#TBT – A Look Back on My Path – Editing Just Consumed Me
Recently, while applying for a student membership to an editors organization, I was asked to explain a little more about my studies and path from IT to editorial.
I am posting a part of my reply here: (I have used brackets below to add more explanation as well.)
“Around 2007-2008, something happened that would start the wheels in motion for a major awakening and mind-shift in what was possible [for me], creatively, as a career. It was a random collision of events, really. While dabbling with recording a show off the telly, I ran into a strange problem where audio wasn’t recorded. This sent me down the rabbit hole of learning about codecs and wrappers and time code and on and on. My systems-loving brain couldn’t get enough of this stuff. Coincidentally around this time, I was trying to edit a video [my wedding video, actually]. It was a bit clanky to me [I was using Windows Movie Maker, yikes!] and I asked a coworker, who spent his spare time making advocacy videos, what he thought was a good editing program to learn. At the time, Final Cut was making its advancement in the industry and we talked about the big Avid vs. Final Cut debate [but in music terms of Pro Tools vs Logic] and he concluded that I should go learn Final Cut Pro.
“Excitedly, I looked to my local community colleges for classes on editing with Final Cut. As luck would have it, I found that my local school had a film and TV degree/certificate program and a beginning and an advanced editing class. The advanced class clearly stated that they used Final Cut Pro in the class and the beginning class was a prerequisite. So, I enrolled in the night class for Beginning editing. I can’t tell you how excited I was to eventually learn that in the beginning class, they also used Final Cut Pro! That very first night, when we opened the program and started learning the GUI, I had what I would have to liken to an out-of-body experience. THIS was what I had wanted to do with computers and how I thought they should be and act and perform, from my very first idea of what computers should do!
“Each night, as I continued to do my exercises, I would be lost in time and spend endless hours, going back and forth on where exactly to cut. It was what I would later learn is called being ‘in the zone’. I couldn’t get enough of this either! I did everything I could to learn more. I got on forums, I went to user group meetings, and just kept on taking classes each semester.
“It was through all of this that I eventually made friends with the late Norman Hollyn, ACE. He advised me to go to the A.C.E. Invisible Art, Visible Artist event and while there, look for Allan Holzman, ACE and see if I could help him out in any way. I did and that was how I was able to assist in the creation of the documentary [DVD] of that event, and thus my first AE credit.
“I continued to take classes for many[, many] years. Too complacent with my IT job and too scared to make the leap into trying to work in the industry, I just kept networking and learning and trying to figure out how to transition. Fear guided my life for ten plus years but I still dreamed.
“I did everything I could in my spare time to push myself out of my comfort zone. And, eventually started to listen to things (podcasts and audio books) of a motivational nature. These pushed me to finally seek out [...] internships. While I had enough credits to receive a certificate in Film and TV production for quite some time, I never applied for it, until it was needed for the ACE Internship. So, I applied and got it [my FTV cert].
“Part of my transition was to start a podcast (which is now more of a community for people that want to pursue their dreams, mainly in post, called “This Post Life”). [The plan is to pick the podcast back up soon too.] I continue to try to stay connected to all things that can educate myself and others.
…
“So, while my path has been unorthodox, it has been my underlying passion to transition into film and TV editing. Last year I finally made the leap to fully pursue this full-time and only worked freelance in post, albeit mostly as a media manager, and I am not looking back[!]“