Right before we headed off to spring break Ms. Willemse told us we were going to have some people come in and help us with creating a video. The topic of the video was presented as a question “What does Canada mean to you?”

We spent a couple of classes brainstorming on why we were proud to be canadaian and what it means to be a Canadian. We came up with a lot of things but for me the biggest thing was being able to have a deep connection with the outdoors and nature in general.

When the people came Ms. Willemse told us to come up with a story about what Canada means to us. When she said that I immediately thought about a lightweight camp I did three years ago with a bunch of my friends from scouting.

We hiked up to first pump on Seymour and found this great spot, a little but away from the trail, to set up camp. After setting up we went exploring and I discovered this great spot, west of our camp, where we could see all across Vancouver and into the US. I remember spending the rest of the day just sitting there taking in the view, cooking and talking. It was one of my favourite camps.

We went to go film ourselves talking about our story with the people recording us. Then we were set with the task of creating the video using our own footage. Some people changed their story but I decided against it because I found that my story really symbolized why I am proud to be Canadian and happy to live here.

I spent the rest of after school putting together images and filming me talking on my deck in the snow.

The video had to be 30 seconds long and I only managed to get it down to 38.

The next day we got together and did a peer critique I gave Lucas my video and he gave me his. After talking a bit about what I needed to change and enhance I had a pretty good idea of what I needed to do. I had to add in some background music as well as make the video more creative.

I started by fine tuneing the video and overlaying the audio with the images and shortening the video, I also slightly edited the images so they were more clear. Then I tried to think of what background music I should use. I ended up with a recording of birds chirping. I thought would fit with the views and the mood of the video, as well as give it a naturistic feel.

Then I added the end bumper onto the end and luckily the final video was exactly 30 seconds.

The question really got me thinking about who I was and how living in Canada has allowed me to become the person I am. Espically being a scout and being able to go camping regularly by not going to far from the city. The experiences I have gained from scouting will last for the rest of my life and thanks to living where I live I was able to create those experiences.