Category: Content Creation

In the span of seven weeks, I created my own mini video series called “Style Files”; consisting of three ten-minute videos, each covering a timeless fashion piece. Explaining their histories, how they’re typically styled, and who wore them best, this series aims to inform my viewers on how these pieces survived through history.

How Did I Do It?!

Creating this series was truly an amazing learning experience. With tons of planning and organization, I was truly ready for anything to happen. The first steps in creating this series were research, as well as writing down all of my ideas through a project proposal.

In this proposal, I explained my reasoning for creating this series, as well as outlined my project’s deliverables and goals. As someone who has always had interests in content creation but never really got around to do it, this project was the perfect excuse. Creating this proposal was incredibly helpful in solidifying my thoughts, and gave me a very solid foundation for Style Files. In a blog post I created called “‘Style Files’: Creating A Video Series Proposal”, I go into much more detail about the overall thoughts I had for my project. For a high-stakes project or even a personal project, I highly recommend implementing project proposals into the beginning of your process! YouTubers such as Nick Metzger give very insightful tutorials on video project proposals, and why they’re so important!

Moving on, the next step of my process was project management. A practice I highly recommend, project management involves organizing all of the tasks to be done in just one place. Using Notion, I organized every single task I needed to complete in order for this project to succeed. From figuring out lighting to setting down which times to edit the videos, every detail was planned out.

As someone who avidly uses Notion, this process came very quick to me. In my recent blog post called “Project Management… Let’s Try It Again!“, I explained my process of creating these ultra-specific tasks, and why they’re so important in this process!

Next, it was time to get into pre-production. I started creating weekly production journals to track my time spent on the project. With my initial plans written out in Notion, my production journals truly showed me how much of it was getting done.

In pre-production is where I created my scripts, as well as did some research production-wise.

scripts 1, 2, & 3!

Research on my planned editing software, Capcut, definitely saved me lots of time when actually editing. I researched various background music websites for the series, and also how to best utilize my Canon G7X Mark 2 camera. All in all, this research truly helped me in both saving time and planning in accordance with the rest of my tasks.

Now, I feel like is everyone’s favorite part: PRODUCTION! (and post production.)

With everything already planned beforehand, production came pretty easily. In a blog post I made called “Ready to Launch! In 5… 4… 3…“, I went into heavier detail regarding my filming and editing process. When filming, having my scripts to guide me and my outfits already planned out saved so much time for editing! I felt so prepared coming in and out of this video series, and definitely recommend the same if not more planning for any upcoming projects. From editing with Capcut to uploading to YouTube, the post-production process was incredibly easy, thanks to YouTube tutorials such as Ben Claremont’s or Peanut Butter’s.

All in all, as you can tell from what I’ve said around 1000 times in this page, the majority of this project was thanks to heavy project management implemented in the beginning.

What Comes Next?

With this experience now under my belt, I definitely plan on continuously uploading to YouTube with similar content! I really enjoyed filming, editing, and planning this project, and can’t wait to incorporate what I learned from this project onto newer ones. Although this was an assignment, the creative freedom and independence made this project extra personal, and something I am extremely proud of.

Creating Style Files has been nothing but a breeze. With a few work-related hiccups along the way, Style Files is officially completed!

When creating this series, I was a bit nervous with going outside of my comfort zone. I mean, isn’t everyone?! I was a bit nervous to actually sit in front of my camera and actually film, even though its something I’ve been meaning to do. With this project as an excuse, I finally got over my “fear” and got in front of the camera!

If there was one message I had to relay to you, it would be this: GET IN FRONT OF THAT CAMERA! This is something I had to repeatedly tell myself when filming this project, and something I should’ve told myself in my undergraduate years. Not only will getting in front of the camera boost your self-confidence, but also show yourself that you can do it! Filming myself in my room, although a bit uncomfortable at first, got much better every time I did it! By the last video of my series, talking to my camera felt a bit like talking with a friend, though it’s difficult to hear anything back.

Post-production, involving the editing of the series, might have been my favorite part. With inspirations such as Jasmine Le, the aesthetics I had planned for my series came out pretty well! I really enjoyed customizing the videos and making them my own! (and cutting out my many bloopers.) Using Capcut was incredibly easy, as I watched multiple tutorials before production as a way to further prepare myself for editing.

Now What?!

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Creating Style Files was one of my favorite projects I’ve ever created, and I’m sad to see it end! With this new production and content creation experience under my belt, there will definitely be more YouTube uploads in the near future! With such an easy, problem-free experience using Capcut, I will likely use everything I learned from Style Files to create more content!

Also, with my confidence boosted from getting in front of the camera, I can’t wait to produce more fashion-related and lifestyle content, and use social media to promote it! I will likely soon promote Style Files on social media since I’m so proud of the project.

I want to thank you all on keeping up with my project with me. There have been ups and downs along the way, but ultimately this project is one of my proudest.

I can’t wait to update soon with my newest projects!

After such a useful and productive project management experience, I couldn’t be more ready to launch my mini series. This week, we focused on post-production! Editing has become one of my favorite things to do, so focusing on this task wasn’t difficult at all. After spending hours of researching the software Capcut, I couldn’t be more ready to edit my own videos.

Using such an easy-to-use software, editing came naturally! I would highly recommend Capcut to beginning editors, like me! There were so many free text templates and other useful features, I didn’t need to worry about upgrading to pro. The editing process was so simple, and I can’t wait to use Capcut soon for any future projects!

Filming was a super fun experience as well. Being a hands-on person who doesn’t usually get to do projects like this, creating this project allowed me to expand my creative side and try new things! Style Files was overall such a fun project to make, and wouldn’t trade any of my experience for the world!

Having inspiration from some of my favorite YouTubers greatly helped in securing my vision for the series. Jasmine Le and Drew Joiner were my main inspirations, as I enjoy their editing styles and video formats! By watching their videos, I was able to look into how they were edited or formatted, and try my best to recreate (not copy!!) these techniques for my own series.

After my editing process of all three videos, it was time to upload!

Uploading to YouTube was incredibly simple, hence why I chose the platform. With customizable features such as adding cards into the video of other videos I created, I utilized as many features to help with my viewers’ accessibility. When creating content in the future, I now know that uploading to YouTube is one of the easiest processes, and would recommend to anyone!

Making my descriptions was also incredibly customizable as well. When watching YouTube for fun, I always find myself reading the descriptions of videos made by creators, as it feels like a mini message to viewers. So I wanted to recreate that feeling, and have a mini chat with my viewers and tell them a bit about the video. Also, when uploading to YouTube, don’t forget to credit any music used in the video! This can be incredibly important to these creators who work hard for these audios!

All in all, creating this mini video series was a dream. Being able to create this series about something I am passionate about was incredibly liberating, and I wouldn’t trade any of this experience for the world. With the software and programs I used; Capcut, YouTube, Canva, and more, the editing and creating process was not too difficult, and have taught me so much about my own working process and project management skills. If you were ever thinking about creating your own content, GO FOR IT!! You never know who it’ll reach!

It’s officially one of my favorite parts of a production project: finally gathering the pieces to put everything together! This week, I’ve gathered lots of materials to help my post-production process go by smoothly. Creating my scripts beforehand heavily helped with this, as I knew which images or music to grab for editing!

Keeping up with my production journal, I was able to track everything I was doing, and keep up with my to-do lists on Notion. This week, I was tasked with completing the rest of my scripts, gathering music and graphics, and completing my intro for my YouTube channel. Not only did I complete these tasks, but I also began my tasks for the next week, and also ended up customizing my YouTube channel appearance. Doing all this also helped me come up with a different YouTube name. Initially starting off with my complete first and last name, I decided to go with a nickname. I feel that this can help make the channel much more approachable, as I felt that having my first and last name made it feel much more like an assignment.

When creating my intro, I decided the same thing. I researched many popular YouTubers and their intros, and decided to make one for myself. I took a lot of inspiration from YouTuber Vanillamace, as I like how her intro shows a bit of her personality before getting into the video. In my intro, I used random clips of myself I found in my camera, and put them together to show a different side of myself. As I continue filming, these clips will most likely change!

