Script Finished, Location Booked and Ready to Film! | The Friday Update

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Friday Update, in which I give a little insight into what I’ve been up to for the past seven days.

What have I been up to this week?

This week has been all about writing the final section of the script to the next video! I’ve once again managed to set-out trying to write a short, snappy 20-minute video and, instead, put together something of an epic. The script is sitting at 12,000 words, which I’m predicting is going to lead to a video that’s around 1 hour and 15 minutes long.

While I know some creators really love creating longer videos, I genuinely work really hard to make mine as succinct as possible. That this video has ended up being so lengthy, then, is hopefully a result of it tackling a massive topic in a fairly comprehensive manner rather than a result of my being too verbose or bad at editing my work! Given that I’m writing about a topic as important as vaccine inequity, I also felt as though I had an ethical duty to do so well and not to cut too many corners.

I’m going to be spending some time this weekend looking over the script and just double-checking it flows well, but I’m fairly happy with what I’ve written at the moment. My secret laboratory is all booked to film in on Monday and the costume (and a selection of props) have arrived and so I’m really looking forward to taking this into production and getting even closer to sharing it with you all!

And outside of work?

I’ve had quite a varied week outside of work. Last weekend, I went for a walk with some friends, some of whom I hadn’t seen since the start of the pandemic. I then watched my local football team, Plymouth Argyle, take on Chelsea in the FA Cup on the TV. I also went to a craft fair with my partner as some other friends had a stall there, and it was really nice to browse some local handiwork!

What have I been reading/watching/listening to?

My reading this week has remained focused on papers and articles relating to vaccine inequity as I tried to plug the final few gaps in my research for the video. I did, however, manage to see Kenneth Branagh’s new film Belfast yesterday evening. The film is a semi-autobiographical drama following a family in Belfast during the 1960s and increased tensions between protestants and catholics. I thought it was a really great film; grounded and yet with the occasional stylistic touch. It also manages to find some great moments of humour in what is a pretty traumatic story.

As a one-time scholar of the importance of the places in which we live in shaping who we are, and how we reflect those places through art and culture, I also found it to be a really touching tribute to a city which has experienced a great deal of conflict.

That brings us to the end of this week’s edition of the Friday Update. I hope you’ve found it mildly insightful.

I’m really looking forward to finally filming this beast of a video!

Thanks as ever for your generous support!