For the last six years, Conquest Journal has gone through high stress trying to keep up the annual lip dub tradition. Their dedication has allowed many clubs and organizations show their school spirit by having fun and singing songs since 2013.

This year will not be any different.

“Lip dub is a lip syncing video that is recorded in one shot with all the groups of the community in school to bring the community together,” senior Roberto Adame said.

Even though the finished product is a lot of fun, the process to make it is quite stressful.

“My advanced students start by picking the music because that’s the most important part,” audio and video tech teacher Marisol Rivera said.

Every year there is a wide range of opinions on the music chosen.

“There’s always controversy about choosing a song because everyone has their own taste but at the end you really have to think about the beat and energy to it, a nice message, and it has to be appropriate,” Adame said.

They then start deciding the route the director and photographer will take.

“The crew takes class time in order to practice the route because it’s just one camera shot,” Rivera said. “There’s no editing whatsoever because there’s no stopping”

They begin to spread the word to get as many people involved as possible.

“The lip dub is about bringing the whole entire school together, showing the diversity of what Del Valle offers,” Senior Eileen Matamoros said.

Conquest Journal has to prepare months in advance in order to complete this project.

“It usually takes about two months but this year we planned it earlier because last year we were in a rush and it did not go well,” Adame said.

The crew has to prepare for everything.

“Some of the struggles we go through is creating the route, especially when more groups come in later on late we have to extend our route because it doesn’t fit everyone,” Matamoros said.

But even with all the planning, unexpected problems can occur.

“A problem that we had last year was breaking the PA system, this year we’re gonna use it again so hopefully it doesn’t break,” Matamoros said.

Even though this project is tough, it is rewarding.

“I think the lip dub is fun to work on. It’s stressful yeah, but I like doing it because it’s creating a video and I get to see everybody happy about it. It’s one last thing before the seniors go and it’s a new thing for the freshmen to experience,” Matamoros said. “It’s just great for everyone.”