Interviewee: Kylee Wall, BCM, Editor / Interviewer: Nicole S Wright, BCM, Marketing & Sales
Biscardi Creative Media recently celebrated with Environment News Trust on the completion and wrap-up of Season 3 of “This American Land”, an original conservation series on public television stations nationwide. The series delivers engaging stories on America’s landscapes, waters and wildlife – and takes viewers to the front lines of conservation, science and outdoor adventure.
Kylee served as the designated editor at BCM for the project and I have to say, the newest addition to our BCM team rocked it! I found Kylee finally coming up for air this week and thought – this is the perfect time to bombard her with questions about her experience editing a broadcast project.
See our interview below. And then scan to the bottom to see Kylee’s photo-op… let’s just say the effects of 3-4 cups of coffee a day for the last few months may be beginning to show!
{View official news release and season three photos HERE}
Was this your first time working on a series?
Yes, my main focus previously was corporate and web-based work with a couple indie films and DVD projects.
How was this experience different from previous projects?
Honestly, it was more stressful. I’m pretty anxious by nature (thanks, coffee) and not having past experience editing a series to draw on was a hit to the confidence. A lot more detail goes into broadcast projects. PBS has very specific requirements and you have to take great care to ensure the projects you deliver them meet those specifications. On the web, anything goes. Not so for television — quality television, anyway.
What editorial tools did you use?
Adobe Premiere Pro CC and After Effects CC mostly.
What post production aspects were encompassed in this project – that you were responsible for?
I was responsible for offline editing, which involved crafting the story itself, and also online editing because some segments were brought in from outside editors. Outside of the stories themselves, show assembly included host stand-ups, introductions and teases for each episode — all the stuff in between each segment was all on me. I did the graphics throughout the show including the series’ main title graphic which needed an update. I also did rough mixes of audio for producers and voiceover work with former CNN anchor Bobbie Battista.
How did you work with producers?
I sometimes physically worked alongside producers to craft the stories and other times our collaboration was done remotely. Sometimes I had a script to work from, and sometimes nothing at all.
What was your favorite story in Season 3?
Most of the stories on this season were about people dedicated to preserving wild lands. One of my favorite stories was working with Producer Bruce Burkhardt on a piece that showcased a group in West Virginia working to designate a national monument in the Monongahela National Forest. It was beautifully shot and highlighted a really interesting part of the country where 7 rivers begin in the mountains.
What learning lesson has come out of this experience?
Don’t assume anything about anything. Always check your work and ask questions for clarification.
What was your favorite thing to do?
I really enjoyed working on the unscripted stories that were somewhat of a new concept for the season. I loved getting a lot of footage and a rough outline of the intended message and then given free reign to do my own thing and craft a story out of what I was given. In fact, doing just that for one of the stories landed me my first producer credit!
Walter Biscardi is known for his industry insight. How was it having him as a resource?
I learned a lot from Walter that helped with this project, but a lot of the lessons are going to help me with every project I work on moving forward as well. He taught me about broadcast specifications, preparing timelines for sound and color, laying projects to tape and the difference between an insert edit and assemble edit. . . they’re different! Other than some dubs as an intern, these are the first tape deliveries I’ve ever done in my life, and I can’t say that I’m a fan… but you can’t love everything I guess!
Would you like to continue with broadcast?
Working in broadcast is a lot more complicated but I like it a lot and definitely want to continue working on these kinds of projects. This project helped me to learn a lot more about the nitty-gritty: field order and how to up-convert media for delivery, stuff like that I never really had to worry about before. Overall, it was interesting to learn directly from Walter after having done so online for so long. He was patient and I appreciate him trusting me with a television show within days of hiring me, when I had no such credits before!
That’s right you started on this project soon after joining Biscardi Creative. How was that?
It was an experience. I moved to Georgia on Thursday and started working on the show on Monday. On an unscripted story with no notes! And I got super sick too! I have to say that “hit the ground running” fully applied to me that week. But I survived and I think I did okay.
Any additional thoughts or comments?
This was a unique project for me not just because it was broadcast but also because of the structure. An episode is made up of multiple stories. I had to craft each story and then bring the stories together to create a full episode that was engaging and compelling. It was important to regularly keep the larger message and goal in mind. Other than films and stuff, my daily work has been very short — 30 seconds, maybe 5 minutes. Duration never really mattered much. But working on a show and telling these stories in just 26 minutes 46 seconds and not a frame more — that was actually really fun. I love constraint as a conduit for creativity, and you don’t get much more constrained than “if you go over this time we just won’t show it, the end.”
BISCARDI CREATIVE MEDIA is a full service digital media production company near Atlanta, Georgia with services that include Video Production, Sound Production, Sound Mixing, Graphic Design, Animation, Post Production, Video Editing, Color Grading, Finishing, Digital Asset Transfer, Digitizing and Archiving. Quite simply we’re the people who make video and media production easy for you. No technobabble. Just clear, concise and creative content delivered where and how you need it, on time and on budget. Office and production space is also available for short and long term projects. www.biscardicreative.com