In the Wild, You Wait for the Shot. On TikTok, You F*ing Dance 🎥🦈
Whether it’s hours underwater or seconds on TikTok, it’s all about the hook.
I remember my first shark shoot. I’m much more of a development/edit-suite kind of television professional, so chopping up hunks of dead tuna and tossing them to the hoard of lemon sharks was indeed a fish-out-of-water experience. But I was there, working with some of the best underwater wildlife photographers and producers on the planet.
We were getting the shots, the scene coming together. And after a full day of shooting, we had a 45-second sequence in the can. Yup! A big crew, safety professionals, multiple dives into shark-infested waters (literally), and we had a whole 45 seconds. Success! 🏆
The Patience Game 🐢
Wildlife filmmaking is a test of extreme patience. Who could stay absolutely still and quiet for longer: wilderness DPs or Franciscan monks? It’s a toss-up.
I know folks who thrive in remote locations, with little to no cell service, and wait for hours on end, hoping something happens.
Me? I can barely sit still long enough to get my highlights done. I think every movie or TV series can be shorter. (I’m looking at you, true crime. 👀) I fully approve of the pitching clock. I do not have patience.
Enter TikTok and the Short-Attention-Span Dream 📱⚡
So with the invention of TikTok and viral videos, I was in heaven! You only want me to pay attention for 85 seconds? No problem! It was a dream for short-attention-span folks like myself.
But is this good for content? 🤔 You can’t fully understand the complexity of the human toll of World War I in a few minutes. The migratory paths of humpback whales are much more fascinating when you discover their openness to community collaboration. Life and its most significant moments need more than a movie trailer, right?
The answer: yes, but… OR no, if.
The Science of Attention 🧠
Some studies have shown that attention spans are decreasing. Scientists see increased multitasking and digital consumption as key contributors. Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily.
Our world has improved in such a way that we humans have fewer tasks to accomplish. (Think email vs. snail mail.)
According to UC Irvine professor Gloria Mark, this new “juggling all the time” reality means our minds need moments to reset—like rest breaks between reps at the gym.
You know what’s great for that? Short-form videos:
A quick briefer on Gavrilo Princip
Humpback whales bubble-net feeding 🐋
These all let your brain settle a little bit.
Why Long-Form Still Matters 🎬
But what about long-form content? Here is where it gets interesting.
Dr. Mark comments on the concept of flow:
“Flow is a type of attention that the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi discovered, and it's what he calls the optimal state of attention. It's when people are so immersed in something that time just doesn't seem to matter.”
This is what every long-form producer aims for. You become so immersed in the content that you never look at the clock. You never ask yourself, “When is this going to end?” When your patience isn’t tested.
Wildlife filmmaking requires patience and tenacity. And when done well, it immerses the viewer into another world—time be damned. TikTok requires catchy hooks and an immediate emotional reaction. Both demand creativity.
Just like wildlife filmmaking and TikTok each demand a different rhythm, telling your own professional story means knowing when to draw people in slowly and when to hook them fast. The best creators (whether behind a camera or in front of an audience) understand how to adapt their storytelling to the format without losing the heart of their message.
That’s exactly what I teach in my “Sell Yourself Like a TV Show” course, where you’ll learn to turn your career into a fully developed show — complete with a hook, a storyline, and a standout presence — using the same storytelling frameworks networks rely on to greenlight their next big hit.
Whether you’ve got three minutes or three hours to make your impact, you’ll know exactly how to capture attention and keep it.
Final Takeaway 💡
I love this quote from Christopher Nolan:
“If you want to be a filmmaker, make a film and enjoy it; don't be thinking about what's the next thing, the thing after that.”
Whether it takes a week to get one shark scene or you show off your dance moves while dressed as a muppet, go forth and create. And then do it again.
