One of the things I found most interesting about the Susan Phillips reading was the idea of collaboration and how people came to a consensus when it ultimately came to editing the videos and how that affected the overall outcome of the videos. It was written that oftentimes, the person who ended up making the call on how or if it was edited or edited in a certain way was the person who actually had their hands on the editing equipment. I’d like to have learned a little bit more about the hierarchy of the group and how that affected these types of decisions. If all of these people had equal say, then when it comes to decisions like this, decisions about editing, sound, camera angles, the questions to ask the interviewees and all of those other things would be completely chaotic and the central theme could be either lost or not done as effectively as it could have been done. This obviously then comes into the idea of how polished should this video look and how that look affects the effectiveness of the video.
I also thought it was really interesting that the video for the Nile Swim Club in Yeadon had a narrator who actually referred to the swim club as a “we” which sort of gave the video a feeling that they were desperately needing to be financially saved (which they were). It was also a little weird about when they were talking about all of the people who were running the pool and that things were more or less mismanaged. They didn’t go into a whole lot of that, which again, brings me back to how they came up with the idea of what to put in and what to leave out. Meanwhile, the video about the fraternity house was carried by the interviews (there was no narrator) and it seemed professional for the most part, with the exception of some of the outside shots where people were trying to talk over the sound of the nearby traffic.
I also found it interesting how to collaborate when making a video, and having worked as an editor before it’s so true that’s ultimately it’s the editor’s call. But sometimes, specially when we made community related pieces, we had some of the interviewees tell us to why we edited out some of the stuff she said that was important. So, do you think in transmedia the interviewees should as well have a call in the collaboration process?
your article not only raises important questions about the decision-making dynamics in collaborative video production but also demonstrates a thoughtful examination of narrative elements and their impact on the viewer’s experience. Your engagement with the material showcases a keen eye for detail and an appreciation for the complexities inherent in the storytelling process. Great job!