Before joining Hello Ocean, I’d never had any instruction in video creation. I taught myself a little bit of PremierePro (a video editing software), but that was it! So, while I’ve been on board, it’s been awesome to learn from people who have done this before. What exactly goes into making a Hello Ocean video? Read on to find out!

1) Pre-Production

Discovering the St. Barts Nature Reserve was part of the story scouting process!

This is the planning phase, which is crucial for any good video. The first step is scouting stories—discovering local marine conservation organizations doing great work. Once you find a story, you can start story development—figuring out what the video will say and how it will say it. This often involves outside research on the story topic, too. Once that’s done, you can begin writing your script and developing the scenes you want to film.

2) Production

The next major phase is production, when you actually get the footage! While I’ve been volunteering, we have traveled to St. Maarten and St. Barts to film two stories about lionfish and sharks. I’ve learned about everything from how to use the camera equipment to how to frame a shot to the best practices when interviewing someone.

3) Post-Production

That’s me filming the stomach content analysis of a lionfish!

Once you have your footage, the post-production process can begin. This involves logging all your footage—tagging it with keywords, descriptions, and ratings. This can be time consuming, but it makes editing much easier. When editing footage, you findthe best clips (from your log!) and piece them together, adding music, voiceovers, and graphics until you have your final video! After that, it’s time for distribution—getting your video to your audience.

So, as you can see, a ton of work goes into making even really short videos, and the Hello Ocean team can’t wait to show you what we’ve been working on! Stay tuned!