My First Client VCR

I just finished my first VCR! My first VCR? It's the first video I created with the process of creating a treatment. I shared before that this project despite it being free; was something I wanted to do, knowing I could try applying what I had learned about editing and film over the past two years. This opening video for a church event had many challenges, especially during post-production; but again it's another learning experience.

I shared how the process of planning it was a challenge and I thought that was the tricky part. When I received all the footage from the video editors I knew I had to keep my expectations low since I wasn’t on location but I had hopes that they would get the shots I had in mind. Luckily enough most of their shots were great but the downside was finding out a couple of main shots were missing. They were important in tying the story together. It here was where the challenge began.

I realized the videographers might not have thought to create a shot list for the shoot. They shot based on what they remembered or noted only a few things to shoot. Because of this, I had to forgo my ideal shots for the VCR. This is where I took it upon myself to come up with how to make the video work even without most of the crucial shots I needed. So I took to the internet and searched up B-roll shots to help fill in the gaps in the video.

Editing took longer due to this, I was on the internet for a while trying to find footage, but this became another learning moment. I had to rack my mind trying to brainstorm how best to tell the story with the missing footage. When ideas came rushing through I took my camera, made a list of things to shoot at home, and asked my brother to be my character’s silhouette to make it believable. This helped in so many ways and personally, it taught me how to work and problem-solve under pressure. After I was able to upload the new videos and started editing.

In the end, even with those missing shots, I was able to put the video together! I even got a few of my family members to give me their thoughts on it. They gave me tiny things to add to make it even better but overall another project was accomplished! Lessons to take on my next project similar to this are for sure being on location, creating a shot list, and always communicating to see if the other person understands your vision. Honestly, I’m so excited to take on another project like this when an opportunity arrives. It's experiences like these that show me even if saying yes to doing free projects is beneficial.