[Warning, this is a really long post, please make sure you don't to get to the bathroom or having any appointments or dates while you're reading this.]
"Hey, would you like to join us?"
"Join what?"
"The i-Challenged competition, you know, organized by INTI international university, you just announced loud in front of the class."
"MY SCHOOL MY PRIDE (IT and Mass Communication) video and webpage competition."
"Cool, but why did you ask me?"
"Because according to the rules you have to have boy and girls in the 5-person-group. We have four girls here. We need a boy."
My impression as a class photographer finally became useful! PS: My other teammates was my Junior 3's classmates. (As the photographer of the Singapore trip if you remember.)
Le strange group photo.
"What kinda video are we going to make?"
"We are gonna make a video about what makes our school life so unforgettable."
"Great, not so difficult at all. Let's try to create a script before......When is the expire date?"
"July 25th."
"Three weeks from now. We have time."
"No, we have sport day to prepare, remember?"
"Oh, right! And our school 99th anniversary is around the corner."
"After that four of us have to accompany the study tourist from Taiwan, takes about two....three....four days...."
"Great~~~" (Fake smiling.)
Before anything of that, I am so excited about make a video like a YOUTUBER or like WongFu-s or JinnyBoyTV-s. I immediately borrow one of my dad's camera tripod and study its structure and functions back in the hostel room.
The Taiwanese finally ended their study tour. (I am not sure what did they study during the tour, all i know about them is they came, they traveled around, they played, they formed groups to study in different classes, and i don't even know the names of the group who came into my classes.) I looked at my watch to confirm the date that day.
July 18th.
Right after the first recess bell went off, I stared at one of my group-mates and held up a gesture represents the number SEVEN.
"We, have seven days left."(I feel like i was a grumpy old uncle back then.)
"Ya, right,.....You know, i was thinking of giving up, since the time is the issue now........"
"WHAT?!"
"I think he is angry, or furious."
"Really? No, I am not mad or anything." I admit i suppressed myself. "Let's don't give up for that, shall we?" Then again, I think I'm kinda desperate for that. It works like that, think about a mission to make a balloon burst. You have the potential (The flat balloon.), you were filled with excitement (Pump it with air.), you feel desperate when things don't go the way you want (Decided to press the balloon with bare hands, turns out that was against the rules.), So, all you need to do is find a suitable components or tools (A needle.), and pop it. (Achievement unlocked!)
"Okay, calm down guys, we'll make it." Great work, now i think of the friend."We stay till evening tomorrow at the library to discuss the script, is it okay?"
Everyone agreed, we went to the library and successfully made a prototype script, in note form. And some scribbles for the dialogue of the first scene and it became the only dialogue in the whole video.
During the process, we ran into another group's member (participating the same category competition.) or a friend. In my first impression, that group consist of a above-average-skilled cameraman, a potential writer, a good speaker, a good actor, and a skilled webpage programmer. (So I've heard, till now, I haven't confirm this info, yet.)
My friend said, they haven't start. Firstly, only some of them are mutual. Secondly, most of them didn't talk about it. Lastly, they thought of the time issue is almost impossible to overcome.
Good grief my teammates aren't strangers to me.
We settle down with the tools and the venue.
One tripod, two cameras (borrowed from the cameraman friend i mentioned above.), a script, storyboard (Saved in head).
As for the venue, our class.
The Schedule for the shooting phase wasn't that great. As the expire date sat on the following Wednesday, we only have Thursday (July 19th) and Friday (July 20th) to get the all the footage shot. (Obviously as a hostel student, I need to go home at Saturday.) And the schedule ended up like this.
Thursday 19th - Script discussed
Friday 20th - Shooting phase
Saturday 21st - Shooting phase. Test our recommended video editor, POWER DIRECTOR.
Sunday 22nd - Get the primary footage edited.
Monday 23rd - Get all the editing done. In the meantime, set up the webpage. (We chose WIX.COM as it is easier.)
Tuesday 24th - Send the URL and the video to the organizer.
All seems to be going smoothly. Yet we have to face the first problem.
That was a mistake.
Another mistake was the ignorance of the importance of schedule announcement and detailed explanation of our actions.
Right after our trilogy of class for our homeroom teacher (Female, mid thirties.), (Class Stand Bow Good Morning Teacher.) we continue our first and only dialogue scene at the corner of the classroom. When we finished our scene, we found out our homeroom teacher disappeared from the classroom before the morning reading session ends.
We realized something wrong and send a representatives to the teacher's office during our first recess.
We made a teacher mad. Whoops
My deduction: She came in, asked what's going on, we didn't answer the question, some one might carelessly gave a perfunctory answer which made her felt left out and dashed out the classroom.
To avoid awkward situations after the incidents, we have to keep away the gears from her sight. At the same time, we were hoping such event won't happen again, and worrying about the tight schedule of finishing the project.
At the afternoon, we planned a scene for dodge-ball at the sport center's tennis court. One of my teammates even post an announcement to recruit some actors and players on facebook. Everything looked great as the attenders arrived.
Unfortunately,
The attenders are mostly have the motive to play rather than get record, and didn't have the idea behind every multi-angle shots in the sports field. (For example, there's at least 100 camera in a league championship of football, so no one missed any angle.) What they thought was like the stage drama, you do it one take, you are done, you don't have to do it again.
It is rude to interfere friends' fun. Maybe it is my unclear instruction of what we want. So, in the end, it didn't turn out as we wanted, all the footage of the hour was actually wasted.
We felt disappointed on the outcome of the day, as it was the last afternoon of shooting phase, without any guarantee of the weather and time next week.
Suddenly, a group of Senior 1 students step in the building. Part of them are my friends. They came for playing football at the field next to our sport center. [Light bulb!! by Gru, Despicable Me.]
Our English teacher was absent at the next day. Great timing! We could shoot the only scene that needs arranged background, THE EXAMINATION COURSE. All tables need to be arrange like having an exam. We even request our last period's teacher to spare us 10 minutes to tell the class what was going on.
What we aren't expecting was there's a substitute teacher! Our Mandarin teacher. (Male, late twenties.)
He was prepared to catch up some lessons in this empty period and never expected there is a filming stage in the classroom. (Since 1913, no STUDENT ever start a video making team. We are basically the FIRST!)
Frustrated, he left the class, not because of our team, i think, only due to not able to do what he had planned. (Not sure if there's perfunctory mixed in the emotion. Let's assume there isn't. )
Yet, he participate in the video as we asked. Thanks teacher!
Some friend teased me: "You just displeased two of our teacher, in two days! You just broke our class record!" (Speechless...........)
[To Be Continued.]
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