Evaluation

In this evaluation, I am going to critically reflect on my portfolio of work that I have created for this module. Throughout the module, I have edited three films which are, Night Journey, which is a non-sync drama exercise, In A Climber’s Hands, which is a documentary exercise and finally Out O’ Date, which is a comedy exercise.

During the module, I read through a book called How to get into and survive Film, Advertising and TV post-production - The Alternative Guide, and I found a quote that stood out to me which explains the process of editing very quickly that shows all of the basic processes involved.

“This is where elements from the shoot are cut, assembled and seamlessly combined with the elements created in post-production through editing, grading, visual effects, motion graphics and sound.” (Cermak, K; 2012; p21)

The quote above explained briefly the processes involved in the post-production stage of creating a film and made me remember how much goes into the post-production. It also reminded me that colour correction was an important part of post-production if it is required.

Whilst editing Night Journey, one of the very first things that I learnt was how to create sub-clips in Final Cut Pro. I was originally given five files that contained all of the footage and I went through the footage and every time a shot changed, I set in and out points at the beginning and end of the shots and used the shortcut ‘Cmd + U’ to create a sub-clip of each shot.

Once all of the footage of made into sub-clips, I had to label the footage. I learnt how to label the footage correctly during this process. In the past, I would just write what the shot was, but in the early stages of the module, I learnt the correct format of labeling clips. This format was

Shot Type – Day/Night – Interior/Exterior – Shot Description

This format that I had learnt was very helpful when it came to searching for clips, making it very easy to see what the shot type was and also what was in the shot without having to watch the shot. I also learnt that by adding a ‘•’ to the beginning of a filename means that the shot is muted without any sound attached to it. All of the footage for the Night Journey project was muted so all of the clips had the mute sign before them.

During the Night Journey project, I learnt that I found it difficult to edit side by side in a pair because there were so many ideas going around from each person that it was difficult to agree on what would be best for the piece. I was working with Lewis Hague and we decided in the end that it would be best to edit separately and send the Final Cut Pro file backwards and forwards between each other and explain what we had done with the edit to each other. This sped up the process of the editing because when we edited together we got easily distracted and didn’t get as much work done as we would if we were working separately.  

Whilst editing the Night Journey film, myself and Lewis both came up with how we wanted the film to start and I then passed the edit over to Lewis and he did fine cut the bit that we had edited together before adding a little bit more to the film before he sent the file back to me. I then came up with the bulk of the story, showing that the cannibal wanted to eat the victim. I think the idea I used at the end of the film worked very well, using the shot of the empty room before cutting to the shot of the cannibal walking away from the train with the victim in the reflection to resemble that he is a ghost.

I think that one of the main strengths of this project is the pacing of the film. I believe that the film flows smoothly and the story in the film works very well. I think that the introduction of two of three of the characters that are seen at the end of the film is good to show that they aren’t just random people looking in the cabin and they have interacted with the cannibal and the victim earlier in the film.

I believe that one of the weaknesses of the project is the continuity in some places, for example, at the end of the film we see the empty cabin from the three character's point of view, however in this shot, the curtains are pulled across and in the next shot they are open again.

After Night Journey, I was introduced to my new project, which was a documentary editing exercise, In A Climber’s Hands. The first thing that I learnt whilst doing this project was to check through tapes to make sure that you have all of the footage. I was given a large amount of footage but I was also given the opportunity to look through the original tapes to make sure that I had everything. I learnt that it is good practice after being given some footage to check through all of the tapes to make sure that nothing was missed or deleted in the transfer that could become useful later in the edit.

Another thing that I learnt during this project was that labeling footage is very important. I labeled mine by putting the shot type at the beginning and an in-depth description of what was happening in the shot. When I received the project file back from Lewis after he had renamed the rest of the footage, I noticed that some of the footage wasn’t labeled and was just labeled with the colour red meaning that it was a bad take, but because it wasn’t labeled I didn’t know why is was a bad take. I went through and labeled these shots to make sure that I still had them if I needed them later in the edit.

Whilst editing this documentary project, I learnt that it is very important to understand the subject of the documentary before starting to place it together. I tried to start editing it together but I didn’t know the interview footage very well so I went through and listened to and watched all of the interviews and sub-clipped them so they were easily accessible when it came to adding them to the film. After listening to the interviews, I had a better image of how the documentary should look and what shots should be included, for example when the climber talks about Stanage Edge being a famous place, I wanted to show the location.

