During a recent review of one of my edits an interesting topic came up. Yes, the title of this post, less is more. The photo above is what Final Cut Pro looks like, editing software. This has been all I know for the past month or so. In this time I have become very attached to some of the material that I got during my interviews. In a past blogpost I remarked that I think every word said in these interviews is important to hear. This is still a core sentiment of mine. But it isn’t the reality of the situation. You have to package the story you want to tell in a tidy little film that people will watch and can get attached to. They have to be able to follow the path of the story and come out on the other end having learned something and gone through an emotional journey.
Rick Perez, In Their Boots’ Executive Producer, said something to the effect of, ‘you have some really good interview material here but there is too much in the edit, if you cut it down the stuff that is left will become more valuable. The viewer will have time to digest what’s being said if there are some breaks in there.’
And so, I’ve come around. It’s a tough proverbial pill to swallow but it’s true. You folks have just received a free film class lesson courtesy of In Their Boots, and I have a better edit.
The little blue blocks running horizontally across the frame of the photo are the video clips. The two green lines of blocks are the interview audio clips and the four green lines below that are the music tracks. In case you were wondering.
