Editing in times of corona

Finding a concept

We were one of the first groups to start filming our project, we wanted to take our time and be able to edit it carefully and have a strong concept. It took us quite some time to agree on the concept, and it was a very interesting process. At one point, we realised that we never discussed, as a group, what was our opinion about the main conflict present in the movie, is tattoo art or not? After having very interesting discussions about it, we managed to come up with the concept we want to show. It seems like the ever-on going discussion of what is art is just as present in the tattoo world as it is anywhere else, but with a few differences. The main difference, of course, is that it is part of someone’s body and implies a much more intimate relationship between artist/client than perhaps any other form of art. It also differs because it is always a collaborative process, the client has as much of a say on the outcome as the artist, which can create conflict. What we also realised during the filming process, is that clients and artists do not always agree on that point, some clients even reported seeing it as a mere accessory, while admitting that the artist would be upset if they heard them say that. Having all these conflicts in mind, we realised that it would make a good movie to show that, and to show how divided this world is. On the one hand, there are tattooers that tend to adopt a very purist point of view, ‘only professionally trained artists can make art’. Others, say that anything made by a tattoo artist is art. While others stay on the fence, some tattoo is art, some isn’t.

We ultimately agreed on presenting this movie as a dialogue. There is no correct answer. This debate will continue on and our goal is to show where it stands now, in Budapest, with some of the most successful artists in the city.

Editing

Since we started filming early, we could all edit together for 3 days. During this time, we would sit in separate computers and each one of us would tackle one interview or one case. We would watch it and divided it by theme, by occasion, or whatever else made sense. Renaming it and cutting out the useless parts, while understanding what it is that we had, and how we could use it. This was extremely useful and I believe it is one of the reasons why we are able to continue the editing process online. We are all familiar with the material and on the same page about what we want to show.

Our skillset is varied, some of us were more familiar with editing tools, while others were a bit less. Because we managed to sit together on at least 3 occasions, we helped each other and got more familiar with the tools. Unfortunately, while we were on our last day of real life editing, we got the news that the university would close due to the outbreak of the corona virus. I remember just sitting there, in the Media Lab, not really grasping what that meant for our lives, our futures and, of course, our projects.

Online editing

Luckily, we had already shot everything, as I mentioned before, so it was just a matter of editing. Unfortunately, only of us was allowed to get Premiere on their laptops and edit the material, and the rest of us is responsible for the remaining things, such as the synopsis. Lilly was the chosen one for the editing task because she has had previous experience with it.

It is hard and unfair that only one person is in charge of something that should be split by 3. We agreed, of course, that she would send us regular updates and ask for our feedback. This has been going very well so far and I attribute that to a couple of reasons. First of all, because we have talked so much about this project, invested so much time and effort, and lengthily debated the concept, that we understand and trust each other. There is no power struggle or desire to overcome someone else’s opinion, we are on the same page, and we fully trust what the other person is doing. Another reason is that this is such a strange unforeseen situation that we’re living in, that the last thing we want is more stress. We want the process to be enjoyable to all of us. As long as Lilly is having fun and enjoying herself while she does it, we will go on, if this changes for any reason, we will find another solution.

One thing I would comment on, however, is the fact that it does feel very bad to not be the person editing, and to not be able to fully support your group members in the project. We started this together, and we planned on going through with all of it together. But alas, this is where we find ourselves, and, hopefully, something good will come out of it.