The Final Edit

The Final Edit

Here is our final edit for our opening thriller sequence.



21/01/16- The last day of editing

The last day of editing

Today, we aimed to get our final edit completed and uploaded to YouTube. Firstly, we desperately needed to re-film the establishing shot of the front of the house. So, Tammy, Izzy and I walked down to where we originally filmed. We took the camera we used originally (The Cannon 700D) and a tripod. We filmed various shots of the house to enable us to have a variety of footage to choose from. We then walked back to college.

Tammy and I filming

When we got back to college, we imported the footage we had just filmed onto the computer, and selected the establishing shot which we thought was best suited. We then imported this into Adobe Premiere Pro, trimmed it, edited it into black and white and checked that the quality was still good, and to our delight it was.

After this, I then decided to try importing the new voice recording of our actor Evan singing 'Daisy Daisy' over the top of the video. After trimming the audio with the razor tool on Adobe Premiere Pro, I was then able to insert it. After a while of moving it around, I finally got it to fit.

We then decided to check our opening thriller sequence and look for any final adjustments which could be made. We then decided to make the 'Daisy' audio at the very end louder to add suspense and leave the opening on a cliff hanger. We then also make the news reporter voices a little quitter as they were slightly overpowering.

After this, we then watched the entire opening thriller sequence to make sure that it flowed and that we were happy with the editing, which we were. We could then export our video onto YouTube. 

20/01/16-Voice recording...again

Voice Recording...Again

 

19/01/16-Editing

Editing

Editing the audio sound.

Today, my group and I had only minor improvements to make in regards to editing our final footage. The only outstanding scenes to sort out were the audio of our actor singing 'Daisy Daisy' and the establishing shot of the house at the very beginning of the narrative. 
I decided to add the voice recording of Evan singing 'Daisy Daisy' into our footage. However, the audio which we re-recorded didn't quite fit to Evan's lip movement from the original footage. I then tried to use to razor tool to cut the audio, however this didn't really work. Even though the beginning of the audio fitted the original footage, the end part didn't. This wasn't down to our actor or our own fault, it was just a slight timing issue when we recorded. This is something we can easily resolve by asking our actor to come and record his piece again.
Then, Izzy and Tammy began to add in the new establishing shot which we filmed the other day. For some strange reason, the footage was very pixalated and was a smaller size compared to the original footage we filmed. This could be because when we re-filmed, it was a sunny day and so the footage appeared to be over exposed. This therefore means that we must re-film this part in the next few days in order to solve this issue. 
Izzy and I then continued to edit the sound. We recorded some more of our friends being news reporters and imported these audio clips into Adobe Premiere Pro, editing them on soundcloud as we did before. We then rearranged all of the clips we collected so that it would fit nicely with the narrative, and agreed on an order we thought worked best. This now means that our news reporter sound aspect is now complete.

 

 

15/01/16- Continued editing

Continued editing

 

14/01/16- Re-filming and re-recording

Re-filming and re-recording footage

Today, we had a media lesson scheduled for 2 hours in the afternoon.

Evan and I voice recording

Our actor, Evan (who played Oliver) was meant to voice record on Tuesday but he wasn't able to come into college. So, today I arranged for him to come and do a voice over of the part where he sings 'Daisy Daisy'. This is because the quality of the sound could be improved by making it more clear. In order to do this, we used a hand held microphone and then when we had voice recorded Evan, we imported the clips into Adobe Premier Pro. To start with, Evan found lip syncing a little difficult, but after listening and watching the original clip and then whilst recording, playing the original footage, he was able to produce a really great recording.

Then, we decided to voice record some of our peers, as well as ourselves for the news reporters. We started to do this the other day, however after importing them into our opening thriller sequence, we found that we didn't obtain enough footage to allow for us to overlap each voice, to make them sound strange and distorted.

