The Day I Became the “Queen of Editing” (And How You Can Be Too)

For Broadcasting students, it is pretty much like working in TV. You cannot just not have an episode to air on Monday. You need to have it ready somehow, anyhow. That is how we are trained, just like we would be at a job. No extensions, no excuses, just pure work! The pressure, plus the fear of getting a big zero on an assignment worth 20 percent, was eating me from the inside.

The deadline for the second episode of my series, Inspiring Women in Kitchener, Waterloo, and Cambridge, was the following Tuesday, and by Thursday evening, I still hadn’t found anyone to feature. I had reached out to every single person I possibly knew but as a new and international student here in Canada, I barely knew anybody. By Friday I had to find someone. Saturday and Sunday were weekends, and I knew most people would not be checking their emails or answering calls, not that I had many leads to begin with.

I had managed to book a pianist, but she wasn’t very willing to be filmed and said she could only give me an hour of her time. I knew one hour would not be enough to capture all the B-rolls and do a proper interview.

Now if you’re wondering what B-rolls are, B-rolls are the supporting shots that help you tell the story visually. For example, if someone is talking about painting, your B-roll might show their hands mixing colors, brushes on the table, paint on the canvas, or close-ups of their studio. It is the footage that adds texture, detail, and emotion to your main interview.

I was losing hope!

My friends were desperately looking for someone I could feature because the deadline was approaching. Everyone I knew was trying to help, even the main man at the equipment room at Conestoga College Creative Industries, Steve, the sweetest person I’ve ever met. He told me he would also keep an eye out for someone.

I am honestly telling you, I cried in my room that night thinking, “I’m not going to find anyone for the second episode.”

That’s when I thought of Hailey!

My professor Hailey Zimak is also a CBC video journalist, and I knew she would definitely know somebody. I went to sleep that night with Hailey as my last hope.

Enter Hailey, My Lifeline

The next day, I went to class and met Hailey. I told her everything. She was so empathetic and kind about it. As I expected, she had a lot of connections. She pulled out a few contacts, texted people right away, and in the end shared with me the contact details for MAST – Mary Allen Studio Tour in Waterloo. She told me to give them a call.

Now, me being me, I was too nervous to call. What would I say? How would I ask? So instead of calling, I wrote them an email asking if there were any artists I could feature for my Capstone Project, Episode 2.

To my surprise and delight, I got a reply within two hours. They said they would forward my email and see if there was anyone interested. After a couple of email exchanges, I finally got a message saying there was an artist named Cleo Cacciopoli who was willing to be featured. They forwarded me her email.

I emailed Cleo, and for some reason I felt very intimidated by her at first. Something in her way of writing made me think she might be one of those very serious people and not very friendly. But it was what it was, and I had to go film her.

So I braced myself, booked dates for Saturday and Sunday, and planned my shoot so that I would have enough time to get B-roll and a proper interview, and come back with enough footage to weave together my second episode.

Meeting Cleo

My heart was kind of racing on Saturday morning. I’ve done this many times now, and to this day, when I go to a new place to shoot, I still get super nervous. I honestly do not know why, I just do. I packed my gear and kept it light. By this time I had learned how to pack smart so I was not carrying an entire studio on my shoulder.

I went to her house and rang the doorbell. A dog barked inside.
“Oh, this house has a dog? I love dogs,” I thought.

Someone came to the door, it was Cleo’s daughter. Then I heard a woman’s voice. It was Cleo. She greeted me with so much enthusiasm and warmth. I said hi, and she guided me inside and up to her studio.

The studio, my gosh, was absolutely beautiful! There were paintings everywhere, warm lights, a cozy ambience, and so many colors and drawings. There were small crystal-like hangings, a little frog cut-out holding a heart with “Cleo” written on it, and so many tiny details. It felt like stepping into a different little world.

It was beautiful, magical, whimsical, and full of life!

Cleo was having a studio tour that day, so people were coming in to see the paintings and buy artwork. There were all kinds of paintings, small, big, huge lying on tables, propped on canvases, hanging on walls. There were dog paintings, nature paintings, pastel pieces, and abstract ones. It was like a little heaven.

I knew immediately that the video would be visually rich because there were so many colors, and I am someone who is deeply drawn to color. I love the warmth and vibrancy it brings out, and her studio was exactly that, absolutely beautiful!

