Editing (Evidence)

We had planned to push through as hard as possible to be able to shoot and edit all in the same day. We'd had prior experiences with shooting and editing so FOR ONCE, we were ready to admit that editing in a day was a mountain of a task, not to be underestimated. So, the second we got home we wanted to start with our work. That was, after getting our energy back up (oh, we mean ice cream BEFORE actual food) and a shower. For Zara, that list of things also included a quick nap, while I started transferring all the footage and getting myself the most important energy booster of all time: chai.

After a failed transfer or two, finally all the data was in Zara's laptop, ready to be worked on. I started with the editing process while Zara got back up on her feet - combing through the shots, seeing which ones to reuse, and redownloading the audios. I knew I had to lock in and focus, because if I didn't, we'd be in a lot of trouble; which is why I barely remember the process itself, just a few contemplations, comparisons and discussions Zara and I had amongst ourselves weighing our options as to what could be done with certain shots/scenes.

Sunset brought a wave of exhaustion for me, which is when I decided to focus on a third cup of tea. Who would've thought, even with the extra caffeine that I'd be slurring my words?

We were at it till 11:30pm - unfortunately we ended up getting very frustrated, struggling the most with certain parts like the transition from the positive to negative part of the dream: the climax. By this time, we were annoyed and tired and weren't being able to maximise our creativity. Zara couldn't spare her laptop and leave it with me because she needed to use it, so we needed a new plan - things were just not meant to end on the same day: a practical impossibility. So, when Zara's parents called that they were on their way to my house earlier than expected, the two of us rushed back to my room (we had to shift to my parents' room because loadshedding rendered my laptop charger absolutely useless). We sat and quickly sifted through the video, making a plan on where to go next and what needed to be done. I explained my vision of the video to Zara so she could make it happen without me and planned to make a sample video for her on my mom's tablet so she could just copy it. That didn't work out in the end, but Zara worked tirelessly to edit after this day was over, but I'm glad we didn't waste any of it.

Although we ended up changing a lot with a shift in gut feelings, I don't regret any of it. When you edit something once and it doesn't sit right with you as a creator, you scrap the idea and work as hard as possible to create something new, and it's very rare that it ends up worse than when you started. It's that process of creating and scrapping that brought us to the project we're proud of now, so overall, editing was a humongous and difficult task, but a success in general, teaching us a lot about the art of creating.