On Tuesday, I completed my audience feedback for the second draft edit, and so we decided to use the feedback our audience had given us to begin to make any changes which were still outstanding. Something which was apparent from all our audience surveys was that the establishing shot of the house at the beginning of the opening sequence was a bit jumpy, and the doorbell footage was filmed without a tripod. So, my group and I went back to the location where we originally filmed. We took the Cannon 700D camera (used originally to film) and a tripod. When arriving on location, we first re-filmed the doorbell footage. It was very sunny today, and the sun was shining directly on the house, which wasn't ideal. This is because unwanted shadows were created. However, we found a camera angle and position where the shadows were not as bad, and Tammy ensured that when pressing the doorbell, to move her hand in a certain way to avoid casting shadows. 

We then moved the tripod onto the road, in front of the house. We ensured that the tripod was stable and level, and then locked the tripod so that the head could not move side to side, and only move up and down. I loosened the handle to allow a smooth panning shot to be achieved. We also changed the setting of the camera to shoot at 50 frames per second, so that when we import our footage we can slow it down and so it should be a very smooth panning shot.

After shooting numerous shots to ensure we would have some decent footage to work with, we headed back to college. We then imported the footage off the SD card onto the computer, and began to select the footage we would like to use to replace the old footage. Tomorrow, we plan to use our free period to add the footage into our opening thriller sequence, as well as adding the new voice recordings and editing them further to make them sound distorted.

Izzy and I re-filming the establishing shot of the front of the house.

 

Audience feedback of second draft edit

Audience feedback of second draft edit

I have created a second questionnaire in order to obtain information on how our second opening thriller sequence appears to our audience. This way, we can make final changes based on audience research and our own personal judgement to improve the quality of our opening thriller, so that it is of a very high standard when we upload the final version.

Person 1

Person 2



Person 3



Did you still find the opening thriller sequence engaging?

Person 1: Yes, the music was intense and the flashbacks really added to the tension. It wasn't just one long scene, I really liked the different elements. It made it very fast paced.

Person 2:  Yes, I do find it engaging because I was wondering what was going to happen next. The music gave it an eerie feel.

Person 3: Yes because it is full of suspense.

How this affects our production:  This means that we don't have to re-film any parts of our opening thriller sequence to make it more suspense. This means my group and I can continue to edit and pick out smaller parts which may need perfecting.

Do you think the editing includes smooth transitions?

Person 1: Yes, the scenes flow nicely into one another. The editing has been executed professionally.

Person 2:  Yes, however there are one or two transitions where the edit hasn't been cut properly, but it is nothing major.

Person 3: Yes, the editing is really good.

How this affects our production:  This means that we still need to perfect some of our transitions where the scenes haven't been cut as well as they could be. This won't take very long and is easy to fix.

Do you think the titles are positioned well on the screen?

Person 1: Yes, because they don't detract away from the storyline or images.

Person 2:  No, because they are in the corner so you might miss them.

Person 3: Yes I do because they are all the same and consistently in similar places.

How this affects our production:  I personally think that the titles are positioned well on the screen. We don't want the titles to distract away from the action in the background.

Does the music fit the narrative?

Person 1: Yes definitely, I think this is a real strong point.

Person 2:  Yes, it is very haunting.

Person 3:  Yes because it is full of suspense.

How this affects our production:  This means that the music we chose is suitable and adds to the suspense and tension, and doesn't need to be changed.

Are there any parts we should re-film?

Person 1: The establishing shot of the house and the doorbell.

Person 2:  The house at the begging and the doorbell. All the other scenes are of a really good standard.

Person 3: The panning shot of the house at the beginning of the opening sequence.

How this affects our production:  These scenes are scenes that we have arranged to re-film. This will be done in the next few days.

Do you like the flashbacks and do you think they should be improved?

Person 1: I love the flashbacks, and I don't think they should be improved.

Person 2:  Yes, I don't think there is any need for improvement.

Person 3: I do like the flashbacks because it gives an insight into the characters background, making you wonder what is going to happen next.

How this affects our production:  The flashbacks therefore need to be reviewed but not changed dramatically.

