FT: Week 5

If it's Wednesday, this must be West Lima, Wisconsin.

Among the ideas learned in this week's "Frugal Traveler" edit: the importance of 500 Hz. The audio on the original interviews was quite problematic (I'm not certain if there was a problem with the camera or a setting or that's just the nature of that camera under certain conditions) with little or no bass in the voices. I used a three-band equalizer on these, but it turned out my first instinct -- boosting the 80 Hz frequency -- had little effect. After a lot of trial and error, boosting 500 Hz as far as it would go returned the voices to a more normal sound.

As always, with only one day (less really) to edit a 4:36 piece, there are some things I see now that I'd like to go back and refine. First draft of the cut was over five minutes, so the last part of the process was trimming down about 30 seconds of material. With enough time and coffee, probably another 15 seconds could be taken out, and there are a few edit points that could be made more precise.

I've always loved the way Walter Murch describes standing while he edits, and hitting certain by edit points "by feel" until he hits the same point repeatedly, then deciding that must be the right instant. Over time, of course, I've come to realize that's terrible advice, sort of like some great baseball batter advising one to swing at the right time....