Some days your job is exactly what you think you're walking into, and then there are days like this: The night before, a network executive decides he needs a 2 minute sizzle reel that encompasses every important show on the network. And he needs it for a meeting tomorrow. So you walk in just before 9am and realize your day has been cleared for just that task.
You have no assets, no script, just a music track to work from and a few hours to make the network look as good as you possibly can. Go!
The reality of production today is, expectations like this get met all the time. I can access clips about as fast as someone can describe them to me. Name a show, I'll pull up the clip. Producers know this and pretty much expect it to happen that fast. Recently I've been pondering the impact of how technology has accelerated video production. Is this a good thing? A bad thing? Has cheap, fast and digital made creativity something that is cheap, fast and disposable? Or has it always been that way? Does it matter? The truth is, I don't know. I can edit faster now than I ever have. I think less about what I'm doing because there simply isn't the luxury of time to ponder things the way we used to. Could this edit be better? Absolutely. Is it a pretty decent cut given I walked in the room with little more than a cup of coffee and a few hours later I had this? I think so. I'm sure in a few weeks, I'll be cutting a whole new reel because this one looks "dated."