Second draft edit

Second draft edit

My group and I made our first edit around a month ago. Since then, we have made very clear changes, such as cutting our footage by almost half the time, and really getting it to look sleek and professional. We felt as though it was important to upload a second draft edit to allow for audience feedback as well as for our own benefit. This way, we can make any amendments which we feel are necessary after watching our opening thriller sequence, as well as taking into consideration our audience's opinions.

We only have a few changes to make, such as perfecting the opening titles as well as audio voice overs and re filming the doorbell footage. Overall, we are very pleased with our progress so far.



12/01/16- Editing, editing and more editing.

Editing, editing and more editing

Today, we had a 2 hour media lesson. With our 'To do' list prepared, we made a start with making some clear progress and being productive with our time. First of all, we decided to continue with adding titles to our opening sequence. As mentioned before, we felt as though this is what our opening sequence was lacking and it was something we were continuing to put off. So, we decided to continue to make amendments to our opening titles first. On reviewing our opening titles, we decided to change the name of our production company, from T I E Productions to Vision Productions. We felt as though this fitted with the eye opening at the very beginning. We then changed Woodfire Images to TIE images. We felt as though both these names were much more professional and better suited for the task in hand. 

The new production company name.

The new image company and different font

We then went on to add the titles throughout the duration of the opening sequence. We used the blog post where we had pre-planned the titles, which made adding them much easier. Something my group and I found difficult to agree on, was the font in which the titles should appear. Eventually, we agreed that a sans-serif, white distorted font would look particularly effective, and fit with the thriller genre, for now. This is something we can ask in our audience feedback. We also ensured that each title would appear in the same size, colour and font to make the appearance consistent. As well as this, we decided the best positioning for most of the titles would be the bottom right hand corner.

An example of one of the titles which appear.

After completing our titles, we then went ahead and adjusted some of the sound. This was because we needed to add in the voice recordings of the news reporters and so the non diegetic music needed to be faded in and faded out. After this, the voice recordings of the news reporters could be added. These then had to be inserted into Adobe Premier Pro. After inserting them, we realised that they didn't sound distorted or fuzzy, which was our intention. So, we made each voice recording sound distorted by adding in a fuzzy radio sound over the top of the voice recordings, and then edited them in a programme called 'Adobe Sound Booth'. This way, we could select the 'distorted' option, which gave the effect we were looking for.

The clips of audio can be seen in green.

We then felt we were ready to upload our second draft edit.

Title Planning

Title Planning for the opening thriller sequence

Before adding titles to our opening thriller sequence, my group and I thought it would be ideal to come up with the names we would like to include. We decided to use our real names in the titles, but even though each name is put with a specific title, we all had a role in every aspect of creating our opening thriller sequence.

 

The titles will appear in this order:

 

Vision Productions presents

In association with T I E images

A Theo Jackson film

Produced by Tamara Harris

Directed by Emma Snow

Edited by Isobel Humphriss

Music by Kevin MacLeod

Harper Williams

Chloe Mar-Gerrison

Frankie Kemp

Evan Jones

 

Obviously, some of the names are made up, but some are real as we have credited our friend who let us borrow her house, and our friend who let us film her eye for our opening titles. Now we have planned the titles, we can add them into our opening thriller sequence. 

Plan of action for the next week!

To do list...

With only two weeks left until the final deadline, we decided it would be a good idea to come up with a 'To do' list. This way, we will have set tasks to complete this week which should maintain our productiveness and help my group and I to efficiently meet the deadline.

• Upload the current draft to YouTube.
• Cut out at least an additional 10 seconds of footage, if completely necessary. This is something we need to discuss with our teacher.
• Re-film the clip of the doorbell as you can see a reflection of the film crew. 
• Make the flash backs more edgy and flow more easily. 
• Create/finish the production and main company titles either within adobe editing program or with adobe after effects. 
• Create the titles to go throughout the opening sequence.
• Get audience feedback.
• Make final changes and small amendments
• Upload the final draft to YouTube.

I think that this will be effective in guiding us with how much time we have left, compared with how much we have left to complete.

