Manually Yours
I’ve never learnt how to use Video Editing programs in my life. Whatever I know about these were gleaned off Windows Movie Maker and Powerpoint. Yes. Powerpoint. I knew what transitions in videos were because I learnt about slide transitions in Powerpoint.
So I was surprised when I was asked to create a Video Editing manual from scratch. I told them that I knew nothing about it. But they asked me to learn. So I said ok. Who knows…it may be helpful one day.
The problem is that I don’t have the software. However, that’s quickly resolved by downloading the trial version. I also looked up the Internet for some resources on training for this particular software. I don’t think that’s enough, so I’ll probably go down the library to find out more about it.
Just thinking about video editing reminds me of this weird uncle-in-law of mine. He’s one of those "empty vessels makes the most noise" kind of people. Talks a whole lot. Brags a whole lot. So how does he tie in to this entry?
Well…he likes to take videos of special occasions such as weddings or engagements. Round about five years ago, he made a big fuss about wanting to take photos of my (back then) girlfriend during our engagement. He told her not to waste money on professional photographers. He said that he could do an even better job than them. Plus…it would be free! An engagement gift from an uncle to his niece.
The photos never came. Fast forward about two years later to our wedding preparations. We decided NOT to have him as our photographer or our videoman. We booked our own photographer and videoman at a wedding exhibition. I told my wife to tell her uncle "Tell him that I insisted on having my own videographer and photographer. It was MY decision, not yours".
I was right. He did kick up a big fuss. He told her that we’re wasting money unnecessarily. But since he could not do anything about me as I’m not part of his family, he couldn’t stop me from getting what I wanted. However, he insisted on recording our wedding and that his video would be superior to the one I paid for.
The video I paid for came in one week after we wed. Everybody enjoyed it. In fact, I just watched it again with my younger brother, who came to watch it with his fiancee last week.
What about my uncle-in-law’s video then? That superior video? The one that’s free? Well…three years have passed since my wedding. I have a fully furnished house. I have an 11 month old daughter. But the video’s still not completed yet.
Yes its not completed. In fact, I don’t even think that he’s started! Two Hari Rayas ago, when we came to his house, he brought us all to see splices of the video that he was working on. I didn’t see a work-in-action project file. I didn’t see video clips being put together. I didn’t see transitions. There were no transitions! All I saw were a folder, with all the different files. He’d double-click on one file and we’d see one short clip. Then he’d show us another file and we’d see yet another clip. He told us that he almost completed it. Almost. That was two years ago.
I’m not a fool. Maybe he could fool his own brother (my father-in-law) and sister-in-law (my mother-in-law), but I know the difference between a project file and separate video clips. The only thing that stopped me from pointing it out was that I was still new to the family. I told my wife about it when we went home. She wasn’t surprised. Back then…two years ago, she was still waiting for her engagement photos. She told me not to expect anything from this uncle of hers.
And so she was right. No free, superior video. He bragged to my own aunties, uncles and my parents that he had captured lots of videos of my side of the family. They waited until they probably forgot about that promise.
The worst thing is that…this is not the first time that he’s done this. He’d do something and lose interest. Then he’d go scooting off to do something new that caught his eye. In the end nothing gets done.
Some of my wife’s uncles and aunties, who already have two, three children are STILL waiting for their videos. I wonder if this uncle-in-law of mine still has these clips which were probably done over ten years ago. The sad thing was that some of them didn’t get other videomen for their weddings because they trusted their own brother. Memories gone in smoke just like that.
Thank God for MY videoman. Maybe I should contact him and ask him for tips on creating this manual that I’m supposed to be doing…