The showcase was a wonderful way to finish the semester. I loved getting to see what my classmates created and see how they’re worked evolved from rough cuts into fully-fledged edits with the story, meaning, and pizzazz. Seeing our work on screen also reminded me of some fundamental learning curves. All small discrepancies you think are unnoticeable on the small screen and aren’t worth the painstaking hours to change turn into mammoth moments that really need to be fixed once on a big screen, and coloring absolutely will never look the same. Every screen, computer, or display device looks different, and you have to be okay with the outcome even if it’s looking severely over-saturated on the big screen… oops.
One of the works I really enjoyed seeing was Oliver Duncan’s narrative. He used really elegant and simple shots to make a very good horror edit that made me jolt out of my seat for the last jump cut. He used suspense and timing to make something of simple shots of the door and a ‘boy’ on his laptop. It showed me how powerful editing really is and goes back to the course’s key ideas of exploring the magic that lies between the shots. What world can you create between the spaces of footage? How can we use editing to transform footage? Oliver transformed a non-scary storyline into a horror using classic jump cuts, lighting cues, suspense timing, and music. Transformation is the keyword.
I also really enjoyed watching Trevor Chan’s Nike commercial. Oh my lord, was it effective. At first, I wasn’t sure what it was for, but the way it incorporated the logo and the shoes, the end made perfect sense. This edit was simpler on the side of effects and music, and sounds, but I think that’s where it’s beauty lies. Watching it on the big screen, the shots and the transitions felt cohesive, and moved with the dancer. It was pleasing to the eye, to the point of being almost invisible. The indivisible edit working so much harder than I realized, and I think that is a key idea of the studio. How can we elevate and make something easy to watch? How can we edit in a way that is unseeable? It’s definitely an underappreciated talent, but its invisibility is also editing beauty. And in Trevor’s work, we seamlessly made cut after cut, moving the edit with the dancer, creating a feeling, a story for these shoes. I mean, I totally would’ve bought some if I could afford them.
It really congealed all the ideas I’ve had about editing and cemented them. We edit to create a story. We create continuity. To emphasize, to memorize, and to be invisible enough to realize none of what we see is natural but all crafted for the purpose of art or expression.
Another Studio I viewed was “Sounds like a Story,” which was all about exploring storytelling through audio only. I thought the key idea of the studio was to explore and create media that tell meaningful, well-constructed and layered stories while only using audio. To find ways to evoke feelings through sound. I specifically enjoyed two pieces. The first was Dull bitch by Dom Niere explored finding yourself and your own voice and balance in society. She used music and clips from popular culture, as well as dialogue, to take us on a journey of discovery to find her Ying, her excitement. Along the way, she sees people lose themselves to the idea of self-discovery, and trying to be something you’re can drive you crazy. In the end, she discovers she is enough as she is, and doesn’t need to find anything if she lives genuinely as herself. I also watched Flawless Guaranteed by Jack Filiba. It tells the story of a guy who is so caught up in his need for control that when he discovers he is able to manipulate the world to be exactly as he wants it to be, he changes everything that makes is exciting. He takes away the changes, the hardship, the extreme sadness, and the depression. He is stuck in his perfect world, so perfect it no longer means anything and is mundane in every way. You need the bad times to know when the good is good; the contrast is what makes the highs feel so ecstatic. This piece used so many incredible layers and sounds. It was like listening to a fully-fledged movie. I especially loved his use of repetition, and recorder scratching sounds to show the repetition and droning boredom of the “perfectly controlled life”. Jack created an incredibly moving story using audio. Both pieces showed that there is depth and untapped storytelling capabilities available to us through sound, and using layers and sounds, we can tell many different types of stories.