Originally, I wanted to end the film with the climber having an interview after he had finished climbing at Stanage Edge, however, when I got the project back from Lewis, he had changed the ending to end on another bouldering scene after the interview. After we had screened the film, we were told that the film had two endings and needed sorting to only have one ending. I talked to Lewis and we agreed that we would move the bouldering section to the middle of the film, after the first bouldering scene and before the rock-climbing scene, ending on the original interview clip.

I think one of the main strengths of the film is that it has a clear structure, showing the climber waking up, going bouldering, then onto another bouldering location before getting to the most extreme part of the documentary which was the rock climbing scene and finishing with the interview of how the day went. I also think that the sound in the film worked very well, having interviews together to establish what was happening and then as the climber was climbing, there was music that fit the piece well so the audience could enjoy the visuals without having to try and take in information been told by the climber.

I think the main weakness of the film is the amount of information in it, as I don’t believe that there is much of it. If I was to do this project again, I would like to try and add more information to the film to give the audience a more in-depth look into rock-climbing so they would come away from the film thinking that they had learnt more than they would have now.

The final film that I edited was a comedy edit called Out O’ Date. For this exercise I was given a script to read through and then I had to decide which scene I would like to edit myself, as this project was an individual exercise. I chose to do the opening scene of the film because the scene looked like an interesting and funny scene to edit and I thought that by editing the opening scene, I could open the film how I wanted to and show the story my own way.

One thing that I enjoyed the most about this project was being able edit the scene myself as it was an individual project and this meant I could do the entire scene how I wanted to. Whilst labeling the footage, I made sure that I labeled it all in the same format, which was:

Number - Scene Number/ Shot Number/ Take Number – Shot Type – Description

I added a number to the beginning of the shot to keep them all in order of the order that they were shot in. This made it easier for me to be able to find the footage easier. I also wanted to include the shot number and take number to make it easier to me to find the shot that I was looking for.

Whilst editing this film, I started with the assembly, just adding the shots that I wanted onto the timeline without trimming them too much just to get a feel for the film. Once the assembly was done, I duplicated the timeline and called it Rough Cut, so that I always had a copy of the assembly if I ever needed to go back to it. In the rough cut, I started trimming the clips down and adding a few extra shots on top, such as the close ups during the dialogue, and then added crossfades and made sure that it was all cut together nicely.

One thing I learnt during this project was the importance of using shot-reverse-shot sequences during a dialogue part of the scene. I used this a lot whilst the characters were speaking because I thought it was very important to see the character’s reactions to what was being said, for example when Alf calls the manager of the shop a cow, I wanted to see her reaction before she kneed him.

I think the main strength of this film is the sound in the piece, as I spent a lot of time going through it and making sure that it was all cut nicely, as in the early stages of the editing, I noticed that whist using the crossfades, I could hear some dialogue from previous shots that I didn’t want to hear. I spent a lot of time going through and getting the sound right and adding an atmos track beneath and I also added some sound effects such as a thud when Alf gets kneed and the sound of a handbrake when the milk float pulls up to the house.

After watching the film back again recently, I thought one of the weaknesses that I noticed was the length of time that I allowed for Alf and Tony to get out of the milk float and into the house. I thought that this scene went on for a little bit too long and could possibly be cut down slightly.

During the module, one of the main books that I read was In The Blink Of An Eye written by Walter Murch that I had spoken about earlier in my blog. One of the key quotes that stood out to me from the book was were he speaks about an ideal cut that should fit into all of the following six criteria at once and the importance of each criteria.

“1) Emotion                                                    51%

2) Story                                                           23%

3) Rhythm                                                       10%

4) Eye-trace                                                     7%

5) Two-dimensional plane of scene                 5%

6) Three-dimensional space of action              4%” (Murch,W; 2001; p18)

I kept this quote in mind whilst I was editing the dialogue between the characters, making sure I only cut when I needed to, for example, I cut to show the character’s reactions, which kept the emotion part of the criteria in mind throughout.

Overall, throughout the module, I believe that I have learnt a lot, many little things that are very important, such as not using .mp3 files and making sure that they are .wave files to make sure that they are the best quality. I also feel as though I have learnt a lot about documentary editing and also drama editing using shot-reverse-shot to show the character’s emotions and reactions to what has been said. I think that the module has been very useful and has greatly improved my editing skills.

