This past week has definitely been the hardest week in terms of working on the project. This was the designated week for actually recording my vlog. Fortunately, I was able to reserve the camera and have been filming periodically throughout my week. The bad news is, of course, that this week has been difficult to film given it is Ivies weekend. A few difficulties arise from this. First, it is not a good idea to bring an expensive camera (that I don’t own) to large, rowdy events. However, what I’ve found more interesting is that this week I am not alone much. Though I had not previously considered it an “artistic convention” as discussed by Howard Becker, I’ve come to realize that vloggers rarely and only very briefly, include others in their videos. I suppose it was an oversight on my end, but it is difficult to film these videos when I’m in groups of people – though it is a week in my life, which includes others, it seems less authentic or personable when the video is not about one person. This makes sense, though, as communities do not form around multiple people. It takes one content creator, usually, to act as a type of unifying leader. During Ivies, I rarely was able to do this.
As a result of these difficulties, I have been ramping up my filming today and will until Wednesday, when my week is over. Even in the brief amount of filming I’ve been able to do, though, I’ve learned a lot about how I want the video to look, what to include, and what to exclude. Figuring out what works best and is “vlog worthy” already proves what I hoped to accomplish by doing this myself. The fact that these questions arise show the performative nature of a vlog. I only record when I’m generally able to speak one-on-one with the camera and audience, and do not feel comfortable including certain aspects of my day. This is mostly because I feel like it takes away from my “authenticity” as a vlogger. Including clips of me doing work or watching television, for example, does not seem entertaining to me. Although I spend a great deal of my day doing such activities, not many people would watch a vlog that consisted solely of these things.
I’m going to continue to film this week. I want to get as much footage as I possibly can before I begin editing in the hopes of getting a well-rounded representation. After I finish filming, more work begins – mostly, I want to edit this vlog and begin analyzing it sociologically and through the lenses of authenticity and performance. At that time, I can start writing my essay tying everything together. From what I’ve been told editing is where a filmmaker spends their most time, but I’m excited to see if I can put together something appealing.