Early Days

I’ve been putting in quite a few hours of work this past week — it’s more than I’ve done in the past year. I think I’m moving forward but it’s hard to tell.

I’m working on a short, non-fiction film based entirely on my old figure skating videos. I skated from the age of 3 to 22 and my mother was assiduous in getting footage of all my competitions. So I have this strange collection of skating videos spanning nearly two decades.

There’s a definite nostalgia to the VHS effect of it.

I still like the beginning of the cut, so I’ve only tightened the first few clips. After that, I’ve grouped all the beginning poses in mostly chronological order. Those first two parts work; it just needs to be tightened and cleaned up. But I have a hiccough once the third part starts. It needs to change somehow.

I listened to Gimlet Academy’s podcast on Spotify on how to make a great podcast — I definitely, definitely am not going to make a podcast…right? — and Alex Blumberg said there needs to be a shift (or change, or new piece of music/info/person/something!) every 45 to 90 seconds.

Well, this third part would just about hit that mark.

Perhaps I know the reason why I’m struggling with the third part. There is a gap in my timeline of footage. I was injured when I was 12, and it took me off the ice for over a year. I was sad, hollow even. But you can’t see that in the footage, because there is no footage. I wasn’t competing.

So I end one part a young girl, and in the next I’m a woman. Or at least I’ve hit puberty hard.

I find the difference between the girl and woman striking. So how do I show that in editing?

This direction may not be right but I have to commit to know if I've got something.