Written by Harry McPhail and translated by Iwan Thomas
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Tom Stoker is a third year Film and TV student. In this interview we are primarily discussing the newest video on his YouTube channel, the video is titled The Road to Barry Island. In this video he took a bucket of sand from the North of Wales, starting in Llandudno, to the South of Wales, ending at Barry Island. This was the first video I watched on his channel, he had shared it on his Facebook. I watched it with my flatmate because we had nothing better to do, and we were quickly hooked. We worked our way through all the videos on his channel and by the end I thought, ‘I need to interview this guy’, I mean what’s the point in writing for a newspaper if you don’t interview people you think are cool. So, I did. I feel I started the interview with the question on everyone’s lips:
H: Why a bucket of sand?
T: The bucket of sand thing. I’d planned the whole trip and the day I was going to set off [...] I went past Ambassadors with the buckets and spades and I thought, that’d be a good idea [...] I thought it’d add a bit of a funny element [...] I thought it’d get people interested; like, he’s walking with sand - what’s wrong with him?
H: Are you playing a character [in your videos] or is that the real you?
T: I like to think so [that that’s the real him], also, I mean it’s difficult isn’t it, to film yourself and be completely normal. It heightens your awareness of everything you are doing. [...] I hope it is. What do you think?
H: It came across as really real. I do wonder if videoing things helps you to slow down and actually vocalise the things that are in your head, things you wouldn’t get to say ‘in real life’. T: Yeah, I remember sometimes, if you are on a lonely stretch of road, you could have a big moment or a big realisation but because you are not recording it or not writing it down, you could forget that revelation. It’s kind of lost on the road there.
H: Would you say you’re quite disciplined in your video ideas or are you more led by inspiration?
T: I think I can be quite impulsive if I’m really into an idea. Once I’ve had an idea I know I’ve got to do it. You could have ten ideas in a day, it’s easy to be like ‘I’m going to do this, or, I’m going to do that’. Like, being in uni, you hear a lot of people talking like, ‘I’m going to do this’, and I’m like ‘are you?’
T: I just love telling nobody what I’m going to do until I’ve done it.
H: I wish I was more like that. If I have something I’m doing I have to announce it to everyone.
T: I have to tell no-one. For this walk, I didn’t tell anyone, like, I didn’t tell anyone and then I put a post on Instagram saying, ‘I’m walking across Wales and my mum called like ‘what’s this walk that you’re doing’. Like if I’d told people when I had the idea, which was like 3 months ago, every family gathering, people would be like, ‘so what’s this walk?’ I don’t want to talk about it. [...] I just want to keep it in my head and work hard until it’s done.
H: Were there any observations you made on that walk [in The Road to Barry Island] that weren’t caught on camera?
T: What I didn’t include enough was how much I found it difficult. I wanted to make it light-hearted. [...] I wanted to make it about the things I’d seen and the positive experience I had been having.
T: To be honest I found it quite difficult. I was quite miserable a lot of the time. But that’s what made it so good - 8 hours of the day could be horrible, but then you find yourself on top of a mountain and you think, ‘I’ve never felt this good’. I remember this old lady saying, ‘I remember you two days ago up North with the sand’. They’d been driving down the road as well and they were like, ‘what are you doing!’ I was just like, ‘just trying to walk.’ A little interaction like that, because I hadn’t seen anyone in three days, it gave me such a lift. You never get that lift from just seeing someone in the street in your everyday life.
H: What’s next?
T: Oh God! I’ve got an idea of what I want to do in the Summer but it’s just in my head at the moment.
H: Would you prefer not to talk about it?
T: Yeah. [...] I struggle with that. Telling someone. Then something will happen, I’ve hurt myself or for some reason I can’t do it, and I know they don’t care, they don’t care at all, but I feel like I’ve let them down.
H: What about your ‘Learning 30 Songs’, are you happy talking about that idea?
T: Yeah, I filmed it all in early January. It’s making a piece of music every day for 30 days. Hopefully that can form the soundtrack of the film [the mysterious future film].
T: It’s quite similar in terms of themes. Just trying to keep going and being consistent every day. Instead of being a physical endeavour it's more of a creative endeavour. I found it quite mentally exhausting, making something every day. There’s a lot of self-doubt. It gets to a point where you are thinking, this is just rubbish. It’s more of a journey of just being a bit kinder to yourself in terms of not judging my creative output that much. Just make something and whether it’s good or whether it’s bad, still giving yourself as much of a pat on the back. Whatever the quality of the work, just as long as you turned up.
Something that really struck me from our interview was the extent of what we don’t see in videos generally, but more specifically in Tom’s videos. We were given the highlights of his trip, but in actuality those highlights were surrounded by tough times. I feel the key thing that stuck out to me was that sense of endurance, which seems to be Tom’s primary topic of exploration. The idea of pushing through the tough times and keeping the end goal in sight. I found it inspiring watching his videos; it made me want to try something for 30 days. Whether I do anything, I guess we’ll see.
