Getting Ready For The Kickstarter Campaign

My hope was to launch the Kickstarter Campaign on Monday, but unfortunately I’m forced to push it back a week (it can’t be delayed any further than that). I’ve been spending endless hours tweaking the animations, editing video, doing sound design, revamping graphics, and writing all of the copy required by the KS people. It’s a lot of work. Today’s efforts have focused on the 2-3 minutes primary pitch video that introduces the project to potential supporters.

Unfortunately, I’m one of those people that like to do most of the creative stuff…and has some ability to actually do it. And I’d much rather spend the time to create exactly what I want than to trust someone else with the responsibility. I know there are lots of tremendously talented, creative people ready to assist, but they don’t work for nothing and the best among them are always busy. I’d rather carve out the time to do the work myself and save the money. And in the end I know I’ll get something that I’m happy with.

I hired a close friend to do some video editing for me years ago. He needed the work and I just didn’t have the time to edit a few of my early music projects. I knew the guy was a talented editor because I saw some of this work and he was teaching non-linear editing at a community college in the Northwest. So let him at it…I think it was the Laurence Juber project. The task involved assembling an edit of each tune from the four or five source cameras used during the session. In some ways this is the easiest type of video editing. The story is already worked out for you…the music defines the progress along the timeline. In normal video storytelling, the editor has to decide which shot comes next.

When I edit different cameras angles to a track, I always place a marker at each downbeat in the music. It seems obvious to me. A piece of music determines the flow and pacing of any associated visuals. There are beats and measures to take into account…and they matter!

Not to my friend the editor. He cut a few of the LJ tunes and completely ignored the musical structure. There were edits in the middle of the measures and without any reference to a beat. The solos weren’t a point of focus and the whole thing felt alien to the track. I tried to coach him on what I was looking for…I told him to listen to the music and let it guide the process.

After a few rounds, we both were very frustrated and we parted company…although we’ve remained friends. I ended up doing the edits for the Laurence Juber project and all of the rest of my releases.

So here I am late on a Saturday after 10 hours of hacking my way through the motion graphics associated with the pitch piece. I’m trying to make the segment visually interesting…after all who wants to sit and listen to a talking head for a few minutes…especially me. I’ll share the video when I get it finished tomorrow.