Week Ten at NP

Final week!


8/9 - Sunday

In the late afternoon, we interviewed and shot B-roll of our second and final Big/Little match. We shot everything in beautiful Frick Park on a 90 degree day, our first of the year. Both interviews went quite well. We then filmed them bicycling, skateboarding, throwing and catching a football, and talking. All of it was great b-roll. We knew it would add a lot of excellent content and color to the video. We were really proud of what we had captured, and of the fact that we got it all in 2 hours. We would have imported the footage at New Perspective immediately following, but the P2 card reader was out of the equipment office at the time.

8/10 - Monday

I decided to come in early at 8am on Monday to import the footage from the previous day. It was our first official day of editing. The footage imported into the Avid successfully and I began to subclip and lay down the best footage onto the timeline. All of the interview footage that we wanted to use was now in order. Near the end of the day, Sarah and I even got to lay down some B-roll over the interview dialog. We stayed till 6pm that day, and got a lot accomplished.

8/11 - Tuesday

More editing, all day. It was Dan, Sarah, and I today, all together in our small editing room. We got an excellent dialog going between us about what each of us wanted and thought was best for the video. We laid more B-roll into the timeline in the places we wanted it and the flow of the video began to feel more like a promotional video. We were very happy with what we had achieved in just two days. We left at our normal time.

8/12 - Wednesday

All four of us, Dan, Sarah, Mike, and I, were together today. Dan took over the editing for a while to help cut down parts of our main interview with the founder, Kenny Ross, which was running very long. We finished laying down the B-roll for most of the video and were all happy with it. I spent about 45 minutes adjusting the sound levels for each clip. In the afternoon, we together added the music that Dan and Sarah had chosen. We made further adjustments to the sound.

We were close to picture-lock. We had one nagging problem, however. The beginning segment with the interview with the founder was giving us trouble. We didn’t have appropriate B-roll for it, which I had known the previous week. I had shot some extra fairly neutral B-roll at the park on Sunday for this very reason, even though I knew that most of it probably would not be right either; but at least we had it. Exhausted with small red and green rectangles burned into our retinas (Avid timeline segments), we called it a day.

At 5:30, the New Perspective staff held a party for us at an Irish restaurant a few blocks away, The Harp and Fiddle. We were able to give feedback on the internship and share our experiences. We all had a wonderful time.

8/13 - Thursday

My last day at New Perspective. It was just Dan and I today. In opening the project and watching what we had put together in the past 3 days, we both quickly came to the realization (rather comically) that the B-roll we had for the first segment of the video was not going to work. So (rather spontaneously), we decided to take the company van (with permission of course) and the HVX200 and go out and shoot the B-roll I had wanted to shoot a month ago. Luckily, it was a sunny, dry day.

This is one of the great joys that the digital format brings: spontaneity, speed, and the ability to shoot much-needed footage one day before picture-lock. Yes, it was crazy, but we were surprisingly calm about it, and we managed to pull it off. We got fantastic B-roll from the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh headquarters and from around the city. We returned to the studio by 1pm. Since the P2 Reader was out of the office again, we couldn’t import the footage yet, so I made the lower-thirds (titles) to go on top of the interviewees’ footage and placed them into the timeline. I then made some minor adjustments to the edits we had made during the week. At the end of the day, all that was needed was the additional footage we had just shot. Since Dan’s internship was 5 days a week, he said he would add the footage. I am still keeping in contact with the other interns to ensure that the editing gets finished at the top of next week. The DVDs should be made by Wednesday or Thursday.


My tolerance for intense editing was tested, and I made it. I even still considered it enjoyable. That was confirmation for me that I would probably do very well as an editor. I never got bored with watching the footage over and over, and the intensity of working in a small room for several hours didn’t even faze me. I had to remind myself to take breaks. Once I was in the ‘zone’, the whole process was pretty straightforward and things occurred very naturally.

One piece of advice to those thinking about becoming editors: do not underestimate the good 10-minute break. Everyone needs it. It will get your blood circulation going, will give your mind a rest, and allow you to return to the project with fresh eyes, ears, and mind. If you’re working in a group, even if you are in charge of editing, don’t be afraid to turn the reins over to a fellow partner. S/he can offer a refreshing perspective on the project at every stage. Also, don’t get too attached to certain aspects of the project that someone else may wish to cut. Keep the big picture in mind and consider each clip in terms of what it’s doing for the greater project.

I also received my Intern Evaluation Form, with excellent marks and comments all around. I almost cannot believe that 11 weeks have passed and the internship is over. It was a great ride and I learned a lot. I will take everything that I garnered from my time at New Perspective back to SCAD and I know that I will be a better filmmaker now having completed this internship. I’m sure it will open many doors for me later on. I am very happy and proud of our entire group. It was a very productive and positive working environment, and I would love to work there again.