Finding your filmmaking sub niche

As a filmmaker, there are a seemingly countless creative avenues to explore. With so many different styles and different worlds of filmmaking, it’s impossible to be able to master them all.
But as most of us start out our videography journey, due to practicality reasons we immediately fall into a one-man band type production, you know, we are the director, the topside videographer, the drone pilot, the gimbal operator, the sound recordist, the underwater videographer, the fpv pilot, the editor, the photographer, and the colourist. With so many hats to wear videographers starting out inevitably spread themselves so thin, that they fall into the jack of all trades, master of none category.
The 'Jack of All Trades approach is a common place for beginner videographers to find themselves in. As videographers starting out are usually producing content with restricted budgets, and for smaller clients its often impossible to build out a large team of specialised professionals to complete a film job. With these reduced resources it becomes increasingly important for the ideal creator to be able to provide all of the services themselves, as a one man band.
This is by no means a bad thing, and it does provide a really good understanding of how the entire process works, and I’d argue that starting here is actually beneficial in the long run, but should you wish to move onto bigger and better productions this is something that almost all of us have had to deal with at one point or another.
-- Cinematographer Bio --
Tom Park is an accomplished underwater cinematographer and director, with over a decade of experience working in the underwater film industry. Tom has worked on a variety of projects, from short form docu-series to commercials and brand campaigns, for clients such as The National Gallery of Victoria, Tourism & Events Queensland, Destination NSW, The Smithsonian, and his work has been recognised with awards from film festivals around the world.
Tom is known for his technical expertise in working with underwater cameras and equipment, as well as his creative vision in capturing the beauty and uniqueness of the underwater world. He is passionate about ocean conservation and using his art to raise awareness about the importance of protecting marine ecosystems.
If you are looking for a dedicated underwater cinematographer in your documentary film crew, or are a brand looking to create an unforgettable marketing campaign, Tom has the skills and experience to help you bring your vision to life.
For more visit my website: www.tomparkfilms.com
or find my work on socials at tomsunderwaterphotography
For business enquires only, please shoot me a message at [e-mail]

[@mariogianferrari5544]

Dear mr Park... it has been 3 years since I have been following your wonderful posts even if I am only a marine wildlife lover... I admire your great work... please keep up uploading your beatufil films underwater... thank you!!!

[@TomPark]

Thank you for your kind words and support! There’s plenty more on the way! 🙌🏻

[@kylanlow]

Great video Tom and fantastic advice broadly applicable to any creative career!

[@HawaiiCLIPS]

Thanks for your videos Tom! I’m still stuck in the jack of all trades category. Would love a video on your experience with GATES housings. Got a red KX recently and am looking at water housing options. I do a mix of surf / diving and freediving. Wondering if gates is too bulky for shooting surf/ apnea

[@TomPark]

Glad you’re enjoying my work and hope this channel is helpful! While I don’t have personal experience with gates, I chose Nauticam as they are simple more user friendly, and better designed housings in my opinion. They also have epic underwater optics like the wacp series that no other brand can compete with. Gates seem a bit more ‘jerry rigged’ and non refined. They’re also much bigger and bulkier, and I’d advise that they’re likely too big for surf shooting. I freedive with my nauticam raptor all the time - it works well! I may be a little bias, but this is why I went nauticam over gates :)

[@TomPark]

Glad you’re enjoying my work and hope this channel is helpful! The KX is a beast of a camera! While I don’t have personal experience with gates, I chose Nauticam as they are simple more user friendly, and better designed housings in my opinion. They also have epic underwater optics like the wacp series that no other brand can compete with. Gates seem a bit more ‘jerry rigged’ and non refined. They’re also much bigger and bulkier, and I’d advise that they’re likely too big for surf shooting. I freedive with my nauticam raptor all the time - it works well! I may be a little bias, but this is why I went nauticam over gates :)