July is for Editing

Hello, everyone!

The directors of each live-action film have been working all month to get to the final edits with our editor, Kristina. I'm so excited to say it's all looking really good so far! Even without the color adjustments that tie together shadows, match lighting between shots, etc, the scenes look so vibrant, and we are finding some really wonderful stories and personal moments in all the words and beautiful imagery.

Also, thank goodness for technology... we have a lot of globe-trotting cats to wrangle on this project, and Skype meetings have been our savior!

Getting it done in our native habitats (home offices and coffee shops).

I personally had a really cool moment as a director editing with Kristina. We were having troubles stitching some moments together in Demeter, getting too wrapped up in a logical progression of physical movement in the place, if that makes sense. Then, inspired by some particular moments and images in the film-- including a beautifully cool shot that was an unplanned, bonus grab from our Cinematographer, Alisa, on filming day-- we decided to lean into a music video mode, treating repeating words/phrases/images in the poem as "verses" and repeated refrains or "choruses."

With that new way of thinking and discussing it, "like a song," we then recalled a few specific main images, correlating them to those words, phrases, and poetic imagery (for instance, a speeding train cutting through the scene whenever the words are focusing on an anger at being forced to say goodbye). For that story, it was just what we needed. Demeter in this poem is restless, reflective, going round and round in grieving for a lost daughter. I think by transforming the film into a mourning song, we really found her spirit.

And next? Up next is recording the final audio so we can make the last adjustments to the film, and then handing off to our composer and audio mixer!

Thanks again, and look for more info soon about sound, music, and animation!