First Three Months

In-Depth

First Three Months

Published by

Stella S

on

November 1, 2024

August 1st – November 1st, 2024:

Shot on Canon Powershot

November 1, 2024

It started as a joke during my freshman year Audio Video Tech and Film class. My team started on our first video and when we were filling out pre-production papers, I put my name down as the producer. We took about three months on that video, it was an ad for our school’s media center… We were still learning. Regardless, I was our producer for every other video we worked on, too.

I never would’ve thought that I’d end up producing the entire show. Over the past three months, I’ve worked alongside my co-producer, Julia, to produce eight episodes (and counting) of Knight View. There have definitely been some serious bumps in the road, but we do our best to find ways to work around them. The biggest bump we’ve encountered is consistency, but we’re working on that. I have to learn to step back and understand that some things are out of my control.

There have been weeks where I’m up past 1:00 am, and I still have to make last-minute re-edits on that week’s episode the next day. But there have also been weeks when I get it right first try. My adviser told me that my first edit was the best first edit he’s seen. That essentially lit a fire under me and that’s when I started caring more than I probably should. I find the work I do to be extremely rewarding. Although the lack of sleep clouds my judgment some weeks, I’m proud of what I do.

If a year ago you told me I’d be editing the show, I’d probably run in the other direction. I used to hate editing more than anything. I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite thing, but I can confidently say that I don’t hate it anymore.

I can say that my favorite part is my team. That same team from three years ago has grown a little. We’ve come up with new stupid jokes, such as “ca-caw ca-caw” and the Apple store monkey. We still laugh together, we still work together, and we’re still able to be a shoulder for one another.

We took a break in September. Although it was frustrating, I needed the break then more than ever. September was a really hard month for me. Those two weeks off, the patience and compassion my team showed me meant more to me than I ever expressed. It reminded me that I don’t have to do it alone. Despite the fact the show was on a bit of a pause, I felt overwhelmed and frustrated. My team knew that, and we spent a few class periods sitting in the studio and we just talked. They let me lean on them.

I’m truly grateful to have the opportunity, support, knowledge, and assets to be able to do what I do. Although sometimes it may not seem that way, I am. The frustration, the stress, the time crunches, and the late nights in the studio are all parts of it. I love the chaos of it all. I love it when it’s peaceful, too. The sense of accomplishment every Friday overwhelms all of it. The little black hard drive that says “STELLA” on it now has my biggest pride on it.

I hope that after these first three months, the road will begin to smooth out a little bit. Regardless, I know there will still be bumps. As I was told over the summer in D.C., you just have to learn to roll with the punches.