Q: Why did you want to take the class?
BK: I wanted to undertake my own projects, and felt the only way to jump in
was
by knowing every step in putting together a video project, from using the
camera to editing to producing.
And having been a newspaper editor for 22 years at The New York Times, I
certainly knew and vastly appreciated the value of editing a film. Eventually,
I saw that there was even more creativity in the film-editing process than working
with newspaper stories, and so I wanted to learn all the ins and outs. Also, I knew
that even if I became involved in another aspect of filmmaking, I wanted to know
what could and could not be done in editing.
Alas, soon after I started class with Erin Greenwell, I went out and bought
FCP 4.5, along with my Mac G5 and big screen and camera and deck and
speakers, and $20,000 later, I consider every penny well-spent.
And for every hour I spend shooting with my camera, I probably spend 10
hours editing.
Q: How did you like the class?
BK: As I said above, the cost exceeded $20,000 in equipment, and had
the class not been to my liking, I would be richer but not as happy.
I grew up not in the computer age, but in the age of penmanship, and so I
can at times be a little slow with computers, and often ponder endlessly my
next move. Erin Greenwell's patience, her ability to work at 2 speeds --
fast for those who knew more than me, and slow for me - and her enormous
patience were blessings, and made the class ideal for me.
Q: If you had to teach something, what would you teach?
BK: Well, if we are taking about anything here, then after 40 years in the
newspaper game, either as a reporter or as an editor, I would teach
journalism.