I knew that the interviews I was collecting would have to be eventually edited.
My first big mistake.
Interviews were coming fast, sometimes 2-3 a week. I was doing a lot of pre-interview prep so that I could understand the legends that I was working with. They were names that I knew very well, and I didn't want to appear stupid and uninformed. My mistake was not logging what I was recording, I had the simplest of methods of naming the interview subject but I wasn't watching what I was recording and then giving it a name and a folder so I could find it again. I wasn't separating "B" roll (behind the scenes and shots that would help explain) from the interviews. It was a mess and got even larger when I began editing. The program I use (Premier Pro) for editing does not "like" it if you move or rename files after you initially import them into the program. You have to go through a long and exhaustive process of re-connecting all of the individual files. UGH. Here's what I mean
This mistake made for very long and frustrating editing sessions, yes it was a huge mistake and I still pay for it everyday editing, never again. There came a turning point in the film when I knew that I was going to completely re-edit the entire film (at that point it was 1 hour 24 minutes, the final run time is 59 minutes 24 seconds). At that time I was invited by SHACC surfingheritage.org to come down before the museum opened and get some precious B roll. Because of the camera system that I use (more on that in another blog) I had to open a project, watch all of the clips, (about 85), name them and then I could import them into the project, here's a little look, the file that contains the video is an XMF file, names in this example.
As the story developed from my collecting of interviews and information this mistake greatly extended my work time. So, here's my resolution, I'll do the work in post production of logging and naming so I can find those moments that were so precious and profound. In upcoming installments I'll tell you where the name came from, what gear I used and all those nasty little details that make up this story, some will be video, they will all be personal, I hope you enjoy.