Editing Diary „Siblings in Conflict“
I guess noone will ever read the whole text, but pick some parts of it and you’ll get an impression of the joy and suffering of filmmaking!
During editing the film „Siblings in Conflict“, which was part of my Masters thesis, I kept on writing and writing in my „Editing Diary“. I publish this document here with all it’s mistakes and private notes, because it gives the interested reader an idea of what I call „wild editing“: The concept of the film was overthrown over and over again – new inputs gave the film a complete new structure and even a new topic.
2004-07-28
After reading Ruby and his Picturing Culture I draw my attention again to another direction. The process of filmmaking is in no sense completed. Now, that the shooting might be over and the postproduction is going to start, my influence on how the film will look like does actually get in the highest altitude. Until some days a go I thought I will do a relatively conventional film. I did think of showing the footage of the non-priveledged milking in some way, but I never really believed myself onto that. I thought I would edit a puzzle of social interactions of my guest family. Now my plan has shifted slightly. After being introduced to Rubys understanding of the future of the visual anthropology, I now want to include his ideas, those that I follow, in my production. Especially his demand for a „painful reflexivity“ is what I am thinking of. I understand his reasons for demanding that the anthropologists must make the conditions of the production understandable. In discussing the film The ax fight he demonstrates how reflexivity can be introduced into a film in the post production phase. Unfortunately he does not give straight suggestions on how to include reflexivity while shooting. He does mention some possibilities that have been done so far, like Rouch and the MacDougalls but I miss some clear criteria on how the filming anthropologists have to be reflexive while filming. In reflecting on Asch’s ideas I now need to see the Ax fight – but I already know that I want to make something similar. Some days before I thought a different film will be produced then I think now. Even after shooting, the construction of the film is in a highly creative phase; or especially after shooting. Thinking about that, I feel I have the moral obligation to make the audience aware of my possibility to tell different stories with the material I have recorded. I don’t know how I will decide in the end, when I actually started with editing but at the moment I see two main possibilities for the project. The first one is to produce from the same material different versions of film. The second possibility is to make one (long!) film where the different versions I think of are all included. I think of a version where there are no subtitles, one where there is a marginalized editing and one where I may shape the material more and so on. There are always many ways one can edit his film. The decision one makes on how in the end the film looks like influences the audience how to see the people and culture portrayed. To make this authorship transparent I will have to make this process to a topic of the film.
This morning it is raining cats. I wonder if Felix (who brings the soft- & hardware along) will arrive by plane today. I am now waiting for the things to start and then I think I will need one or two weeks until I have copied the material onto the disk. After that I want to translate the material, which I think I might use in the end. The final cut will then be done in Germany. I wished that I can present the work to as many audiences as possible. I liked Asch way in presenting the film in class and after that to reedit. I would love to show the film to the people portayed, but I do not know now, how much this will be possible. Actually it is well possible to go back for 2 or 3 days at least and present the film. Then I can record the talk during the screening and get a translation of it to present in my written thesis. This means work and I wonder where I should stop. But it would be a pretty nice thing… As the question is not whether I will show the film to the people portrayed but if I do include this screening into the thesis I do not have to think so much about my moral obligation to them but to the thesis. This makes it probably easier not to go. But we will see this after three or four weeks. I can imagine making an interview with Nyabbanga and Kidoa the day after the filming, asking just one question „How do you think the film represents your life?“ To see that I ask this question with a translator, and to hear their answers would mean the core of being reflexive. I will have to do this. I will not be able to show a four hours film in Dassanetch; simply because I don’t have the capacity for doing so. If I show some footage in Josefs house, it will include a glimpse of what I intend to do.
I am frustrated that I did not bring more literature along. Actually I did but not about the topic I am doing my thesis – because I left Germany with the thought I will write about the residence patterns among the Dassanetch. I must admit, I do not follow a straight line very much.
It stopped raining. My hope grows that Felix arrives. I cannot stand theorizing all the time without making practical process. This is what I also not understand about Ruby. Why does he not produce a film to exemplify his claims? He must be afraid of failing to do so. Theorizing about film without making them is to tell what others to do in order not to do the mistakes themselves. The biggest problem in this way is that it might be dangerous to see the film as theories and written theories and to forget where one speaks about.
