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On The Cutting Room Floor


 
You can see her work on the screen, but blink and you might miss it! 
 
Hastings High School senior Sofia Hayes spends her time studying shots and scenes of videos before cutting them down to what you see on the screen. Recently, Sofia’s work could be seen in the  high school production of “Love and Information.” 
 
Hayes has learned to hone her craft over the years through television broadcasting classes offered as electives at Hastings High School. 
 
“I’ve done all the classes I can,” she said. “So, I’ve actually created an independent study called advanced television broadcasting.” 
 
As president of the television studio club at the high school, Hayes has edited many videos for both high school classes and external projects. For example, Hayes filmed, edited, and gathered footage for a video of local veterans talking about military service and its meaning, which was shown to Hastings High School students for Veteran’s Day. She said her interest in video editing goes back to when she was younger, but that she owes her skills to school. 
 
“I played around with things like iMovie when I was a kid,” she said. 
 
“But I first really learned how to edit in television production classes, experimenting with techniques and learning how to cut differently.”
 
Her most recent foray into editing was the high school’s production of “Love and Information,”  which was pre-recorded through Zoom in light of COVID. Hayes and several other students conceptualized the scenes to enhance the production’s visual appeal and then edited the piece using clever transitions and cuts. Working within the confines of Zoomwas a learning experience, she said. 
 
“It gave me a lot of room to use the techniques I learned but also to discover new ones,” she said. 
“It was a lot of trial and error, but it came out really well.” 

 
 
It wasn’t the first time she had tussled with theatre. In fact, Hayes has been a part of Hastings theatrical productions since she was in fourth grade. Since then, she has taken an active part in both acting and directing roles including acting in “Love and Information” and serving as assistant director for the high school production of  “As You Like It” in 2017. 
 
“It was a little tough because I was a ninth grader directing upperclassmen,” she said. 
 
“But I’ve always had an interest in the directorial aspect of everything.” 
 
Though the two fields differ, Hayes had the opportunity to pursue both. Starting with directing roles, her interest in editing grew quickly. 
 
“I found myself being intrigued with how simple cuts and angles and different movements can change how a piece looks and its dynamic,” she said. 
 
For Hayes, “Love and Information” was an exercise to utilize her editing expertise, a skillset she  plans to use in the future. 
 
“I’m looking to go into production in college, maybe writing or production management,” she said. 
 
“But editing is such a great thing to know how to do, especially as a college or post-college student when I’m going to be making my own work.” 
 
For now, Hayes said she looks forward to working on upcoming virtual productions for Hastings High School’s theatre program. 
 
“I think itis  fascinating how the cast and crew can come together to create something,” she said. 
 
“So, I love to be part of that process in any shape or form that I can.” 
 
You can catch  Hayes’ editing and acting work in “Love and Information” here.