Sgwrs gyda Tom Stoker
Mae Tom Stoker yn fyfyriwr Ffilm a Theledu yn ei drydedd flwyddyn. Yn y cyfweliad hwn rydym yn trafod yn bennaf y fideo diweddaraf ar ei sianel YouTube, o’r enw ‘The Road to Barry Island’. Yn y fideo hon aeth â bwced o dywod o Ogledd Cymru, gan ddechrau yn Llandudno, i'r De, gan orffen yn Ynys y Barri. Hwn oedd y fideo cyntaf i mi wylio ar ei sianel, cafodd ei rannu ar ei Facebook. Fe wnes i ei wylio gyda fy nghyd-letywr oherwydd doedd gennym ni ddim byd gwell i'w wneud, ond roedden ni wedi gwirioni'n gyflym. Fe wnaethon ni weithio ein ffordd trwy'r holl fideos ar ei sianel ac erbyn diwedd meddyliais, 'Mae angen i mi gyfweld y boi hwn', rwy'n golygu beth yw'r pwynt ysgrifennu ar gyfer papur newydd os nad ydych chi'n cyfweld â phobl rydych chi'n meddwl sy'n cŵl. Felly, fe wnes i. Rwy’n teimlo ddechreuais cyfweliad gyda’r cwestiwn ar wefusau pawb:
H: Pam bwced o dywod?
T: Y bwced o dywod. Roeddwn i wedi cynllunio'r daith gyfan a'r diwrnod roeddwn i'n mynd i gychwyn [...] Es i heibio i Lysgenhadon gyda'r bwcedi a'r rhawiau a meddyliais, byddai hynny'n syniad da [...] Roeddwn i'n meddwl ei fod' ch ychwanegu ychydig o elfen ddoniol [...] Roeddwn i'n meddwl y byddai'n ennyn diddordeb pobl; fel, mae'n cerdded gyda thywod - beth sy'n bod arno?
H: Wyt ti’n chwarae cymeriad [yn dy fideos] neu y ti go iawn yw hyn?
T: Dwi’n licio meddwl felly [dyna’r fo go iawn]. Hefyd, dwi’n golygu ei bod hi’n anodd yn tydi, i ffilmio dy hun a bod yn hollol normal. Mae'n cynyddu eich ymwybyddiaeth o bopeth rydych chi'n ei wneud. [...] Rwy'n gobeithio ei fod. Beth yw eich barn chi?
H: Daeth i'r amlwg fel rhywbeth go iawn. Tybed a yw fideoio pethau yn eich helpu i arafu a lleisio’r pethau sydd yn eich pen, pethau na fyddech chi’n cael dweud ‘mewn bywyd go iawn’.
T: Ydw, dwi'n cofio weithiau, os ydych chi ar ddarn unig o'r ffordd, fe allech chi gael eiliad fawr neu sylweddoliad mawr ond oherwydd nad ydych chi'n ei recordio neu ddim yn ei ysgrifennu, fe allech chi anghofio'r datguddiad hwnnw. Mae'n fath o goll ar y ffordd yno.
H: A fyddech chi'n dweud eich bod chi'n eithaf disgybledig yn eich syniadau fideo neu a ydych chi'n cael eich arwain yn fwy gan ysbrydoliaeth?
T: Rwy'n meddwl y gallaf fod yn eithaf byrbwyll os oes gennyf syniad mewn gwirionedd. Unwaith y byddaf wedi cael syniad rwy'n gwybod bod yn rhaid i mi ei wneud. Fe allech chi gael deg syniad mewn diwrnod, mae’n hawdd bod fel ‘Rydw i’n mynd i wneud hyn, neu, rydw i’n mynd i wneud hynny’. Fel, a bod yn y brifysgol, rydych chi'n clywed llawer o bobl yn siarad fel, 'Rydw i'n mynd i wneud hyn', ac rydw i fel 'ydych chi?'
T: Dwi wrth fy modd yn dweud wrth neb beth rydw i'n mynd i'w wneud nes i mi ei wneud.
H: Hoffwn pe bawn i'n fwy felly. Os oes gen i rywbeth rydw i'n ei wneud mae'n rhaid i mi ei gyhoeddi i bawb.
T: Rhaid i mi ddweud wrth neb. Ar gyfer y daith gerdded hon, wnes i ddim dweud wrth neb, fel, wnes i ddim dweud wrth neb ac yna rhoddais bost ar Instagram yn dweud, 'Rwy'n cerdded ar draws Cymru ac roedd mam yn galw fel 'beth yw'r daith gerdded hon rydych chi'n ei gwneud '. Fel pe bawn i wedi dweud wrth bobl pan gefais y syniad, sef 3 mis yn ôl, bob teulu’n ymgynnull, byddai pobl fel, ‘felly beth yw’r daith gerdded hon?’ Dydw i ddim eisiau siarad amdano. [...] Rydw i eisiau ei gadw yn fy mhen a gweithio'n galed nes ei fod wedi'i wneud.
