“The Art of” Making TikToks: A look into the creative genius that calls for making these viral videos

By: Katherine Seeley

Setting up a camera, finding good lighting, finding the right angle, the perfect shot and the perfect songs are all part of the TikTok making process. When it comes to making TikToks, there is an art to it. It is not simply setting up your phone and hitting “record.” You collect videos from the whole day, comb through hours worth of footage and edit it down to a one minute or less video. It is time consuming.

Creating TikToks seems simple but the effort that goes into it is an extensive process. You need an eye for aesthetic shots, the patience to redo videos multiple times and wait for interruptions to pass. When it comes to editing, you have to decide if you want a song to play in the background or use ASMR sounds. If you want a song, you need to pick the best one that relates to what you are doing or which one is trending.

You also have to choose the different captions to add onto the video and describe what you are doing in a few words and add it to each section of the video. You can also use the voiceover effect and narrate what is happening after you create it. Once you settle on the captions or voiceover effect, you rewatch everything you have done to ensure it is done correctly and looks good.

Transitions between videos can take the most amount of time because it has to align with the previous video. The angle has to stay the same, the lighting has to stay the same. If these two key elements are missing, the transition will not work and it has to be done again. There are many transitions and effects that can be added to create an aesthetically pleasing video, such as snapping your fingers and appearing in a different outfit or adding a fade effect that loops into the next three seconds on the video. 

Having created several TikToks of my own, it has taken me at least two-plus hours of editing along with the process of recording my daily activities. It is like telling a story. You are showing people what is going on in your life and hoping they appreciate the effort that goes into it. Not only that, it is fun to express yourself and your interests.

When making these short videos, you can look back on different times in your life and preserve the memories you have. I am a firm believer in living in the moment but sometimes it is great to have a few videos to look back on. That is why it is an art. You are expressing yourself, preserving memories and are having fun at the same time.