September 18, 2026
This week I spent time finishing my personal-brand video for COMM 310. The final video is only around two minutes long. Looking at the finished version, it would be easy to assume that a two-minute video should be quick to make.
It wasn’t.
A lot of the work happened in very small decisions. I had to decide where a training clip should start, how long a screen recording should stay visible and whether a shot was still useful after hearing the voice-over with it.
A few seconds can take a while
At one point, I watched the same section several times because the visual change felt too early. Then I moved it. It felt late.
I moved it again.
Nobody watching the final video will know that happened, which is probably a good thing.
I also had to keep checking whether the visuals were helping the message or simply making the video busy. Because my work includes design, Excel, training and content creation, I had plenty of material I could show. The problem was choosing what not to show.
Editing changed how I saw the script
This connected back to something I learned while writing the script. Words, timing and visuals cannot really be treated as separate pieces.
A sentence that lasts ten seconds creates ten seconds of visual space that needs a purpose. Sometimes one shot is enough. Sometimes it feels painfully long.
I knew that before in a general way because I already work with video. This project made me notice it at the sentence level. I think my next script will be different because of that.
