The Shadows History Blog is
very pleased to have an interview with Dave Gilbert, the chief
editor on Shadows
during its formidable years, 1995-98. He graduated from the COM
television and broadcasting program in 1998, and is a video game
designer based in New York.
Shadows
History Blog:
How did you get involved in Shadows?
Dave Gilbert: This is going
back - gosh, 17 years? - so I'm not sure I remember it exactly, but I
was a sophomore at the time. I was interested in learning more about
video editing, but COM's requirements left me unable to take any
technical classes right away. I read somewhere that a sci-fi show was
being edited on a certain day at a certain time. so I just sort of
wandered in and asked if I could watch and/or help out. The next
thing I know, I was made chief editor for the show.
SHB:
How many episodes did you work on?
DG:
The show averaged around 2 episodes a semester, and I was
involved for about three years, so I'm guessing I worked on around 12
episodes altogether.
SHB: What was it like editing on videotape?
DG: UGH - this question makes
me feel old. :) I enjoyed it. I have great memories of spending hours
in those editing rooms in front of two big 3 1/4 inch decks, with the
editing machine in the center. There was the "master" deck
and the "raw" deck, with various dials and buttons that
controlled both. I would flick the dial just slightly to move the
footage frame by frame, I'd set the in and out points, and then hit
"preview" and watch while the decks squealed and rewound
themselves to the specified places. Once I was satisfied with
the edit, I'd hit "perform" and it would transfer itself to
the master tape. That was always a nerve-wrecking experience. Once
you hit that "perform" button, it was set in stone. Woe
befall you if you realize you made a mistake several edits back. You
would have to go back and redo lots of work. So not the case
these days. All that stuff is done by computers now - heck, I bought
a piece of software a few months ago for $80 that does everything
that those machines did and more - but I do miss those big, clunky
machines. It might be nostalgia talking, but I think they gave me
more direct control.
SHB:
How was the production team structured? For example, were
there producers and directors responsible for specific episodes or
was the work grouped together?
DG: It was a university show,
so there was lots of turnaround. Whoever was director or producer at
the time directed or produced all the shows. It wasn't done episode
by episode. Each semester there were different writers, and usually a
different cast (as people tend to graduate, or take a semester
abroad, or whatever), so it had to be pretty flexible. I don't
remember the details.
SHB:
What were some of the problems you encountered working on
the show?
DG: There were no problems,
exactly, but the biggest issue was that nobody was WATCHING it! We'd
write them, cast them, tape them, and then edit them, but they were
never broadcast. Not while I was there, anyway. It was a definite
shame, since everyone put so much work into it and it was a bit
discouraging. Nowadays, streaming indie TV shows over the web is an
everyday occurrence, but that didn't exist back in the dark ages of
1996. I wish it did!
SHB:
Were there any moments you were particularly proud of?
DG: I remember a minor
character's voice sounding really muffled and impossible to hear in
one scene. I wanted to get it redubbed, but the actor had graduated
and was no longer around. So I just redubbed all of his lines with my
voice! Fortunately the character was only in a few scenes and didn't
have many lines. But even still, nobody noticed! Or were just too
polite to say.
SHB:
How did working on the show impact you?
DG: For me, it was my first
ever experience of working with a team to create something. We had
deadlines, and we had to hit them. It might have been a bit
ramshackle, it might not have even been totally professional, and
maybe the end results weren't as nice as we would have hoped, but we
all took it seriously and got it done. It's a lesson that still
applies to my work today. I'm very aware of the clock ticking on a
project, and the need to be creative and make the occasional
compromise in order to get it finished.
SHB:
What do you do now, and what are you working on next?
DG: For the last 7 years, my
wife and I have been running an indie video game development studio
here in New York. We focus on old-school adventure games (King's
Quest, and the like) and we sell them off our website. Our current
project is called Primordia, and will be out in early December.
Thanks to Dave for being interviewed
for our project!
Shadows alums, we want to hear from
YOU as well. You can contact us at shadowswiki at gmail dot com.
