What is a dream, if one doesn’t pursue it? How much is it really worth if one doesn’t overcome their obstacles?

Film editing wasn’t something I EVER thought was a talent of mine. I was always engulfed in entertainment in some way, stage plays, and films.  After deciding to get my Master’s in Media Arts I began studying film editing.  My first production class involved us coming up with a story, writing it, shooting it, and editing it.  I did not have a CLUE as to what I was doing.

After watching my project, my adviser at the time, Larry Banks, turned to me and looked at me for a second.  I thought I was in trouble, I will never forget that moment.  He then said, “Have you ever edited before?”  I told him, “No this is my first time doing anything like this.”  He proceeded to say, “you have an eye for this, and you definitely should hone your craft because not everyone can do what you did there first time.”  It felt so great hearing that, immediately I knew I found my gift.

I continued to take more production courses in order to perfect my craft.  Towards the end of the program a thesis had to be completed in order to graduate.  This was a big challenge for me.  The thesis was compiled of two parts, a 15-page paper and a short film.  I have always had a fascination with dreams, and so I decided to do my paper on dreams and my film was called Dream Away.  I had to write, direct, and edit my project.  As I was putting the finishing touches to my film project, which was saved on a hard drive I kept at home, my house was robbed.  This was in January 2009.  I lost everything. All that hard work was gone.  They stole my hard drive with my film project, my Mac desktop, and other personal items.  I was devastated, heart-broken, and felt betrayed.  I came home to a ravished bedroom; bed turned upside down, draws pulled open with clothes strewn about and my hard drive and Mac gone.

I didn’t know what to do, the only good thing threw out this whole ordeal was that I still had my mini DV tapes of the footage I shot.  After some time, I attempted to do the project again; I bought a new hard drive.  During this time I decided to move out because I was having terrible dreams while living in the room that was had strangers in it robbing me of what I worked so hard for.  Ironic isn’t it.  One of the dreams I remember vividly, I was leaving a party and for some reason my car was in a dark parking lot, the only light shining was the one over my car.  I started being chased by three men; I couldn’t see their faces.  I ended up running to my car, which seemed so far even though it was across the street.  I noticed that my car was broken into, the men for some reason was there but it’s like they were just watching me, they didn’t do anything.  The windows on my bar was broken all of them.  In my dream I remembered putting my hard drive with my project in the trunk, I immediately popped the trunk and has a sense of relief, it was there safe and sound.  I jumped out of my sleep and started crying, I wished I had kept my hard drive in the trunk, and then I would of still had it.

I moved into my new apartment in February of 2009.  Once in my new place I didn’t feel comfortable leaving my hard drive in my apartment.  I kept it in my trunk; I thought it would be safe there because it was safe in my dream.  After 2 months of living in my new place, my car was broken into.  I was leaving out early for work, I walked up to my car and I couldn’t believe it, my first thought was, CHECK THE TRUNK.  I immediately opened my car, and popped the trunk.  To my surprise, my project was gone, again.  I started crying, and this time they also got the mini DV tapes.  All of my hard work gone, again.  All my time, and money invested gone, again.  The sadness I felt about not completing school and getting my Master’s, there again.  I thought my project was safe because my dream was so real, like it spoke to me.

A long time passed and I was at the point of giving up.  My adviser said he’s never heard of anything like this happening to anyone and wasn’t sure what I could do.  The thought of starting over again was disturbing.  After some time I remembered about the VHS tapes that I had.  One thing we learned was to dub our mini DV’s to VHS so that you won’t lose quality when looking for good scenes to edit.   The only negative was that when you dub from VHS to mini DV you lose quality, audio and color.

I became depressed, but then thought I can’t let my actors down, I couldn’t let myself down.  I decided to give it one more round, bad quality and all.  I finished my paper and began working on the film again.  I purchased another hard drive and spent a lot of time in the editing room.  The great thing is because I edited the film so much I knew what to do with my eyes closed, and honestly the third time it came out GREAT.  The quality actually wasn’t as bad as I thought.

In May 2010, I had my paper completed and my film ready for screening.  I stood in front of my peers, my advisers, and the chair of the Media Arts department, Larry Banks.  He taught me all I know about editing.

I proudly delivered my thesis and showed my film.  The story behind it provoked tears from my advisers and peers, because most of them lived the journey and heartache with me.   I graduated with top honors, not many receive those grades.  They respected my determination, drive, and dedication to my goals, my craft and myself.  I never gave up.

As I sit here writing this, tears are in my eyes, I am proud to say I completed my film project even with all my obstacles.  Always stay true to you and your craft. Only you can live your dream, so pursue it aggressively.

By: Traci-Ann Gibson