It's not very often you get to go back and revisit something you worked on in the past. That's why I got really excited when I heard my class reunion was coming up. Instantly, I remembered that I always wanted to revisit the Senior Video with the fresh eyes of a professional. If I had my way, it would have been completely redone from the camera tapes, but (as I've discovered over the years) nothing is ever that easy.

Most of the tapes don't exist anymore. Some were destroyed, some were lost, and many of them are sitting somewhere at the High School. Luckily, I came across the master tapes for Prom, some of the masters for the ditch days, and some master tapes I never even knew existed.

So back in June, I set out to restore and revamp the Senior Video. It started out slow, mainly because I was too lazy to dive head first into a major quagmire. Like Iraq, I was afraid there'd be no getting out after I got in.

The only copy I still have of the finished video from 1998 is in pretty bad shape. So it took a lot of Photoshopping and color correction to get the shots I don't have anymore somewhat passable. It doesn't look as good as the remastered Prom segment, but it looks pretty comparable with the VHS copies that went out in 1998.

Since I was already there fixing things, I went whole hog on the editing. Removing cuts inside transitions (ugh), tightening up the pace, and (in some cases) creating a completely new segment. All while trying to give the video a new theme: one of success, not tragedy.

Sure, we miss our friends, but we all went out and did pretty well for ourselves. The world didn't end at graduation. That's what the new video represents.

So it's locked and in the can. Just waiting until after my next sleep cycle to start authoring the DVD. After that, preparations turn to the screening at the reunion. I still have to get Sherri to sew the projection screen, and I have to make some last minute structural modifications to the frame.

What I'm not looking forward to is the week immediately following the reunion. I'm going to be swamped with orders, and manufacturing one disc at a time could take a while. Having a duplication house do it would exceed my budget. If I went that route, I'd have to charge $24.95 on each disc just to break even.

So my distribution plan is as follows:

As soon as money comes in, print off 200 copies of the DVD label and case label.
Prepare packaging for shipment.
Burn and QC discs over the weekend.
Ship a wave of discs on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.