This question is for Ozzie Alfonso, but I would welcome comments from any of the pros out there whos video is the product of a team effort.

Ozzie, you have commented numerous times on the difficulty in finding editors that are not only familiar with specific NLE hardware and software, but ones who are also proficient in their field. Can you enlighten us non-professionals, hobbyists and others new to NLE just what you look for in a good editor; one you would call a Master Editor? In an operation such as yours, how much responsibility is given the editor with regard to the final product?

Thanks,
Ed Frazier

Ed,

Let me take a stab at an answer. The editing process, much like many other aspects of filmmaking or videography, is more of an art than a skill. Good editors, the ones I often describe as "master editors", are the ones who can take mediocre footage and shape it into, if not a work of art, at least into a good story. Many good editors have saved many directors' rear ends by infusing the story with the pacing and structure a lesser editor might not have been able to achieve.

When ALL editing meant film editing, it was easy to see the art of editing since all the technology an editor had was mechanical - a Moviola, a Steebeck or a KEM and a hot splicer. Bins were real bins with film hanging into a canvas bag and trims were frames kept in envelopes. My uncle was a "master tailor" - he cut suits for well known personalities. I recall him with rolls of cloth spread out on a table that filled most of the room and, equipped with big scissors and marking pencil in hand, he would perform his magic – drawing and cutting patterns that didn’t look like much until I saw his well-known clientele wearing my uncle's fine custom tailored suits. When I first began looking over film editors’ shoulders I couldn’t help thinking of my uncle. The processes were remarkably similar. The editor sitting in front of a flat bed Moviola that was not too unlike a sewing machine, cutting lengths of films and quickly splicing them together, syncing the audio reels and playing bits of the cuts one at a time. At first the process looked very haphazard and chaotic but if I stood watching over the editor’s shoulders long enough I could see the shape of something beginning to form. Weeks later, when all the disparate pieces of film were finally spliced together and the soundtrack laid in, I was always in awe of how much meaning the editor had wrought from those little pieces of film with his or her bare hands.

Today when we think of editing we tend to think of the technology – NLE, Avid, Canopus, FCP, compression ratios, algorithms, sampling rates, and what not. We know there’s an editor involved but often we tend to place the emphasis on the technology when in reality no technology is worth anything unless there’s a person – and editor, an artist, who can transcend the technology and go right to what is important – the creation of a story well told.

So we come to the crux of your question - how much responsibility is given the editor with regard to the final product. Although the degree of responsibility varies depending on the complexity and nature of the production, in general the answer is – a great deal of responsibility. If I’m doing a documentary or a biography, I just get together with the editor once, go over the footage and explain what I have in mind. I go away and come back when the first rough is ready. If the editor is one of the good one, the rest is a matter of refining. The same is true of dramatic productions although here the editor needs to be familiar with the script and the style of the director. But the process is much the same. Often, a really good editor will spot weaknesses in the script and devise ways of making the script come to life with a dynamism neither the writer nor the director had envisioned. I had an editor once who altered the order of scenes on me and showed me how that made the story more interesting. More than one editor has taught me to throw away the master shot. As a result I now save a lot of production time.

In summary, if I had a choice between an editor who hasn’t mastered whatever NLE is in vogue and an “editor” who really knows the interfaces and all the shortcuts of any particular NLE, I’d opt for a really good editor – a “master” at his or her craft that will make me, the writer or director or producer, look good. Editing is still 1% technical skill and 99% pure talent.

I hope I have shed some light on what I mean by a master editor. I certainly used enough words. I think I need an editor for this message.

Ozzie,

Your response to all this is greatly greatly appreciated!
Some things are a bit difficult to understand for us non
professionals. One thing that I want to ask you that
comes neatly after what I just said is proper film education.
Do you think this is a neccesity? Why I am asking this?
Because I am at the point in my life (at least I think I am :)
to make such a discussion. Let me explain a bit more.

