Welcome to-Day One of my self-imposed blog / memoir challenge to record the daily activities of a business owner and entrepreneur. The trials and tribulations that I go through. I will be honest, frank and to the point. Running a business is fun, annoying, stressful and the best job I have ever had.
I thought I would put some personality into my first blog post of this challenge and record a video of me speaking to camera, to introduce myself. Thinking it would only take a few minutes as I didn’t want the video to be over 3 minutes long. It took forever, OK not that long but to get the video recorded took an hour and a half, to do a minor edit to two hours and then posting and writing this blog post took an hour. So four and a half hours for a few words and a three-minute video.
I thought I would put some personality into my first blog post of this challenge and record a video of me speaking to camera, to introduce myself. Thinking it would only take a few minutes as I didn’t want the video to be over 3 minutes long. It took forever, OK not that long but to get the video recorded took an hour and a half, to do a minor edit to two hours and then posting and writing this blog post took an hour. So four and a half hours for a few words and a three-minute video.
Why does a video recording take so long?
First, I needed to put some colour in my cheeks. I had just woken up and looked as if I was at death’s door. So on with the slap (or make up if you prefer). You would think this would be a straightforward task. Being a woman, we should all know how to apply makeup and look a million dollars in 60 seconds. I rarely wear make-up so had to turn the bathroom upside down to find the little makeup I had. My bathroom is now a complete and utter tip. My make up is so old I had to put it in hot water to loosen it so I can use the foundation and mascara. Before anybody tells me, yes I know you should change your make up every three months. But the reality is we don’t.
Looking good on camera?
After experimenting with how to apply the said makeup, I haven’t done it for many years. I finally settled on brown eyeshadow a bit of lipstick and foundation. I forgot to put blusher, which was why I started the entire process. Claudia Schiffer: I am not, but looking human and able to face a camera, yes.
Location, Location, Location
I then had to find a location to record my video. I tried my spare room, the kitchen, the living room, even the bathroom, all to no avail. In the end I went into my office and spent half an hour moving furniture around trying to find a backdrop that would look suitable for a video.
I know the video to the side of this narrative doesn’t look like a superb background. But it was the best I could do with the location I have. I will not go out and buy a green screen and it took long enough. As you can see from the photographs, my office is now a complete and utter tip. Once the video was recorded, or I should say during the recording of the video, my dog was barking, so this version is version two.
If you could see my stance while recording the video you think I was going to cause physical damage to myself. I was half bending and doing a sideward squat to get in shot. How these bloggers do it daily I just don’t know. It must take them hours to set up before they can actually publish a video. I’m not sure I’m going to spend over an hour every time I record one. I need to get on and actually do some billable work.
The reason behind writing this memoir
The idea behind this blog is that I want to show people everybody has a story to tell, no matter what you do and how you do it. There are different reasons people want to write memoirs.
My learnings from this exercise
Don’t reference something from a different video and assume it has been watched.
Types of Memoirs
- Teaching memoir
- Transformation memoir
- History memoir
- Confessional memoir
Here is a link to explain what each memoir style means
- Videos take a lot longer to make than you first thought
- Use a camera on Landscape and clean the lens before recording
- Lock the dog away before you start to record
- My previous videos look flat and boring
- You have to put the time in to make a good video
- Video and the written word work well together for telling stories