Re: my longform workflow

Grinner,

I can see that you're focused on "getting the story" first before anything else, and on that I agree. However, there are many roads to a final cut, and I would suggest a much different approach.

You place a lot of importance on a first string out to organize your coverage and focus the story. I've never been a fan of this step. I certainly watch everything and make notes about possible uses for each clip, but to put it into a timeline, brings you no closer to an actual "cut" than clips in a bin. Why? Here's the crux of the matter.

You're suggesting a "reductive" process where you "chip away" all of the bad stuff to leave the remaining "good stuff". I take the exact opposite approach. I call it an "additive" process where I only put into the timeline that which I know I want to use. I ask the question, "What is the scene about?" and answer it by including ONLY elements that contribute to the answer.

This approach fundamentally changes your perspective from "what is there" to "what could be there". I am building the pyramid from the bottom up, rather than whittling it down from the top. With this method, music becomes an integral part of the scene from the start. You have the ability to integrate a piece of music into a scene with much more control and "intent" that if you're just "scoring it" after the fact. GRFX can be inserted as "place holders" or "Temp", so you're not wasting time on polishing early in the process.

In a nutshell, that's my approach. Not saying it's better... just different.

Mark