Post Production & The "C" Word

Ok, so I haven't mentioned the C word yet anywhere on the internet. I don't like to engage in anything on social media other than the things I am interested in doing and I keep it positive and light. But, it's a little tough to continue writing weekly blogs on the progress of the film without mentioning the stand still that has happened due to the Corona Virus. It also seems a little weird to just act like I don't know about it. There, I said it, and that's the last time I'm going to mention it.

We lost our last principal day of photography after everything started to shut down. I wasn't happy, but it was best to keep everyone safe. There's no time when the cast and crew's safety isn't the number one priority. We will find the time to film the last scene. Luckily, the missing scenes are the opener and closer, which means we can edit the middle!

It's officially time to begin post production. Which means, making my film has just begun. As many would attest, it's all in the EDIT. Editing requires a few things.

1. A space all to yourself. No sounds. No people. No distractions.

2. A computer. Preferably one that doesn't make you want to chuck it across the room.

3. Editing software. I use Adobe Premiere Pro.

4. A vision, with a script, scriptee notes

5. Headphones

6. Hours. And hours. and hours of time.

But, there is so much more to editing than the tools you need. You may not realize it, but the edit begins when you get on set and start to roll that camera. You must keep that edit in mind for every shot, every take, every cut. A "where do we go from here?" mindset must be in action every second of the shoot. If you fail to embrace the edit on set, your film will not make sense, or at the very least, the editor is going to have a lot more work on their hands. It's a bit of a double edged sword for me, since I have directed and will be editing the film. On the one hand, I was on set and I know every shot we have and I know what we were thinking when we rolled the camera every single time. On the other hand, I can cut these shots together and know what they are trying to say because I wrote the script and made the film, but what if it's not as obvious to the viewers as I think it is? What if I can't admit that to myself? Don't worry, I have a team. And they won't be afraid to tell me what my weaknesses are.

A wise man once told me that "Being an editor is just fixing everyone's mistakes. Taking their garbage and making it look decent." -K.Harnett

Now I get to take my own garbage footage and make it into something great. I'm half kidding about the garbage footage. Learning film making is like growing up. You have this idea in your mind about what it's supposed to be like and you do things that make sense in your head, and then when things play out and you watch back, you realize how obvious some of the mistakes were and how you could have easily made a better choice. If you could go back in time, or re-write history(or reshoot your footage), you could have made a much better film. But, learning is making mistakes, right? I'm excited to get into this footage, but I am also terrified. I'm terrified that I won't be happy with the way my vision is represented on screen. I'm even more terrified that the audience won't understand my vision. I'm terrified I won't be proud of putting my name on my film. But, I have to put my name on it. It's going to be magical to see what I have created after an entire year of preparation and film making. It's a surreal feeling.

There is so much work to be done in the editing room. (Like, Redbull.) It's difficult to sit here and stare at the screen and know exactly where to begin. It's important to organize and label, but making choices becomes so difficult. How can I best convey what I'm trying to say? What if I'm missing shots?

This week a production schedule will be made. Once the clips are labeled and organized and reviewed, there's a good chance we will find there is something missing. We have already had one reshoot day and there probably won't be any more time for that, so I will have to get creative in the edit. There is a ton of folly to be recorded, but luckily, that's not so bad. One or two people and a microphone can handle it. Since school has gone to online, it will be a little bit more difficult to collect some of the folly that we would have captured inside the school.

The Notes is not about special effects. The Notes is about relationships and emotions. The most difficult part about editing this film is using timing and detail to make the audience feel exactly what the character is feeling. Often, there is feeling happening in The Notes without any dialogue or context. So much of this had to be conveyed by the actors. I learned on set that it can be difficult to communicate these emotions and evoke them on set with 40 people standing around, where everything is so chaotic. One of the biggest lessons I learned during this process is to spend more time with the actors and to keep them more isolated from the goings on of the film set. It 100% affects their performance and their abilities to stay in character.

I decided to rearrange my office/studio to make it a more useful space and to spark my creativity going into post, since I'll likely be spending a ton of hours in there soon. It's full of plants and sunlight and all my photography gear. I'm also using it to film some youtube videos that should be showing up soon.

See you in the next one.