With shooting wrapped it was time for post-production. First step: picture editing. Once again Geoff was editing it at home and I was going to visit for some long sessions. On the pilot we realized just how long everything takes after the picture editing is done so we got to work right away. After all, we needed to make our PAX deadline!
But before I start I have to get one thing out: Adobe Premiere is the worst editing program I’ve ever seen! I use Final Cut often and I’ve used AVID in the past and holy crap! Adobe Premiere makes me angry! I don’t know if it’s the way it organizes files and projects or just the buttons but man it’s frustrating. The only saving grace is it’s ability to edit natively so there was no render time. And Geoff was pushing the buttons so I just had to sit back and watch. But even that was frustrating. So if I curse out Adobe anymore, that’s where I’m coming from. Sorry Adobe, I like your other stuff, just not Premiere.
And now, immediately after blasting Adobe Premiere, I have to praise one really cool feature. Yeah, I’m a complicated guy. Once Geoff completed a cut, he could upload that to the FTP site, but then create a PDF files that linked to the video. He emailed me the PDF which linked to the video and allowed me to make notes based on the time code. I’d then export my notes and email them to Geoff so he could import it back onto his editing timeline. It was a very cool method of working that allowed us to make progress when we couldn’t both be in the same room the whole time. Although I’m not convinced Geoff always read my notes but I think it’s because he hates working alone and just wanted me to come over.
Once Geoff got the rough assemblies done we sat down for some long marathon editing sessions, mostly evenings after work. Did I mention before I have a very supportive and understanding wife? I don’t remember how many times we got together to finish the three episodes but by the end I think Geoff was ready to buy me a shirt that said “Do we have a better take?” Either that or stab me.
And this isn’t to say that we were struggling to find the good performances, we had a LOT to choose from. The problem is all the other things that come into play – booms in shot, extra noises, flares – all those technical things on indie productions that happen when you’re cruising along. I also kept things pretty loose on set so sometimes we’d get a great joke thrown out but the intensity or the way the person moves just doesn’t look right when butted up against another shot. It was a real struggle to balance using the best take and making it look nice. In the end we tried to focus more on getting the best performances and jokes and worrying less about the technical stuff. I can’t remember who, maybe William Goldman, but a famous writer or filmmaker once said “Continuity is bored”. Agreed. (As long as it doesn’t take you out of the story, of course.)
Now we were also up against a deadline we’d set for ourselves – PAX. The plan was to release all 3 episodes before PAX and we knew from the pilot that sound editing and all the other stuff can take a while so we needed to get this done ASAP. And this was in June. PAX isn’t until the first weekend of September. Did we make it? I’ll tackle that in the next entry. For now, it was about locking the picture so everything else could proceed.
We finished episode 1 and fired it off to our sound guy, quickly diving into episode 2 and 3. There episodes were easier to edit. We’d figured out our flow and everything else was falling into place – the technical aspects improved as the crew really figured out our shooting location and the performances really improved as the cast got more and more comfortable with their roles. But at some point here I took a fresh look at episode 1 while getting ready for the color correct and realized that we probably could have tightened it up even more. After working on something for 4 or 5 hours, it’s hard to be objective and I think a few more quick edits could have really picked up the pace.
It was too late for episode 1 and we’d “finished” episode 2 and 3 when I broke the news to Geoff that I wanted to go back and do more work on them. Since episode 2 was already in the hands of our sound guy Geoff was really concerned about touching the edit and I really had to push hard to convince him that it would be worth it. And he was right, it did cause problems and a delay – but I still think it was worth it. And these edits we made were minor, I think the run time only changed by 8 seconds, but it’s amazing what a difference chopping a few frames here and there makes. We probably could have even done more. Maybe in 20 years I’ll go back and “fix” them and re-release it all. Then make some prequels that suck.
In the end I don’t remember how long it took to edit all 3 episodes but we had a good time and I think future episodes will be a lot easier. Maybe I can even convince Geoff to buy a real editing program by then.
Now that we had our picture locked it was on to everything else. This is the part where most of our work is done and it’s up to others to finish the last few pieces. And while that may feel like a weight lifted, trying to wrangle people with no money causes even more grief.
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