Being given the task to edit ones self is never a comfortable thing. After having to do this I was incredibly frustrated by my own lack of continuity and other things that were out of my control; as my role in the crew was just an actor. In the below video my editing choices are mostly based around which shots would work most harmoniously together in the bounds of continuity. Without a set script, I would often change my dialogue and speak when I shouldn’t have. Whilst in some cases this allowed for variety, in most it limited choices greatly. The main problem however arose from me holding the ‘mirror’ up at different times and in random places. To make things worse, in some shots I would hold it up twice so a perfectly good shot would be ruined by me holding up the ‘mirror’ when I should have put it down. As a result my editing partner and I would often have to cut things that we liked and use things that we didn’t. This struggle in the edit suit, led me to think back to the actual day of shooting and how it all played out. My group had decided on a whim that there would be three directors with no ranking- no one person had definitive authority. Whilst at the time this seemed like a good idea to us rookies, as we all only have vague ideas as to what we’re doing, a few problems arose from this. For instance, I was told by one director not to have lines while it was decided two minutes later by another director that I would be speaking. To their credit however, the three directors were respectful of one another and willing to take each others ideas on board. I also remember thinking on the day that my continuity was terrible as I’d forgotten my movement in each take. I remember asking helplessly if anyone remembered but no one did as they were focused on their individual roles.

From my struggle with editing and experience as an ‘actor’ during filming, I have learnt that planning is incredibly important. Roles must be clearly defines and everyone must make an effort to do these to the best of their ability. Next time I carry out a class exercise, I’d like to attempt a simple and quick shot list with perhaps a few notes about blocking in an effort to observe continuity.