18/01/2016

Continued Editing and Title creations

We didn't have a media lesson scheduled today, but seeing as the deadline is nearing, we decided to carry on editing.

 

We felt as though the next important part to complete would be to sort out our sound. This is an area I feel confident on and so I volunteered to complete this part. I adjusted the sound levels so that you can hear the dialogue, and made sure the sound faded in and out in the correct places, as well as the sound effects matching the correct part in the footage. 



This is where the sound is edited in the left hand window. The orange dots can be moved to fade music in and out without
it sounding jumpy or harsh.

Then, we decided to re-film the eye opening. I wasn't really happy with the clip because it wasn't stable, as a tripod hadn't been used to film originally. I therefore suggested to the group that we should re-film, and we all agreed. So, we went back into the studio, with the Canon 700D camera, set up the lighting and got a tripod. We then filmed our friend's eye, taking multiple shots until we were happy with the outcome. This was then imported into Adobe Premiere Pro ready for titles to be added.

This is the new eye with the titles (the production company) inserted over the top.

After reviewing our 'In association with Woodfire Images' we decided that the opening titles didn't really fit. We therefore deleted the picture and instead, added the titles where the establishing shot of the house is shown at the very beginning. This helps to keep the duration of the opening thriller sequence as short as we can, and we feel as though it looks more professional and classy. Originally, we attempted to graphic match the 'O' into the centre of the eye, but the title looked out of place in this position, so we opted for the title to be positioned on the left hand side to the eye opening, but level with the pupil.

Here, we have the new titles.

Next, Izzy decided to start adding more titles, such as the title of our opening thriller sequence, which is Unorthodox, to the end of our sequence. Tammy and I helped to advise her on the fonts and text colours. This was inspired by a previous media students work which I analysed earlier in this blog. This title was particularly effective at the end of the opening sequence and added suspense to the clip.

Here is the title of our opening sequence, to appear at the end.

Next week, we plan to add the titles throughout the opening sequence, such as editors, directors, actors and scripters. We also plan to add voice overs for the news reporters and also get our actor to lip synch to his dialogue to make the quality crisp and clear. Another thing we must do is replace the doorbell footage where the shot is stable and where you can't see the person filming in the glass.

07/01/2016- Creating opening titles

Creating opening titles

Today my group and I also started to create opening titles for our opening thriller sequence. We felt this was important because when we submitted our first draft edit, this was something we really need to work on, as our teacher pointed out. The only reason we hadn't tackled the titles yet, is because we felt the editing of the actual footage was much more important to complete first, and then anything extra can be added once we were almost finished with the editing aspect.

 

We first thought of different image company names and we did this by brainstorming our ideas. Eventually, we decided on 'Woodfire Images'. We also decided to use an image which is copyright free, and so decided to use a photo I had taken a few weeks ago. This was just something to go there temporarily as we were lacking inspiration. This is something we can work on tomorrow.

A screenshot of the opening titles being created.

Here, an image has been added.

Next, we started to create our other opening title which will appear at the very beginning of the opening sequence. This will display 'T I E productions' which is the name of the production company. Each letter represents each one of my group members name's; Tammy, Izzy and Emma. Izzy and Tammy filmed one of our friends opening her eye in the studio, whilst I continued to edit. Tomorrow, we hope to continue to make amendments to the opening titles and if we have time, add titles throughout our opening sequence.


This is the clip of our friend opening her eye.

07/01/2016- Editing

Editing the footage even more!

After the Christmas holidays, it was time to get back into editing. With having a break from our opening thriller sequence footage, we were able to get back into editing with a fresh eye. This gave my group and I to firstly identify the things we must do in order to make some significant progress as the deadline is quickly approaching. Here is the list we came up with:

• Edit our footage down as much as we could, by cutting out parts which were too long or not of a high quality. This is because our opening thriller sequence was well over 4 minutes long. Seeing as the brief is to make it around the 2 minute mark, drastic editing was needed. We were able to look at our questionnaires which we conducted before the Christmas holidays in order to see what our audience felt should be edited out, as well as using our own personal judgement and advice from our peers.
• Sort out the sound! The sound was fading in and out in random parts where it wasn't necessary. This was because we had edited the sound and then cut parts out of our sequence, which had moved the sound from the clip is should be with.
• Try and make some opening titles. This is really important to enable my group and I to achieve the high grades we desire, however at this point, I believe it isn't essential. This is because the footage should be our priority and getting it to a high standard and to match the brief is the most important thing at the moment.

