How Small Businesses Reinvented Themselves Creatively

The pandemic has been tough on all of us, that is no secret. Since last March I think a lot of people have spend more time than ever before on social media. During this time I realized that a lot of businesses reinvented themselves. I saw a boom in creativity in the videos and photos they posted and how they started interacting with their audiences online. I've always been attracted to content creation in social media, and this past year has shown me that there are many more ways to expand and grow a business through this channel, which is why I choose this theme to explore more in depth in my video. 

The main thing I learned after filming and editing the video was the impact that a simple decision for a shot can make when creating content. For example, once I finished filming and putting together the main narrative shots were I am featured talking, I knew something was missing. I watched some mini-documentaries on YouTube for inspiration and found that many included text on top of the main narrative to emphasize some points. Once I included some key words on these videos, the difference was clear. The video was now much more engaging as viewers had something to look at in addition to only listening to me talk.

For the planning of the video, I created a storyboard. It took me a really long time to finish the storyboard, but I think that's what made the filming and editing of the video so easy and not so time consuming. For the type of shots I choose, I looked at the article titled "The Basic Building Blocks- The Different Shot Type Families." For the video shots that featured me as a narrator, I choose the Medium Close Up shot because as the article states, "the audience is supposed to be watching the human face at this point in the framing so actions or objects in the surrounding environment hold little to no importance." I wanted special attention from the viewer during those shots because it included the most important points of the video, so this shot was ideal.

I am very content with the final product of this video project. However, that is not to say that there is nothing I would change about it. For instance, the fifth shot of the video features my phone scrolling through Instagram and the image looks a little blurred. When I recorded this video I was too focused on the posts I was clicking on Instagram, rather than the image itself which could be more focused. This way, the viewer would definitely feel more connected to the narration in the background that talks about what small businesses create on social media.

Moreover, after looking closely at the video I can see that some sound editing would have made it better. There are times that the narration does not match the images exactly. Sometimes it starts a few seconds before, or ends too soon. On the sixth shot for example, my narration about the product that the business Milk+T created during the pandemic, begins before the image of the product itself is shown. Although it sounds somewhat insignificant an edit like this, if the sound matches the images it makes it easier for the viewer to stay engaged.

Putting a whole video together from scratch is not that simple. Planning the video before you begin filming is extremely important and smart. To me, the editing process was hard, and attention to detail would have resulted in a better final product. However, after this process I know I am better equipped to analyze videos I see in the media better and smarter.