Transition: Edit Process And Rough Cut
Over the last two days, I have been working on a rough edit for the project to prepare an initial cut that my director and Simon can review.
The first steps was to arrange all the footage in to bins, since through my research I found this is one of the best ways to stay organised. On the shoot, I made notes as to which shots were the most effective which saved me time reviewing all the clips. I also had previously made a playlist of all the sound effects that I wanted to use in the edit. I Downloaded each of them and placed them in a separate bin.
Once I had chosen and organised my clips the next step was to place them roughly in order in my timeline so that the story in a basic form was there. This was a great way to start as it allowed me to see which shots fitted together, which ones needed to be changed and which cuts need a bridge.
For example there were a few shot changes that featured minor continuity errors, such as the character starting a shot in a slightly different place than they finished in the previous shot. To solve this I would cut in on the following shot and make it a mid shot. Or I would find a different wide or close up to act as a bridge hiding the change.
I had George Lock (our director) sitting with me for the edit. This was helpful because there was a second pair of eyes when I needed it, making sure shots matched up nicely and he was able to pick up on continuity errors or other details that I might have missed. George's passion and experience was a good energy to have, however, I did get the feeling that he wanted to take over at times and I felt a little bit like my space and creative control was slightly invaded.
But after expressing this to him, I found he was a lot more respectful of my space and ability as an editor. Similarly to the shooting days I split the editing in to two distinct halves. I spent my first-day focussing on all the interior scenes with George.
The second day of editing was dedicated to the second half of the sequence (all the outside scenes). George had given me my space today but having worked with him yesterday I confidently recognised the style and creative vision he was after. Even when George wasn't with me I still had my notes and the shot list to work from. This came in very handy if I was unsure where to go next. I was able to fully piece together the second half of the sequence, making sure it flowed the same as the first, with similar pacing and linking shots.
Once this was done I watched back the edit from the beginning to make sure it all flowed nicely and followed the same pacing. I had to make a few tweaks to the shots I used since upon reflection some didn't work and needed to be replaced with ones we were previously unsure about.
My next step once the basic visuals were sorted was to attend to the sound design. Going in to this project I had a lot in mind for the sound design. I had each effect I wanted, prepared in a bin and from there it was a case of experimenting/testing to see which ones worked where. In order to create effective atmos, I placed the high pitched ear ringing sound right at the start of the sequence. This works to disorientate the audience right from the beginning. This sound had to continue all the way through to the second scene, but I had to bring the levels down when the protagonist turns of the TV (since i want to instil the idea that most of the sound is coming from the TV). In general as well listening to it out loud I had to bring the overall levels of the background noise down to avoid peaking.
The next effects helped to build and enhance/maintain the ominous atmosphere. I implemented a series of low-frequency drone sounds that vary in intensity depending on the on screen events. Making sure the tension and alertness of the audience is brought up at the right points. To match the glitch effect on the TV I laced appropriate glitching sound effects under the other audio which only occurs when a glitch is visually seen on TV.
Progressing through the scene we found that some shots were too quiet and we loose some of the atmosphere that we built up. To solve this I found some basic creepy tones and rumbles which I kept relatively quiet and placed under all the other tracks. This way they could fill the scenes that have less sound design, acting as background noise that doesn't distract from the visuals.
As well as adjusting the cropping and image scales, in some cases (especially during the chase scene) I had to adjust the speed of some shots to ensure their pacing matched with the previous shots and didn't look too jumpy or out of place.
These factors all came together niceley to produce my rough cut which you can see bellow.
Our feedback from Simon was mostly positive. Our shots and pacing all linked nicely, and our stylistic decision to incorporate mostly static or tracked shots was clear and effective. He liked the sound design and the choice of shots which I was pleased with.
His main points of improvement were:
-To take the sound design even further, since some shots are still very quiet even with the atmos and they need a little extra something.
-Make sure that if there is movement towards the end of a shot, we don't lose it as we cut. The shot transition should take place just before the movement cuts off, ensuring the pacing is not juddery.
