Ten Days until the Film is Due!

Patrick and I have been sitting down in three hour periods, sifting through the footage, and attempting to place it in (roughly) the most logical order. The folks that I interviewed said a lot of really wonderful and interesting things, so it feels somewhat of a daunting task to imagine breaking down what was originally four hours (and is now two hours), into ten-to-seventeen minutes of film.

A rough outline of what the movie is going to include:
- what does it mean to be Jewish?
- what does it mean to be Jewish specifically in Maine?
- and what draws folks to being Jewish in Maine?

Through the interviews, we uncovered some very specific drawbacks to living in Maine as a Jew, some positive aspects and uniqueness to living in Maine as a Jew, general ideas about what it means to be Jewish, some wicked cute answers from kids, and some lovely footage of peoples' various pets. Though somewhat tedious to watch the same footage over and over, it is exciting to make connections between what different people have said, and to place the clips into an overall more-encompassing narrative about what it means to be Jewish in Maine. 

Editing Underway!

So far editing has consisted of sitting down, probably with cups of tea, and watching through the hours of footage. Patrick (my co-editor) and I spent a couple hours last night watching through the Levey interviews and a handful of others. So if you were one of my interviewees, I've likely been watching your face (in footage-form) a whole bunch over the past couple of days.

Once we're done watching through the interviews, Patrick and I are going to compare notes (we've been taking notes while we watch; paying attention to things like overarching themes and well-expressed sentiments and funny and/or touching moments). It has been nice to have another pair of eyes watching the same footage and likely seeing things differently from what I see. I am confident that our collaboration is going to elicit interesting results, at least! It's also very helpful that Patrick's background in Judaism is limited; that means that he provides a perspective as someone who may not as readily pick-up on specific references. So whereas my exposure to Judaism might cause me to assume something to be common knowledge, he can point out that the same something might require more explanation.

The editing process has been a bit more tiring than I anticipated, but it has also been quite fun to watch through the footage and to make connections between different folks and their perspectives and experiences. I'm excited to see where things go!

Thank you all for reading, and I'll update you soon as the editing process continues! Happy almost Chanukah, too!