My producing partner and I have just finished our final cut on my TV presentation of "RICH WHORES: A FAIRYTALE." I have referenced this show in previous blog posts and explained the ups and downs of the editing process, the sometimes painful moments of hearing negative opinions about the cuts.
Let me nutshell this. The first edit was 13 minutes. The second 8 minutes. Then 5. Now it is just about 3 minutes long. And it is amazing. It is funny and full and clear.
When we were in our first, 13 minute edit, I could not fathom changing anything. Could not fathom losing anything, any character or scene. So we screened it for people. Every single person had a very different opinion, but most everyone had one. So we listened. And we paused and discussed. And we sighed. And we were bummed. And then elated and then super bummed again. And we trudged forward to cut and cut and paste and cut right down to a slimmer, more concise, less packed 3 minutes. Had I known at that 13 minute edit to change all of things we changed and size it, then and there, to 3 minutes--i would have--but i would not have learned much.
Through this month of cutting I have learned that you must GO THRU TO COME OUT. You have take the hits, the punches, the opinions, the good and bad. Take them and sit with them and then go at it again. I remembered that no good movie is shot and edited and put into theaters. They screen each cut, often 3 or more cuts. They get feedback and then they go again. They go thru the process to land out with a satisfying product.
You can't say "I want to be skinny" and wake up thin. You have to stop eating pies and pizzas and candy. And you have to work out. And drink water. And do that again the next day and the day after that. Then you can be skinny.
Can't put a record out without writing the songs, recording it, mastering it, throwing out the bad songs and keeping the good.
Can't graduate college without the classroom credits.
Can't have a final edit without the first few. The first few that allowed you to see clearly, then more clearly the things to make it Better And Better.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
matt, at the end of the day, everyone can give you all the comments they want. and you can take them however you want. but it doesn't really matter until you feel satisfied and YOU feel like your work is good. because people are going to like different things, and they are going to see your work as separate from you when they "judge" it-- even if you don't. so if they like or dislike or have a different vision, it isn't necessarily them liking or disliking you-- it's all just an opinion. and it's all to be weighed and spayed and fileted and so on... regardless, i am so happy to read this and know that you are getting to a point where you are happy with it, and i am so glad you are appreciating the process, the ups and downs of it all, that helped get you there. there will be much more to come. and you will be wiser as it comes at you, thru you, beside you, around you and so forth. congrats on tunneling thru and seeing the light at the end of the creative tunnel. lord knows it isn't easy. but you owe it to yourself to get there. because you are so damn good at what you do.
and sometimes... you just need that little gust of wind that lifts you up... and helps you get on the right track... sometimes... after so much hard work... after the disappointment sets in ,.. and you cannot imagine doing it one more day... you hope there is that little gust... that helps you get going again... and that gust can be anything... someone telling you you are a talent... someone triggering your inspiration... but SOMEONE or SOMETHING outside of you... cuz when you do it alone and alone and alone... it is so hard to keep that train going without community...
and this blog... is that - for me - TODAY
Post a Comment