I live The Netherlands (sometimes better known as Holland).
Now here in Europe film and TV production is a much
smaller "company" then over in the states. I am currently
working in the Internet industry as a professional
programmer building Internet sites and corporate Intranets.
I know I don't want to do this job for the rest of my life
and always have had warm feelings for film / tv. I recently
bought the XL1S, started reading many books and am
planning to start my first short movie in a couple of months.

I have also been looking into schooling. Private schooling
on a school like the SAE (www.sae.edu) but also "public"
schooling in the Dutch Film and Telivision Academy (hihgly
difficult to get into). The last one is a 4 year fulltime school
in which you can go down paths like directing, editting,
camera & light operating etc. Not that I want to put my
decision on your shoulders, but how much do you value
schooling? Is it important to attend such a school?

Any ideas etc. on this would be highly appreciated!

Thank you,

Thanks Ozzie,

I appreciate the time you take to share your experience and knowledge with the members of this forum. Personally, I have no desire to produce movies with my video equipment, but I do find the topic very interesting. Thanks again.

Ed Frazier

"...I was always in awe of how much meaning the editor had wrought from those little pieces of film with his or her bare hands."

As a newcomer to this field "in awe" also expresses my observation of just how much influence editing has on the final product.

When viewing a film or short show it's sometimes hard to determine just how much expertise and effort went into the edit. After all, we only see the end product not the "bins" of tiny clips that the editor had to string together to sculpt the product. Most often we notice how scenes are lit and framed. Of course we may recognize if something drags or hops but that's about it.

Although I've recently retired from a different field I was educated as an architect. Surely, I thought, so many years of visual education would give me some advantage in learning the ropes of shooting and editing. A bit, but not much. Trying my hand with editing over the past year has taught me that this is a real mind-game art. I've found it, for example, fascinating to take 20 or so related clips and try to string them together several different ways to give a completely different impression each time. Certainly our electronic tools make such an effort a bit easier to accomplish. And mastering the tool is essential. But in the end, the final product is one of imagination, talent and ingenuity. The particular tool seems incidental. Indeed, many of the features that NLEs tout (ex: 150 whiz-bang transitions in real time) are of very little value, if any, to the editing process.

I feel very fortunate to now have the time, resources and youth to devote to this field that has fascinated me for many years. One day I'd like to have the chance to sit over the shoulder of an experienced editor and just watch him/her sculpt a good story from (preferably) marginal clips of clay. This is alot more interesting than fly fishing or golf to me.

I don't know, Ken.

Ever see what a good fly fisherman can do with a marginally well-tied fly? Of a good golfer with a beat up old 7 iron?

[Speaking out in support of the fly fishing and golf lobbies]

Ken,

As an architect you must be very familar with form follows function. Much of the wizbang effects and cutting styles prominent today not only in commercials but in many features as well are excellent examples of "function follows form." Another way of putting it - style with no particular function other than pure "flash." Everytime I see a commercial with a new effect, I know there's a new black box or add-on that has just been introduced. Many editors just can't resist using new toys even when they add nothing of value to the message. I'm guilty of that as well - I remember when ADO was introduced (Ampex Digital Optics) and I saw it could do a page turn, spin the frame 360, or flip it 180 - hey I used all of those effects until I realized they were adding nothing beyond me saying "look what I can do." Stuff like that can be useful but it grows tiresome very quickly. If I see the camera array effect (Matrix, GAP commercials, etc.) one more time I'll scream. Nice, but what's the point?

I have a friend who's a very good architect - if you've ever been to San Antonio's River Walk you have seen his work all around - we were once talking about the similarites between film and architecture. I always recall his comparison: "Film passes by you while in architecture you pass by it." He really saw the two forms as more related than we care to admit. Walking through a building, or the River Walk, the "story" unfolds as you walk through it at your own pace.

I agree heartily with ya'll. Except for a couple of occasions, I've never felt the urge to use any transitions other than the standards. And as for effects I tend to be conservative there as well.

Seems to me that when I sit back and think really hard about the movies, shows, and commercials that stick out in my mind as the most impressive and memorable, hardly any of them involve slick gimmicks. Instead, they focus on atmosphere, character, and story.