Another item checked off from my to-do list was choosing background music for the video series. Aiming for something more relaxed and not too loud, I ultimately chose “Lazy Sunday” from Uppbeat.com. This music is copyright free, and the website provides me with the credits to use in the description of my video. With the free plan, I have up to three free downloads – so I highly recommend this website! As for the music, it is not too overpowering, and is more of a lofi beat, which matches the aimed aesthetic of my video series pretty well.

The last thing that I’ll talk about is gathering my graphics for the video series. While writing the script, I decided that it would be best to incorporate images on the screen that match what I’m saying, to grab viewers attention and guide them through the information. While creating my scripts, I grabbed images from Google (with links to credit them of course), to add into the video as I speak. I found that doing this while writing the script was much easier, as I could envision in my head exactly how the video would look with the images popping up as I go.

Overall, all that’s left for me to do is film and edit! I’m excited for this part to come up, as I have been looking forward to dusting off my camera and tripod for a while! I am also heavily prepared with any difficulties that may face me, and am prepared for any revisions that need to be made. Catch you next time with some more updates!

An updated production journal this week!

I’ve never been so excited to begin a project as much as this one. With this project, I am aiming to be as prepared and organized as I can be, something I’ve never tried before with previous projects. Through this course, I have learned that being prepared with everything beforehand can only benefit you! Any changes made in the future, with enough planning beforehand, will only be minor changes, as the previous planning can keep you much more organized.

With the help of a production journal, I have been able to keep track of everything I have done for this project in the past week. By tracking the status and duration of the specific tasks, I am able to determine which tasks may need a bit more work or need to be edited. By tracking my tasks, I can see exactly what is being started or completed. Below is a PDF of my first production journal! As weeks go by, the tasks will get even more specific, and likely much longer in duration. Created in Canva, this journal is very easy to look at and is very organized. I strongly urge everyone to utilize this tool, as it has kept me aware of my tasks and what needs to be done!

Project Updates!

As seen in the production journal, I have a couple of updates to this project. Since my last post, I have created a script outline for the first video of the series, as well as gathered graphics to use in the video. After watching Capcut tutorials for two hours and heavily familiarizing myself with the software, I can say I am quite confident and ready to edit the series.

Now it’s finally time to film!

Although the script outline is quite general, this will guide me through filming and will keep me on topic throughout the video. I plan on updating the script soon to be a bit more specific surrounding the history, as I want to list sources and keep all of the facts correct. All in all, this project is coming by quite smoothly, all with the help of preparedness.

The choice of over-preparedness is completely optional, but something I highly recommend for personal projects, or any projects for that matter. I am very new to project management and being so organized, and it has provided me with nothing but helpful information throughout this process. From knowing which tasks need a bit more work to keeping track of every single task I need to complete for this project, organization is now key in every single project I plan on doing in the future. Again, I highly recommend this work process for expert organization and project management, and urge everyone to try it out for at least one project!

After figuring out my final idea last week, I’ve never been more excited for a project. The next step into this exciting idea is organizing my thoughts and tasks into one place. Although I want to hurry and begin the production of this project, project management is one of the most crucial steps in making sure everything gets done!

Notion is the project management software I chose to fully break down my project. I’ve used Notion plenty of times before, from keeping track of my school assignments to keep track of my own personal errands. Downloading the app on my iPad and iPhone made it even easier to keep track of everything on the go.

Getting started on listing my tasks, I wanted to be as specific as possible, to make sure I knew exactly what to do. Going over the next couple of weeks, I ultimately wrote down exactly what needed to get done and exactly when it should be completed.

Above shows the landing page of my Notion for this project. I wanted to keep the design very minimal, to not distract myself of spending hours (like I do every time) picking a theme or aesthetic. This way, all of the information is very straight forward and tells me exactly what needs to be done. Looking a bit deeper, you will see a couple of blue check marks. These check marks show which tasks are completed, and which ones still need to be done.

