Starting a passion project can sound daunting. You have an idea you’ve always wanted to pursue but have never found the time or motivation to follow through. When you finally decide to take action, where do you start?
I’ve found that when pursuing large projects— whether it’s a home DIY project or an extensive work campaign— the best way to start is with a plan. Detailed plans are vital to projects because they not only help with thorough organization, but if done properly, you’re able to create a final product that looks almost exactly like what you were picturing in your head.
This week, I created a proposal for my passion project. It’s a topic I’ve had in my head for years but have not been able to execute for one reason or another. For the next seven weeks, however, I will be able to plan, organize, execute and publish my project on my blog.
The Project
Throughout my life, I have never been big on cycling. I wouldn’t even consider myself a cyclist. By basic definition, I’d just be a person who owns a bike. I didn’t know anything about the world of cycling or the hazards cyclists go through on a daily basis. That is, until about six years ago when I met my partner. He’s an avid cyclist and loves going out in groups of 30 at 4:30 AM and cycling for 50 miles— all before most of us have even started our day. I never thought anything of it until I got a call one day in 2019 that his entire cycling group had crashed. Thirty people scattered across the ground with dozens of bruised rib cages and several broken clavicles. All because the lead cyclist swerved in an effort to miss a truck that got too close to the shoulder. This quick act caused a major chain reaction. My partner flipped over his bike’s handlebars but only sustained some pretty ugly scrapes. Dozens of others in his group, however, weren’t so lucky.
That incident happened— in part— because there is no regard for cyclists where we live in the Rio Grande Valley. There are very few bike lanes and even fewer bike safety regulations. While I’m not out on the roads cycling every day, that was one of the scariest phone calls I had ever received, and there are thousands of people across the nation who hear far worse. This is why I hope to spread awareness through a joint video/podcast series and social media campaign about the dangers cyclists face when cities and communities do not support cycling lanes.
My goal for the next seven weeks is to outline the process of this video/podcast series and social media campaign on my blog. Because this is a content-heavy project, it isn’t as simple as “record video then post said video.” The first step involves fleshing out all of my ideas and mapping out what is actually possible to create within that timeline. The first step in getting this done on time, is through research.
Research
Research is vital to any project because it helps determine current trends, demographics and any legal elements. Because my project relies heavily on educating viewers and listeners on the dangers cyclists face that are largely caused by external factors, research and data is imperative prior to the creation of content.
Preliminary research to comprehend the laws currently in place, the cost of a social and physical infrastructure, learning who this will affect and why the number of motorist-cyclist crashes continue to rise will offer important insight for the production process. Also, because I plan to incorporate a social media aspect to this project, additional research is needed for each platform to ensure the target audience is reached for optimal engagement.
Prior to starting my project proposal, I created a preliminary bibliography to gather as much information about cycling, current trends and crash statistics as I could in preparation for this project. In the bibliography you’ll find more than 30 cited works in mediums ranging from video to academic journals to consolidate different kinds of research in one place.
Production Plan
After researching for several days, my next task was creating a detailed project plan. My project involves a video series, a podcast and a social media campaign, which means I knew I had to outline my pre-production, production and post-production processes, as well as my project launch in this plan.
Laying the groundwork is vital to the success of this project and essential to a smoother process from beginning to end, which is where the pre-production process comes in. In addition to creating storyboards, outlining what will be scripted and what will be ad libbed and collecting any video, photo and graphic assets, I will also reach out to cycling groups to set up days and times I can stop by to record my footage and interviews.
In the production process of my project, I will record my video, interviews and audio podcast. It is also in this stage that I will take photos and create any additional graphics to be shared across various social media platforms. During the post-production process, I will edit all video, audio and graphics in preparation for their launch. It is also in this step that I will address any needed color-correction, clean up audio, incorporate music and sound effects and add any final touches that are needed for the content to look like what I pictured in the pre-production process.
By this point, I will have created a playlist on YouTube and Soundcloud and shared my content with classmates for feedback as an audience test. After considering and applying any changes from their critique, I will officially launch all content across several mediums and platforms.
My project will be technical-heavy, which is why I also included the equipment I will be using these next few weeks. From a DSLR to editing software I’ll be using, every detail is important to note so nothing catches me off guard in the production or post-production process.
Below you will find my proposal and a detailed look at my plan for the next seven weeks.
Wrapping Up
Organizing your thoughts and ideas into a detailed plan is one of the most crucial things you can do before jumping into a large project. You want to make sure you’re not only knowledgeable in the topic you’ll be pursuing, but also confident that you’re providing your viewers and listeners with factual information.
Another important element to remember is being passionate about what you’re doing. This will not only keep you motivated to finish your project but being genuine about a topic always comes through to the audience, and in the end, they are who will pass your message along to others.
From an initial project proposal to the final product, when done properly, this is the start of a chain reaction that will hopefully lead to positive change.