Here’s the thing about editing, choosing the best content is tough. We get attached to our media and have a hard time deciphering the relevant material from the unnecessary. As a result, it’s always a longer process than you think to produce a finished product.If someone says “No worries, I’ll have it done in a week!” don’t believe them. It will likely take three.
I am now going through seven audio interviews and eight video interviews with two purposes in mind. One is to edit the content down into “bite-size” clips for the installation in the high school setting I’ve spoken of, and the other is to produce a series of podcasts (which is an ongoing venture for this blog post MFA). Until now, you’ve heard short (podcast) clips but, darn’it, I’d like to offer you more; a dedicated podcast section on the blog and via iTunes with embellished interviews and a splash of my narration. The plan with the seven one-on-one audio interviews I’ve gathered was to “clean them up”, add some narration and broadcast each of them as is. Now, as I hear the complimentary remarks within each of the interviews, this might shift a bit. Perhaps one or more podcasts will emerge from all of them. Since I did not set out to develop a story/narrative arc with my research, however, the end product might not be as captivating as I’d want it to be for one audio doc. Don’t you worry, I’ll keep you posted.
Meanwhile, have a listen to some of the excerpts I’m slicing and dicing right now:
First up is Anna, an English language instructor from Villa-Maria high school, in Montreal (my Alma mater), with whom I had a phone conversation last summer. In the first clip, she remarks on the teaching style that made her uncomfortable as a student– a method she knew she would never replicate in her own career.
Next, Anna comments on the line between personal and professional with her students.
Andrew is also an English language instructor (from LaurenHill Academy junior-high, in Montreal). Here he praises the reform: “it’s a beautiful thing” he says…until you factor in the requirements that instructors have to teach to a test:
I’m finding Andrew’s great voice and passionate views on education a bit of a problem. He’s particularly hard to cut because everything sounds good!…But then I have to remember that what makes sense to me might not make sense to others. Have a listen to the following clip and ask yourself if you understand what he’s saying:
The editing will be one thing and then, as in the case of this last clip, a narration will need to be written to fill in the gaps to make sense of it all!…Unless it ends up on the floor.
