Last night I was inspired to cut together a short using some stock footage of Buffalo that I shot last summer. I used the opportunity to use the short as a lesson in structure. I find that a lot of shorts are very frantic, perhaps it’s this new age of youtube media and if you don’t engage the viewers attention in seven-seconds you’ve failed as an editor. As I hone my vision and technique, I forced myself to be patient with this short and let the image speak for itself. It seems like a very easy concept, but a simple search on the internet shows us several examples of decent video masked behind trendy music or intense motion graphics. All of those examples are fine, if that’s the point. But more and more we find that more video’s are using these to attract hits and views, instead of critical analysis. I fully expect a portion of the audience to not enjoy my work, but I also expect that the percentage that don’t be able to tell me why. An opinion holds no bearing if the only reason they dislike my work is because it lacks in motion graphics or intense music that is also embedded in three hundred other videos online.

Editing is a discipline. As an editor, if I am not disciplined then my work will be overshadowed by the tricks I implement to attract views. I think it’s something we should thing about before we start editing. There’s nothing wrong with motion graphics or a solid music bed, there’s a time and place. There is something wrong with the abuse of these tools, especially to garner fame.

On that note, ‘Buffalo’ is a simple 3-minute short, demonstrating the elegance of the city I love. Enjoy, and if not, let me know why.

Buffalo from Nathan Benson on Vimeo.

Tags: Buffalo, Editing, Final Cut, Theory