How the Covid-19 Pandemic Made Me Stronger

 Covid-19 made a major impact on the United States during a time that was supposed to be some of the best months of my life. While I am lucky that my family and friends have not been severely impacted by this horrible virus, it certainly had a negative effect on my mental health. 

In making this video, I wanted to document my experience with the mental side effects of life being flipped upside down and how I decided to live my life to the fullest again. 

Making this video was definitely a process of trial and error. After making and submitting my rough video, I decided that I wasn't happy with how it turned out or how it reflected my experience during the Covid-19 pandemic. After allowing myself to truly reflect on one good thing that came out of the pandemic, I realized that I couldn't discuss it without also focusing on some of the negatives.

My hope in creating this video was to allow the viewer to take a glimpse into my life and how I have been affected by Covid-19. I didn't want it to feel dishonest or overly positive. This was definitely my biggest challenge as I brainstormed and worked on the storyboard. 

When I initially thought about a documentary style video, I thought of the news and how they typically portray these stories. However, I realized that discussing something positive that came out of the pandemic needed to be more personal and focused more on the storytelling aspects. This is why I transitioned from an interview or news-style video to a personal documentary style. 

Something else I struggled with as the content producer was creating an assortment of A Roll and B Roll footage and using them both to effectively tell my story. For the A Roll footage, I chose to document myself waking up, getting ready for the day, and deciding to live my life to the fullest again. For the B Roll footage, I chose to use videos of myself or that I had taken depicting how I chose to enjoy life.

As I created my A Roll footage, I found it particularly difficult to utilize consistent lighting. However, I was happy with how I transitioned from blue, moody lighting to yellow, bright lighting after deciding to take my life back into my own hands.

I also wanted to ensure that I used a series of medium shots, long shots, and close ups, as described in our reading, "The Shot and How to Frame It." I found this challenging as all of the A Roll footage was shot by myself in my apartment. However, I feel I found creative ways to approach this challenge by placing the camera both near and far away from me. 

In conclusion, I was honestly surprised by how much I enjoyed creating this video. It felt good to open up about my experience with Covid-19 and how it made me stronger. While it was certainly a challenge, I enjoyed learning more about Adobe Premiere Pro through YouTube videos and various online resources. Overall, I am happy with how my final video turned out after starting fresh.