making the cut

I had been putting together an AVP for our wedding.

It really is my wedding gift to my future husband.  It is my narration of our story and maybe a reminder of how far we had come.

He knows that I am up to something because knowing how consumed I get with projects there is no way my being lost for hours thinking, re-thinking, testing, implementing, re-assessing would go unnoticed.

I applied best practices to this initiative.

My purpose had always been clear, so the logical next step was to outline my story telling approach.

I sorted through all the material that I had and created a maybe bucket to which I copied those I intended to include.  I also logically grouped the material to help me as I put it all together.

I had to learn editing on the fly too!  This must seem especially daunting to some people, but really there are tool available that are quite intuitive so I didn't struggle too much.  (I am still learning new things as I go along!)

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Key Word:  Iteration

I had to revisit my approach after seeing the material that I had.

At some point, I change my approach on specific areas because it felt like the natural flow of things.

I re-reviewed material I initially dismissed and found some of my now favourites.

I edited out material I initially marked as must use.

I completely took out one segment that was sticking out.

I gained a better assessment of what were truly important after seeing the big picture.

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The last phase of the project, I feel is the toughest one for reasons I can't say without compromising the secrecy of the content.

That is where I am at the moment and while it is not for a few weeks till I get through it, the day I finalise it, is for me, a lonely day as I know in my heart that I'd miss scouting songs, playing clips in my head, timing displays and smiling to myself imagining the moment my someone watches it for the first time.