New Video Released/Further Reading (22/8/2025)
I have released a new video on the YouTube channel. This video is a very late Spring themed video based around the theme of April 1st.
As you can probably guess, this video was meant to be released much earlier, however, it got delayed significantly. Additionally, the content of the video changed a lot as I rewrote the script.
This video was originally going be titled ‘April 1st Special,’ before shifting to ‘Spring Special 2025.’ However, I decided to change the title for the final time to ‘The Lost Tape of Lawrence Bailey‘ to reflect the idea of the CD being discovered by the fictional 2000s Media Archival Society. Lawrence is meant to be a figure who fell through the cracks of the early internet and one of his advice CDs was discovered in a recent donation the society had received .
In hindsight it feels harder for something to truly disappear from the internet, but, it’s interesting how much from the early 2000s has slipped through the cracks. I think that’s why I find videos talking about the early internet fascinating because it’s a time I somewhat remember, but as I was so young, the memories are fragmented. However, since watching a certain video recently I believe the phrase ‘the internet is forever‘ is probably correct in hindsight.
Getting back on topic, Lawrence Bailey as mentioned before is a lost figure from the 2000s and I like how he comes across in the script and audio. He has some obvious insecurities such as being embarrassed and his image. An example of this is when he skirts around the fact he fell for an April Fool in a railway magazine. The script was edited based on some notes I made to change some things and give the producer some lines. It’s also implied the editor keeps messing with Bailey’s CDs leaving audio that should have been edited out. I feel it adds a bit more to the characters and the story.
Regarding filming the video it went well. I didn’t want to just have the audio this time and I wanted to create some visuals to go alongside the voice-over. I did film the footage twice as I wasn’t happy with the first attempt. Something about the lighting felt off so I remade the set. The new set followed the same rough layout construction and rough layout as the original set. I used a tablecloth, some books and a CD player along with a lamp for lighting. It doesn’t really look like a room in a archive, but I think it provides a warm setting for the video.
However, I definitely need to get better at lighting and should track down a book on the subject. The footage looked alright and this was the first video where I played with the settings to make change the values of the footage. It’s a bit of a work in progress as I’m not trained in video editing software, but practicing and reading up on the topic will help in the long run.
Regardless, I hope you enjoy the video. Further reading is listed below.
Thank you.
–NJ (NJ Creative Writing)
| Further Reading |
| Articles |
| Alexander, Andrea. ‘How Did April Fools’ Day Get Started.’ Rutgers Today, Rutgers University, 2025. https://www.rutgers.edu/news/how-did-april-fools-day-get-started |
| ‘BBC Archive: April Fools’ pranks at the BBC.’ BBC, 2024. https://www.bbc.com/articles/c4nnnwr9rr9o |
| Johnson, Ben. ‘April Fools Day 1st April.’ Historic UK, https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/April-Fools-Day-1st-April/ |
| Kinsella, Pat. ‘April Fools’ Day: the hard-to-believe history behind the pranks.’ BBC Countryfile, 2025 https://www.countryfile.com/culture/april-fools-day |
| Winick, Stephen. ‘April Fools: The Roots of an International Tradition.’ Folklife Today, Library of Congress Blogs,2016. https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2016/03/april-fools/ |
| Videos |
| ‘1957: The Spaghetti Harvest Panorama.’ BBC Archive, YouTube, 2022. https://youtu.be/8scpGwbvxvI?feature=shared |
| ‘1975: Decimal Time.’ BBC, 1975. https://www.bbc.com/articles/c4nnnwr9rr9o |
NJ Creative Writing 