Final cut is complete

A day ahead of schedule, I think I can safely say that the final cut is complete. The final running time clocks in at exactly 23:57, over a minute shorter than the rough cut. Essentially I trimmed a few scenes that needed some trimming and reduced the length of the into montage which I feel makes the whole thing seem much tighter. I reordered a few things, and re-recorded the voiceovers. I felt the original ones seemed a little bit too much like they were being read off a script (which they were.) The new ones are a bit more conversational and flow better.

I feel like I could keep tweaking and tweaking a million things and regardless of how many times I did it I would still think of things that could maybe be tweaked a little more. I'm very proud of what I have produced, and I think the work I put into this definitely shows through in the final product. I realize it is not a perfect documentary, but I think for my first time through without having any prior experience in the process it is pretty darn impressive. There are many things I wish I could change or go back and do differently, but like I've said in previous entries, this was a learning experience for me. On the same note, while I wish I could change some things, I wouldn't trade my final outcome for anything. It is almost exactly as I had envisioned it from the very beginning, and it fills me with a sense of satisfaction to finally be able to say it's complete. I won't be able to fully put it to rest and reflect until after the showing on campus, and after the private showing with Adele. But for now, I am throwing caution to the wind and letting the chips fall where they may, and come Wednesday I will be turning in the final cut.

Keep an eye out for the latest issue of The Slate. There should be an article about the showing somewhere in there.