-Some parts of the sequence needed a few shots needed to be flipped to ensure the eye lines between characters match. Also some parts of the sequence needed to have shots chopped or changed to enhance the story telling, for example he wanted to see more of the two shot when the protagonist looks up at the window.
All of this is achievable and will be worked on for my next cut.
The first steps was to arrange all the footage in to bins, since through my research I found this is one of the best ways to stay organised. On the shoot, I made notes as to which shots were the most effective which saved me time reviewing all the clips. I also had previously made a playlist of all the sound effects that I wanted to use in the edit. I Downloaded each of them and placed them in a separate bin.
Once I had chosen and organised my clips the next step was to place them roughly in order in my timeline so that the story in a basic form was there. This was a great way to start as it allowed me to see which shots fitted together, which ones needed to be changed and which cuts need a bridge.
For example there were a few shot changes that featured minor continuity errors, such as the character starting a shot in a slightly different place than they finished in the previous shot. To solve this I would cut in on the following shot and make it a mid shot. Or I would find a different wide or close up to act as a bridge hiding the change.
I had George Lock (our director) sitting with me for the edit. This was helpful because there was a second pair of eyes when I needed it, making sure shots matched up nicely and he was able to pick up on continuity errors or other details that I might have missed. George's passion and experience was a good energy to have, however, I did get the feeling that he wanted to take over at times and I felt a little bit like my space and creative control was slightly invaded.
But after expressing this to him, I found he was a lot more respectful of my space and ability as an editor. Similarly to the shooting days I split the editing in to two distinct halves. I spent my first-day focussing on all the interior scenes with George.
Once this was done I watched back the edit from the beginning to make sure it all flowed nicely and followed the same pacing. I had to make a few tweaks to the shots I used since upon reflection some didn't work and needed to be replaced with ones we were previously unsure about.
My next step once the basic visuals were sorted was to attend to the sound design. Going in to this project I had a lot in mind for the sound design. I had each effect I wanted, prepared in a bin and from there it was a case of experimenting/testing to see which ones worked where. In order to create effective atmos, I placed the high pitched ear ringing sound right at the start of the sequence. This works to disorientate the audience right from the beginning. This sound had to continue all the way through to the second scene, but I had to bring the levels down when the protagonist turns of the TV (since i want to instil the idea that most of the sound is coming from the TV). In general as well listening to it out loud I had to bring the overall levels of the background noise down to avoid peaking.
The next effects helped to build and enhance/maintain the ominous atmosphere. I implemented a series of low-frequency drone sounds that vary in intensity depending on the on screen events. Making sure the tension and alertness of the audience is brought up at the right points. To match the glitch effect on the TV I laced appropriate glitching sound effects under the other audio which only occurs when a glitch is visually seen on TV.
Progressing through the scene we found that some shots were too quiet and we loose some of the atmosphere that we built up. To solve this I found some basic creepy tones and rumbles which I kept relatively quiet and placed under all the other tracks. This way they could fill the scenes that have less sound design, acting as background noise that doesn't distract from the visuals.
As well as adjusting the cropping and image scales, in some cases (especially during the chase scene) I had to adjust the speed of some shots to ensure their pacing matched with the previous shots and didn't look too jumpy or out of place.
These factors all came together niceley to produce my rough cut which you can see bellow.
Our feedback from Simon was mostly positive. Our shots and pacing all linked nicely, and our stylistic decision to incorporate mostly static or tracked shots was clear and effective. He liked the sound design and the choice of shots which I was pleased with.
His main points of improvement were:
-To take the sound design even further, since some shots are still very quiet even with the atmos and they need a little extra something.
-Make sure that if there is movement towards the end of a shot, we don't lose it as we cut. The shot transition should take place just before the movement cuts off, ensuring the pacing is not juddery.
-Some parts of the sequence needed a few shots needed to be flipped to ensure the eye lines between characters match. Also some parts of the sequence needed to have shots chopped or changed to enhance the story telling, for example he wanted to see more of the two shot when the protagonist looks up at the window.
All of this is achievable and will be worked on for my next cut.
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