Bibliography

Murch, W; 2001; In the Blink of an Eye (2^nd Edition); Beverley Hills, USA; Silman-James Press

Cermak, K; 2012; How to get into and survive Film, Advertising and TV post-production - The Alternative Guide; Hertfordshire; Clouds and Ivy Ltd

Dizzee Rascal and Robbie Williams - Goin' Crazy Music Video

Today, the new Dizzee Rascal, featuring Robbie Williams, music video was released so I thought I would give it a watch. The video shocked me in the way that it was filmed, as the entire film is just one continuous long take. There were no cuts at all in the film and the sound was already done because it was just the music track of the song, until the end when the song finishes and there is an atmos track whilst a man walks down the street.

I think that a lot of planning must have gone into this video, as normally, the editor can cut the video to how it is supposed to look with many different shots, however, in this video, as there is only one shot, the entire video had to fully thoroughly planned out to the exact second to make it fit with the music.

Overall, I thought that the video was very well made, giving the editor an easier job than usual as they will only have had to create the project, sync the song up with the lip movement of each of the singers and colour grade the film, meaning that they will have had no cutting to do.

Iron Man - Swipe Transitions

Last night, I saw Iron Man 3 at the cinema. One thing that I noticed about the editing in the piece is one of the transitions that is used various times in the film, and also in the previous two films. The transition that I am referring to is a swipe transition. Unfortunately, I am unable to obtained any screenshots of the transition.

At one point in the film, the transition is used when Tony Stark gets into his car and as the car drives off to the left of the screen, the transition is applied, swiping the shots off the left hand side of the screen, revealing the next shot underneath.

I don't like this transition because in my eyes it doesn't look very professional, as it was a transition that I used a lot many years ago when I was younger creating videos on Windows Movie Maker. I recently tried a similar effect whilst editing my documentary film, The Movement, this semester, having the title swipe off the screen. In the end, I decided not to use this transition because it didn't look professional in my eyes.

I think rather thank using the swipe transition, I would have had a straight cut from one shot to the other, cutting just before the car on the first shot left the screen and just after the car on the second shot had entered the screen.

Walter Murch - Editing Quote

"Film editing is now something almost everyone can do at a simple level and enjoy it, but to take it to a higher level requires the same dedication and persistence that any art form does." - Walter Murch

I came across this quote by Walter Murch that inspired me to carry on editing as much as I can to get keep getting better as I have realised throughout this module that I really enjoy editing and the more practice and dedication I put in to editing, I will be able to progress further. 

Throughout the summer, I plan to carry on creating films, to gain more and more footage to edit and try new editing techniques that I haven't tried before.

Bibliography

Walter Murch Quote; 2012; BrainyQuote; [online] Available at <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/waltermurc190586.html> [Last Accessed: 7th May 2013]

Film Analysis - The End

Title - The End
Director - Ted Marcus
Year - 2013
Running Time - 13:29

I recently watched this film I wasn't sure what to think about it straight after watching it, whether I thought it was good or not. The film is about a teenager living in London who wants to go out with friends but his mum and dad won't let him so he sneaks out. On his walk home, there is an alien attack and runs home to find out that his mum and dad found out that he tried to drug their wine and he walked back into the street, ending with a shot of an alien coming towards him, assuming he dies.

One editing technique that I thought was done well in the film was the montage during the night out. I think that this part of the film was edited as a montage because it isn't a main part of the film. The main part of the film is about the boy disobeying his parents and also the end scene when the aliens attack. Seeing them out drinking and having fun is needed to be seen in the film but nothing crucial happens during this section of the film so having it as a montage is the perfect way of showing it.

The opening of the film is also very well edited. We see the boy and the girl together, smoking. She lit the cigarette for him and starred at him in his eyes. This told me that they were close to each other, and the fact that they were out in a dark area smoking told me that they weren't allowed to be doing it. Then went cut to a shot of the boy talking on the phone to the girl whilst he was walking through London. This made me think that the opening shot could be a hint of things to come in the film, which it was.

I also thought that the use of close ups and quick cuts in the opening scene once the girl had given the boy her mobile number was very useful. I showed that they were both looking into each other's eyes and the fact that the shots were close ups made me feel as though the two characters wanted to be or are close to each other.

I also liked the use of the flash back at the end of the film when we see the boy's parents figuring out that he had drugged their wine was very good. Even though the colour was the same as it was earlier in the film, the drastic change in colour from when the boy was outside during the alien attack told me that what I was seeing on the screen was a flash back. I thought it was a good twist to the storyline because up until that point, I thought that the boy's parents had drank the drinks and had fallen to sleep. 