2004-07-29
Damn! Why does the industry create a world, which is simply complicated? Now I have one of the newest and best Power Book at hand and the newest Final Cut version but it simply does not work. These two do not fit to each other. It’s a crazy abnormal world. Now what do I do? Firstly I hope that Jean manages to load it down onto a CD and sends it here. But she leaves tomorrow for Germany. So if she does not make it today it will be me flying to Addis, having the Computer with me, going to Hilton and trying to load down these programs there. Do I want to do this? No! But what else can I do? The other possibility, to wait until it comes by post (my parents) or with Ivo (after a few weeks) is also not so nice. I want to start editing. The choice to go and edit in Germany has one big (?) disadvantage – I will not be able to write proper subtitles. But is a proper subtitling what I should want? Is it not somehow unreal, because I did not have a proper language access? I create this access post hoc. Should I not keep on trying to picture my point of view? Do I pretend to have a better understanding of Dassanetch culture then I actually do in presenting a whole translation of everything spoken? Would it not be better only to translate what I did on location and telling this honestly at the beginning of the film? However I decide, I will tell it before the film starts. How I decide in the end I do not know, but I do not find it good to decide it now – in other words, I have to translate everything here with Gino in order that a decision if I will use it in the end or not is still possible. That means probably going to Addis. The problem is, Final Cut 4 requires MS OS 10.3.2. and QuickTime 6.5. This computer has MS OS 10.3. and QuickTime 6.4. It is close, but not close enough…
2004-07-31
Damn! I am in Addis. I arrived at lunchtime. I was trying to get the things from Hilton Internet caffee. No connection to the Internet possible with my computer and no burning of the CD possible on theirs. 3 hours trying – then a depressed leaving. The cheese burger took care of the depression. The other depression could not be taken care of: No space on the plane!! Not Wednesday, not Saturday. What the hell is going on? Then I went to my old internet caffee. There a specialist took over – no connection either with my computer. Damn shit. He now downloads the things overnight and gives them to me tomorrow – if everything goes according to plan – which it never does, like Jean said. So all I need is a laptop to bring to Hilton to download it there. So who gives me this? Tzegab, Eyob, Teka? I will have to find out, but now I must sleep.
2004-08-01
New month – new luck? This morning I will just go to the Internet caffee and if it is does work, fine. If not, then I will call this Mohamed and tzegab. They shall be able to provide me with a computer with internet access and the possibility to burn a CD. That should be possible. Now I just do shopping and breakfast at Purple Caffee. Sad that I cannot contact Teka. He would probably go to Europe to bring the things I need.
17.29: Testing Final Cut successfully! In the morning went relaxed to Dereje Girma. He gave me the CD. Six hours of downloading! He tried at home, without success. Then he managed to download the QuickTime (16 MB) and the MS OX (36 MB!!) in the university. He gave me the CD and we started to install. It functioned well – until the root administrator password was asked. At home I called Karina. She called Susanne. Susanne called me and gave me Ivo’s number in New York! I woke him up in New York and told him the problem. The next problem was, he did not have the password in mind. So he called Jean who is in Germany with Theo. She called me telling me that she does not know the password, but she installed everything. While offering passwords, which I already tried, she said Oh yes – and was then waiting a little bit – in order to understand her remembering – and told me – it could be nagaia. Have a try. It worked. After then installing and giving all the codes it worked! Now this is done. Congratulation! Now all I need is the plane ticket on Wednesday. Now I will start editing. I brought the tapes 8-17 with me to Addis. To start with this tapes builds the fundament of the film. I will see what material is on it. But please consider the global network, which was used in order to start my work!
I just logged the clips of tape number 8. I logged them widely. This has two reasons. The first is that so I will have space in deciding which parts of the clips I am going to use. The second is that I think it is a good idea to produce something like filmic footnotes. By this I mean that besides the film I will produce something like an appendix where one can see things which should reveal something about the film production and which where not seen in the film itself. This idea came to my mind after seeing how I set up the camera in order to film the single dog in the shadow of Kidoas buite. There you see my shadow going to another location in order to film a specific scene. Also after seeing the first scenes on that tape, I am not sure if it would not be the best thing not to cut that much but to make a very long film. To cut means to intervene and to hide the process of the actual filming. Is this something I don’t want? Or is it desirable – or avoidable? Let me look at tape 9.
After 9 and 10: if I keep on going like now, even the big disk will probably be not enough. Already more then 2 1/2 houres (from 3!) should be captured. I must force myself to do a stronger selection, which means to decide more what should not be included. But I know it is a decision which is usually not re-decided. One does not look at the material again. It is too much work in front, then to have energy to look back. One thing I know for sure now: I have enough material. I must mark the positions, where Gino must translate. That means, he should come later, come back or stay. I hope he got my letter, that he should come later. 2004-08-02
9.24: No ticket. Maybe in the afternoon, or tomorrow. So I will go by bus tomorrow. One more time…
19.07: No ticket. Okay. Tomorrow by bus to Jinka. Two days. Addis made me get sick. Too much running and no free head. I just want to rest now. But I’ve managed what I wanted to manage. If I would be only already back! Now I have no concentration to start with reel 12. But never mind. I have time to do this in Jinka. I must take care that the organisational work does not harm my editing. So I sleep now and hope that I wake up at 5 in the morning. How? I do not really know.
