First off, I did not follow through with writing a further explanation for the last 11 videos of the challenge. Since I wasn’t really making content that needed commentary, in my opinion, I felt it was a waste of time and I am always one to be subject to procrastination. So… that’s all I’ll say about that. Anyways…
Originally, I was going to make a video-form reflection, but since it has been a few weeks since the end of the 30 Day Video Challenge, I felt it was out of place, so I’m just going to write about it instead.
So, the 30 Day Video Challenge. (trademark).
When the idea was first introduced to me by my dad as a way for him, my sister, and I to spend the first month of summer vacation I was pretty pumped up. I enjoy filmmaking and saw it as an opportunity to expand on my editing skills. I originally wanted to make video essays almost every day and scripted narratives and things like that. It did not turn out that way, and I ended up making more vlogs than planned, written content. This was mostly to the lack of plans that we had during this vacation so every time we went out it was a spontaneous adventure that my family was taking because we didn’t want to stay at home the entire time.
I would call the challenge a success. I completed all thirty videos and got them up every day before I went to bed (even if that was after midnight).
It definitely took a good amount of time copying the video files from my phone to my flash drive that really brought out my nerves when I was editing that day’s video at 10:30 p.m.. I ended this challenge learning both how to use Adobe Premiere Pro at lightning speed (even though I spend a lot of time trying out new effects for fun) and the value of time management.
Something else I learned during that month was the type of creative content that I enjoy making. I prefer the scripted narratives and video essays and creative writing with accompanying video over the vlogs that follow me around. However, I mostly made vlogs on days that we went out of the house, so it was more difficult to follow a script and have it edited correctly in one day. Which brings me to the next thing I learned:
Making videos that need to follow a script should not be made in a day. Filming the video within a day is not much of a problem, but editing the video in the same way that I originally wanted was a little more difficult, especially if there was a new technique or effect that I wanted to try out and learn first. This made some of the scripted videos I made a little less edited than I originally intended them to be. Of course, I’m still proud of what I created, since those were the videos I liked to make and edit the most.
For future videos, I plan for them to be of the more narrative or video essay form and I’ll have more time to plan them out and film before I have to post without the constriction of a days worth of time on my back. This also means that the videos will be extremely less frequent because I’m also starting school again, and it comes first; this is more of a hobby that I do in my free time.
Overall, the 30 Day Video Challenge was a great way to spend the first month of vacation. It kept me creative and productive in a time where I’m usually bored at home. Maybe I’ll do it again next summer or a different type of video challenge in the future. Who knows what’s in store for the future of this somewhat of a Don’t Make Lies brand that I’ve created, but I hope it’s looking bright.
Don't Make Lies 