Video Story: The Best Stories Are Unexpected

Keely Lubin works on her current painting for her next showcase that will take place in Gainesville in 2018.

This week’s assignment was to create a two-minute audio story on a compelling character and write a 100-word text story to go along with it. The video would include an interview, cutaways, sequences, transitions and natural sound.

My video, Keely Lubin: Coping With Trauma Through Creating Art features Keely Lubin, a 24-year-old Gainesville resident who specializes in pop surrealism. I knew I wanted to do a story on a local artist, so I spoke with one of my peers who is involved in the Gainesville art scene, and she put us in touch. Going into the story, I did not know anything about Lubin besides that she was a nice person who was passionate about art. However, during the interview, she revealed to me her traumatic childhood experience of being involved in a child sex trafficking ring due to extremely unlucky circumstances. I offered her a listening ear as she shared her story with me, and I made sure to check in with her periodically to make sure she felt comfortable throughout the interview. I admire her strength and bravery in being as open as she was with discussing her past, and I felt grateful to be in the presence of such a beautiful soul.

Going into the assignment, I was quite nervous. I felt uneasy about using the audio and video equipment to capture shots and sound, and I had also never worked with Premiere Pro. However, I wanted to ensure that I would feel confident when out on the field, so I taught myself to the point where I felt competent in using the equipment. I watched many videos, such as this one, in preparation for setting up the camera and mics for the interview. I also wanted some hands-on experience, so I found an opportunity. The day before I would be going out to get my story, my parents visited Gainesville with their RV for tailgating, and I brought all of my equipment to practice with them. I practiced shooting cutaways and sequences, as well as recording natural sound. I even set up a mini interview for my mom – she loved it! And in teaching myself how to use Premiere Pro, I used the start-up videos that came with the program. I found that the program was quite intuitive to use.

Although it was a huge learning curve, this was my favorite assignment I have done so far in this class. I got such a rush out of shooting video and editing it to create a coherent story that aims at the heart. I found myself editing the story in Premiere Pro for hours at a time, and it just felt so right. I was having so much fun! As a child, I used to write short stories and make videos all the time, and I felt like I was reuniting with my younger self.

This year, while taking Digital Storytelling and a scriptwriting class, I have developed an enthusiasm for scriptwriting, film and real-life storytelling. Getting out there to shoot and edit video has solidified that telling visual stories is exactly what I want to be doing. I am proud of what I produced and eager to improve in upcoming projects.