2004-08-03
Arba minch – I was just given the data for tape 12 and 13 into the mac. The trip was nice. Karina woke me up at time and the trip was nice and not long. Hope to reach Jinka in the early afternoon.
2004-08-05
Until tonight I was able to capture tape 11-18 and 1. Capture everything, which I think I might need. I hope that not too many scenes are missing which I might have used in the end. I think of something like a film guide to the film, which could be included in the text. This could look like for every chapter in the film there is information about the background, a explanation what is seen and diary notes and an theoretical approach. Might be interesting. I must also mention that the film actually explains much more things, which I will not mention at all, like dresses, hair styles and so on. These – I might call them visible things of the surface – are alone subject to some thesis. In my sense it is a thick description. It will be necessary to study the film carefully in order to understand it, but maybe someday one student will do this. Why not?
2004-08-06
Today I managed to capture everything which I think I might use in the end. Also I was already capturing which I might use for the television version – which will be a total different film from this one. Now I have nearly 12 hours on the Big disk and put my camera in my bag. I think of using cards in order to guide the viewer already a bit while watching the film. These could be headlines which direct the attention of the viewer. Otgherwise the deepness of the scenes might get lost and one might think I talk about boring things, because there will be not the usual dramatic events seen in the film. Watching this film will mean watching everyday life in Dassanetch. To find out how much this actually means is not easy for the action film socialized audience, which also most anthropologists are. So this might be a good idea.
Gino came. I decided not to send him away but to work with him in the evening the things which I prepared in the morning. By this I mean that I want to mark the positions where a translation will be appreciated. It might take us ten days.
This part – capturing the material is maybe the most boring one when one makes a film. It is like manufacturing something without being really creative. When you are in the field, you film and this is almost always exciting. Editing the film is then the art to create something. To capture is just work. My eyes are tired but I am happy that I finished this just after two and a half days. Tonight I plan to create the marking of the first tape. So I will be able to start when Gino comes back. I hope that I can work nicely with him. We had problems together at the beginning and stopped working together. But we found our way back together – this by itself is worth thinking about. My perspective is clear to me – I need him to have an accurate translation of my MA thesis into English. What is his perspective? It is not really money. He is interested in a long-term co-operation? Or in a mention of his name in a film about his culture. He is interested in my work, this is sure and I thank him for that.
About the infrastructural background here: electricity starts and half past 12. The laptop works with solar batteries. I do have enough batteries for my camera. But the external disk needs a connection to 220 V. This I will solve with the generator in the morning.
2004-08-07
To put the subtitle clips on the positions where a translation is necessary is quicker done then expected. Yesterday night I started with one tape and today I was able to finish this for tape 13-18. That’s why I invited Gino to come tomorrow. The decision where to put a subtitle affects the perception of the film. My politic now is more or less to put nearly every where a subtitle, although I might not use them at the end. It is a prevention of not being enttaeuscht when being in Germany.
Seeing the material I captured again makes me a bit confused. What shall I use? In which order? Which scenes shall I drop? What kind of editing shall I use? Continuity editing? Alternative? Reflective? A mixture of everything? I have now no clear view of how I will do the creative part of the postproduction. But I am looking forward to come over these days of manufacturing a product.
I should call the film something like „To influence and to be influenced“ or „Trying to and trying to escape influencing“. Defining Borders was also mentioning the theme of the film.
2004-08-08
Directing and to be directed – should be the title. This involves the bargaining of the actors but it is also reflective in the way that it refers to my way of filming. How I film the actors is partly directed by them and I direct the film somehow by the way I move the camera. „Directing and to be directed“. I like it, because it has more than one meaning. But does is sound like an anthropological film. Not really – but do I care about that? Not really.
2004-08-10
Yesterday we were able to finish tapes 8-12. The day before we made 13-17. Gino wanted to leave soon so we will try to finish the translation today. It is not so much left. I thought it will take us longer. What shall I translate and what not? People in the off – should the audience listen what they say. Yes, but they should also concentrate on the things in the on. If there is something visual happening in the front of the camera and I direct the attention towards the written part in the lower third of the picture, does the image not loose some energy? Definitely. So I will have to take care about that I find a compromise. I must always be aware of the two things, that it subtitles add information and by this they give deepness to the film. But on the other side they draw away the attention of the audience from the image. Subtitles direct the audience. They direct the way they perceive the film. The filmmaker should always be aware of this and use them intelligently. What we are translating is wonderful.