Feeling at Home Far From Home

Contrary to what I had first assumed, Cleo was such a warm person. She is honestly the best person I have met during my time here in Canada. She was so welcoming. She kept asking about my school and work and whether I wanted tea or coffee, and when I said it was okay, she insisted I at least have some cookies. It reminded me so much of my mom. That is exactly what my mom does when someone visits our home. I felt at home in her home!

She asked where I was from and took a genuine interest in my story. When I said I was from Nepal, she went, “Oh my God, I can’t believe I have a girl from Nepal in my house!”

Her laughter was so contagious and came straight from the heart. Her genuineness was something you could just feel. She wasn’t faking anything. And if you ask me how I know, my only answer is: I just know.

I started filming her while she was painting. She explained her process as she worked, and I captured it all, her brush strokes, her hands, her focus, her joy. I filmed the paintings, her studio, the lights, and every single detail that made Cleo who she is.

Her love for pastel paintings was everywhere.

Cleo dripped with love and gratitude for everything she had in life. She was joyful, and I could see it clearly, so I made sure to capture that joy. I also filmed her best friend who had arrived with a bouquet of flowers and Cleo immediately said, “Oh, I want to paint these!” It was such a lovely moment. I captured that too, of course. I also filmed some of the people who came for the tour (with their permission, of course).

The day ended and I bid goodbye to Cleo. She kept telling me how beautiful I was and that my mother must be even more beautiful than me. I replied, “She is just like you, very warm, loving, kind, and joyful.”

She offered to drive me home, but I insisted it was okay. I didn’t want to trouble her, and to be honest, I wanted to walk home. There is a special joy in walking home after finishing a piece of work. It is one of my favorite feelings; going home with a full heart after creating something.

The Second Day, The Interview, and the Dog

I reached home late, because as usual the buses were packed from the station so I had to wait for another one. When I got home, I prepared some interview questions for Cleo and emailed them to her. Then I went to sleep.

The next day, I got ready and went back to Cleo’s home for the interview shoot. The first thing she said was, “My gosh, Aniela, are you telling me you reached home that late last night?” She meant 11:30 p.m., and I said yes, I had left her place around 5:30 or 6.

“I should have dropped you yesterday. I should have just told you to get in the car,” she said. And she meant it from her heart.

And again, if you ask me how I know, I just know.

We continued with the interview and had a lovely 1 to 1.5 hours together. I spent the rest of the time playing with her dog, a Border Collie! He was so sweet and had grown so fond of me that he came over and gave me little kisses on my hand while I was filming and interviewing Cleo.

She gifted me her new calendar and a bunch of postcards and told me to pick any I liked. I chose three gorgeous postcards. I wanted to keep one for myself, give one to Hailey, my dearest professor who connected me with Cleo, and one more to share.

When I was about to leave, I felt like I was leaving a part of myself in her beautiful house and that magical studio of hers. She loved nature, animals, and people. She talked loudly, laughed often, was funny, generous, and so full of life. I could go on and on about her forever. I told her I would do my best to bring her the best video I could, given my capacity as a learner, and thanked her for her generosity. She got a little teary.

And again, if you ask me how I know she meant everything she said, I just know.

I went back home with a camera full of the best shots and footage, and a heart full of warmth, memories, and love. What a wonderful experience!

Becoming the “Queen of Editing”

Then came the part that would eventually earned me the title: Queen of Editing.

I was determined to make this the best possible video for Cleo. I worked straight for about 18 hours on that video, writing the narration, scripting it, picking the best shots, and carefully arranging everything so that I was presenting Cleo exactly as she is.

And then the video was born: “Cleo’s Story.”

It earned me 96 percent. Everyone in class loved it. It was selected to air on CCDTV, Conestoga College’s homegrown television channel.

I sent the link to Cleo. And that is when I received the message:

“My Gosh Aniela, You are the Queen of Editing.”

So, How Do You Become the Queen of Editing?

If you want to be the queen of editing, it is not really about transitions, effects, or fancy tricks. It is about focusing deeply on the story and the person in front of you. Notice who they are, how they talk, how they laugh, what they love. Capture every little element that makes them them.

Then, when you sit down to edit, your job is to weave all of that into a story.

I weaved Cleo’s story like a garland of flowers. And her story truly is like a garland of flowers. If I had to choose a flower for her, it would be the marigold. In Nepali, we call marigolds sayapatri, which means “made of hundreds of petals.” They are big, bright, and full of life, with a fragrance that feels almost out of this world.

That is what Cleo is like to me, layered, warm, vibrant, and unforgettable.

And if you ask me why I feel that way, I just know. I just know.

If you want to see how all of this came together, you can watch “Cleo’s Story” here: