Today I was talking to my friend Kate about this new blogging venture and she suggested I discuss the process of editing. It's something I could talk about for hours so here goes.
At Seven Days, every story goes through an intense editing and proofreading process with several sets of eyes perusing each bit of copy (and one set belongs to my sister, Margot Harrison).
In my case, I am the only one editing my videos. And as much as I sometimes loathe the process of editing, I doubt I could stand sharing this unique experience with another person.
The planning, shooting, interviewing and lugging of equipment certainly takes time and effort but the real work, the hardest and most excruciating bit for me is the editing.
Imagine Sisyphus pushing his rock up the hill, over and over again. Well that is how I feel when I begin to edit a project — overwhelmed, exhausted and as though it will never end.
There are too many options when editing: How do you choose the "right" clips? How do you make it all blend together seamlessly? What sort of pace do you choose, which images?
Some people say editing is their favorite part of the filmmaking process and I say, "Get back to me after you've tried editing a piece every week for four years." Not to say that I despise editing, I both love and hate it, it pulls me apart every week without fail but I would not spend my time doing anything else.
Of course, the editing process does end on Wednesday mornings when I publish the Stucks, but every week it starts again and I feel just as helpless next to that heavy rock and that steep hill (this explains my Facebook procrastination on Mondays and Tuesdays).
So here is a quick breakdown of the grueling process of editing/whittling/weaving that I perform weekly. I am sure all editors have their own technique, this is just what works for me when crunching huge amounts of data regularly.
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