EDITING
Of course, the largest obstacle to overcome now is the actual editing process. At this point, I have over 50 hours of observational footage from the eight and a half months leading up to the ball, but I still need supplemental material.
Additional research
Although I’ve done a lot of research to teach myself about debutantes, I need to find resources that can be used in the film to help teach my audience about debutantes. This means seeking out archival photos and film footage and finding the right people to interview.
Interviews, lots of interviews
I’m hoping to set up interviews with a number of people in the next few months including, but not limited to the Cary mayor, past Cary Debs, NC state debutantes (young and old), college admissions staff, high school counselors, a sociologist, a historian, and others. I’m also hoping to do some more interviews with some of the debs to get some more information: see how they feel now that the ball is all done, find out where they are going to college, etc.
Basically, I have four months to finish this film in order to graduate on time in early May. Sometime in February there will be a go-or-no-go moment where I have to decide if I can get it done by the end of April (I have to turn in the film a few weeks before graduation). If not, there are two options. The first is to finish a shorter version of the film to turn in for my thesis project and then complete a longer version to use for festivals and marketing purposes. But, if the film just isn’t ready by then, I’ll hold off graduating until August.
Now that the majority of the shooting is complete, it’s become clear to me that the film will most likely longer than I originally predicted. At the moment, I think the film will be about an hour long, but I’ll know more when I get more into the editing process.