Now I think I will construct the film a bit like a text. With headlines and sub-headlines. It will be a structured film. It will not be easy to watch. It is a document where one can study Dassanetch and culture in general. But it is also for other scientist relevant: psychology is deeply inserted. Geography. Sociology. Linguistics. Many scienties could find some meaning in it.
Yesterday I was lying in my tent and thought about the title of the film. I thought that the title should represent what is the topic. Then I asked myself, what is the topic? It is about very general and very meaningful things. Then I just said – it is about life. Then it came to my mind, that it is about a certain way of life. Life in Dassanetch. Then I thought about Susannes thesis and did not want that one thinks that I stole the title – so I thought Everyday life in Dassanetch – but the everyday is somehow something that values it.
2004-08-10
Today we finished translating the 13 hours. In three days. I thought we need at least 10. After the translation I was especially happy about how reflexive the material was without my knowledge. Every scene contains something where my filming process is mentioned, criticized or appreciated. To edit honestly I must also include these parts where my filming is criticized. Here I think of Kidoa where she says to me that this time the film will not be good. What I also liked very much is that the actors speak a lot of times about what they saw in the old film. This will function perfectly as a bridge. And then there is material which I only by translating discovered.
2004-08-11
Now I will wait. The next step will be a creative one. Which scenes to start with, to continue the chronicle order and these kind of questions. I will give myself at least one day, that I do not continue to see the production as a production. I will continue reading Neal Sobania and do somethings for the written part, which I should not forget. By the way, Weynshet is dying to leave Jinka. The staff at SORC is at the moment somehow making us leave. But all that I do now is not locationally fixed. But to go back to Dassanetch would be nice to present the film – or to invite someone – but if so then it should be Kidoa. And then her children also need to come and Nyabbanga too. And this would be too much for them and me. And to show the film there – this would last at least three weeks. Or to be honest, two. I edit some parts put them back to the camera show them to my people and here what they say about it.
2004-08-14
I am still in Jinka and I am not planning to show the film in Dassanetch this time. I will do it instead when I come back. I have many reasons to decide like this, the most important is that my relationship to Weynshet suggest to leave soon. At the moment we are struggling with each other and that’s not the time to leave one more time to Dassanetch. Other reasons include that we do not have a car available and I am somehow tiered of going one more time by Izuz all the way and back only for one night. My feed are wounded and my head is anywhere else but not in Omorate. To hire a car, television set and so on is simply too costy. I have enough material in order to get my MA and I will have the possibility to show in after some months. In the film the actors talk a lot about film and what they have seen last time – there is enough reflexivity in it. It is enough.
2004-09-13
Now sitting in Mainz and examining my new G5: I am happy that all my data was easily transferable to my computer and that finally – after one month of break! – I can start editing tomorrow. Where shall I start? In the middle – but in the middle of what??? I have lost a bit my imagination about the form and context. The weeks in Addis passed by and we had to wait to get on a plane. Finally I came here and had to wait again a week for my Mac. But now it seems, I can start.
2004-09-14
I wanted to start with a sequence which will be definetly in the film in the end. So I started with the Chaos sequence. Actually I only make cuts where good material starts and ends. I don’t want to change the position of the clips. I think of presenting a board at the beginning of the film with the rules with which I did the film. One rule would be 1) no interviews, 2) no staging and concerning editing one rule will be not changing the time order of the clips and sequences. A bit dogmatic…
Now the Chaos sequence is about 21 minutes long. Where the chaos broke out I decided deliberately to keep the shaking and so on of the camera in the film. In the fiction films they do the same. In the calmer parts I tried to cut them out of the film. At least where it was possible. I take content before form. If what can be seen or heard is interesting I don’t care about the form of the film. Some might say he does not know how to make good films, but I want to make good ethnography first. After that comes the film.
2004-09-15
How shall I continue? I just made a possible introduction into the film: 4 shots of the empty scenery. First one outside, then a pan of the whole stage and then a pan over the goat enclosures. After that I edited the empty inside of the sum. This was from a totally different tape and time. Can I do so? Is it allowed (by myself) to mix scenes? I ask myself this. Anne said of course – no problem. But where then is my border in constructing the space and time?
