It's funny to look back on this video and consider just how differently we viewed quarantining. At the beginning of the pandemic, quarantine was something foreign: something exciting, something that everyone wanted to make special. Before the pandemic, I had never made a video entirely entrusted upon a non-publication member to collect footage. I loved editing the video — the subject did a fantastic job recording every aspect of his day, and showing his personality at the same time. But, "A Day in Quarantine" soon became tired; it was the first of many submission-based pieces during the pandemic.

Another instance of submission-based content. Submissions were truly our publication's work-around to having no cameras, not interviewing life, and being unable to record b-roll. During this video, I encountered more of an editing issue upon receiving the footage: the video wasn't well-framed, and the clips were longer than I had hoped. Regardless, the piece turned out to be a real show of the talent at our school, as well as appealing to the then-popular topic of quarantine.

In early September 2020, my Instagram feed was flooded with the repeated image of one flyer: A hand-written invitation to an "Equity Parade" held just outside the front gates of my school. It would be the third Black Lives Matter protest I attended, the second that got rained out, and the first where I'd be surrounded by my friends after a long summer of social distancing. Naturally, I forwarded the flyer to my friends who were also on The Muse, and we planned multimedia coverage of the protest highlighting the importance of local movements to the bigger picture of equity.

As soon as my editors offered this story for grabs, I claimed it. Well, I was going to the Latin-Hispanic Heritage Club's event either way; coverage was just an excuse to be able to talk to more people, ask more questions, and share more details about it with the student body. And, I love Latin music. A heavy component of this video is that natural music that truly encapsulates the event's energy, which is what I think makes it a strong live story. This video also taught me to always check if I'm recording — let's just say, I realized lost a fair amount of footage upon importing my clips.

This is one of my first live stories, and it holds a special place in my heart as a result. My biggest regret here is not giving context to the video until that first interview; before the interview, none of the shots make much sense. I also wish I had named and captioned the performers who were in the b-roll, just to give context to what they were doing. While this piece is not my best, I do commend my past self for being fearless with the camera and getting a variety of b-roll throughout the event.

I consider this the most fun I've ever had covering a school event. While I was shooting b-roll, the director of the play took off his shoe and threw it at one of the actors, then proceeded to yell at him until the actor had a breakthrough. It was simply incredible. It reminded me of how talented the people at our school are and why I care about covering their stories. While I don't love my music choice on this video, I think the spirit of the rehearsal came through, and the shots were well-done overall.

As much as I adore this piece in its finished form, it was the most difficult piece I've done. For one, there was the difficulty of working with Zoom interviews and a lack of b-roll. Once I had finally completed a first draft, Adobe Premiere stopped working; there was an irreversible glitch in the program that prevented me from exporting. I was forced to screen record the video from beginning to end, then place it on a new sequence, in order to export with audio, all just hours before the post date. Despite the tears, this piece taught me to deal with high-stress situations.

Right as the pandemic hit, the New York Times posted an Instagram video teaching the public how to properly protect themselves from COVID-19. That post was immediate inspiration for this video. I begged my sister to hand-model for me as I opened the tripod to the tallest length it could reach over my parents' bathroom sink. In this video, I strove for a clean look: smooth editing, high key lighting, and high-contrast text, all while providing important and well-researched information.