To the end of 30 minutes.

I am disappointed in myself. Not in my documentary, not in the material I have collected but rather in myself. This disappointment stems from missing out on the smaller things that could add to and make this documentary even better than it is currently. Let me explain where I am currently regarding ‘Women in Uniform’.

My script looking like a worn out soldier.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday saw me picking up my freshly printed paper edit and using it as a map- a guide through the experiences and stories of Karabo, Windvogel, Morodi, Zuma and Bikitsha.  Thank goodness almost 80% of my content was transcribed and I had thought of ‘future Nadia’ when putting together my paper edit! I found it quite easy to track down the individual clips in the mass of audio and that made the process go slightly faster. I quite enjoyed this process as I was keen to sit down and listen to what Karabo had to say about her day in the fire department, or what Morodi had to say about her love of being in the military. It was a good feeling being able to see and hear these different aspects come together in the program Adobe Audition 1.5, as opposed to seeing it only in my paper edit.

Saturday saw me laughing a few times and calling those around me to come and take a listen to what Karabo had to say about her fire suit being ‘supposedly’ fire resistant. I hadn’t realised how attached to this young fire fighter I had actually become. I was so happy to hear all of their voices, hear their mannerisms and see them saying all of this in my head. This part of the process made me feel like a real journalist as opposed to my usual role of a producer who facilitates the activities around me. Cutting clips, saving them and placing them in the order set out by my paper edit gave me a sense of pride in my work which I haven’t felt in a long time. This project felt like I was presenting the women with a platform to talk about issues that don’t get spoken about often enough. I was opening up the discussion though! Doing this through their daily experiences, through their stories as opposed to a sensationalist and explosive piece about the 6^th South African Infantry Battalion. 

A little snooze over the ever-changing documentary script.

Sunday. I was losing steam. At least this was one day of the week that I got to sleep in, have a cup of coffee and savour the crumpets my digsmate had made. Then I missioned to the Journalism Department- ready to record my narration and ‘klap’ everything together. Finally, all the tiny clips were coming together to look like a decent whole. The narration was in, the clips were in and I was editing and saving like a pro. Little celebrations were going off in my head. 

And then in hit me like a bad smell. My documentary was not 30 minutes long. It was 23 minutes. I was crushed. What to do? What to do? Should I continue my doccie and hunt down “filler” material from all my interviews? Should I just mix it down and call it complete at 23 mins? No. I will not compromise this collage of stories; important stories from Karabo, Windvogel, Morodi, Zuma and Bikitsha’s lives as women in uniform. I will not compromise my professionalism as a media practitioner. Yes, I have missed my deadline, and yes that makes me mad at myself, but I would rather follow through with this, to the end. To the end of 30 Minutes. 

So dear reader, there will be one more blog post when the documentary is complete. I hope you will stick around with me long enough to read it and to hear the final product because that’s why I do what I do; to not only create great journalism, but to get people like you to listen to and appreciate it. 

Yours in documentary making, 

Nadia :)