Main Brief Post Production Editing

 

We have completed filming and are currently in the middle of the editing process. We making sure all of the shots are edited so continuity flows, but we are also going to use editing techniques such as fast-paced editing (for the flashbacks), shot reverse shot and match on action which were introduced to us for the mini brief.

 

 

UPDATE: We are satisfied with the footage we shot and no reshoots are required, which is really good. We were initially worried about the difference in lighting in some of the shots but there is no noticeable difference in any clips and we have decided that we are going to adjust the contrast of the clips anyway to make them look darker which would further suggest danger and death and then convey the conventions of horror. This is seen in the opening of The Conjuring (2013.)

 

Main Brief: Production Vlog

We have produced a vlog of our time spent filming our main brief. We recorded our production schedule, choice of costume, and our experiences during filming. This included any problems we faced (such as weather, background noise and distractions) and if we were successful in achieving the shots we wanted. 

 

 

 

Mini Brief Evaluation

Strengths of the Mini Brief

 

-Followed the camerworl/shot/editing specifications of the brief (shot reverse shot, match on action, 180° rule.)
-Within the specified time length for the brief.
-Used many conventions of the horror genre including: shadows, dark lighting, violence, weapons (knife in shot) and a sense of danger.
-Followed Barthes Enigma Code (vague dialogue, keeps the audience guessing and watching.)
-Good use of lighting to create the shadows and highlights.

 

Weaknesses of Mini Brief

 

-Fuzziness on black background in certain shots.
-Not the best quality: camera not best suited for nighttime/ dark location shoots.
-Problems with exporting to 720p or 1080p.
-Some shots were cut off quickly when filming, so we had some areas of un-finished dialogue that made the editing look haphazard.

 

Opportunities for Main Brief

 

-Knowledge of three effectice filming/ editing techniques (shot reverse shot, match on action, 180° Rule)

-Knowledge of good filming locations suitable for the horror genre.

-We mow know how long it takes to film and how long it takes to edit a short clip (even though the Main Brief must last longer than the Mini Brief.)

-We know how to use our surroundings to convey the conventions of horror (using dirty areas, knives- yes, the knife was already on location when we visited to do recces- poor lighting.)

-We know how to effectively plan in great detail, which will make planning and filming the Main Brief a lot easier. This includes taking recce's, storyboarding, script writing and organising filming times. 

 

Threats to Main Brief

 

-There could be a problem with the cameras e.g. not enough capacity left on the SD card, or the camera is not compatible with filming in dark locations.

-Adobe Premier Pro could freeze whilst exporting the file or export it in the wrong format (such as 144p or 240p or in a WAV or FLV format that doesn't play on certain computers.)

-We need to plan our filming times around the availability of the location. We were filming the mini brief whilst another group were setting up props for their Brief in the same location and some un-wanted background noise was recorded.

-As the Main Brief is larger than the Mini Brief, it will take longer to film and edit.

-The Main Brief requires titles and credits, which were not required for the Mini Brief. It may take some time to learn how to create and input titles and credits into the film effectively, whilst also conveying the generic conventions of horror.

 

Mini Brief: Post Production Editing

 Our brief specified the use of match on action and shot reverse shot which are editing techniques. We had filmed the correct shots that would enable us to use these techniques (which was planned in our story board) and it was now the matter of choosing which takes were the most suitable to be used for the finished clip.

 

The software we used for editing is Adobe Premiere Pro CS6. We chose to use Adobe as it is rather user friendly- it was easy to import clips and identify the basic editing tools (crop/trim/adjust brightness for video and mute/adjust volume for audio.) Another bonus of using Adobe is its wide range of special effects and professional appeal. For example- in our brief- we were able to separate the audio from a video clip and increase the volume so the dialogue would be heard over our non diagetic sound.

 

Our chosen non diagetic sound is a royalty free track from incompetech.com called Steel and Seething

 

 

 http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?feels%5B%5D=Suspenseful&page=2

 

 Once we had selected our clips we started to edit them together, keeping our brief specifications in mind. We used match on action twice- when the interrogator walked into the cupboard and when the interrogator hit the hostage- and we used shot reverse shot to depict the conversation between the interrogator and the hostage.

 

 

We decided to not use any filters on the clips as a lot of the preset filters on Adobe Premiere had a bad 'reaction' with our lighting in the clips. The shadows appeared as blocks of black instead of having faded edges (making them more subtle.) The shadows and the illuminated faces of the characters looked more natural with the original lighting (albeit improvised phone torch lighting!)