Organization

Getting even more specific, it is important to organize your organization. I did this by organizing all of my tasks into specific categories in each week. For example, there were certain tasks under production, or research, or production journal. These tasks got even more specific, and reminded me of how to complete these assignments with ease. Getting more and more specific with these tasks can ultimately help in speeding up the assignment, as everything is written down for you!

According to an article by National University,

Project management “helps identify and mitigate risks, manage resources effectively, and ensure stakeholders are well informed and involved throughout the project…”

“Effective project management requires strong communication skills, attention to detail, and adapting to ever-changing circumstances”

From this quote, I wanted to highlight the importance of adapting to varying circumstances. Anything could happen to your project, so it is crucial to stay on top of what needs to be done. Something as small as a specific software not working to your needs can drastically change a project, as an entirely new software with entirely new features can impact the project entirely! This also goes with the importance of doing heavy research beforehand, as this research can prevent any future mistakes or unforeseen circumstances.

All in all, project management has greatly benefitted me in the many times I’ve used it. I would highly recommend Notion to anyone interested in organization and accessibility, as Notion provides unlimited free pages and features, and is very customizable! There are so many benefits to writing everything down, either physically or digitally, and keeping your tasks organized in one place.

View my entire project plan here!

References

National University. “Why Is Project Management Important?” National University, 10 July 2023, www.nu.edu/blog/why-is-project-management-important/.

Upon joining my new Content Creation class, I was assigned to think of my “Dream Project”; something I’ve been longing to create that must be created in just 140 hours (20 hours a week). When initially thinking of my idea, I began to think a bit broad. My first initial idea was creating a video series to explore different fashion styles. After a bit more thinking, I thought about creating my own magazine. After a very helpful meeting with my professor, however, I finally landed on my idea: Style Files.

Interested in both fashion and creating content, I’ve always wanted to publish my own content on my personal YouTube channel. So now’s my chance!

In the planning process, it is crucial to create a proposal in which all of your ideas are laid out in front of you. When doing this, I made many decisions which would have been more difficult to make later, such as knowing when to post or which topics to cover in the series. Attached at the bottom is a PDF of my proposal for my video series, though I plan on going more in depth about my thought process in this post!

Explaining My Idea

To give just a bit more information about my idea, I plan on creating a video series explaining some of today’s most timeless fashion trends and items. From the mini skirt to ballet flats, I plan on diversifying both my current fashion palette and my viewers’, by showing how these pieces can be worn. Through a video essay format, which has shown a recent surge of popularity in YouTube, I plan on informing viewers on these fashion takes and informing myself as well.

Inspiration for this idea comes from YouTuber Drew Joiner, who has attracted fashion-interested individuals through his video-essay format. Informing them on current fashion trends and giving outfit advice, Joiner uses B-roll footage and pop-up text to keep viewers engaged, and also speaks in a conversation-like tone. One other influencer I took inspiration from is Jasmine Le, as I am a long time follower. While she recently has strayed away from fashion-related content, her editing style has attracted myself and many more viewers, and keeps her content very engaging and visually aesthetic.

While technical details like equipment and the series’ format is all included in the proposal, I want to stress the importance of creating one. This proposal has not only helped guide me in knowing exactly what I wanted to talk about, but it also kept me much more organized than an outline would. Presenting my ideas in a professional manner kept me from confusing myself with a mindmap or outline, and also helped me in deciding the overall aesthetic of the video series, which I somewhat matched to the portfolio. As I also love anything creative, I enjoyed creating this proposal, as it allowed me to express my thoughts in a new way.

When researching the art of creating proposals, an incredibly helpful source I came across was Qwilr.com. This article, written by Dan Lever, explains the importance of creating proposals, as well as common mistakes made by professional media companies. While I did tweak some of the information to fit my project idea, this source really outlined the information to include, as well as highlighted the importance of choosing the right aesthetic for your proposal.

All in all, creating this proposal has done nothing short of wonders for starting my video series. From having absolutely nothing, this proposal saved me from the stresses of beginning a new project, and has kept me more organized than ever before. I definitely plan on incorporating this practice into all of my future projects, and I suggest you do too!