How shall I continue? I have a look at my „Possible Film Structure“ from Jinka. Shall I continue like this? First introduction, then everyday activities, then ideal milking, then detailed space-time explainations, then dramatic interactions and then the chaos scene? Where shall I start? I am not used to the editing process anymore. Doors was edited in about two weeks time only. There I made small pieces of paper where all scenes I have where written down. Then I did the puzzling. I think the detailed space-time explaination would be easiest to start with, because it contains of short sequences. Yesterday I managed to look at tape 9 and 13. But I only cut out the parts I did not want to include. Everything is still much too long in that and I have no clue about where in the film I want to insert them. But I like the playing scenes where Ankoi and Yendite play in the dust. It would be a nice introduction into the social space somewhere at the beginning.
Evening
I thought I am looking through material which will end in the middle and which will be divided into different parts. But the description of the space of the Dassanetch should be (at least most of it) at the very beginning. To see the goats under the shadow and fight against one and another is something like a preview what one can see in the main part. A preview on a different level. Even though some might scream, but the goats fight in some way for the same things for what the people fight for. Even their method is somehow similar. Is it bad to say that the behaviour is somehow natural in its environment? The worlds of the at least domestic animals are not so much set apart from the human worlds. I said this once to Yendite and Kidoa. Yendite was surprised and asked if Kidoa heard what I said. I think she didn’t think about it that way before. Maybe because it was so obvious. I don’t know. But I want to speak about these worlds which are not set apart in the film. Every viewer shall make up its own mind. That is my aim with my film, that the viewer is still able to do so.
2004-09-16
I just did this morning a nice introduction. Yesterday I thought to start with the back of the car and the houses. Now I start with the goats under the tree. In their space use and interaction one can foresee what the film is about. At least one get attuned to it. From there I move on to the empty stage and present already at the beginning the wind and the hot air. I thought I will made these terrible environmental elements somewhere in the middle but they have to displace the audience right from the beginning. Only then will they be able to accept the beatings of the children. Only if they get somehow a feeling for the space, they will continue to be open minded about the social environment. Ankoi as the introduction – sabania actually embodies all the film is about at the beginning. And all that is within only 8 minutes. A good start…
The working title is at the moment To direct & To Be directed.
I am happy about the wind disturbances. They really give way to hate the environment. And they give orientation. The wind comes from one direction. One hears where one is. And protected space one can watch without disturbance. Where one is in the wide open, one is totally confronted with the wind sound. I did not know that this helps so much!
Afternoon
I inserted another intro-scene: Noicho, telling that I film the wind and Nakwa tini fighting for her play. I view these scenes as transition scenes. They prepare for what will come next: the introduction of the social space. At the moment I am thinking to continue with the morning-play scene or with the sum-buiding. One gets really close to Yendite and Noicho in this scene. That’s why it would be a nice intro. But one gets really attuned if I start with the morning play. Easiest would be to say, I HAVE TO KEEP THE TIME ORDER. But what for? A good ethnographic film brings the audience there. That’s what I want.
Evening
It was an evening of ordering. I just copied all sequences into the new Projekt with 4 catagories: Milking, Social intro, Chaos and Rest. I briefly decided the topics which will somehow follow one and another. That means I am on the way not to keep time order. I am satisfied with the (now 13 min) intro. One can nicely get attuned to the environment and social space. Tomorrow I will try to mix the social introduction. I have good material. How Noicho and Arba kick each other. Ankoi throwing stones into the river – and especially the never ending mentioning of my work. There is a light, Ongarthe is filming, It is too dark – all very reflective moments! They are essential for the filmic ethnography.
The putting of the sequences into all these categories is, I must admid kind of hazardous. I have to take care again the next days that I don’t follow these ordering tooo much. The best would be if one scenes is somehow connected to the next. That a kind of filmic flow develops. This flow is, I must admit, artifical. But film is in itself artificial. The task of the artifact should be that the reception of it suggest a perception that one can make in the non-artificial. I filmed short episodes. I saw much more then I filmed. I have the background and know the connection between the scenes. I know the people. I know (most of the time) what happened when and so on. I cannot transmit my knowledge about these things in the film altogether. What I want to do is use the film to get a glimpse of something about Dassanetch. I shall not loose this goal out of sight in favour of dogmatic film rules. I want to create a filmic space which disposionate the viewer into a perception which evokes experiences similar to the perception of a field stay. It is difficult to find the words for what I mean. Film represents Film. Not Reality as such but a filmic reality. This should fit. I don’t know.
