[Chaz Shukat]

Dear PM,
I feel your pain. It has become a very complicated and compartmentalized world, hasn’t it? Used to be you could just send out your one reel on a VHS tape that anyone could play on any VHS deck and TV. But in the name of progress, more and more people don’t have VHS decks, they want a DVD, and like you said, will that DVD play on their DVD deck with their particular type of TV or monitor, or will it only play on their computer DVD player? I currently have 2 reels, one long-form, one short-form, but this is hardly adequate anymore. It’s due to what I like to call the “pink-elephant” syndrome. The producer is doing a documentary on pink elephants. They are looking for an editor that has experience cutting shows about pink elephants. “Well, I could show you some documentaries I’ve cut.” Not good enough. “Well, here’s a couple I cut about wild animals.” “Great, but have you cut elephants?” “As a matter of fact, yes.” “Pink elepants?” “No they were grey elephants.” “Aww, we need to see pink elephants.” It all goes along with a world where we now have hundreds of channels of narrow cast programming. Too many choices is perhaps not a good thing. As DEVO said back in the 80’s in their song FREEDOM OF CHOICE,”Freedom of choice is what we’ve got. Freedom from choice is what we need.” We’re all DEVO.

But the real issue is (or should I say the reel issue) is that we are creating this bad situation for ourselves in that we continue to deliver the impossible to our clients. They expect a one hour doc edited in 10 days on a shoestring budget and we give it to them and it’s effin’ spectacular to boot! So now they expect that and it becomes the norm. Next time it will be less. They want a taylor made reel and we deliver and it’s smokin’ to boot. We are digging ourselves into a bottomless pit.

Your idea sounds good. Please give it a try and report back your results.

Chaz S.

[Chaz Shukat]

Hi David and welcome to THE COW (how does one signify reverb in print?). First and foremost, that music doesn’t do it for me at all. I think you need something more dramatic and ominous and perhaps more than one piece of music, one kind of bucollic and innocent like the children playing (which you are obviously juxtapositioning with the nuclear horror) and the other more sinister and scrary.

Second, it needs to be tightened up, especially if it is going to be a trailer. It feels pretty flat overall and seems to lack a direction. In the beginning you have all these arial shots, maybe too many back to back, maybe spread them around. They are not that gripping to catch interest.

Perhaps switch the bites where one guy says it’s a cover up not a clean up (I think this is the best part of the whole thing and the only part that really hit me at an emotional guy level – it had impact) and the other guy that says it’s safe for people to recreate.

Some of the rapid cutting with the kids on the see-saw seems rough and once you go to them don’t leave them and then come back to them. I like the effect at the end with the kids on the see-saw in negative with the radioactive looking graphics.

Needs much more uummphh overall. Better music will help achieve it.

Hope this helps.

Chaz S.

[Chaz Shukat]

I think it is a major problem in the educational process of editors that they aren’t being taught the basic techniques of the trade. Editing is an art and involves much more than knowing how to work the equipment. I am currently writing a book to address this problem. It’s designed to be a mentor to students and new editors. If you have any ideas as to what should be included in the book, please post a way that I can contact you directly.

[Chaz Shukat]

I dress for comfort but I also like to look good. Consequently I find myself more dressed up than most of the editors I see. It also gives off an air of success. But certainly no suit or tie, even on a job interview or meeting a client. An editor would look ridiculous dressed like that. Most of the time the person that is interviewing me is dressed more casually than I am, so I stay in the middle of the road.

As for the pain in the arm, I have developed that too. I have it right now. It’s definitely an ergonomic situation, but the bottom line is that it’s probably some form of carpol tunnel problem. I think the only way to deal with it is to force yourself to stop every hour or so, take a break for 5 minutes and do some loosening up exercises for your wrist, arm, neck, shoulders, back, and legs. Try to sit with your back straight and feet flat on the floor. I can’t seem to sit this way, I have terrible posture and can’t get comfortable that way. But at least try the breaks and exercises. It’s scarry to think if the pain became so bad that you couldn’t do the job you love. You also need to take care of your eyes, they are fairly necessary to doing your job as well.

[Chaz Shukat]

I downloaded and installed 4.6 but the problem remains unchanged. I have a voice inside my head that’s telling me it’s a settings issue but it’s not telling me what setting.

[Chaz Shukat]

If you are in Knoxville, you are probably working for Scripps. They pay pretty poorly, not high budget stuff. All considered, your location, experience and type of equipment you are using, you are doing pretty good.