Here We Go!

I really should be editing video right now, but nagging and persuasion from my friend Mark J. Rebilas finally got the best of me. I caved in to his peer pressure and started my own official blog, not one attached to Myspace or any other site, but my own stand-alone soap box for whatever I feel like sharing with the world. I think for the most part I'll keep things semi-casual around here. Of course I'll share work-related stories about projects I'm working on and shoots that I've done, but don't be surprised if I throw up a hilarious Youtube video every now and then.

For the next few weeks I'm editing a video of an original musical production called Steel Waters that was produced by The West Side Theatre Guild back in January of 2007. The production celebrated the centennial of the City of Gary, Indiana, and chronicled the city's founding, industrial heyday, fall from grace, and eventual rebirth (though some would argue against the rebirth part).

In addition to editing the project, I also shot two of the shows with a handheld camera along with fellow videographers Alexx Vargas and Greg Grafton, who ran cameras on tripods with me for one performance. An additional performance was shot with a 30' jib arm, which allowed the camera to swing from perspectives over the audience and stage. I also was the lighting designer on the show, which helped when it came time to shoot the show on video. I knew the angles and coverage I had to get of the various characters to make the edit work.

The edit, despite my preparation and connection with the show, has been daunting. I'm syncing five camera angles from three different performances and cutting between them in post. Despite the actors' best intentions, not everything matches perfectly from show to show, and subsequently, angle to angle in the edit. I'm forced to be very creative to make things work.

I have a little over two weeks to finish the edit, wish me luck!