As a videographer and photographer, I wear many hats. Sometimes I operate as a one-man-band, putting together everything in a piece from start to finish. More often now I come in right at the end, being handed all of the assets and instructed to execute a specific vision. This piece was in a middle ground for me; one I’m not wholly comfortable with yet.
This video was shot and edited solely by me, and the set was mostly dressed by me, with plenty of help from the most knowledgeable friends. However the overall vision and script were in someone else’s hands, and I merely executed their needs. The piece carries a lot of weight for me because I literally shed blood, sweat, and tears to put it together under a tight timeline and ever-changing vision. We published in early May and only now can I think about the experience without becoming emotional.
In the end, there were no real thanks or acknowledgement of efforts from any side, as I think we were relieved to finish this project and move on to a new one. That situation frustrates me, and I should work to change it, since I don’t truly know how anyone else felt about their role in bringing this idea to life.
For my part, I love video editing. I LOVE editing. Shooting is great, though I lose patience while shooting more quickly than I used to. Editing is it for me, matching angles and motion, mixing audio, finding exactly the right clip to match your needs; I love it. There’s nothing more rewarding to me than the epiphany of finding the path forward from a jumbled timeline. That AH-HA moment of “This is where the footage is trying to lead me!” If I can get that one beautiful moment, the whole process is worth it.