Season 2 of Art by Northwest
This Art by Northwest episode about sculptor Io Palmer is already among my favorite episodes of any series I’ve edited since starting work at Cascade PBS five years ago. Not just for the thoughtful storytelling from our host Brangien Davis and producer Brianna Dorn and the beautiful images from our superstar videography team, Skyler Ballard and Bryce Yukio Adolphson; but also because of Io’s vulnerability, compassion and reverence she has for the art-making process and because my editing process is so similar to Io’s.
Palmer creates 3D sculptures called “bundles” that are made of “extensions”: a collection of brightly colored, ceramic shapes that she uses to compose her sculptures. She describes this creative process as a kind of "visual jazz,” arranging the different objects into compositions that feel improvised and alive.
I have often said that editing video is as close to making jazz as I’ll ever get. The “bundles” that I use to compose an episode draw from Brangien’s compassionate interviews and her unique voice over; Brianna’s elegant storytelling direction and music choices and, of course, Bryce’s and Skyler’s amazing videography.
After Brianna, Brangien and Executive Producer Sarah Menzies and I pare down the interview and voice over narration so that it’s under our limit of 8.5 min., I usually spend a day or two lifting out my favorite “extensions” of b-roll and music cues from Brianna’s selected tracks as I begin to stitch the storytelling together.
This process isn’t always easy. We are almost always frustrated with our time limitation of 8.5 min. Disagreements will come up about what to cut and what to keep. I always want more time to dig for hidden b-roll gems. I’ll often work on editing a piece of music - trying to bend it so that it supports the storytelling and then, sometimes hours later, I’ll have to admit to myself that it just isn’t working and I’ll bail on it which feels like wasted time.
But it’s not.
Because that is what makes the creative process magical and human: pushing through the hard parts until suddenly you’re at the end and you think “Hey! That turned out pretty great!” And then you pray for people to actually watch it and, just maybe, they’re captivated by the beauty of the artwork and inspired to create something of their own.
More episodes I edited from this season of Art by Northwest…