H: A oedd unrhyw arsylwadau a wnaethoch ar y daith gerdded honno [yn ‘The Road to Barry Island’] na chawsant eu dal ar gamera?
T: Yr hyn na wnes i ei gynnwys ddigon oedd cymaint roeddwn i'n ei chael hi'n anodd. Roeddwn i eisiau ei wneud yn ysgafn. [...] Roeddwn i eisiau ei wneud am y pethau roeddwn i wedi'u gweld a'r profiad cadarnhaol roeddwn i wedi bod yn ei gael.
T: A dweud y gwir roeddwn i'n ei chael hi'n eithaf anodd. Roeddwn i'n eithaf diflas llawer o'r amser. Ond dyna beth oedd yn ei wneud mor dda – gallai 8 awr o’r dydd fod yn erchyll, ond wedyn rydych chi’n cael eich hun ar ben mynydd ac yn meddwl, ‘Dwi erioed wedi teimlo mor dda â hyn’. Cofiaf yr hen wraig hon yn dweud, ‘Rwy’n cofio amdanoch ddeuddydd yn ôl i fyny i’r Gogledd gyda’r tywod’. Roedden nhw wedi bod yn gyrru i lawr y ffordd hefyd ac roedden nhw fel, ‘beth wyt ti’n wneud!’ Roeddwn i jyst fel, ‘dim ond ceisio cerdded.’ Ychydig o ryngweithio fel yna, oherwydd doeddwn i ddim wedi gweld neb mewn tri diwrnod , rhoddodd y fath lifft i mi. Dydych chi byth yn cael y lifft yna o weld rhywun yn y stryd yn eich bywyd bob dydd.
H: Beth sydd nesaf?
T: O Dduw! Mae gen i syniad beth rydw i eisiau ei wneud yn yr Haf ond mae o jyst yn fy mhen ar hyn o bryd.
H: A fyddai'n well gennych beidio â siarad amdano?
T: Ie. [...] Rwy'n cael trafferth gyda hynny. Dweud wrth rywun. Yna bydd rhywbeth yn digwydd, rydw i wedi brifo fy hun neu am ryw reswm ni allaf ei wneud, ac rwy'n gwybod nad oes ots ganddyn nhw, nid oes ots ganddyn nhw o gwbl, ond rydw i'n teimlo fy mod i wedi eu siomi.
H: Beth am eich ‘Learning 30 Songs’, ydych chi’n hapus i siarad am y syniad hwnnw?
T: Do, fe wnes i ffilmio'r cyfan yn gynnar ym mis Ionawr. Dwi’n creu darn o gerddoriaeth bob dydd am 30 diwrnod. Gobeithio y gall hynny ffurfio trac sain y ffilm [ffilm dirgel y dyfodol].
T: Mae'n eithaf tebyg o ran themâu. O ran ceisio dal ati a bod yn gyson bob dydd. Yn hytrach na bod yn ymdrech gorfforol, mae'n fwy o ymdrech greadigol. Roeddwn i'n ei chael hi'n flinedig iawn yn feddyliol, yn gwneud rhywbeth bob dydd. Mae yna lawer o hunan-amheuaeth. Mae'n cyrraedd pwynt lle rydych chi'n meddwl, sbwriel yw hyn i gyd. Mae’n fwy o daith o fod ychydig yn fwy caredig i chi’ch hun o ran peidio â barnu fy allbwn creadigol cymaint. Gwnewch rywbeth a ph'un a yw'n dda neu'n ddrwg, daliwch i roi cymaint o ganmoliaeth i chi'ch hun. Beth bynnag fo ansawdd y gwaith, cyn belled â'ch bod rhoi popeth iddo.
Rhywbeth a’m trawodd yn fawr o’n cyfweliad oedd maint yr hyn nad ydym yn ei weld mewn fideos yn gyffredinol, ond yn fwy penodol yn fideos Tom. Cawsom uchafbwyntiau ei daith, ond mewn gwirionedd roedd yr uchafbwyntiau hynny wedi'u hamgylchynu gan amseroedd caled. Rwy’n teimlo mai’r peth allweddol a ddaeth i’m rhan oedd yr ymdeimlad hwnnw o ddygnwch, sy’n ymddangos fel prif bwnc archwilio Tom. Y syniad o wthio trwy'r amseroedd anodd a chadw'r nod terfynol yn y golwg. Roeddwn yn ei chael yn ysbrydoledig gwylio ei fideos; gwnaeth i mi fod eisiau rhoi cynnig ar rywbeth am 30 diwrnod. P'un ai a wnaf unrhyw beth, mae'n debyg y cawn weld.