2004-09-19
I think of giving an introduction that has two parts: introduction into the space & space use and as the second introduction into social space. In the second part I think to present small Nabario who sits on the skin and opens the space of her brothers, sisters, mother and other people in Aoga. This scene was one of the first shot. The problem is, it introduces into people who will not appear in the rest of the film. Kolochon went away somedays later together with Loichama. But it gives way to perceive typical actions. Kolochon wanting to play and getting told to work. Arba Nech getting told to work and playing. Nabario getting told to stop doing things. Women working. People roaming around. Dogs and goats being present. I think it should be in the film. At a later stage it might not fit as well as it does as an intro. The alternatives have been to start with the morning play & beating or with Yen building the sum. Advantages of the last would be a personal getting in touch. Advantages of the morning play would be the attuning quality of this scene. I started editing the skin scene and it is now 13 minutes long (out of 24). I decided again to use jump cuts, for they are reflexive and practical as they shorten down time.
Night
I now have a 30 minutes introduction. Some 9 minutes into Space and the rest into social space. Is the second part two long? I thought when the audience watches, they mind not know anymore that it is the introduction. Then I thought I should make the headline permantly visible in the upper frame. It helps th lead the attention of the audience I think. It is a study version of the film.
The social space intro starts perfectly: an empty house where after some seconds Arba comes out. Noicho appears on the other side of the frame and tells him that I am recording. It is also an introduction into reflexitivity. Then comes small Nakwa fighting for her game, followed by Nabario. Shall I shorten it radically? Why? Not now. I leave it as it is and will maybe return to it with the big scissor at the end.
With Arba I use a kind of continuity editing. He looks away, I cut to where he looks and return to him still looking. I let out some frames in order to achieve this continuity, but I do not what to follow such things too often. I want to make the cuts visible and „feel-able“.
2004-09-24
I am tired and don’t know how to start editing again. One week of non-progress. While watching the morning play I again think different of the footnotes. I will make many. And I will explain things via voice over. I will explain a lot of things. The other footnotes will be additional film material and uncut version of sequences. Maybe all together it will be a packet of 10 DVDs. Who knows.
Evening
Just continued to edit. Continue to edit the ammo beat sequence. This sequence must get the title „Directing the space“. After writing this title I went to the toilet and heard myself saying the title of the sequence that should follow: „Escaping direction“ – I did not know immidetly which sequence that could be until I realized that the whole film should get that title! Also one could read this title for my filmic activity. I did not want to direct anything. Maybe that my way of seeing good ethnographic films: Non-Direction-Cinema. One will one day say that my cinema has no direction in the sense that it follows no clear line. But it is true IT DOES NOT FOLLOW A CLEAR LINE. It actually has no direction. Fiction films usually have a story, a beginning, a highlight and an end. And all the things which belong to such a story. Why should ethnographic film bother to look for such dramaturgy. There is dramaturgy in every day activity. To capture this on film without using it to create a filmic dramaturgy is what I shall understand as Non Direction Cinema.
2004-09-25
In the evening I edited Kidoa is hairmaker. Editing for me means the following: Looking at the uncut sequence as a whole. By doing this I try to imagine what the sequence could look like and attuning my view to it. What is the topic of this sequence? What is not important? After that comes reducing the minutes by deleting parts unviewable. By this I mean quick zooms which were made to be cut out, hectic pans with no sense – disturbances of all kind of art. Sometimes I take out boring parts as well. After that I look it again up. Then I listen to my emotional perception of what I see. Is it too long? Too short? Which parts can I cut out?
Like this I edit sequence for sequence. After that I hope to put them together to a whole.
2004-09-26
Just edited Kidoa who makes Nyabbas hair. Is it still part of Kidoa intro or should I add Nyabba intro? Actually I already edited it someday before. Only a fine cut. Then I marked some sequences which will I will not include – like the playing in the sun or Erek playing. Then I looked at the others. I found Nakwa carrying wood brilliant and short. But where does it fit – then I decided to put it right at the beginning of the film. With the titles as breaks. I like films like that. Now I will try to go one with these calm intros: Yesterday night I made a plan when I want to finish what. All together the film should be according to this plan ready at the end of October. Will that be possible?
Night
Tonight I edited „Details about Space & Space Use“. While editing I felt that good editing develops out of the material itself. I collected 5 sequences: kidoa sleeps, kideo rests, arba plays in dust, nakwa sits with me and (….?) I knew I want to put them together to creat a vision of the Space. I did not care within this sequences about time order. But which one shall I take first, and then? So I started to edit Kido sleeping under the buite. Then I added everything that fitted. The result was that I edited everything about shadows together first. Then I continued with visions from the inside of the shadow. So I took everything related to it. The good thing was that I filmed from the shadow how Ankoi & Co drive out the goats out of the houses. So I put all these together. Then I looked at the rest. What was left? I saw that some things did not fit in this chapter and all the rest was about… Wind! So it came to my mind to divide what comes now into „Wind“ So the other part should be „Sun“ But the inside view of the shadow did not fit also not that the goats were not allowed to stay in the house. Its not just the shadow what the goats are looking for when they enter unviewed. So I was happy that everything was together and could be easily named „in and Outside“. I was really happy about this editing today. I shall maybe try to divide the rest of the film equally interesting!