I just wish that some of today's editors would jump off the current "machine gun cut/jump cut"-style bandwagon and take another look at Kubrick's films, Redford's films, etc...those known for a tad slower pace. Seems it's becoming a lost art.

While an undergrad, I was an Architecture major at a very good school for drawing straight lines, Kansas State University. I did not get a degree there, switching instead to a major in Film at a very good school for making pictures, The University of Texas at Austin. While a very far cry from having any real expertise in either architecture or film, the similiarities between the two studies has always been to me both highly notable and readily apparant. Thanks for discussing that comparison here. By the way, for my wife and I, the San Antonio River Walk has always been one of our favorite places to experience. We're very fortunate to be less than an hour away from downtown San Antonio.

Anyone who has a desire to see the River Walk but can't get to Texas should rent one of my favorite Sam Peckinpah films, "The Getaway" with Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw. Not only will you get a close-up view of the River Walk in detail, but you'll also see a good portion of my town, San Marcos, all through a 1972 window. The all-important pink "Beacon City Bank" building is directly across the street from Media Design, the little studio Dave Newman and I started in January of 1995, and there's a good clear shot of that intersection, Guadalupe & Hopkins streets (the parade scene), where I first met my wife a few months later in July of '95. My life on someone else's film.

I remember exactly where that is, Chris.

I used to hangout after class at the Green Parrot. San Marcos really is a jewel of a town.

And the Riverwalk? Closest thing to Europe in North America south of Quebec City.

<<<-- Originally posted by Rob Lohman : One thing that I want to ask you that comes neatly after what I just said is proper film education. Do you think this is a neccesity? -->>>

Rob,

Since I read you message I called two so called "master editors" I know and asked them where they learned their craft - both had the same answer - by watching good editors and good editing and by doing it for many years. Neither of them has any formal film education. Both of them had the good fortune to be assistants to good editors.

Although I'm prone to theorizing, I don't place much value on it. "Film theory" as a college course is of limited value. I would opt for a more hands-on approach to learning. Still there's a lot to be learned by watching the films of the masters - for example, Abel Gance's "Napoleon"; anything by Einsenstein- both from the silent movie era when editing was everything. Francois Truffeau is one of my modern favorite's (watch how he compensates for poor continuity by "cutting on the action"). Hitchcock is always great to watch for he gave the editors very little to work with. To see his movies is to see his editing as well. More close to home there's Robert Altman - he's of particular interest if you're doing MiniDV stuff. His constant use of overlapping dialog and multiple character scenes, familiar and nightmarish sitiations to any MiniDV videographer, are pulled off with great elegance and seamless editing.

I would never discourage anyone from getting a "formal" education but most of what you'll end up learning will be acquired "on the job" by simply watching and doing. When you see commercials or films, try to see how they're assembled. This might ruin the film for you but it's worth the price of admission.

You've posed a tough and delicate question. One that calls for a good deal of thought if I'm to give a useful answer. I don't know if I'm even coming close to helping.

<<<-- Originally posted by Chris Hurd : I did not get a degree there, switching instead to a major in Film at a very good school for making pictures, The University of Texas at Austin. While a very far cry from having any real expertise in either architecture or film, the similiarities between the two studies has always been to me both highly notable and readily apparant. -->>>

Chris,

I don't know if it has any relevance, but my architect friend was a professor at UT Austin. That's where I met him in 1973 and we became instant friends. Cy Wagner. He now lives in NYC and spends most of his days painting with oils.

Before Cy, the hotels and restaurants along the river in San Antonio had their backs to the river. Cy's simple and brilliant idea was to turn them around 180 degrees and have everything face the river - to make the river, not the open sewer it was becoming, but the central focus of the city. He developed the River Walk build on different levels with small bridges crossing over it. To Cy "El Paseo del Rio" was his big feature film. He wasn't the only architect involved, but, in my opinion, the most influencial.

Ozzie,

Your response is much appreaciated, and it certainly
is usefull and helping too me! I know this is a very
delicate matter, if only I could look into the future
sometimes :) ... oh well.... The problem here in holland
is to get your foot into the door, so to speak. I think
it is much harder to get noticed without going through
this school. Most graduates are already on a job
when they leave there. There aren't a lot each year
anyway. The selection is harsh and competition strong.
For directing they only have 12 places, last year 260
applied, to give you an indication. I'm thinking about
applying to editting though if i'm going at all. I'll let
you know how it works out!

