By Marissa Pool
Photo by Geneva Myhrvold
Creating successful media content can be a tricky thing to tackle.
Whether it's a video, a blog post, or an advertisement, it takes lots of planning, failing, trying it again, failing again, until you find the solution that is right for you. But once you find the solution, it becomes incredibly rewarding.
I created content without the goal of it being widely successful. I came up with the idea, flushed it out with some of my best friends, and created a project that ended up being more impactful than I imagined.
It all started with the Black Lives Matter movement in May of 2020.
As someone who is half Black and half Chinese, this movement sparked some emotions in me that I had never experienced before. The death of George Floyd finally made the entire country listen to what Black people have been saying for so long. As one of those people that hadn't been listened to, I wanted to do something. I felt this enormous amount of responsibility to use my voice and use this horrible feeling to motivate myself into creating something.
The hardest thing was figuring out where to start. The idea for me came from a random text conversation with two of my best friends. We talked about what we were feeling, and they allowed me to vent about what I was feeling. Eventually, one of them said to me, "Let's make a video. You can talk about your life, your perspectives on what is going on, and what you want the future to be like.” It was really that simple.
Preparation is everything.
We knew in a project this sensitive and this new to us, we needed to be prepared. We took advantage of our free schedules to plan this project and we took two weeks to come up with a script. We created questions, talking points, and had a broad idea of how we wanted to the video to flow.
Audience is an important thing to keep in mind when creating your content. Who are you trying to impact? Who do you really want to see your work? Why do you want those people to see it?
I chose to put my video on Instagram and eventually Facebook because I wanted my main audience to be my friends and family. Since I am 19 and offer a much younger perspective, I knew it would be popular among people my age. And I unfortunately knew it would be easier for people to grasp such a difficult topic if it is happening to someone they know. Since racism is so common in this country it can be easier to see the severity of it if it is happening in front of their faces.
We filmed it a first time…and it was a disaster.
When trying something for the first time, don't expect it to be perfect. It isn't something to get discouraged over. Creating content is about trying multiple things until you find your formula for success. With that in mind, we filmed it again. It still wasn't what I wanted it to be, and at this point we decided to completely restructure our content.
The third time, we found our voice.
I knew with a project this important to me, I needed to be extremely vulnerable and impactful. I needed it to be as close to perfect as we could get it. For our third try, we changed it from two people on camera to one to create a larger focus on me and made it more of a conversation so the video would be more appealing to listen to. The third time we filmed it, I knew instantly it was going to be The One. We all felt like we had finally accomplished the goal we had.
The editing process is most likely when you will experience a lot of anxiety.
I spent too long editing our video, watching it over and over again, obsessing over every single word. The hour of footage we had turned into a half an hour final cut. We had lots of bloopers, which was expected from a project I did with my best friends.
Still, I was unsure if I wanted to go through with it. I was nervous no one would care, but anxiety like that is normal. For me, I was nervous to talk about racism publicly. It is hard for some people to accept and listen to conversations about racism in our country, and it was hard for me to talk about. I knew since it was something I was passionate about, it would be worth something.
That is the most important thing to remember when creating a project: if you think it's good, if you're proud of it, go for it.
I posted the video to Instagram on a random Tuesday.
This huge secret project my friends and I had been working on for around a month was out in the world and it was terrifying. I tried not to look at it for as long as I could. Anyone posting their content for the very first time can be skeptical of the amount of attention they will receive from it. I certainly was.
But this skepticism relates to what I said earlier: if you're proud of it, that is really all that matters. It could end up even better than you imagine. Our first video currently has a little over 2400 views, while the second episode has a little over 1100 views.
I was happily surprised by the amount of people watching all 30 minutes of it. The wonderful messages people sent me, everyone sharing it, the opportunities I have gotten because of it was beyond my expectations. For me, it was about making a difference in my own way. It is about finding that way that works for you to make a difference through your own projects. I know it is scary to put yourself out there but take it from a 19-year-old college student, your project could create a bigger impact than you think. So, what's stopping you?
watch Marissa’s Video
Photo by Corri McAllister
Marissa Pool grew up in Bellevue Washington, attending Bellevue High and graduated in 2019. She now attends the University of Washington to study music and is looking forward to a career in the music industry. Her number 1 hobby is singing but recently found her passion and voice when it comes to racial injustice. She hopes to continue to use her voice to speak up for racial injustice. Her videos can be found on her Instagram or Facebook, @marissapool.