Building Careers off of Hobbies
Click... click… click, that’s a wrap. Kang just finished up another YouTube video. Kang’s YouTube channel has 91 videos, 2.5k subscribers, and his most viewed video has over 2 MILLION views. Many students and teachers pass him in the hall, have classes with him, and have no idea about the awesome videos he makes. Today you can learn more about a very interesting student at Eastern Christian School.
Kang’s channel is constructed by one of his lifetime passions, Lego’s. Tim adds, “My channel is about the creativity of Lego and what you can do with it.” Tim explained, “I make Lego stop-motion, like combining a bunch of pictures to make the illusion of people and cars and Lego things moving.”Kang spends his free time making stories with the help of Lego.
A lot of factors fueled his passion, but Kang explained his main inspiration was “Another YouTuber called MICHAELHICKOXFilms...one of the most famous Lego and original stop-motion YouTubers...I used to spend hours watching them.” Although a famous YouTuber gave Tim the dream, inspiration, and motivation to make his hobby into a career, in the beginning, just watching other YouTubers was not enough to make him start producing videos. Tim said, “My friends were encouraging me now that it was time to make a public thing...after a couple of years later here I am with 2,500 subscribers I am pretty surprised.”
Tim makes excellent videos, but viewers might be surprised about the technology he uses. Instead of using a professional camera, Tim said, “I use my phone...there is an app literally called StopMotion...It automatically combines the video together...you can add sound effects and background music.” Tim uses the technology he has to the best of his ability. In case you did not know, stop-motion is when someone takes many pictures to create the illusion of motion. Tim said he was introduced to stop-motion through YouTube when he was young. This type of technology is the main reason that Tim is able to have a YouTube channel.
Tim has many different types of videos and the majority of them are stories he has made up. He has mini-series, tv-style shows, and short films. All of his stories are quite clever, that is what sparked the question: How do you come up with stories for your channel? Tim replied, “My mom actually helps me a lot...I just think about a story...a lot of Lego people want to look for action.” Tim creates action-packed stories with the help of his mom. Once he gets an idea, he runs it by his friends and mom to see if they like it. Tim figured that “If my friends like it then other people might like it as well.”
Tim is very dedicated to making his videos enjoyable, which requires a lot of time and effort. According to Tim, “If you include all the building and editing, (the videos take) probably between 5-10 hours to make.” In terms of pictures “Filming takes 2000-4000 pictures on average for a 3-4 minute video.” No matter how difficult it may sound, Tim enjoys the process of making the videos. Tim said, “Once I see the end result I feel really proud about it, so it is worth it.”
Tim’s videos have reached an international audience. When asked how it feels to have such an influence on so many people, he exclaimed, “It feels amazing...the fact that it started as a hobby and that I have reached so many people in so many countries, I feel very proud of it and very amazed.” Tim’s hard work has definitely paid off and the fact that it started off as a fun past-time makes his success even more memorable.
The future is bright for Kang. He said he will continue to make videos even if it’s difficult during the school year and looks forward to having even more time to invest in his work during the summer. Make sure you are on the lookout for Timo K Films on YouTube, and as Tim said, “Please check out my channel!”