Is it perhaps possible to e-mail some more about this
all? If so, please send me an e-mail at the address in
my signature.

Thank you for your time!

<<<-- Originally posted by Rob Lohman : .... The problem here in holland is to get your foot into the door, so to speak. I think
it is much harder to get noticed without going through
this school. Most graduates are already on a job
when they leave there. -->>>

Rob,

If that's the case, and it is in here also with some employers, then by all means get into that school. When I graduated from college I had a BA degree in Theatre. I wanted to get into filmmaking but somehow "theatre" didn't translate into "filmmaking" at any of the film schools I applied to. I settled for a master's program in television where I was able to put together all the elements of what I already knew. I guess my work in graduate school was a bit unorthodox because all my teachers were down on my work while all the students (my peers) were very pleased with it. (Those were the rebellious 60's - 1968-9 to be exact.) I must have made an impression since several years later I got a call from one of those students who had not forgotten by "artsy" stuff and she pulled me over to Sesame Street where she was already working. So one can never predict where anything will lead. I tell my son, now 14, to do whatever he enjoys doing, the way he knows best. That's about all the advice I can give anyone. Hey, my parents wanted me to be a doctor. Yeah, right mom.

Rob --

<< Is it perhaps possible to e-mail some more about this
all? If so, please send me an e-mail at the address in
my signature. >>

Please, for the benefit of everybody else, let's keep the discussions online where everyone can see them, participate, and learn.

Ozzie --

I took all the Film Theory classes at UT, because I couldn't afford the production classes but I could afford the writing classes. The filmmaking classes cost an extra $500 each, for 16mm stock and developing. As a dirt-poor undergrad, I couldn't swing that, but I could buy paper and I typed everything on an old World War Two surplus Remington Rand (with a Courier font).

I'm most grateful for my degree, and I like the way it hangs on my wall. It didn't teach me a damn thing about production, though. I learned production the hard way, by shooting and editing PSA's all by myself, for Channel 7 in Austin. These were buried at sign-off but it was a good feeling to be on the air learning from my own mistakes while my classmates were struggling with their little group projects that weren't guaranteed to show at the student film screening. My degree from UT taught me more than anything else, "how to learn," in a way that highly motivated me, by being a film major. I knew then that it didn't mean anything and I still know it now, but above all else, I learned how to learn, an invaluable lesson well worth the time and money of university education.

I was there at the same time as Robert Rodriguez. We didn't know each other, never met, but we had a lot of the same classes and instructors. His comic strip "Los Hooligans" was a huge hit with the entire campus. I'd love to go back to get my master's, because I really enjoy writing and being in school, but I can't afford the time. I have too many fishes to fry as it is. Still have the Remington Rand, though. I don't type on it anymore but it reminds me where I've been.

<<<-- Originally posted by Chris Hurd : Ozzie --I learned production the hard way, by shooting and editing PSA's all by myself, for Channel 7 in Austin. These were buried at sign-off but it was a good feeling to be on the air learning from my own mistakes while my classmates were struggling with their little group projects that weren't guaranteed to show at the student film screening. .... I'd love to go back to get my master's, because I really enjoy writing and being in school, but I can't afford the time. I have too many fishes to fry as it is. Still have the Remington Rand, though. I don't type on it anymore but it reminds me where I've been. -->>>

Chris,

What has long been missing is the concept of apprentice. Very few professionals, or companies that employ professionals, are willing to formally hire apprentices and keep them learning for several years until they are "ready" - much as you did at Ch. 7. The closest we come is hiring "interns" that get partial credit for working as PAs for a few months. That's fine, but interns are never in one place long enough to really get to master any aspect of production. All they get is a good overview of what it's all about. That's not bad at all but to master anything one has to do the grunt work that you did. Unfortunately few ae willing to put in the long hours, years, of low pay and little recognition. It used to be students were happy just being "gofers" for a couple of years. Now I'm getting students who want to be producers right off the bat!

