Update, August 1

Admitedly, I took a few weeks off. I practically stepped off the airplane from Miami and into my formal workday at CNN. Although I unpacked later that night, it took me a few days to start loading the video into the edit system. It took me a few weeks more to recover from my “vacation.”

My brain slowly returned to thoughts of coral reefs. The first inspiration happened with friends after an evening of ice cream and libations, when I was struck with the sudden urge to share my “vacation video.” Specifically, the underwater footage.

Fortunately, they were receptive. It was also the first time I watched my Florida camerawork on an HD screen. The little samples I posted on Vimeo were all edited on my laptop on-location. I scanned a few clips when I loaded them into the computer, but I never sat and just watched.

By the next day, I had watched and mentally relived all of my dives in wondrous HD. It compelled me to pen my memories in this journal before I forgot all the details, which in turn changed my perspective on how I had been approaching the final edit.

Simply put, I managed to convince myself in the last year that I would be able to build the new show in a modular fashion, leveraging segments from Corals of Trawangan for Putting The Pieces Together, saving myself work in the end by simply building on an established foundation. But in the final analysis, I was obviously mistaken, concluding that the best product could only be built from the ground up – albeit using recycled parts in some cases.

My record-keeping to date had not been stellar. I made a limited effort to log the first visit to Gili Trawangan, and found those files after some searching. They were dreadfully incomplete, with little description and no transcription. More of a guide than a log. I couldn’t find any logs for the second trip there – I think I didn’t bother, since so much of the follow-up was only b-roll.

The justification at the time was two-fold. Brevity (or laziness, depending upon your perspective) seemed like a reasonable path since the scope was limited to Indonesia. I thought it would be quicker in the long run to just flip through the footage while editing instead of logging it all in detail first. But the target moved, and the familiarity with the footage has aged.

So it was time to revisit all the footage. And log it.

I started earnestly in June, tackling the major interviews and transcribing down to the um, ah, and st-st-stutter. I did all the sit-down interviews first, starting with Mike, Dom and Lee so I could refresh my memory and decide how to use those great interviews. From there, it went on to cover just about all interviews to date with the exception of Zach and Delphine from Gili Trawangan. I will be doing those shortly. What I have not done at all yet is transcribe the natural discussions that exist throughout the library of nearly 2000 shots. For instance, both Tom and Ken give great information in the classroom parts of their respective workshops, and I would like to incorporate some of the non-interview sound bites into the fabric of the story.

Rather than haphazardly search for those candid moments, I decided that a meticulous approach was now required beause of both the sheer quantity of coverage I have, but also the new complexity of what I plan to tackle. This master log has detail about every single shot in the library, and is keyword searchable. It’s been two weeks of building this list so far, and I am more than halfway through at 910 logged clips so far.

Once the master list is complete, all remaining transcriptions follow. None of this includes the underwater footage, with some clips 45 minutes in length. That’s the last step.

The ultimate goal? To be able to create a paper edit first to refine the story, complete with lists of known relevant footage to draw from, and edit from there. This approach should give me that flexibility, as well as enhance the speed of actual assembly. The drawbacks? It’s taking forever and is a f*$@ing drag. But I think it will help improve the quality by accounting for every clip.

And now, other news.

First, the good news. Principal photography should conclude by the beginning of November. In my projected schedule, I will have a rough cut for festival by the end of February. That’s if I have no equipment issues for the duration.

The bad news. Kosrae will likely be my final destination for principal photography. There will be no convenient end to the documentary. The prospects of Ken and Tom working together on a joint effort in the Keys have been dashed by long-time animosities and petty personal grievances within the grant body. All politics is local, and some people want Tom to remain an outsider.

I try to keep an objective point of view on the subject matter as I follow it, but this is someplace where I wish I had a legitimate soapbox to express my disappointment that the people in the Florida Keys are willing to risk the future of their coral reefs over a bureaucrat’s personal problem. It’s not only unfortunate, but will have long-term repercussions as the health of Florida’s reefs decline. There is only so much Ken can do in the face of the long-term challenges facing these waters. And to dash potential solutions out of past personal conflict is not only pathetic, it should be considered criminal. The perpetrator should be held accountable for neglecting the people of Florida when the reefs reach, and go over, the tipping point.

This is a lesson in the underbelly of the Florida Keys ecology. It’s a story that, as a hobbyist of sorts, I don’t have the time or resources to uncover. The politics of environment is a business in Florida, one that is likely deeper and more morally bankrupt than even I suspect. That being said, there are also those who are involved for the purpose of making a positive difference, and it is my belief that the people I have worked with for my documentary are the latter.

There is still a chance for another pop down to the Keys for some b-roll, and I might have to visit Al Strong at work some time, depending on how the rough cut looks. My hope is that I can finally concentrate on post production the moment my plane touches down in Newark, NJ, after a 40-hour journey back from the middle of the Pacific.