Firstly, we decided to watch the footage and identify parts which we could delete. By cutting parts down here and there, we managed to get the footage down to 2 minutes 40, which was a huge achievement. Cutting out pieces of footage was very difficult, as knowing which parts to delete was very tough. Shown below, is part of the footage we cut out. We had our actor walking towards the wall, but we felt as though that part didn't really add to the narrative enigma, and so we cut it straight from the girls face below in a flashback, to Daisy, (the victim in the present). This is effective because it shows our antagonist has an on-going problem with victimising girls.

One of our shots which we edited to make the duration of our opening sequence shorter.  



We then were looking at where else we could cut footage down. Originally when reviewing our opening thriller sequence, we thought that the part where our actor is strangely stroking the victims face on the wall was for too long. However, when our peers watched our opening thriller sequence, this was the part where they thought it was most disturbing and weird to watch, which a convention and aspect that really makes a thriller scary. We decided to not cut this part out.

We decided to not cut this part out as it adds to the narrative enigma. 

My group and I then reviewed the part of the opening thriller sequence where our actor makes his way down the stairs. This part takes up quite a bit of time in the opening thriller sequence, and so we were planning on cutting parts out. My group and I debated on whether to cut this part out entirely, but we then decided that this part contains aspects of good editing and so this could minimise the chances of achieving a high grade. We also thought that this part creates suspense as he makes his way from the bedroom to the front door, and so we have also decided to not cut down this part either.

We then cut down the overall time of the footage by cutting out little parts of scenes which weren't adding much suspense to the narrative. This therefore allowed my group and I to get the final time down to 2 minutes 42seconds.

 

We didn't have time to sort out the sound today, but tomorrow we have decided as a group that I am going to edit the sound so that it fades in and out in the right places.

17/12/2015

Editing and creating the titles 



Here I can be seen creating one of the opening titles, with
an image of our friend's eye.

Today, my group and I continued to edit our opening thriller sequence. To be more efficient with our time, Izzy continued to edit the footage, cutting out parts which each of our audience survey's suggested. This way, we managed to cut almost 2 minutes of footage, and so hopefully next lesson we can continue to compress the time. We also helped Izzy decide where the flashbacks should appear and the effects that should go with them. As well as this, we came to a decision as a group, that the dialogue at the end of the sequence should be cut in order to add more suspense and tension for the audience. Then, Tammy and I decided that we should look for copyright free sound which would be appropriate for certain scenes in our opening sequence, for example a shower sound, and a doorbell were just some of the sounds we researched. We also found some non diegetic music which is eerie to go over the top of the footage, in order to add suspense and add to the narrative enigma. When we found the appropriate dialogue, Izzy then started to add the sound to the footage to check that it would fit with the atmosphere. We did this by transferring the sound over a memory stick.

 

The eye we took a photo of.

Then, during the second our of our lesson, we decided to start using the software 'Adobe after effects' to create our opening titles. We had already decided that for our production company, we wanted to have an eye to represent the 'brand'. So, we went ahead and started to research GIFs and images of eyes. We thought that it would look really effective to have a GIF, but we were then informed that we were likely to gain more marks if we were to create our own, or use our own image. So, we then went ahead and asked our friend to come into the studio with us so we could use the lighting to get a high quality photo of her eye. Ideally, we would like our opening titles, displaying the name of the production company to appear over the eye.

Editing our opening thriller for the first edit

Initial editing 

A brief idea of where our titles could appear.

