I have always had an interest in film; so much so that I was considering to take Film as an IBDP course instead of Computer Science. My interest in editing started around middle school where due to group projects I volunteered to edit a simple video. Knowing very little about it, I enjoyed the editing process extremely. While people may think it slightly tedious, editing and cutting clips frame by frame, I enjoy it; similar to how people enjoy coloring, cooking or jogging – I guess it is because it takes my mind somewhere else and I get sucked into editing the clips. From then on, whenever an opportunity to edit a film arose, I took it.
I think I can trace back when I was first released into the world of film editing to fifth grade. Our teacher had a film editing activity – practically the whole mentor class joined – that consisted of recording a music video (ours was Single Ladies) and editing it. That was probably the first time I learned how to edit and fool around, not only in regards to film but also photo and the cradle of digital art. In middle school, I had a teacher who was passionate about photography and would usually take us out to shoot some pictures of flowers or what not. It turns out, I did not have an eye for photography.
I thoroughly was invested in fine art though. I loved color and precision when sketching. I thought my forte was in realism and I would practice as a priest prays. Reflecting upon it now, it most definitely seems my close attention to detail and my slight sense of perfectionism stems from that period. At my height, I remember noticing the slightest lines and angles on faces, and the curves of the chin and the brow of the nose, as if I was trying to borrow these outlines or commit them to memory so I could recreate it on faded paper later. My hand would twitch and I would practice on the margins while staring, often drawing glances; I feel I am overly conscious of that now.
It seemed I most liked patterns and curves; I noticed how the wrist sweeps creating the curls on the hair, or how the finger drawls across the page creating smooth and gentle petals. Creating curves is such a deft skill learned only from experience – I could always relate it to dancing. Whenever I found inspiration, it could be from a peach sky or a picture in a magazine, I loved getting pen to paper and unleashing my tension. Buying watercolor and brushes, I would get even more excited.
While choosing subjects for IGCSE, I chose Graphic Design over Fine Art. I reasoned how much I enjoyed looking at Graphic Design and eventually the practicality won over me. The utility gained from learning a new skill was more impactful to me, and I can honestly say that I do not regret taking Design instead of Fine Art now as it has helped me so much. The looseness of my fingers has slightly stiffened and I never paint anymore. The only curves I create now are with cursors and clicks, using the technology curated by elegant algorithms.
Graduating from iMovie, I moved on to Premiere Pro: the equivalent of moving from using an abacus to a scientific calculator. Lolloping from film editing projects to projects, I never lost my interest in film. I could never continue to edit my own film on my own time as I never had any on hand. Despite craving film to edit, I did not enjoy filming much, similar to my distaste of photography – all which I find ironic. After a dry spell, I fell into the comfortable and familiar routine of cutting and trimming when the opportunity of editing our mentor video fell into my lap. Editing the video brought back all the memories and thoughts of wanting to pursue this as a hobby outside of school.
