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Enlightenment through Covid-19 isolation: a vlog

By Bethelehem Araya

Editor’s note: Part four in a series on how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected Hofstra University students personally. In this vlog, videography student Betty Araya explores the sense of perspective she has gained through isolation since heading home from school in mid-March when the crisis struck. Below is her video script.

SCRIPT- LIFE UNDER QUARANTINE

OPEN WITH A MEDIUM SHOT OF THE FRONT DOOR. NAT SOUND OF BIRDS CHIRPING AND AIR CONDITIONER HUMMING.

(graphic of COVID-19 history. The beginning of it)

HIGH ANGLE OF CEILING FAN TURNING FAST. NAT SOUND THE BLADES PASSING WIND.

MEDIUM SHOT OF THE T-V PLAYING NEWS. AND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SHOT, IT TURNS OFF.

Music starts- continues till the end

SHOT OF BLINDS SLOWLY OPENING

(graphic of Life Under Quarantine pops up)

GO TO BLACK TO A SECOND WITH JUST GRAPHIC

ME SPEAKING: LEAD

IF I HAD TO USE ONE WORD TO DESCRIBE THE QUARANTINE, AT LEAST FOR ME, IT WOULD BE QUITE. EXCEPT MAYBE FOR THAT LAWN MOWER IN THE BACK.

FOR THE FIRST COUPLE WEEKS, I WOULD LISTEN TO THE NEWS,

MAYBE IT WAS DENIAL, BUT I HAD HOPE THIS WOULD BLOW OVER. BUT AFTER A WHILE

MORE SHOTS OF THE NEWS- DO A SEQUENCE OF 4 SHOTS

PAUSE IN VOICE OVER

IT WAS TOO MUCH.

SHOT OF NEWS TURNING OFF

ME SPEAKING AGAIN-

SO I SET A ROUTINE FOR MYSELF. (shot of me fixing my bed)

I STARTED WAKING UP EARLY AND EXERCISING (b-roll of nature)

WINTER TURNED TO SPRING AND GOING FOR A RUN OUTSIDE BECAME THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY DAY. (shift to shot of me walking outside)

THAT AND GROCERY SHOPPING.

LIKE THE REST OF THE INTERNET, I STARTED BAKING. (over the shoulder shot of baking)

READING (over the shoulder {sort of} of me flipping through a book)

EATING, AND RESTING. WATCHING FILMS I NEVER GOT AROUND TO (shot a scene from the film Deer Hunter, ending with Christopher Walken)

AND WRITING FOR MORE THAN JUST AN HOUR (Shot of me opening a journal getting read to write.)

THINGS THAT USED TO BE A LUXURY IN MY BUSY SCHEDULE BECAME MY EVERYDAY LIFE (start with the shot of me cutting banana bread, and cut to me writing the date in the journal)

I STARTED THINKING ABOUT THE WORD PEACE A LOT, AND HOW OFTEN, RIGHT AFTER IT COMES QUIT. MANY PEOPLE DO NOT (shot of me writing ‘what is peace and quiet in journal)

HAVE THE LUXURY OF PEACE AND QUIET RIGHT NOW. (cut to a another sequence of news clips)

IN FACT THERE IS SO MUCH NOISE. THERE IS A REAL ISSUE, AFFECTING ALL OF US. OUR LIVES HAVE BEEN TURNED UPSIDE DOWN ANDTHE UNITY IS PERHAPS THE ONLY SILVER LINING. (end with a clip of me turning the news off again.)

MOST OF MY DAYS ARE SPENT ALONE. BUT I DON’T MIND. (selfie shot of me outside alone)

BECAUSE I AM IN A TREMENDOUS PLACE OF PRIVILEGE. (cuts to b-roll of beauty shot of nature)

IF I HAD TO USE ONE WORD TO DESCRIBE WHAT THE QUARANTINE HAS BROUGHT, AT LEAST FOR ME, IT WOULD BE PERSPECTIVE. (cuts to shot of blinds closing)

Music fades out until video is over