****
I want to delete the message I've started because I can't finish it at the moment, but I don't know how to delete it. Sorry, I have to tend to a union crisis. Our client woke up a sleeping dog by letting lawyers get into the act. Now our cast budget is threatening to quadruple. Ouch!

Now, how and where does one learn THIS aspect of tv production?

Chris & Ozzie,

Ofcourse it is my intention to talk as much
on these boards for everyone to learn. As
I have done all these posts. I was asking
for a personal mail conversation because
it was gettnig a bit personal. Directed to
my live and curcumstances. My appologies
for it.

Hope this explains it a bit better :)

I've finished reading Rebel without a Crew
and must say that it's a pretty nice book.
He repeats some information a couple of
times too much though imho. Otherwise I
can say it was a good read. It is even more
difficult for me now to choose between going
to school or not... sigh.. live isn't always easy
huh. Oh well, I'll figure it out in the end.

Thanks for all the response.

I, too, have occasionally resorted to emails with the belief that I'd be boring others. However, that is the true beauty of a community such as this -- we can all learn much from the questions and comments of others, usually without fear. It's encouraged.

Ozzie's initial response to the "Master Editor" question was amazingly inciteful. I shared it with my bride, who teaches both written and verbal communications at the college level. She pointed out that virtually everything Ozzie mentioned could be applied to editing skills in her curriculum, as well. Seems like a common thread here.

For those of us that still do this part-time or as an avocation, and haven't yet made the plunge into the "produce or don't eat mode", this community brings into focus where I need to concentrate in order to get to the next level.

I may never get there, but it's been a lot of fun so far....

Vic

<<<-- Originally posted by Rob Lohman : Chris & Ozzie, Ofcourse it is my intention to talk as much on these boards for everyone to learn. As I have done all these posts. I was asking for a personal mail conversation because it was gettnig a bit personal. Directed to my live and curcumstances. My appologies for it. -->>>

Rob,

No apologies expected nor necessary. Hell, after I've poured my most personal thoughts in this forum, what can be so personal? The answers you get to your questions, even if you think they are personal, can very easily be of help to others who lurk but seldom write.

Rob, I know this post is a few of years old but it is still of interest. Funny how something you started a 3 years ago can still be on the internet as public information. Anyway, I was wondering which direction you actually took. School or practical experience? Obviously you are still into this because I have traded a few posts with you.

I joined the Army right out of High School because I couldn't afford college and didn't really know what I wanted. I chose audio video as my career field and went to a pretty neat school. We learned some old style film and tape splicing but mostly analog video. The school was interesting, but I really learned everything once they sent me to do the practical work. I made training videos for a couple of years. Then I went to Germany and worked at the American Forces Network in Frankfurt. I started out runing master control which meant following the program log for everything we aired on the station. Then went to the news room to do camera and lighting, ran the tape room, audio, switcher/TD and eventuall the directors chair for the news and a few other things.

I saved up my money while in the service and got out and went to flight school. That is where I learned the real discipline of learning technical stuff by reading until you not only understand, but can teach it. I flight instructed, flew cargo planes, then went the regional airlines for four years. Of course all of this was a huge change but there are some very surprising similarities to directing a live newscast. The level of multi tasking required at times is the same. In the studio, you have a wall of monitors and switches everywhere. In the cockpit you have instruments with of course more buttons and switches. I am now furloughed (laid off with recall rights) from airlines and am very happy about it.

It seems that I developed a passion for making movies over the last several years and now have my next 20 years of work planned out. I am building a production company from the ground up. Starting with the business aspect and pretty much doing all of the work myself. Digital has changed much of the way work is done, but my strength lies very much in the seven years I spent learning how to shoot, edit, light and direct while serving the man. I also did some corporate work while in flight school. Tried the networks but they did'nt pay half of what the corporate stuff did. This message board has helped me quite a bit in understanding how the digital world works. It will become in very useful from here out.

The road is long but all we can do is keep walking and hope that someone gives us a ride now and then. BTW if any of you plan on making movies about airplanes and need a consultant, I am your man.

