This project has been one big adventure and miracle. Despite the conflicting schedules and the Finals week being part of our time to be able to finish the video, we were able to finish it. Video production is not new to me but there will always be a difference in every project: a different set of experiences and challenge.

It was hard on first to come up with the story because all of us had different ideas but there’s one thing we agreed on and that was the homage to the Lumads since our topic was Children’s Education. We also had a hard time on recruiting kids and making them cooperate. Another challenge was going to our location in Dasmarinas, Cavite using public transportation. I had to bring my laptop, clothes, and a tripod at our last shoot because I was to stay at Kaye’s house so we could edit the video. It was my first time to experience going somewhere that far without my parents and using public transportation going and back home. During our shoot, it was challenging to shoot scenes where they move a lot and shooting one scene in multiple angles when we only had one camera. Also, we didn’t have a boom mic and depended on the mic of the camera. The biggest challenge for me was the editing. I’ve edited videos before but it was my first time to experience lacking materials for editing. And those scenes were important because they are transitions and symbols. Kaye and I had to shoot some scenes at her home that Sunday morning. One of my most favorite part in the editing was the chess montage. The white pieces, most importantly the king and the officers were the teachers, symbolize the Lumads so as the montage goes on we showed how the 3 chess pieces symbolizing the teachers were “eaten” by the opposite force and showing that the king is cornered. Thanks to PremierePro, Stick-O, and most of all coffee, we were able to make our video.

As a college and most of all a Mass Communication student, this experience of video production incorporating film movements and lessons we learned in class, where in our video’s case are Soviet Montage, Bollywood, and Italian Neorealism, was a tip of the iceberg on what’s more to come. I learned to have more patience and consideration to the idea of others but still knowing to speak her mind at something I’m sure would help the group. I learned to always remember to check the equipment and footage twice or thrice just to be sure. Also, it would really help to shoot more than one take in a scene because you’ll never know maybe one take is better than the others or it would be useful in some way or another. And most of all, I learned that teamwork and communication is essential to make this project work in the direction that would be easier for all.

This has been one fun, bittersweet experience for our final project. And I’m proud of what we were able to produce despite the conflicts in our schedules, finals, and so many more challenges. I may not be totally satisfied with what we had come up because I myself know we could have done better but I’m proud of myself and my groupmates for dedicating time and effort and also our passion to come up with this video paying homage to the Lumads.