Fresh Business Knowledge

Hi Ya, Yasmine here... I'd like to talk  a bit about one of the modules that I am taking at Fontys is Fresh Business Knowledge, the first part of the semester focuses on sustainability, which is a passion of mine. As a part of this module we were assigned a two-part sustainability project. Individually or as groups we were to create a short informative video about a topic relating to fresh business and sustainability, it also had an accompanying research report.

Obviously as sustainability is a passion of mine this project spoke to me quite deeply. I have some previous knowledge of video editing, so I relished the idea of being able to combine the two into one fun academic project.

For my sustainability topic I choose plastic waste – or more the dangers/damages caused by plastic production or disposal. I knew I wanted to present a video that was factual, informative as well as helpful. I began by research facts about plastic production, plastic waste/recycling, CO2 emissions and plastic alternatives. I also video similar videos relating to plastics waste online, TED talks were an invaluable source of information.

Once I had a fact sheet in place, I began by brainstorming different lay out ideas on paper. I developed three options before choosing the one I felt had the best ‘flow’ for the information. Once I knew how I wanted the layout of the video to go, I drew a few very basic storyboards to envision where I should place title sequences or video clips etc. I then began piecing together clips from other sourced materials in a basic timeline on video editing software. Recording myself for the video was probably the most awkward part of the process, as it felt weird to me to be recording myself talking in my room. Arranging the video clips along side still images and sourced video material was a daunting task, it takes patience and time to get everything in place. Over laying the music, also sourced free online, was a less time consuming but still took the better part of an afternoon. Overall the creation of the video probably took me a week between research, prep, shooting and editing. I enjoyed it thoroughly though! It was such a fun and creative way for me to express my passion in sustainability in a new and different way.

I used the research I had done for the video fact sheet, which was extensive and referenced to write my report. Although it wasn’t as fun to create as the video, I did still enjoy writing the report as it allowed me an opportunity to widen my knowledge of plastic and its dangers. Doing this project has just concreted my believe in sustainability all that bit more. It isn’t easy to change my habits, but I want to try better to reduce my plastic consumption. Education is one of the best ways to change a habit, so I will continue to keep on learning all that I can about sustainability…and who knows maybe ill have the very fun opportunity to create more informative videos in the future!