Just wrapped on editing Blind Date, my 7mins short film about a blind date gone south! Super terrified to put this little baby out into the world, though. Why? Cause I don't feel it is perfect. Yet.
No worries, I am going to share this little piece with ya, I have no choice. It isn't because me or my ego are so tough (it never was about me or my ego, come to think of it) it's because there were others who put their time, talent, energy, heart, belief...into this piece too and I do owe it to them to pay up, so to speak. So, keep your eyes peeled for that little guy! Might drop it now, later today, tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day... Who knows!?
Now, unto the subject of this blog: when is enough really enough? I shot Blind Date late August of this year, on my five year old Samsung phone, and my DSLR: a Canon 5D Mark III my dad bought me last year, second hand. I have one lens: a zoom lens, a small/portable dim-able LED light, one sturdy camera stand and head (a hand me down from pops), an H1 recorder and a shot gun Rode mic.
This was a one woman production, plus a little help (hired a dear friend to PA for me on one of the three short shooting days.) We had three six hour shoot days. Two in my apartment, one at the Westfield Mall in Culver City. Let me tell you, pulling your own focus on a handheld camera is a bitch. Oh, and yeah, this was all shot handheld. It's kinda how we got away with shooting for six hours at the mall... :) Plus, it helped keep the set up time in between takes down in order to stick with the promised schedule (being a one woman crew, shooting guerilla style, directing six actors, I had to really keep this in mind.)
Then came editing (where the magic happens) and I think I came close to pulling a good chunk of my hair out. I tweaked and tweaked till I took a good edit and ruined it. Have you been here before!? lol!
I'm not a pro at coloring, I'm decent...don't own DaVinci Resolve, did my entire edit on Premiere Pro CC. I'm not a sound designer, but I sound mixed the best I could with what I got and for the most part, did a good job, and...yeah; here I am at 5:30am writing this.
My partner watched this film, my dad, two friends, one of them a producer on my next short: Utopia, and they all feel it's "good enough" and that "it's time it went out to the world." And, I'm like it looks too "indie!" To which, my partner responds "Isn't that what you were going for?" You know, because everything I do is on purpose :) I usually work with a team, I am a firm believer in team work and having people who are good at what they do, do the damn thing...know what I mean??
I believe in knowing enough to communicate very clearly.
When is enough really enough? I don't know. But, I'll share what my partner said that stuck with me: when you've done the best you could possibly do at the moment, stop. Move on to the next where you'll do even better, because that's where it counts.
So, next time you find yourself going over an edit with a fine tooth comb that has lost all of its teeth because of you! Stop. Ask yourself if you have honestly done the best you can do given the time you have to spend on that project, the value (yes, actual value) of the project, how expert you are at your abilities (or craft) at that time, the resources you have at your disposal (if any)... And, if the answer is yes? Stop. Move on to the next project. You have grown some. I promise, you will do even better next time.
BLIND DATE.
Enjoy!
~Aimi :D