When we begin an edit, we start by screening the footage, identifying patterns, and organizing the patterns into “buckets.” Once the unusable footage is discarded and the useable footage has been organized, we begin to structure our story. On larger projects where we are working with hours upon hours of footage this can be a challenge.
Our solution? Whiteboarding. Whiteboarding is the creative session where we organize the disparate elements of a story into a cohesive roadmap for the video.
This can be one of the most challenging, enjoyable, collaborative parts of the process if done with a strong creative team and open communication. The beautiful thing about whiteboarding is that there is no need to be organized or systematic. The ability to quickly write, draw, erase, and revise allows you to start throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. Without it, it is difficult to keep track of your thought processes. The mere visual reference it provides is at the heart of a whiteboarding session.
This picture is of the aftermath of a particular whiteboarding session we did for our edit of Collier Senior Resources. While most of it is hard to read or understand without any context or having been in the room — you may be able to see that we did come up with a structure.
We decided to start by identifying the primary issue: isolation. Next we would dive into three of the issues that stem from isolation and their solutions; socialization, providing food, and financial aid. Then, we wanted to explain how seniors can register with CSR to benefit from their services. Lastly, we have our “ask,” which is directed towards those who are interested in getting involved and supporting CSR. Finally, our closing moment was of a group song we captured (completely unplanned) called “besame mucho.”
And yes… that is a doodle of Homer Simpson.