Aurora
Yi Zhang

Digital Media · Creative Strategy · Marketing & Communications

Content
Strategy
Visual
Storytelling
Digital
Marketing
Audience
Insights
Project
Management
Interactive &
Emerging Media

01 — Profile

I turn ideas into stories
people want to watch.

A media and communication creator connecting organisations with diverse audiences through short video, social strategy, visual design and emerging creative technology.

Currently completing a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism & Communication) at UNSW, I combine editorial thinking with hands-on production. My work moves from research and scripting to shooting, editing, publishing and performance analysis—across English and Chinese-language platforms.

40K+Organic Content Reach
24K+Single TikTok Video Views
30%+Event Participation Uplift
EN · 中文Cross-cultural Communication

02 — Capabilities

Built for the whole
content journey.

01

Content & Social Strategy

Cross-platform content planning, audience understanding, trend research and performance-led optimisation.

02

Video & Visual Storytelling

Short-form video, editing, scripting, mobile-first storytelling, visual pacing and social-first creative.

03

Data & Audience Insights

Performance analysis, social metrics, Tableau dashboards, Excel analysis and insight-led recommendations.

04

Interactive & Emerging Media

UX/UI, interactive narrative, game systems, VR, generative AI and experimental digital experiences.

05

Research & Communication

Qualitative research, interviewing, cross-cultural communication, reporting and translating complex ideas for diverse audiences.

06

Project & Event Coordination

Cross-functional collaboration, project tracking, live event support, stakeholder communication and fast-paced delivery.

Premiere Pro · CapCut · Photoshop · Canva · ChatGPT · Gemini · Midjourney · Runway · ElevenLabs · Vidu · Tableau · Excel

03 — Selected impact

Work that
moves.

Social Content & Audience Growth40K+ · 21K+

Rednote Travel Content — 40K+ Organic Reach

Developed two audience-focused travel stories using practical hooks, saveable information and platform-native visual pacing. One post generated 40K+ organic views; a second reached 21K+ views and 1K+ likes.

1K+ likesRednoteOrganic reach
Rednote post showing approximately 39,000 views
40K+ reach
Rednote video showing 21,397 views and 1,268 likes
21K+ · 1K+ likes
Social Content & Audience Growth24K+

TikTok Short-form Video — 24K+ Views

Produced and edited a story-led vertical travel video using Adobe Premiere Pro and CapCut. Platform-aware pacing, mobile framing and a clear destination narrative helped the video reach 24K+ TikTok views.

EditingTikTokMobile-first
TikTok travel video showing 24,000 views
24K+ views
Social Operations & Community Growth+30%

HKUSPACE Social Operations — 30%+ Participation

Managed HKUSPACE Rednote and WeChat content across publishing schedules, event copy, poster design, filming and short-video editing. I adapted practical student guides for each platform—including turning an image-heavy food guide into video—and helped increase event participation by more than 30%.

Rednote + WeChatCopywritingContent adaptation30%+ uplift
Hong Kong food guide
Explore the original content portfolio

05 — Experience

Creative range,
professional depth.

2026

Social Media Marketing Intern

Western Sydney Startup Hub · Spacecubed

Content planning, short-form video, event photography and founder-story coverage across Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook.

2025

Project Assistant Intern

Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives

Cross-national sustainability research, database quality, comparative reporting and responsible generative-AI production.

2024—Now

Freelance Content Creator

Travel & Lifestyle

Platform-aware storytelling with measurable organic reach across Rednote and TikTok.

2022—24

Peer Advisor

HKUSPACE

Managed institutional Rednote and WeChat publishing, community engagement and performance-led content schedules.

2023

Scenarist Intern

Cangzhou Lingyun Culture Communication

Scriptwriting, character dialogue, narrative development and creative collaboration through final production.

Education

Bachelor of Communication (Journalism & Communication)

UNSW Sydney · WAM 76.33

Earlier study

Associate of Arts

HKUSPACE · Media, Cultural & Creative Studies · GPA 3.61/4

06 — Data, Research & Insights

From evidence
to actionable insight.

Transforming operational data, cross-market research and audience behaviour into clear, actionable insights.

01 / Data AnalyticsDeloitte · Forage · Jul 2026

Operational Performance Dashboard

Data AnalysisData VisualisationPerformance AnalysisDecision Support
Berlin
Meiyo
Seiko
Shenzhen
Key signal

Daikibo Factory Seiko showed the highest volume of unhealthy machine status; filtering the view isolated laser welders as the dominant device category.

Challenge
Transform operational telemetry into a clear comparison across factories and device types.
Approach
Structured the dataset, created calculated measures and built interactive Tableau views. A separate Excel task classified equality scores across 37 factory-role records.
Outcome
Made differences between locations and equipment categories faster to identify and easier to communicate.

