So, here’s what really went down behind the scenes of this “serious” video. As fate would have it, the more serious the shot needed to be, the more it became a complete laugh fest. You know how it is—sometimes the silence is just too awkward, and we weren’t about to take ourselves that seriously. It was February 4th, and of course, in true fashion, I was working on short notice (but if you know my process, that’s just how things go, right?).
On February 3rd, I had just told my teacher that I was leaving my group, and as I headed home, it hit me—I knew exactly what I had to do. The story, as you already know, is super personal, and I felt so connected to it, but what happened next was where the fun started.
First things first, I recruited my cousin for the role. Why? Well, he’s my only male best friend and honestly has way too much free time. I won’t lie—I might have had to bribe him to do this video, but hey, food’s a solid currency, right? Fast forward to the 4th, and I’d just gotten to his house when I got a text from him: “Do I need to wear something specific?” Mind you, I had literally just arrived at his place (was I excited, or just wanting to get it over with? Who knows). He was wearing a green hoodie—so obviously, I made him change into black for that perfect symmetry.
Now comes the best part—my 30-minute monologue where I explained literally everything: what to do, when to do it, all the small details. I’m not even kidding, we were serious for 30 whole minutes, which has to be a record for us. After my speech, he asked the most important question of all: “So, what are you giving me for doing all of this?” And of course, the answer was food. Naturally, I promised him food, and spoiler alert, I delivered.
The first shot used an old video, but for the brownie scene (yes, a brownie!), we realized we didn’t have one. So, after I got to his place, we walked to the store together to grab a brownie—so heroic, right? After shooting the brownie scene (which, no surprise, we ate right after), we were laughing but somehow still getting some great shots, which kept us motivated. Now, for the entrance scene where my cousin walks in with the brownie and the candle on it, we could not stop laughing. The candle actually blew out twice before we even got the shot. Why? Well, if you think about it, it's pretty hilarious—this serious entrance, candle burning, then puff, blown out mid-scene because we just couldn’t keep a straight face. I mean, do I really have to justify why that was funny? You can imagine us, desperately trying to hold it together while re-lighting the candle like professionals, only to burst into laughter all over again. Somehow, we managed to get a good take after the second candle mishap!
Then came the part where we needed to shoot the close-up of my cousin plugging in his headphones to the laptop. This one was a bit of a struggle. First, the lighting in the room was pretty dark, so the camera kept losing focus, and second, I’ve got some pretty shaky hands, which didn’t exactly help the situation. Every time I thought we’d nailed it, the camera would go out of focus right at the wrong moment! But hey, we pushed through. After a lot of patience (and probably too many takes), we finally got the close-up shot in the bag. Who knew something as simple as plugging in headphones would take so much effort?
In the end, we wrapped up the entire shoot in almost 3 hours. Considering all the laughing fits, re-shoots, and technical hiccups, I’d say that’s pretty impressive. By the time we were done, it felt like we’d climbed a mountain, but it was totally worth it. Oh, and of course, we demolished that brownie the second the camera stopped rolling. Priorities, right?
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