2004-09-29
Yesterday no editing. This morning I included the tight community scene into the In- & outside part. I could have also included it into the Sun part. Anyway elements in one part could always be easily included in other parts. This sequence is included because of the context in which the rest of the film gets. There is a man telling about his fear to be beaten. And he stands in bright sunlight telling the others in the shadow. Children are disturbing him telling his story. Yesterday I looked at the beginning of „Troy“. What interests me more and more is the try of directing the emotional perception of the audience. Hollywood uses one and the same way of achieving this direction. How about documentary? Ethnographic films? How do they deal with this topic.
Evening
Tonight I edited the goats outside. About rhetoric: One gets the impression of being in an oven watching the sun comes up, the goats, the wind and hearing the sound. I should work from the beginning with the footnotes in head – now I have to look for them in all the material again. Big task.
2004-10-01
Today I made the „before Milking“ part. I put the Yendite scene inside, knowingly that it will belong also to the next (ideal milking). How should the uebergang be like. Black board or picture borad. By now the film is nearly 3 hours long and I haven’t start with the Milking yet which is meant to be the largest part. I suppose to shorten the film will take as long as shaping it.
I still have not made up my mind how to edit the milking. Can I mix events? If I say so at the beginning of it? Aargh. Everytime I decide anew. It might well be possible that the whole film will be overthrown at one point. But that is how I edit films. I hope I will not change…
2004-10-02
Today I decided to do the following: I make about three milking blocks.
1) ideal milking
2) special situations (father, nk crying)
3) chaotic milking
All my milking recordings I put into where it belongs. Yes, I don’t care about time order that much anymore. What counts now are thematic blocks. That makes the viewing much easier. What I keep on doing is not mixing the sequences within the blocks. I could do that, but I leave that for the presentation version. There I will put the best parts into one big sequence, so that the viewer might think of it as if it happened on one and the same day.
Today I edited Milking Yendite and ideal milking. The film finds its gestalt and its lengths: 3 1/2 hours. I know, that I will cut out many parts. For now I do not delete more than what I know it won’t be in the film at the end. Where I am not sure, I let it be.
2004-10-03
Today I edited 2 sequences: Milking with father and milking with sick. Plus some parts in Before milking. The last one will probably excluded in the end, but I don’t want to decide what to leave out at this point. I have a picture of the structure in my mind, but am not sure whether I will not miss some parts when I do the restructuring. Final Cut gave me a nice hint: films can only b 4 hours long. So I devided it into space & milking. My aim will be to make a film shorte then 4 hours. I just started what I should have done from the very beginning: made a footnote order where I put all sequences that should be in the appendix.
Today I again did not cut out some zooms etc in order to make the audience at some points aware of watching a film. What I do is a kind of protection of the actors, including me. I cut out Arba Nech playing with his finger in the anus of a goat. I cut out myself not understanding anything and laughing artificially. Those things. This is what makes the ethic of a filmmaker who makes films about human beings.
2004-10-04
Today I made what I never thought I could made within one day: I finished the NPK sequence. And I made it within 1 1/2 hours. It was not so much work. Really: the biggest work start when it comes to shorten the film. Now I just deleted all rapid pans and shakes.
2004-10-05
Today I made the controlling & loosing control sequence and nakwa crying for milk. I wonder now – will anyone be patient enough to watch 3 or 4 houres of milking the goats? Even my teachers… But as I always say – the cutting out still has to be made.
Tomorrow comes the chaos sequence and maybe already the sunsets etc.
This work now is really something like craftship. When comes the art? And how about the science? After making the structure I must again lean backwards for some days, read and think what I want to say and how I can say it most clearly. A good idea are headlines, which should be permantly visible. I don’t know if I can insert a timecode. But I can do this also manually.
2004-11-22
Nachdem ich meinen alten G5 zurueckgegeben habe fing das Literaturstudium an. Ich las und las ueber Konflikttheorien und das hat mir geholfen genauer zu wissen, worum es in dem Film gehen wird. Ich werde den Film nun endgueltig: Siblings in Conflict nennen und mich nur mit den Konfliktsituationen auseinandersetzten. Das verschafft mir die Moeglichkeit vielen zu kuerzen. Ivo begrenzt nun doch das Endprodukt auf maximal 2 Stunden. Ich werde noch einen zweiten Film machen der ungeschnitten veroeffentlicht werden soll – das NPK Melken, da dies wohl rausfaellt.