Portfolio reconstruction based on completed Deloitte Australia Data Analytics Job Simulation materials.

02 / Research & ReportingZERI · 2025

Cross-Market Sustainability Research

ResearchComparative AnalysisData SynthesisReporting
01Research

China and global sustainability models

02Analyse

Compare, classify and identify patterns

03Synthesise

Translate evidence into structured insights

04Report

Structure findings and action pathways

Research scope

From Chinese practice to globally adaptable systems

Investigated ecological restoration and sustainable-livelihood models across desertification control, photovoltaics, circular economy, COP30 outcomes and Hainan's green-development pathways.

Outcome

Structured evidence for evaluation

Produced structured research reports and concise summaries to support project evaluation, planning and organisational decision-making.

03 / Audience InsightsIndependent Creator

Social Content Performance & Audience Insights

24K+Views on one TikTok travel video
ContentStory-driven travel video

Short-form, mobile-first narrative

Performance24K+ TikTok views

Organic reach on a single video

InsightFormat aligned with behaviour

The result suggested concise, mobile-first storytelling fit audience behaviour on the platform.

ActionInform the next iteration

Use performance signals to guide future content choices.

Demonstrates an ability to connect creative execution with measurable audience behaviour—not simply publish content.

Capability map

From data to actionable insight.

01Analyse

Clean, classify and compare data.

02Interpret

Identify patterns and performance differences.

03Communicate

Translate complexity into clear visual stories.

04Optimise

Turn insight into the next practical action.

View the original Data, Research & Insights portfolio

07 — Selected Projects · AI Moving Image

Ideas become
other worlds.

Three creator-led experiments spanning concept development, prompting, generation and post-production. Select a film to play with sound.

Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives · Project Assistant Internship

Blue Economy Pioneers:
AI Video Storytelling

I transformed substantial research from ZERI's Blue Economy Database into short, accessible AI-assisted stories designed to build public awareness of sustainable innovation. Each case was developed as a distinct visual world, using an anthology-style approach inspired by the creative freedom of Love, Death + Robots.

My production workflow combined case research and factual review with beginning–conflict–solution–insight script structures, prompt development, AI image and video generation, voiceover production, editing, subtitles and copyright-aware music selection. The project prioritised emotional clarity and narrative coherence: story first, technology second.

Research & fact-checkingScriptwritingPrompt engineeringAI visual generationVoiceoverPost-production
01 PLAY FILM
Blue Economy Case 09 · Urban Mining

Hidden Mines Beneath Our Cities

A visual essay reframing the 60+ million tonnes of electronic waste generated each year as an urban resource. The story moves from the damage of extraction to robotic recovery, circular manufacturing and a greener city—revealing that tomorrow’s mines may already exist in our homes, offices and recycling centres.

Storyboard · Narrative architecture
00:00—00:08The hidden crisis

Slow push through an e-waste landfill establishes scale and urgency.

00:08—00:30Value beneath the surface

Macro circuit-board details glow into a mine-versus-city visual contrast.

00:30—00:58Recovery in motion

Fast-cut robotic sorting leads into recycled metals becoming a new phone.

00:58—01:22Circular insight

A green smart city resolves into an Earth formed from electronic circuits.

02 PLAY FILM
Blue Economy Case 02 · Maggot Farming

From Waste to Life

This story follows Father Godfrey Nzamujo’s work in Benin, where slaughterhouse waste becomes low-cost maggot protein for fish and quail feed. It also introduces the medical potential of maggot enzymes, showing how one circular system can reduce waste, support wound treatment and create local economic value.

Storyboard · Narrative architecture
OpeningWaste as conflict

Desaturated slaughterhouse waste and smoke create a stark problem statement.

DevelopmentThe Fly Hotel

Warm African sunrise, wooden trays and macro time-lapse reveal the circular system.

EvidenceBiology becomes care

Molecular enzyme animation transitions into an abstract healing comparison.

ResolutionLocal value, wider impact

Feed, medical gel and women at work culminate in a butterfly transformation.

Selected Project · AI Case Study

Research becomes
a visual system.

03 PLAY FILM
Blue Economy Case 06 · Regenerative Energy

Fuel From the Forest

Set in Colombia’s degraded savanna, this story follows Paolo Lugari and Las Gaviotas as pine regeneration becomes a living energy system. Resin is purified into turpentine fuel while restored forest also supports clean water, employment and carbon value: not burning forests into fuel, but growing the fuel.

Storyboard · Narrative architecture
00:00—00:18A landscape in need

A rusty tanker crosses degraded savanna before a close portrait introduces Paolo.

00:18—00:38Past idea, new context

A monochrome 1947 Honda workshop morphs into a regenerated pine forest.

00:38—01:02System thinking

Water, solar heat and amber resin lead into a four-stage gravity-purification diagram.

