BEHIND THE SCENES
From Ideas to Uploads
Every Trainman Studios video starts long before the camera begins recording. Sometimes it begins with a railway line I want to travel, a destination I have never visited or a train service that looks interesting. Other times, an idea simply appears and I think, “That could make a good video.” From there, the journey from idea to upload begins.
DEPARTURE BOARD
The First Stop: An Idea
Planning is where everything starts. I think about where I want to go, what I want to experience and, most importantly, what will make the journey interesting for the people watching.
Trainman Studios has come a long way from the early days of simply heading to a station and filming whatever happened to arrive. As the channel has developed, so has the way I approach creating videos. Railway journeys now give me the opportunity to tell more of a story, from arriving at the station and boarding the train to experiencing the route and eventually reaching the destination.
Of course, the railway does not always read the script.
Trains can be delayed, plans can change and occasionally the railway decides to throw in a surprise plot twist. Sometimes those unexpected moments actually make the journey more interesting. If everything always ran perfectly to timetable, where would be the fun in that?
ON LOCATION
Cameras Rolling
Once the journey begins, the camera comes out and the idea starts becoming a video.
I try to capture more than simply the train itself. The stations, the journey, the scenery and the experience of travelling are all part of the story. Each trip gives me something different to work with and no two railway adventures are exactly the same.
My dad, Paul, is also an important part of what happens behind the scenes. His support has been there since my earliest trainspotting videos, and having him alongside me has helped make many of these adventures possible.
What viewers eventually see might be one finished video, but behind it are all the little moments that happened along the way, including the bits that never make the final cut.
And yes, occasionally there is probably far more footage of trains than any reasonable person needs.
MAKING THE CUT
Into the Editing Room
Getting home does not mean the journey is finished.
The footage then has to be turned into something people will actually want to watch. Clips are sorted through, the best moments are selected and everything begins coming together into the finished story.
Editing is where a collection of individual clips finally starts to feel like a Trainman Studios video. Some parts survive the journey untouched, some get shortened and others reach the editing equivalent of the service terminates here announcement.
The aim is always the same: keep the journey moving, make it enjoyable and create something that captures what the experience was actually like.
ALL ABOARD
Ready for Departure
Once the editing is finished and everything is ready, there is one final destination: YouTube.
Seeing a finished video go from an idea in my head to something published for people to watch is still one of the most rewarding parts of creating Trainman Studios.
But pressing Upload is not really the end of the journey.
Videos, livestreams and updates can continue across the wider Trainman Studios community, giving people different ways to watch, interact and come along for whatever happens next.
ROUND WE GO
Then We Do It All Again
One upload finishes, another idea appears, and before long the whole process starts again.
There are always more railway lines to explore, trains to ride, places to visit and ideas waiting to leave the station. Some will become full adventures, some might turn into livestreams or other projects, and some will probably remain parked in the sidings until their time comes.
That unpredictability is part of what keeps Trainman Studios interesting for me. I never know exactly where the next idea will lead.
Every video starts with an idea. Every idea starts another journey. And sooner or later, it’s all aboard again.
