The Bank Robbery Project
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Some of the toughest projects to edit in ministry are the ones shot by non-professionals. Often times the videos are poorly lit, improperly white balanced, shot by hand and therefore unstable, and the only audio available was captured by the tiny microphone on the front of the camera. The Bank Robbery, filmed in the Seventies, is just such a project. The grainy footage, washed out color, and unintelligible audio is used in classrooms today to test the skill and ingenuity of the editor.
To begin, I took the original timeline and change the aspect ratio from standard (4:3) to wide-screen (16:9). Next I attempted to color correct each scene. The originals were incredibly washed out and my final product displays only moderate improvement. After color correction I gutted the film and removed several unnecessary scenes, cutting the entire piece in half. From there I tossed the original soundtrack, added my own selection, and lined up the shots in accordance with the new score. Except for a few of the unintelligible shouts of one gunman, every original audio clip was removed. I then spent the remainder of my time adding environmental sounds, such as the van’s engine, the people in the bank, the screams of the tellers, the scuffle of shoes and others. The closing shot of the police was the most time consuming, as I added dozens of layers of radio chatter, sirens, city traffic, engine noise, and even a helicopter circling above.
While many condemn this as an impossible endeavor, I consider the project a great learning experience. I still don’t feel adequately represented by this piece, even with the work I put into it, but in the end, this is the true nature of ministry editing. It is here that Christian editors must take what is given to them, no matter how dreadful it may seem, and turn it into a masterpiece.