#74 Wk54 Edit Lab III

Strapped onto a log, riding the sluice of learning

Check out the links to some interviews and B-roll I produced for a conference put on by the company I work for. It may not look like a lot, but I did it all on my own and it represents most of my life during January. It feels so good when it stops.

I recorded this episode in pieces at different times. Once I met the deadline for my day job I was freed up to complete The Killer edit. At the end of the show I talk about the critique and the different ways other people in the class approached their edit of the story.

I wanted to recommend student screenings to anyone interested in learning more about filmmaking. Your response to the weaknesses of the film provides good insight into what you already know about filmmaking. They're a good source of insight into potential errors and oversights when producing your own film. A cautionary resource, particularly for a student filmmaker like you and I.

The entire experience of producing The Killers has given me a lot of thoughts about getting the coverage you need to tell a story. The fastest path to success is planning through preproduction. Pre-visualization tools like storyboards and shot lists are valuable tools as well. It doesn't matter how you do it, what matters is that you create the edit before you begin shooting.

#73 Wk53 Edit Lab III

I'm having difficulty hunkering down on the edit for our third major film project which we call The Killer. Ambivalence, apathy and fatigue

I've made some comments about HDV again. Thanks to Mike Jones at Digital Basin for his comments, posted in the show notes of VSG #68 about the viability of editing HDV native in FCP.

I'm realizing the importance of pre prod and especially previz in preparing for shoots. Getting enough coverage is increasingly a concern. We just never seem to get enough. It's not the quantity, but the quality, the number of different types and the exact type. FrameForge 3D is a previz tool that I have and I need to get to know it better.

Take a look at the book, In the Blink of an Eye, by Walter Murch. It's a great read and a good introduction to editing.

#72 Wk52 Edit Lab III

Doug Plante is instructor for this module, Edit Lab II. He is an ex-Avid employee - Avid is in Tewksbury Massachussets. He is also, according to Howard Phillips, the programs associate director, a FCP god.

This week Doug spoke about the fine points of the rough cut and fine cut

He was all business and was there to see we got to the fine cut done. There's not going to be a lot of instruction in this class. It's all going to come as he works with us individually as we massage our edits.

I had a heck of a time working with Avid, lost a whole class before I moved on to FCP 6. Now I have a problem where I upgraded to 6.02 and the school is at 6.0. and guess what, the file types are not compatible. Can you believe it?

I know, Avid files created between a long list of revisions in that software don't cause a hiccup for Avid users, but FCP apparently is very touchy. But a x.0.2 release? It's enough to make you a hater.

But I don't hate FCP, I just feel I would benefit from continuing using Avid. I know FCP well enough to learn the rest on my own. But Avid, I'm surrounded by Avid gurus and I want to take advantage of that knowledge.


I know I tend to treat this like a dog with a sock monkey, but I once again discuss the archival problems with P2 footage. You can't keep it on the card, it's too expensive. And the life of the solid state card is unknown for long term storage. Drives are a problem for long term storage. What are we going to do once we have to give up tape forever?

#71 Wk51 On Location

Part II of the story of the two weekend shoot of our little film, The Killers. I'm talking about both weekends here, including how much the quality of communication depends on the the amount of time you make for preproduction, my
Communication depends on preproduction likes and dislikes regarding lighting and sound recording on set and a little problem we had with the talent

There is a very odd relationship between the crew and the talent on set. I have a few words to say about actors in general and the difficult but critical role the Assistant Director plays.

#70 Wk50 On Location

Get ready for a slew of episodes this week. I'm finally catching up.

I'd like to thank Mike Jones from Digital Basin for leaving a comment in show #68. Check out his thoughts there and on his site. Also Brian from Galway left a comment in show #69. Thanks for the encouraging words Brian. I'll be around for a while. Let me know what you're doing and interested in doing.

Check out the song on Coverville.com - Itchycoo Park, covered in show #393. It was one of the first two podcasts I subscribed to and continues to be in my top 5.

After a brief rundown of my adventures over two weeks of shooting on location I update you on the type of work that's starting to come to me at my day job. It may be a small dream, but it's my dream all the same to become the video go-to guy at my day job. That's the point of going to school in the first place.

Right now I'm working on a project for both web and tape delivery using video I shot here in Massachusetts and footage shot in other places in the world where the standard broadcast TV format is PAL. Quite an adventure figuring the conversion process for that. Thank God for the internet eh?