What making my first unboxing video actually taught me
Let’s start with a confession: hitting “publish” on my very first unboxing video terrified me.
I am not naturally extroverted. The thought of sitting in front of a lens, talking to a red light, and putting myself out there felt completely unnatural. But like many creators, I wanted to experiment with video. I figured the best practice subject I could possibly learn with was … well, myself.
To make the experiment worthwhile, I needed a focal point that would genuinely excite me. Enter the Jackson Guitars X Series Signature Scott Ian King V KVXT. Unboxing a piece of gear that instantly transported me back to the 1980s metal scene gave me the push I needed to dive headfirst into the deep end of content creation.
The steep learning curve of DIY video production
Attempting almost everything for the first time meant my production workflow was essentially a series of mini-panic attacks followed by deep dives into editing tutorials. Here is a snapshot of what I had to tackle:
- Facing the camera: Overcoming the sheer awkwardness of putting myself in the frame.
- Audio Engineering: Moving beyond built-in mic audio by capturing crisp sound using a lapel microphone.
- Post-Production sync: Learning the painstaking process of syncing separate high-quality audio tracks with video footage.
- Branding and Intros: Designing a YouTube video intro—knowing it’s far from perfect, but recognising that every creator’s intro has to start somewhere before it evolves.
- Visual polish: Experimenting with video effect overlays, title animations, picture-in-picture, color grading using LUTs, and smooth image panning/zooming.
- Multi-Angle performance: Recording live guitar tracks directly into a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) and blending multi-angle performance footage into a cohesive video.
Every single element was a lesson in patience. Inevitably, learning something new meant backtracking to fix earlier mistakes.
Reflections and the gear itself
While the final product isn’t Hollywood-grade, it is easily the most professional video I’ve put together on my own. More importantly, it demystified the process. The technical hurdles are high, but they aren’t insurmountable.
As for the guitar itself? Words genuinely fail to express how incredible it is—something that might be pretty obvious when watching my mostly speechless expression on camera. It bridges the gap between past nostalgia and modern creative experimentation.
Since then, I’ve made well over 100 videos, and hopefully made improvements along the way. There is always something to learn.
My first unboxing video
Did you recently tackle a daunting creative project for the first time? How did you overcome the initial fear of putting your work out into the world? Let me know or reach out via my contact page!