Overall, I thought that the editing techniques used in the film were very good and portrayed the story very well, however, I didn't like the actual storyline, having aliens attacking the world at the end didn't work for me. I thought that it would have worked better to have something happen to the boy that wasn't as extreme as an alien attack, for example he could have been robbed or beaten up as punishment for sneaking out of the house, rather than being attack by aliens. 

Link to film - http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2013/05/03/the-end/

A Matter of Life and Death - Beach Scene

At the end of today's session, we watched a clip from A Matter of Life and Death. The clip that we watched showed a man walking up the beach and taking his bulky clothes off whilst walking to find out where he has to report. He then comes to a sign that says Keep Out and he turns around and carries on walking along the beach before seeing a dog sat on a cliff. He climbs up the cliff to the dog and then  carries on walking along the cliff with the dog until he sees a boy  who then informs the man that there is an RAF base nearby that he then goes to try and find.

The thing that I found most interesting about this seen it that all of the sound is ADR. This is because the scene was shot on a beach which must have been very windy and the sound of the sea may have been very dominant in the sound recordings, that would make the dialogue between the man and the boy inaudible. The ADR is very noticeable, however, the film was made in 1946 and I think that for the time that the film was made, the ADR has ben done very well.

One other thing that stood out to me about the editing of the piece is that the shots throughout the sequence are very long and there aren't many cuts. For example, the shot at the beginning whilst the man is taking his clothes off it a very long shot as the camera is tracking backwards as the man is walking towards the camera. I like the effect of having few cuts in the edit because it gives the audience time to look around the shot and get a feel of the locations.

Out O' Date - Final Cut (02/05/13)

Using the feedback that I had received earlier today during the screening of my film, I started the final cut of my comedy film. I started by duplicating the fine cut sequence that I had previously created, to make sure that if I needed to, I could always go back and look at the original fine cut.

I started by cutting out the sound when the lady at the door says 'Oh bloody hell, I'll go get frozen peas' because in the previous shot, I could slightly hear the lady starting her line before I needed her to on the scene. I cut this first bit of dialogue out and then went back into the shot to find a piece of sound that I could use as an atmos track because getting it from the same shot would make it a very similar sound to the original sound. I then added a crossfade between the two sounds to make sure that there were no clips and pops and also to make sure that the change in the sound isn't noticeable. I finally added a 2 frame crossfade to the end of the audio to again make sure that there were no clicks and pops in the audio.

After that, I got on with another bit of feedback that I received that was to sort out the footsteps when the manager is walking. These sounds weren't very continuous, missing beats between some of the footsteps when I changed the shots. To overcome this problem, I tried to sync the footsteps up with the visuals and trim the visuals so that the footsteps work correctly. I also added another atmos track underneath the footsteps to try and make them blend it better. 

I then went to the second footstep sequence in the scene when the manager has kneed Alf and is walking over to the door to rip it off the door. I noticed that the last time I tried to edit the sound in this section, I had repeated the footsteps too many times. I took this out and just repeated it once to make it a lot smoother. I also noticed that the background sound changed quite dramatically so I went through the sounds I had and found an atmos track that was recorded at the amphitheatre above the train station at night, so it was quite and the cars could be heard in the background. I added this to the film and it worked very well.

I then started editing the last part of the film using the feedback that I received about the reaction shot after the lady had shouted at Tony and Alf. I made the gap between Alf's line and the lady's second line a bit shorter because after watching it back again, I realised that the gap between the two pieces of dialogue is too long. I shortened this down and after that I wanted to catch Alf's reaction as he was being carried up the driveway so I lengthened that shot slightly too. 

After that, I watched the film back and decided that I wanted to add a sound effect to the shot where Alf gets kneed by the manager. I looked through a free sound archive and after a long while of searching, I found a thud sound that worked very well. Once I had added this sound effect, I wanted to see if there were any other sound effects I could add to the film. One more sound effect than I added as the sound of a handbrake when the milk float stops outside the house.

Finally, I looked at the two shot of Tony and Alf looking at the banner as the car pulls up in the background and I still feel like this shot needs something else adding to it. After a lot of thought, I decided to add the sound of a lorry reversing with the beeping sound to bulk out the sound design on this part of the film to make it more interesting. 

After adding the sound effects, I watched the film through a couple more times and decided that I was happy with it and exported it again before putting it onto a DVD ready to hand in.

Overall, I am very happy with how my final cut of my comedy edit has turned out, and I think that the small sound effects that I have added make the piece work better, especially the thud when Alf is kneed. I also think that by reducing the gap between Alf and the lady at the front door makes the piece flow a lot smoother.