Enough already!

So I did it. You know the saying, it takes a village? Well, I am happy to say it does and it did. I have worked this little gem of a film into a tight 38 minute piece that really sings. And boy was it hard.

I have to say there are some really good scenes that are sitting on my cutting room floor. Oh, if you could only see the grave yard scene. It rocks! But… at last, it won’t be there. Or the 3rd and 4th birth! So good and so much drama. They too hit the cutting room floor.

My friend was right, it is all about what moves the film. How do you keep the emotional drama moving?

I had the distinct honor of showing the 42 minute version of the film to Michael S. Murphy who rocked my world. Yeah, go ahead, check out his credits and then come back to me. He looked at me at the end of the show, giggled and said, “You have no problem knocking out two minutes.”

I quivered and I quaked. This cut was becoming utterly precious to me. EVERY shot was important and said something - whether anyone noticed or cared - but I did.

He went on to remind me that VO from a talking head can slide easily under my establishing shots. And we don’t really need to see Kaziah walk from here to there. It is OK to move some time.

Being an “artist” I found throughout the cutting process it difficult to cut up shots too much as I didn’t want to over manipulate the audience so many of my shots ran - what some might call - long. (I would call European.) I was able to see his point in many of his notes. A few, I reserved my right to my decision and didn’t speed up the shot 300%. That felt just a little too, I don’t know, MTV.

All in all, I heard the film. It really did speak to me and said… BACK OFF. It is time to fly.

I should be hearing from Sundance any day now…

When is enough… enough?

How do you know when you should quit editing? I wish you could tell me. I know I am close but…

Ever feel this way. I know I have. And well in fact feel it right now. I am in the process of finishing a short documentary on Kaziah - the prolific artist who has painted over 500 fallen soldiers.

My first cut came in at 52 minutes. Not bad but Sundance has a cut off of 50 minutes if I wanted to submit it as a short film. And I think I do as it is really a short feature, it doesn’t have enough time to play in a theater and quite frankly, the story doesn’t lend itself to much more. In other words, I would be forcing the story if I tried to make it a 70 minute film.

So, I found myself in this really interesting position. I knew I could shave off 2 minutes to make it, but wanted to invite group of trusted individuals to view it. You know, make sure it was working. Well after the screening, I received such great notes and wonderful feedback, I began to believe I had an uncut diamond in my hands. On person even said, “you know this could really have a chance for a short Oscar.”

Well, it doesn’t take much for me to take on a challenge - or to stroke my ego. So that meant I had to cut it to under 40 minutes to make that qualification! That is a whopping 12 minutes.

I find myself sitting in front of the computer saying… is it worth it? Can I do it? Where do I begin.

Well a great editor and good friend suggested that I sit down and watch every single scene and ask myself what it adds to the film. He suggested that I then write down everything. Read it and see what the film says.  GREAT ADVICE!!!! So I am off to do it and hope that the 40 minute version will emerge.

Fingers crossed.

 

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