How interesting to return to this after 3 years. I can't believe it
has already been 3 years. Wow.

On the one hand a lot has happened, on the other it seems not
a lot has happened.

I didn't go to any school. For a number of reasons. First, schooling
(in the traditional sense) really hasn't work for me in the past. It
seems I'm more of a learn my self, learn with the help of others
or learn by doing kind of guy. Another major reason was that I
really did not want to return to school for 4 years (after having
worked 3 already) and then wondering if I was going to get a
job and what kind of job that would be.

The film scene here in Holland is quite small, both in number of
(interesting) movies being made as well as the number of people
who can actually support themselves with the craft. This also
means not a lot of positions seem to open up (but could also be
my lack of understanding of the very closed film scene here).

There where three things I would've been interested in. Directing,
but that was impossible to get in. Editing and camera work. But
these two only really started to develop in myself in the years
between then and now. In those two fields I doubt I would've
found much work.

Althought the TV industry is quite big here, it really doesn't seem
that interesting, unless it is fictional series. Those only exist here
as soap shows here which I really do not want to work on.
Seems to be a lack of that here, quality TV or film (although film
is slightly increasing over the last couple of years). I'm talking way
below the Hollywood standard, and even a lot find that to be too
low most of the time.

The final nail in the coffin of the filmschool was money. It can be
quite expensive to go and I already had some other financial
commitments I would not have been able to get out of. So I doubt
I could have afford it in the end.

So I decided to pursue the way to inform and learn myself with
help from others (here on DVInfo.net and books etc.). I can't
believe what I've learned in those 3 years, although I would've
liked to gained more experience. Problem is time. I'm still at the
same IT (computer programming) job and that takes away a lot
of time.

But I've managed to complete one movie, shoot another, edit a
few other things I had lying around and do a bit of color correction
work for somebody else. The greatest thing I've done was the
Lady X series (see link in signature), both as an executive producer,
but also in making my own episode (learned a lot, again).

Unfortunately I had to get rid of my XL1S due to some choices I
had made (two hobbies are expensive! heh) and this put me into
the following phase.

I'm trying to work out a few movie ideas I have (although it is
going too slow in my opinion) so to be better prepared when I
return to shooting, whenever that may be.

The last thing I'm working on is actually leaving the Netherlands
behind and going to the US, to try my luck there. I've learned a
great deal about that as well (that this isn't going to happen
easily) and we'll see where all of this takes me between now and
a couple of years.

All in all I'm pretty proud of what I've done and learned over the
course of these last 3 years. I've become a moderator here on
DVInfo.net and hopefully have helped others on the way of their
dreams and hopes.

Thank you very much for your interest! You seem to have had an
interesting journey yourself as well. The aviation industry seems
to be interesting! All the best with your production industry!

As they say in astro-imaging: clear skies!

Rob,

It certainly does look like you have gained a lot of experience.
I have been watching some of those Lady X episodes. While they are pretty cheezy, some of them are very well put together. I really liked the one you did. It was brilliant how you got around the use of dialogue. Everything was implied with nothing spoken. Like the part where the cell phone rings and that guy hangs up and executes the guy in the chair. All you know is that the order came from above.

The producer aspect of all of this must have been quite a learning experience. I would be interested to know a little more about how you and John got started on all of this. Is Lady X played by a different girl in every country? I checked out John's site and I can imagin how you two may be teleconfrencing. You may not even realize the potential of the work you have already done on the series.

Right now I am working on story for a low budget movie that I believe has the potential to scare millions of people and they will take thier kids to see it. Once I finish the script (which shouldn't be more than about a months or two) and copyright it, I'll show it to you if you are interested. Maybe it would be a good reason for you to come to the States. Anyway, Thanks for the speedy reply.

Ozzie, if your still around this forum, I just want you to know that I have been watching your work all my life. Even as an adult! When I was at AFN Frankfurt I watched re-runs of Sesame Street every morning. That is quality entertainment and I still learn something from it every time I watch it. My wife would like to compliment the elegance of your writing. Well, so would I but I don't want to sound like a sycophant.

