I still remember the exact day, the exact moment when felt like a huge lightbulb flicker over my head. This was the idea to make a video/trailer for the bicentenary celebrations. I was walking back from work one night and I suddenly remembered that a friend had told me that the Bahá'is of the UK made a nice animation/video with some sort of "coming soon" at the end. She said she'd send me the link, but a few days later I remembered it and realized I hadn't yet seen the video. I started to imagine what the video might look like, then new ideas started coming to mind. What if I make a "coming soon" trailer? I started picturing an invitation card, the National Bahá'i Center sign, a guitar... When I got home, I rushed to my room, took out a little notebook and jotted down all random thoughts, and after a few moments on my chair, bam! I jumped over to my Mom's room and "announced" this idea which probably made no sense to her! That same night, I wrote in our Manila Bahá'is group chat that I'd like everyone present on Sunday because I wanted to shoot a video.
Eventually, I re-wrote my notes and even typed out some sort of script, to guide myself just so that I don't forget anything, because my ideas were all over the place! When Sunday came, I walked up to the friends one by one and asked "do you want to be in my video?" Everyone was absolutely willing to join. The first scene was a little challenging because I was just getting used to taking a video with my DLSR. I usually use my camera for photos, and my phone for videos - so this was my first time using my camera for videos. But after the first scene, I got a hang of the camera and everything went smoothly. We shot the different scenes - some in just one take, and the others in just two takes!
This was also my first time directing a video. Before this, I had only made vlogs where it was all about "me" but this time I had to work with people. It was really really fun; I really enjoyed working with my friends, shooting and editing. Of all my videos so far, this continues to be the one I am happiest for!
Trailer 1: Save The Date
*as of October 2017, this video has 22,000+ views and 500+ shares on facebook!
I wasn't really planning to make another video after that. But exactly two months later, a new idea hit me.
It involved printing out the quotation I chose for my magic mugs, and get the friends to hold up the pages. I also designed a simple/new invitation card, a little different from the previous one. I was very lucky with this particular Sunday that I went to the Bahá'i center ready to shoot, because so many friends came! Not just from all around Metro Manila; we even had Bahá'i visitors from other countries too. When asking the friends to star in this video, I prioritized those who were not already in my first video...so you'll see a fresh set of faces. One of my friends helped me organize my "models" so that it shows gender equality and racial diversity! The last scene (the friends waving, and one of them giving me the invitation card) was initially not part of the plan. Before the devotional gathering ended, I called for a group photo, then while everyone was posing, I thought of the waving hands and invitation card. This part was pretty tricky because I kept everyone standing/siting/posing for quite some time. But everyone was so loving and cooperative...again, this entire video was done in the absolute sprit of joy and unity.
TRAILER 2: SAVE THE DATE
*as of October 2017, this video has 7,500+ views and 250+ shares on facebook!
A few days after the second trailer, we made a short visit to San Jose, Occidental Mindoro. Before going there, I messaged two of the youths I know there and asked if there were any bicentenary -related programs that week and luckily the youths said they had dance/drama practice on my last day there. Before meeting them, I remembered having seen photos of the San Jose young wearing a Bicentenary shirt, so I asked the youths to wear those to the practice. When I got to the Bahá'i Center, I really had no plan in mind. I just sat there observing/watching their choreographer talk with them, direct their drama and choreograph their dance. So I decided to just take photographs and videos of everything and anything. I still didn't know how I was going to edit the videos, but I decided not to think too much about it. When their practice was over, I suddenly thought of arranging them in line and having them say a few words, inviting the public to their celebration. This was the only part I got involved in. I went back home still with no idea how I want this video to turn out. It took a few days until I decided to publish it just as it is "watch how the youths of Occidental Mindoro are preparing for their Bicentenary Celebrations!" I felt really good about this, because I learnt that sometimes you don't need to over-think or plan too much...sometimes the clips can just speak for themselves.
Occidental Mindoro prepares for the Bicentenary Celebrations
Same goes for Sun Valley, Parañaque. While the first three videos were my personal initiative, Parañaque's video was a little different because I was requested to help capture the preparations in that community. Sun Valley is one of the three communities in the Philippines whose celebrations next weekend will be featured LIVE on www.bicentenary.bahai.org. I spent two days with the local friends there - capturing everything they did together from consulting/planning to designing, printing and cutting invitation cards to packaging them and handing them out to friends (Barangay officials, schools, business owners, etc.)... all the way up to the children/JY practices. It normally takes me 3-4 hours to edit a video (any video, really) but this particular one took me more than 10 hours. I prefer my trailers 2-3 minutes long only, but I couldn't trim this one down to less than 4 minutes. It's just so full of content; every scene was important. Without words and captions, I had to make sure everyone would still understand what was happening...that there was a flow from one scene to another, that everything connected. This one cracked my brain, but it was a very good test! I really enjoy learning and growing through challenges, and seeing how far I can go.
Parañaque prepares for the Bicentenary Celebrations
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Frequently Asked Questions on my video posts
1. What camera do I use? -- Nikon D5200
2. What video editing software do I use? -- iMovie (comes with my Macbook)
3. How long does it take for me to edit? -- usually 3/4 hours
4. Where do I get my background music from? -- youtube! search for youtube background music, no copyright music, video sound effects etc...then convert video to mp3.