Week 3: Overcoming Barriers

Topic: Solving Problems/Improving Leadership

This past week has been the most difficult one yet. Tensions have been a bit high; we resume shooting next week, so we’ve been in the editing room this week working on the three most important parts of the film: the opening, the moment the verdict is revealed, and the closing. I think for myself, I was prepared to be strictly shooting for the beginning half of the internship and not editing until the end, so I was a bit caught off guard to be thrown in there so quickly with an assignment to do on my own. A few problems have arose over the past week, but I think they are all pushing me to grow in ways I would not have the opportunity to if I were in a more comfortable, familiar position.

One – Not only is it stressful having two years of footage at the palm of my hands, but the editing software is also in French and there is no way to change the system to English without changing the whole server of the production house. So, the first day, Aida sat with me writing on a loose-leaf of paper the important keyboard short cuts and footage titles I needed to understand. However, while I’ve been on my own, I’ve realized there’s other effects or settings I need to adjust and sometimes it’s a hassle to go back and forth between Google Translate – and the translations are not always accurate. So, I’ve come up with a system where I open the editing application on my personal laptop and have it in front of the desktop to use as reference for where things are placed in the software.

Two – I’m not going to lie – I’ve felt a lack of direction from Aida this week and it’s been pretty frustrating. However, taking a step back, I realize it’s probably 10x harder being the director of a documentary than a narrative film. While there is a general concept – there is no direct script; you sort of have to make the script as you go, and with this, you must edit, edit, edit, and re-edit multiple times in order to find the best sequence. As the person doing the editing, I initially found this really aggravating as I think I’m used to knowing what I want on my projects and just doing it – so I initially was frustrated by what I thought was her lack of vision as a director. However, I’ve realized that that is just the nature of documentary filmmaking – everything is trial and error and you have to experiment. However, I did voice to Aida today that when she said “something didn’t work” or “the pace is off” – I would appreciate it if she could be more specific so that I could better execute what she wanted. At the end of the day, she wrote me an order of the sequence and specific shots she wanted and that made the process a lot easier than just trying to guess and re-do the sequence several times.

Three – Amidst all the stress, today, Farad, the producer, took me out of the edit room for “tea time” in his office to get to know each other better. Even though we kept laughing at his broken English, our conversation really made my day. We had a heart to heart about both our journeys in film and he said something that I think I really needed to be reminded of. He emphasized how the experience and the process of making a film is more important than the product – and that it’s important for people to always hold onto that no matter where they go or what they do. He also asked me about my future and I shared with him my hopes of writing my own documentary about my grandma’s immigration story. He asked if I wanted to be a director one day and I said, “That’s the dream!” and he said, “Why is it a dream? The dream is already the coming! The moment you start shooting your documentary, you are a film director.” That just really made me smile and put things into perspective for me. It encouraged me to create more and soak in more of these moments. It’s not always about the work; it’s about the relationships I establish with the team, and I believe that will naturally manifest into a better, more supportive work environment. Although being stuck in the edit room all day is not the funnest thing – it’s teaching me to work hard for important stories, to be patience with criticism, and to take deep breaths in between to remind my self I am so incredibly lucky to be here, doing what I love.