I’ve always said that the best way to learn film editing would be to work in a course or company where the only objective would be to make cinematic trailers for hypothetical movies. It challenges you tremendously to condense a film down to a few compelling scenes and sounds. Personally, I’d love to make a career out of it.

I am not claiming that Kieffer and I got it 100 percent right, but we’re both pleased with some of the feedback we’ve got since Hoop Knight launched a few days ago. Take a look and tell us what you think.

Ten things I’ve learned so far making Hoop Knight (they are not in any order and there are certainly more to come)

1. I’m lucky to work with Chris Kieffer. Really lucky. Works hard and knows his stuff better than most. (Chris, you need a Web site.)
2. I can buy, host and manage my own domain name and server. I know that sounds pretty mundane, but I can do it now, no problem. Before, you’d catch me bull shitting.
3. The elusive HTML and CSS horizon are inching closer and closer. By March 20, 2009, when the project goes live, I’ll know CSS well enough to originally design an entire site. I think.
4. Twitter. Please. No problem. Key is to offer a consistent slice of info. rather than simply say what it is you’re doing right now.
5. Basketball. Sorta. But I’m getting there. Been a long time since I went to a high school sports game. Like it. But not nearly as much as Chris.
6. Shooting sports. Wow. Tough. Need two cameras to do it well. One wide and one medium or close. Sheesh. This is the tough spot.
7. Audio gain. Man, in a gym your gain is either too low or way too high. Need to be able to adjust quickly.
8. Final Cut Pro. Still, have a ways to go with this one, but I’m much closer. Basics are accomplished. Would be ideal to learn some more shortcuts. Learning the program is actually easy, compared with making quality videos.
9. People care about Mount Vernon High School basketball. It’s a big deal to everyone in and around the special town. It’s important to me now too. Hope they manage to get the 2010 school budget passed.
10. Story board, story board, story board. This is a big one for me. Don’t get this right, you’re a mess. And did I say Chris Kieffer?

Oh, and I should note that I have watched me a fair share of basketball videos. I recommend the truly amazing documentary, Hoop Dreams and Nike’s “Road to Redemption,” the buildup to the 2008 Olympics for USA’s basketball team. We live to honor these films in our master’s project.