Morgen sol die soziale Einfuehrung dran sein. Freu mich wider aktiv am Schneideplatz zu sein.
2004-11-23
Schneiden heisst vor allem Wegschneiden. Editieren passt bei dem nicht privelligierten Schnitt (Reihenfolge der Einstellungen chronologisch) nicht, da weniger zusammengefuegt wird als Weggeschniten. Ich schneide also Sequencen und editiere sie dann zu einem Film.
Heute hab ich die sozialen Einfuehrungen geschnitten. Viel kann ich raus lassen, da es wnig mit Konflikten zu tun hat. So hoffe ich auf 2 h zu kommen.
2004-11-24
Today I managed to reduce the film a lot. In the Festival Version there will be somethings which I left out in the study version. And I plan to make another film. At the moment there are more than 4 houres of milking. After reducing I will present some of these scenes in a film about milking in Dassanetch. I am looking forward to do this too. I am again into film production and think that making films is the best one can do as a job. I am happy to have chosen so.
What did I do today? I ordered everything before milking. That seems now to be 1 hour and 45 minutes. In the end it must me less than a hour, the milking the other hour. The structure is as follows:
1. Introduction
a. space
b. space use
c. social space
d. roles
2. The playing scene
a. Modyfing rules by means of conflict
b. Confronting the deviant
3. forms of conflict
a. accidental & unseen
b. calm conflict over resources (3)
c. overt conflict over resources
d. interspecies conflict
e. physical conflict
f. gossip about conflict
2004-11-25
Today I broke one of the main rules concerning my editing style. I mix events. From 3 different days of milking I put them together so as they look as happened at one time. Why do I do that? Because I cannot present 6 or 7 different milking scenes where nearly every time the same is shown. I was thinking a lot about it. To have so many milking scenes is not possible. An alternative to edit (compose) them would be to leave a lot material out. I don’t like that I did it. But I hope that I don’t regret. Who wants to watch a film where there is written: day one, day two, day three of milking when it’s actually a film about social conflict. What I do now is the edit those scenes which show social conflicts in milking. After that I show some uninstitutinalized situation of conflict. I do not present here a objective study of milking. Another reason to make that unedited milking film. I already put the NPK into another project. Today I made a lot with the milking sequences. Tomorrow I shall finish the first cut of the standard milking conflict scenes. After tomorrow, the chaotic milking and on Sunday th end. Next week I will start again the whole film by shorten more.
2004-11-26
This morning I editited the normal milking. I constructed a filmic space and time which did not exist. I intercut Nyabbangas gull beating the ground infront of the kraal with moments inside the kraal. I put these images into relation which does not exist like this. Well it actually does exist but not narrowed like that shown in the film. I mean that I use the editing of images to talk about the space not to represent its reality. To edit like this is to modify, yes but somehow to make it more realists. A controversy not bpoosible to solve.
I finished everything. Now comes the next step. This step could be entitled the rounding up. That means to look at every sequence step by step and deleting things which do not narrate something interesting. Yes I do again what I planned not to do: to construct a filmic reality which is full of action, full of life. This film will again not representing the experience I had when being in Dassanetch. I lied down, and nothing happened. I watched the sun crossing the sky, listened to the wind but nothing exciting happened. What I do in the film is again to reduce the picture to the exciting parts of my stay. I present the highlights. The impression is not comparable of seeing it than of being there. But I want the film to be watchable. A sequence of 10 minutes where only small things happen which are not very much of interest is like a psychic terror against the watcher who has to watch it. Film is presenting highlights. One wants to enjoy watching, even anthropologists. I regret to confirm to this, but I do. I myself also would not like to watch a film where nothing happens. To read about warhols sleep is interesting and subversive – but I would never want to watch it. One still is enough. I wanted even to modify more this evening, but until now I did not do it: to mix sound and picture. This I will not do. Or?
2004-11-28
Yesterday was an unproductive day. This belongs alos to it. But this morning I have had maybe too much energy. I deleted the singing under the buite and Ankoi chasing the dog out of the house. Resaons: The first does not really fit into a film of conflict. The second: this happens again more nicely when Ankoi beats the goat out of the house. Also I did put the sequence of Nakwa tini playing cooking to the back (conflict) not anymore in the intro to social space. I wonder if I should only keep nabario on the skin & boat play in that intro. Unitil now there is also noicho and arba and a friend fighting over the bowl. These decisions is filmmaking!