01:02—EndFour connected returns

Water, jobs, fuel and carbon value resolve in a seedling, clean flame and forest ambience.

07A — Narrative Production

From Script to
Production.

Cangzhou Lingyun Culture Communication · Scenarist Internship · Jun—Aug 2023

From script room to production floor

I developed scripts, narrative outlines and character dialogue, then worked with the director and creative team as ideas moved toward production. Creative sessions focused on plot arcs, character motivation and refinements that made each sequence clearer and more engaging.

These production records show the wider collaborative environment around the work: location staging, martial-arts performance, camera coverage and repeated takes. The internship strengthened my understanding of how written choices must respond to movement, location and practical filming constraints.

ScriptwritingNarrative developmentCharacter dialogueCreative collaborationProduction awareness
Location staging & camera coverage
Action blocking
Production collaboration

07B — Social & Cultural Storytelling

Authenticity
still travels.

Australia · Community interview · Research, interviewing & editing

Trust beyond sponsored content

A family-run Australian chocolate shop became an overnight viral story after a Chinese creator met a long-time customer on public transport and shared his enthusiastic recommendation for the shop's chocolate cake. The moment translated everyday trust into extraordinary attention for a local business.

Against a media landscape shaped by sponsorships and carefully curated personas, my interview asks why an unscripted recommendation can still move people. Through Old Baby's humour and honesty, the film examines authenticity as a form of social influence—one that creates connection online while producing tangible impact in a local community.

InterviewingSocial researchCommunity storytellingCross-cultural mediaVideo editing
Background coverage · A Current Affair
Field interview · Authenticity, trust and local influence

07C — Video Journalism

Surrounded,
yet alone.

Team video news project · Sydney urban loneliness

Making an invisible issue visible

Surrounded, Yet Alone investigates urban loneliness among young people in Sydney: the tension between living in a densely connected city and still experiencing emotional and social isolation.

I led interview planning, expert outreach and part of the video production. By combining a literature review, qualitative interviews and observational environmental footage, our team translated complex questions around mental health and social connection into a video news story designed for public understanding and emotional resonance.

Literature reviewQualitative interviewExpert outreachInterview planningVideo journalism
Research → Expert voices → Environmental observation → Public story

07D — Immersive Storytelling

Evidence Made
Immersive.

Course research project · Distinction

The 20-Minute Park Effect

This independently produced documentary investigates how spending time in nature can positively influence mental wellbeing. Drawing on psychological research, I developed the concept, conducted the background research, wrote the script, filmed and edited the complete work.

The project explores how immersive storytelling and VR can translate evidence-based ideas into an accessible sensory experience. Rather than simply explaining the research, the visual approach invites the audience to slow down, inhabit the environment and consider the relationship between attention, place and wellbeing.

DistinctionResearchScriptwritingIndependent productionVR storytelling
Concept → Research → Script → Filming → Edit
07E — Interactive Experience DesignBrowser-based ethical simulation · Game Design · UX/UI · Interactive Narrative

What Would
You Do?

An ethical simulation exploring how algorithmic systems transform control into seemingly rational decision-making.

Players join the near-future corporation Perfect Life as decision analysts. Efficiency scores, rankings and promotion rewards encourage increasingly direct interventions—until the player discovers that every “recommendation” is enforced upon a real client.

Play the game Live interactive experience · Desktop recommended · No login required
Perfect Life digital recruitment interface
Perfect Life Corporation · Entry sequence
Core design question
When control is packaged as rationality, efficiency and help, can people still recognise that they are harming someone?
01 · Research & concept

Power through a screen

Inspired by Marina Abramović's Rhythm 0, the project relocates unrestricted power into a contemporary digital system shaped by algorithmic recommendation, platform governance, performance culture and self-optimisation.

02 · Narrative system

Waterfall branching

Players share the same major events while empathy, awareness, control and obedience accumulate invisibly. Evidence and behavioural tendencies resolve into exposure, promotion or memory-reset endings.

03 · Behavioral design

Two conflicting feedback loops

Visible efficiency, completion and ranking metrics reward speed. Hidden ethical variables record what the player is becoming. The real antagonist is not a person, but a reward system capable of reproducing itself.

04 · UX / UI system

Interface as narrative

Recruitment letters, leaderboards, work terminals, social feeds and control rooms reveal information in stages. Cold precision keeps the system credible while the content becomes increasingly unsettling.

Three possible outcomes

Expose the system.
Become its manager.
Return as a client.

The project demonstrates an end-to-end process spanning social research, concept translation, worldbuilding, game mechanics, branching narrative, UX architecture, visual system design and a working web prototype.

Interactive NarrativeGame DesignUX/UI DesignEthical DesignSystems ThinkingCreative CodingWeb Prototyping