Wow Rob. I started reading this thread without looking at the dates until about half way through when you said "it's been 3 years"!

It's strange, because your situation is almost exactly as mine was and is. I've been mulling over things for a few years too. I am a programmer, with some ever growing force trying to pull me into film/tv (Basically I need more of a creative, collaborative life than what software engineering offers me). I currently have all the dilemmas you do/did. Do I give up my good job and go to film school? (I've been thinking about this the last few weeks) Do I give up the job and get some other job somewhere, at least in the industry (But probably on almost no salary given my lack of skills in the industry)? Do I just try and do it myself? (School has always been hard for me) It's a hard one to answer, and the fear is paralysing at times. With a mortgage and stuff (And I'm nearly 34), trying to make that transition into an unknown area where you have no idea if you're going to be any good, or can make a living in it, can be a very difficult process. One thing I wondered, was have you thought of keeping your job (i.e. some financial security) but only part time. Trying to find something where you can work a couple of days or so a week (I'm assuming your programming is reasonably lucrative enough to do this) and then spending your spare time either on your own projects, or volunteer/low pay assisting in production houses to get some hands on experience? That's the situation that I have decided I am going to try to make for myself as a first step. If I can get that, I can actually have time, outside of my work life to be creative and from there build my skills/reel etc. Then when the time, confidence, security and all that feels ready, make a full transition.

Whatever you do, I wish you good luck!
Aaron

Cleveland,

Thank you for your complements. I actually thought some of that
was a major weakness in the movie, heh. Producing has definitely
taught me a lot, however, we weren't involved in the details of
the production of all the episodes. We layed down the rules, made
sure scripts where written (and read) before shooting and try to
do our best to keep everything on schedule. Which didn't always
work. The final step was compressing (we received all episode
on tape and/or DVD in DV format) and uploading it to the site.

We then held a voting round where producers could vote on their
favorite episodes in the serious for the various categories. They
could of course not vote for their own. The Executive Producers
where not allowed to vote.

Paul Sedillo and John Locke started the project and idea. They
asked Ken Tanaka and me to join during the design stage. So we
all had some say in how the series developed.

Yes, Lady X is played by a different "actrice" in each country. Due
to logistics. One of the rules that was layed down was that Lady X
should not speak or be clearly visible, due to the different actrices.

For more of the guidelines for shooting see this page:
http://www.ladyxfilms.com/whatisladyx2.html

We did not control the stories, however some general guidelines
where layed down besides the one above. Like that somehow
the operative(s) should receive an instruction in the beginning and
hand whatever they should retrieve to Lady X at the end, where
she should disappear without the operative being able to follow etc.

Thank you for the offer, always nice to read scripts people write.
Just shoot me an e-mail (see signature below) and we'll take it
from there!

Ozzie should still be around, not sure he'll read this thread though.

p.s. I am the guy on the receiving end of the bullet....


Aaron,

Funny how people from so far away can be in the same kind of
situation, no? I'm 27 at the moment. New Zealand seems to have
a pretty good movie industry starting. If the shooting of King Kong
is going anything like Lord of the Rings they will require a lot more
hands soon *grin*

Starting to do some more parttime work is not really possible for
me at this moment. Over the course of a couple of years costs
have risen a lot here to the point where the income starts to feel
too low. Since I am single this is even harder. Lots of people here
who are together have double income, which would certainly help
tremendously in such situations.

If the move to the US is going to happen I will need a pretty large
amount of money to actually move and get a life started there. So
I'm currently saving as well.

Even with a parttime job I have no idea how I would be able to
really do anything in the film industry overhere. It is that closed.
I already know more people in the film industry in the states than
in my own country, haha.

I still want to make my own "indie" movies, but I want to make
sure the story is sound first (at least for me, haha). Also working
on some big ideas which I couldn't execute at this point in time
anyway.

Thank you for your kind words as well Aaron and I wish you all
the best with your career as well! Hopefully you'll make your dream
come true over in beautiful NZ.

All the best,

It almost looks as if you are trying not to laugh at one point during the electrocution scene.