Break's over, back to work!

I've just returned from picking up an external hard drive containing over 400GB of Hi-Def raw footage. Over the next few days, I'll be transferring the footage to my desktop computer and organizing the files in preparation for editing. Organization will consist of separating each file by sport and making shot notes so that I can find each shot quickly.

The biggest mistake most editors make is that they don't organize their files first. They're too eager to start assembling the footage and figure the shots will be easy to find. What inevitably ends up happening is that critical footage gets misplaced, causing the editor to take on the role of investigator. This wastes time and money and (in some cases) can potentially affect the quality of a potentially great project.

Okay, so that's where we're at. Once the footage is organized, Jeff (Producer/DP) and I are going to sit down, revisit the footage and make final some final notes pertaining to each sports sequence. This will help us stay on the same page so that editing can proceed smoothly.

It's a little intimidating. So much footage and only 113 days left until our deadline. And that doesn't include the nine sports we still have to film.

Today we shot fishing at Silver Lake. We shot early so that we could capture the early morning light. Around 10:45, the skies began to look a little foreboding. We'd finished shooting all establishing and rear angle shots when the good light began to disappear. Jeff and I finally decided that we'd have to reschedule the fishing shoot. We would also have to reschedule our kayaking shoot, which we had also planned on shooting today.

Both Levi and Kelly (our talent) were very cool about the cancellation. Unfortunately, since weather is unpredictable, cancellations are a very real possibility with any of our outdoor shoots. It's sucks, but I'd rather cancel and resume filming when the weather is perfect. Why spend all the time and effort just to settle?

It's a damn good thing we canceled, because at 12:20, it began to rain and hail. Like REO Speedwagon, we rode the storm out, then packed up and headed down the canyon. The footage we got was great, it's just too bad that we weren't able to finish. It's also good because I think we have a better kayaking shoot in store. We're going to shoot amidst the fall colors. This time, however, we're going to put two quads on the kayak: Levi and a C5. We still want Levi for kayaking and I hope he'll do it, considering we've now canceled his shoot twice.

So, what's next? Swimming on August 17th, Sailing on August 28th and the fishing re-shoot sometime in the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, I'll be slipping into my "Howard Hughes" mode. There's a lot to do in a very little time. So, to all my friends and family, please forgive me if my availability decreases.

Up next: Editing, Title and Website.