Swing Me Like High Altitude Beef

Our third assignment for this class was an experimental film built around a random phrase blindly selected from a book. My group won the excellent scaffold of “swing me like high altitude beef” by dint of our director’s fine weirdness-detecting prowess while blindfolded. I was excited by this material and I was doubly excited because I was in charge of editing and filming for this piece. The first weekend after getting the assignment, I hit the road to Asheville where I filmed mountainous scenes of great jocularity featuring a few willing family members and an odd plush cow we dubbed “Chlorissa.” Editing was its own unique undertaking. I went over a basic structure with my director and she secured me some found footage and videos of meat. Using primarily superimpositions and toggling speed, I nevertheless learned a great deal editing such an intensive piece. I loved doing it, but I’m not satisfied with the final project; in this case, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. This was just a taste of things to come and I’m excited to explore what more I am capable of as an editor. There is so much more (even just in Premiere) to learn. Later today, we will see how the visual elements I created mesh with the sound design that our producer and sound mixer created separately. I hope they go well together; it's exciting to have it be such a mystery.