘whys’ of modelling and things from other disciplines that I find fascinating and useful, things like behavioural psychology and public engagement.
What else?
I want to help those at the start of their careers or who are just interested in learning more about modelling. I plan then to share any wisdom and career tips I can offer that people might find useful. Anyone who knows me will know that I am obsessed with the links between games, research, and models, and I expect this will feature strongly on the channel. Eventually, all going well, I hope to interview some of my favourite people about their models.
When?
I am doing this in my free time around a busy full-time job, so I have to manage my own expectations. I am also pretty new to making videos and will be learning as I go. I plan a series of six videos to be released over November and December this year, followed by a second series early in 2023. I will use these to learn, gain some confidence, and establish workflows that will settle into a regular release schedule – either fortnightly or monthly, we’ll just have to see.
What will the videos look like?
Homemade! At the moment I am reliant on doing everything in OpenShot and PowerPoint. I don’t have a DSLR camera, so will be using the reasonably decent camera on my Surface. Apparently, sound quality is not to be compromised on so I will be getting a good mic. Videos will be short and snappy, 5-10 mins, without doing deep dives into subjects – when I do cover technical topics, these will be introductory to give you just a ‘toe in’.
Why?
I’ve had an itch for a long while now to do something creative. When I was in academia, I scratched this itch with the SeriousGeoGames and Earth Arcade projects. However, when I left Hull the IP for those projects stayed with the University and although I still help out now and then I really want something which is mine. Just mine.
Why YouTube?
I volunteered to put a video together for my team at work for a work meeting and I realised how much I enjoyed speaking to a camera and editing the video together. It’s really repetitive, which is something most people find boring, but I find it’s something I can hyperfocus on and it’s actually soothing for me. It’s just something I’m really motivated to learn more about.
What do I expect?
I don’t know. Not much. As much as I may daydream about becoming a successful YouTuber and being sent a shiny Creator Award for 100,000 subscribers, honestly I’d be happy with a dozen subscribers and a few hundred views. I’m doing this for me first and foremost – I just hope I’m lucky enough to find some likeminded people along the way.
What are my influences?
I have been watching a lot of videos and these are some of my favourite channels:
RealCivilEngineer (Warning: childish jokes)
They are elements of style and format I’ll be learning from all these and others.
OK, the name?
Those who know me will know my aesthetic has been 1980s and retrowave – it is all over the Earth Arcade and its branding. I wanted to move on, and like the Goldberg’s into Schooled, step effortlessly from the 80s to the 90s. Think Clarissa Explains it all, think Saved by the Bell, think Rocko’s Modern Life. Modern Life, to Model Life, I have my name. Ok, I was also watching Dave Gorman’s Modern Life is Goodish at the time too, itself a play on Blur’s Modern Life in Rubbish, so it was shouting at me from all sides.
How can you help me?
You want to help me? Great! The best way is to Subscribe to the channel and watch and like the videos I post. This positive feedback will really motivate me and keep me going and I will truly appreciate it.
Dr Chris Skinner 