My group and I decided to start editing our final opening thriller together. Our main aim, due to being under a tight deadline, was to initially put each part of footage into a chronological order, so that we could go back at a later date and edit it further. We managed to do this for the deadline, as well as editing in where we would like two of the titles to appear. We were very pleased with the overall finish of the opening title sequence, especially considering that it was our first edit, however, something that we must sort next is where the music begins and cuts, as well as unlinking the sound of us filming in the background to minimise and background sound, such as muffled hissing which is common when filming. This is something we can easily edit out. As well as this, even though we used a separate microphone in order to obtain better sound quality, it didn't really make a huge difference. This therefore means that we need to auto record our actor in order to obtain better sound quality. 
On top of this, the footage is far too long for the brief. This at the moment is a good thing, as gathering too much footage is playing to our advantage as we have a lot to choose from for each shot. This means we can easily edit out parts which may be out of focus or not of high quality which will drastically reduce the length of our footage. We aim to speed up the duration of the flashbacks, and perhaps cut out the dialogue at the end as we believe this could be an anti climax to the opening. We can test this in our audience survey.

First Edit- Audience Response

First Edit-Audience Response 

I have created a questionnaire in order to obtain information on how our initial opening thriller sequence appears to audiences. This way, we can make amendments based on audience research and our own personal judgement to improve the quality of our opening thriller. 

Person 1

Person 2

Person 3

Did you find the opening thriller sequence engaging?

Person 1: Yes
Person 2: Definitely
Person 3: Yes
How this affects our production: 
This means that our storyline is good and so we don't need to completely change the idea. It also means that my sample think that the storyline fits the genre.

Would you wish to continue watching the film?

Person 1: Yes, I thought the acting was  really good and that the storyline was very tense.
Person 2: I felt as though the opening sequence was very intense and there was definitely suspense throughout. I found some parts very weird, but in a good way! So, yes I would continue watching.
Person 3: Yes, it was very griping throughout and I want to find out what happens next.
How this affects our production: 
This means that we don't need to go back and re-film parts to add to the narrative enigma. We can therefore work with the footage we have got.

Do you think the black and white effect is effective? 

Person 1: Yes, as this is a typical convention of a thriller and so it really adds more suspense to the opening sequence.
Person 2: Yes, it makes it adds to the suspense.
Person 3: Yes it adds to the narrative enigma.
How this affects our production: 
This means that our choice of black and white is good and adds suspense to the narrative. This results in my group and I keeping the footage as it is, in terms of colour.

Would you prefer you see the flashbacks in a different colour? 

Person 1: No, I think that one colour throughout is effective.
Person 2: Yes, I think that the flashbacks will be more noticeable in a different colour with white flashbacks.
Person 3: Both black and white and colour will look effective.
How this affects our production: 
2/3 people interviewed would like to see the flashbacks in a different colour. This is something I can discuss with my group, but I think that it is a good idea. I think this because it will help distinguish the past and present in our opening thriller sequence.

Do you think the extract could have increased tension?

Person 1: Yes, this could be done by cutting out the end where the characters speak.
Person 2: The characters speaking at the end causes an anti-climax.
Person 3: I think that the dialogue at the end causes a contrast and emphasises the abnormality of the character.
How this affects our production: 
The audience suggested that we should cut out the dialogue. I personally agree with person 3, however I can also sympathise with the other two people surveyed. This is something my group and I can consider, and it would certainly help cut down the duration of the opening sequence.

The clip is 5 minutes long and our brief was to make it 2 minutes long, which parts do you think we could cut out?

Person 1: I think after the character leaves the desk, as you can't see any action and so it doesn't add to the verisimilitude.
Person 2: The exchanging of dialogue at the end.
Person 3: When he turns off the record player, as the music cutting out is a little abrupt.
How this affects our production: 
I think that all these parts of the sequence should be cut, as I agree that they don't really add much to the opening sequence. This is something that we can try on our footage, have a play around and see what looks best from our own judgement.

Do you think the dialogue at the end of the opening thriller is an anti-climax?

Person 1: Yes
Person 2: Yes
Person 3: No
How this affects our production: 
This shows that the dialogue on the end is an anti-climax and more suspense would be included for the audience without it.