A Crash Course in Video Creation

In today's world, content is king. People are more online than ever, and there are more people creating content than there ever has been before. Attention spans seem to be rapidly shrinking because we are constantly bombarded by brands and influencers competing for our attention. According to WebFX, 72% of consumers prefer to learn about products and services through video content. Video content is more engaging than text or images. Video captures attention quickly and can convey complex information simply but interestingly.

Being able to create a high-quality video is an important part of any digital marketing degree. It's vital that I can create visual content that resonates in the minds and hearts of viewers. This past month, in our Writing for Communications Careers class, we had the opportunity to choose any brand or topic that resonates with us and create an engaging video that can be shared across multiple platforms. We were expected to carefully research each platform we chose and be able to explain why we chose that particular platform. After posting were expected to research the analytics to determine how well the exercise went.

I have always enjoyed content that tells a story. I wanted my video to tell a story personal to me, and I wanted to leave a lasting effect on my audience. I created a three-minute video about my experience living in the Bahamas. Living in a new place can be extremely challenging, especially when the place is a country halfway around the world. Ensign College is home to many international students studying abroad for the first time. I wanted to create a video that international students can relate to and learn from. We can all do hard things. Hard things help us to become better than we were before.

I had never really taken the time to create a video this long before, and it was a learning experience the whole way through. I learned the importance of a good script. It's important that your script flows well and guides the reader down the path that you intend. A good script is unique and uses a good tone and voice. I also learned how difficult it can be to create a video after creating a script. If I could change one thing about my video, I would have taken more time to gather clips from my time in the Bahamas. When the time finally came to edit, I didn't feel like I had enough content to fill my script. I ended up having to cut parts out to match the video content that I gathered. Having an understanding of your editing platform beforehand can be a big help as well. I spent almost three days trying to nail down my edit before I felt like my video was finally worthy of my social feeds. If I were to go back, I would definitely spend more time learning the editing software beforehand. This would have saved me hours of learning on the fly.

All in all, creating a video was an extremely rewarding experience. I felt like I was able to produce a piece of content that I am actually proud of and something that I would be happy to post on my portfolio site. I look forward to perfecting my skills and learning how I can create the best video content possible for my future digital marketing clients.