During the advisory session on April 28, the students and staff of LASA participated in the school Lip Dub video, filming throughout the halls, and outside, representing school clubs, and activities. The Lip Dub occurs every two years, with the last one taking place during the lockdown, in 2021. Due to the pandemic, many students were unable to participate in the online Lip Dub, but this year, filming will return to its traditional format. 

The video tradition started ten years ago, when Audio Video Production (AVP) teacher Vanessa Mokry asked the administration if she could create and supervise a schoolwide music video. While at the gym, she heard the song “Under Pressure” by Queen and could envision her and the students making a schoolwide video with the song in the background. Since then, there have been numerous Lip Dubs, with the hope that every student will be able to participate at least once. 

“Every year I ask the students if they want to do a Lip Dub, and they don’t necessarily have to say yes, but they have always said yes,” Mokry said. “They get excited because they feel as if it’s their turn.” 

The Lip Dub is a one-take music video filmed around the school. According to junior Adrian Ching, one of the students in the advanced AVP class, the Lip Dub will be harder to film this year due to LASA’s new location. 

“It will be harder to film [this year] because of how big the freshman population is and how small the school is, so we plan on using as much outside space as possible,” Ching said.

Regardless of the new location, planning the Lip Dub takes the entire school year, starting in the fall semester and continuing until the video is finalized. Ching’s role is to make sure people stay on task during filming. 

“I make sure the Lip Dub gets done production wise, and I make sure everyone is on task during the production,” Ching said. “I am basically in charge of making sure everything comes together in the end.”

In order to put on this production, throughout the month of April, there were three mandatory advisory sessions spent rehearsing the Lip Dub. After rehearsing and filming, the AVP class edits a song that they’ve chosen, over the video. 

“We’ve been beat up these past couple of years, and we considered songs like ‘I’m Still Standing’ by Elton John, songs about people getting help and fighting,” Mokry said. “The two finalists were ‘Sabotage’ by the Beastie Boys and ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ by Prince. The students choose the song in the end, and my role is to make sure they choose a dignified song.”

Junior Katie Tarin is another one of the producers of the Lip Dub. She feels that the mainly student-run event is a good way to bring the student body together. 

“There’s not very many events that we have that are so well organized,” Tarin said. “It’s just so much fun. Everyone shows up in their uniforms and brings so many props, and it’s just such a fun experience. It’s honestly kind of like a party just getting to film a music video.”

Griffin Beam contributed to this article.