The Editor's Chair

Chloe: Dan, how long have you been an editor? (Of photography and video) Dan: Ever since I started shooting, I have been editing. A lot of people try to be the “do it all” kind of person. Doing that teaches you a lot about efficiency, but is very difficult to do properly.

Chloe: What do you enjoy about editing?

Dan: I like seeing a project come full circle. I also like interpreting all of the content from the producer and shooter. I have to take the way these two people see the story and make it fit together.

Chloe: What do you do to set up an edit? What is your routine?

Dan: Everything begins with a meticulous file naming system and I start with the end in mind. I want all of the footage to be easily accessible and searchable by subject and date. I will set up the projects with a folder for Footage, Graphics, Music and the Premiere Project File. Knowing that this same folder setup will be imported into Premiere, making sure everything within “Footage” is labeled properly is important.

Inside Premiere, I will set up folders for Footage, Graphics, Music and Sequences. I make sure all of the Sequences are labeled with their contents, the version number and the date, just in case someone else in the office needs to find a specific edit or scene. This also makes naming our exports a lot easier.

Chloe: Do you think about edits you want to make during shooting? How much of the editing process is happening during actual production?

Dan: Absolutely. We have to be very strategic and efficient with our time at every step in the process. We do this so that we aren’t creating extra work for ourselves and so that we can deliver projects to the client in a timely manner. We will show up to a shoot with a rough outline of how we see the edit going, but are careful to leave room for the unexpected. We are always keeping a running list of the shots we have and constantly communicate the shots we are getting to each other to prevent shooting duplicate footage.

Chloe: What are the greatest challenges you have when editing?

Dan: I think the hardest part of editing is being concise with the edit. We often come away with a lot of great content and it’s hard to find a place for all of it. This means that I have to only select the very best content for the final edit.

A Visit from Colorado Academy

Greetings! Yesterday we had a group of bright, young aspiring journalists, storytellers and filmmakers into our offices to give them a tour of the facilities and teach them the ways of a small documentary production company. They had been traveling to news stations and large networks, so Chance Multimedia was quite a different animal for them to see. We hope we were as inspiring to them as they were to us. It's an interesting thing to build a company from the ground up, then finally get to a place where others who are aspiring to be professionals are actually consulting you for advice. In what sometimes feels like a chaotic juggle of projects, timelines and budgets, it's nice to be able to simply and confidently answer the questions of curious, young people. We like being mentors, and we love seeing uninhibited passion. That passion is what drives great work.

So thank you, Colorado Academy students. You are welcome back anytime!

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Documentaries at the Denver Film Society

Greetings, Just in case you didn’t know, Denver Film Society is going crazy with documentaries during May, and we wanted to pass the word along! There is something for everyone.

If you like getting glimpses into artists’ private lives:

Cinema Q: Packed In A Trunk - The Lost Art Of Edith Lake Wilkinson

Edith Lake Wilkinson, an artist of the early 19th century, was committed to an asylum in 1924. This doc reveals some of the mysteries and work of Wilkinson’s life as her great niece goes on a journey to return some of her lost pieces to Provincetown. The documentary was funded by Kickstarter where 235 backers pledged $37,150 to bring the film into reality. Denver is one of the first cities to screen the doc, so don’t miss it!

Tickets

If you’re a late-90’s music lover, check out:

Heaven Adores You

Through the unique lens of Director Nickolas Rossi, the story of late musician Elliott Smith is told through an artful compilation of thirty-plus interviews. In the past his story has been told through the lens of addiction, drugs and darkness, but Rossi puts Smith’s music in front and center, with support from Smith’s friends and family members. This documentary also came to life through Kickstarter, raising $15,292 with 218 backers.

Tickets

If you’re interested in unique and curious portraits, see:

Meet the Hitlers

This documentary follows the lives of several of Hitler’s last descents, discovering along the way what’s in a name. The film captures individuals speaking about what it’s like to carry Hitler as a last name, and how it’s affected their lives and identities in a myriad of strange ways. The film challenges viewers to question their beliefs and biases about what a person’s last name really represents, if anything at all. Director Matt Ogens will be in attendance to answer questions after the viewing. For a peek into the director’s work, read Jamie Clifton’s interview with the director on Vice.com.  

Tickets

If you’re interested war and the mind’s of soldiers that have served….

In Country

A documentary teetering on the line of entertaining and disturbing, this film, also born of from a successful Kickstarter, peers into the lives of war veterans who spend their time reenacting their experiences abroad. The film follows the men, some of whom are still on an adrenaline rush from time recently spent in Iraq, as they reenact Vietnam war scenes in the thick forage of Oregon. It reveals personal footage of the men’s time spent in war mixed with old war movie footage to create a truly unsettling yet honest and vulnerable look into the lives of men struggling to reintegrate themselves back into the daily grind of American life after war. For some it’s a form of therapy, for others it’s purely a nostalgic act, and for the audience it’s a revealing, thoughtful and even historical account honoring those who’ve served. Catch it on it’s one and only viewing night at the Denver Film Center on May 25th.

Tickets

Read A.V. Club’s review of the film here.

A Letter to the Interviewee

Dear Interviewee, We’re going to show up to the scene with a multitude of cameras, lights and tripods. We’re going to set up a “stage” for you with lights all over and we’ll be standing behind and around the lenses asking you questions, but we don’t want these things to intimidate you, although we recognize that’s probably impossible.

We’re here to listen to you and tell your story. We value you.

The gear, the lights, the tripods - they’re just tools we are using to make your story beautiful to watch. It feels awkward right now, so keep in mind that we’re here for a larger goal. Your story is serving a purpose.

Now is your opportunity to say what you want an audience to hear, to tell your story honestly and without reserve. This is our opportunity to listen. We’ll take what you say and form new questions from it, keeping the flow of the conversation going very naturally. We like things to unfold organically. We’ll try to connect with you on an emotional level, if that’s where you want to go, because that is what will capture an audience the most.

Unless you’re delivering a thesis, there is no need to prepare. Who could know more about your experience than you? We’ve done enough research to know what questions to ask. We come to you having formulated some questions, but not all of them. We come to this conversation from a place of true curiosity. You have the story to tell, we have the job of weaving it together in the best way possible. You can leave the work and worry to us - all you have to do is show up and sit with us.

Being interviewed on camera is an extreme act of vulnerability and trust. That’s a lot to offer someone you just met. Trust that we appreciate this and in turn, we will treat your story with great care.

The secret is this: We have the gear, the knowledge, the expertise when it comes to making a video work. But your story is the reason we’ve all gathered here. So make “mistakes.” Ask to start over. Ask questions. Let’s collaborate for a goal beyond this awkward moment -- we’re ultimately here to educate, inspire and inform our community. When we remember that, we’ll do great work together… especially if you’ve never been on camera before.

Sincerely,

Chance Multimedia

Feature Photo:

Jessica Chance interviewing Hassan Latif for Take Care Health Matters. http://takecarehealthmatters.org/portfolio-item/hassan-latif

We spoke with Kevin Monteiro in 2014 for Take Care Health Matters. Kevin sat down with us 72 days after his release from a 30 year prison sentence. The experiences he shared, and more stories at takecarehealthmatters.org, are inspiring other justice-involved people to access health care.

http://takecarehealthmatters.org/portfolio-item/kevin-monteiro