Comment my editing…

[Chip Douglas]

Before anyone get really angry and do something stupid I quess i have to explain myself 🙂

I’m making my final exam as a multimedia integrator (great word huh)
My goal is to integrate as many medias as possible into one and therefore i choose a dvd-production from scratch. So I needed a good story and conspiracy theories has always been good material, true or false.

So i found some stories on the internet and made this dvd.

My personal view of this video is that it is fiction and nothing more for the matter I could
make a dvd about my brother but he ain’t that great a story. Hope this helps clearing thigs up a bit 🙂

Regards, Chip

[Charley King]

[Chip Douglas] “I could
make a dvd about my brother but he ain’t that great a story.”

If it is Ernie, it might be a very good story.

I hope someone out there gets this. Please tell me I;m not the only one.

Charlie

[Mark Frazier]

Charlie,

Anyone with a good memory (or an appreciation for the “TV Land” channel) will get it.

I’m nominating you for the “Obscure Reference Du Jour” award. Keep up the good work!

Mark

[Larry Melton]

Like most of the others, I found the visuals in the piece to flow pretty well. The only thing that bothered me about it was the narrator. I found his voice and delivery to be very “newsy”. This is the kind of subject – not straight news, but an interpretation of information from the filmmaker’s point of view – that would really benefit greatly from the kind of delivery that an actor brings. As I watched this I imagined various voices doing the material – not huge stars, but accomplished actors like James Cromwell, John Heard, Tom Skerrit. Obviously, you’re not going to get anyone like that, but even someone from your local civic theatre group can command attention and better complement your visuals for this material. My .02.

As an academic project, you did an excellent job. You should be proud.

Dean

[Ali Grossman]

Nice work! I was immediately drawn into the story and images. Truly believable! As a documentary maker, I did not even notice your edits (deepest compliment). I am deeply disturbed over the power of this medium! Congratulations on a job well done.

[Paul Peltekian]

Great. I love consiracy theories. Post the rest of the video when it’s complete. (unless it is…) Would love to see more.

Nice Work.

-Paul Peltekian

[Jemima Harrison]

I think the pictures work well but, narratively, it’s wierd to present it as a “done deal” conspiracy-wise. In reality, you’d need to present it as a question, not a fact.

It also highlights the big difference between US and UK documentaries. As a UK film-maker, I could never use such wall-to-wall commentary and pictures as wallpaper. This side of the pond, we use much less narration and instead make the pictures – and sync interview – do the job where possible. We use much less “signposting” and try not to tell the audience what they should be thinking, but rather trust them to get the message from images and testimony.

Jemima

[Enzo Tedeschi]

Nice work!

Just addressing some of the comments made by others:

Music: It didn’t bother me at all. After reading the comments while downloading (before viewing) I was expecting to not even be able to hear the voice! Music was fine in my opinion, did’nt even nreally notice it (which means it didn’t jar..)

Cuts: I agree that at one point especially, the dip to black was a little long. Personally I think that most of the other dips could be made straight cuts, and it would probably add, rather than detract. I love a good conspiracy theory (moon landing one of my personal favourites), and one of the things I like about conspiracy docos is the feel that I am being presented with a wealth of info. By cutting instead of dipping to black, it would add a bit of pace, therefore the impression of more info being presented (even though it’s not!).

As also mentioned, opinions are like backsides: everybody’s got one, and this is just mine – well done I think it’s a good piece.

Although not a documentary, Oliver Stone’s JFK is a masterful bit of cutting – very good at presenting or alluding to information through the visuals that isn’t said at all in dialogue. And very pacey. It holds up for me viewing after viewing (no medan feat for a three hour marathon!) It’s a very clever pice of filmmaking, and also combines a lot of different media (archival footage, recreations, etc) very convincingly, whether you agree with what’s being said or not.

e.

[Chip Douglas]

Thanks for all the answers! I’ll soon as possible post my video just have to remove my traces on it in terms of credits coz I don’t have any copyrights to the materiale beeing used. Well right now I’m preapring my speech for my exam to defend my work and hopefully on wedensday i’ll be a happy man with an A+ …and who cares about grades 🙂 well at least my pride is on the line.

-Chip

[Antelope]

I’m a complete newcomer to film and editing and am tring to learn. I watched this clip with the audio settings switched to off on my PC so no sound, just image. This way, it didn’t work. The gaps were to long and at one point, the visual dialogue appeared to go backward….they landed on the moon and then launched. Nothing else made much sense and I had no idea what the message was.

But then I replayed with the audio. And the [learner] conclusion that I reached is how much the visual message can depend upon the dialogue! This was an entirley different experience as my mind was fully occupied and didn’t notice the flaws, actual or not, in the film. Isn’t this an unfortunate implication for film editors? That their efforts should be so very subject to the audio track?

David