Finished Video

Editing Analysis

Editing is  finished, a few tweaks to finish off 

So editing. Hows has it gone? To be honest, it has been a whole lot more stressful than I thought at christmas after I thought I had finished filming. However, I had to do extra filming since the sequence was too pedestrian before it. Looking over it, it really did need that extra filming because absolutely nothing happened and it wouldn’t grab anybody’s attention.

What i’m pleased with

• Music

Hope by kendra Springer, which i found on jamendo.com is a very good piece of instrumental piano and i feel it goes very well with the movie. I am so pleased i found it because i didn’t paticularly want to use since it wasn’t very good and it only just showed a real rough track of what i wanted it to be like.

• Acting

Giles takes a-level Drama so I thought he would be good for the role and he played the character fantastically. The character is very similar to him (just want to note out the violence bit isn’t Giles though). He was very reliable and it also meant I didn’t have that many out takes

• Interesting shots

I felt that experimenting with some good shots and then adding typical shots worked really well.

• The switch between shots

This worried me for ages that the two different shots couldn’t be defined and were hard to mix with each other. However, I am very pleased with it.

• The differences in pace

I really like that the different scenes have so much different pace that they show contrast but the audience can see that the character is the same in both. Although the teacher did say that in places it was slow, that is what I wanted to do in the first place so as the show the contrast. I almost wamted to show the characters `other life`.

What i felt could be improved

A little better understanding of the opening sequence, so as it made sense without the voiceover to clear it all up. many people I asked to watch thought that it was the main character was getting beaten up so the voiceover had to clear this up. 

Also, it isn’t the quickest start to the movie ever. However, if it was quicker, it would look a lot like a trailer. I think with the titles and voiceover my opening sequence looks more like that than a voiceover which I have tried hard on. The question which pondered on me is if to move the main title of The Human system somewhere else but I really liked how the final bit works, so I have kept it.

Crucial parts in the movie

Here is a review of the main parts of the movie.

1. This is the first piece of action in the film, where the main character and his friends beat up somebody in the street. I like this shot because the camera pans between the two people to add tension.

I like the black and white effect of these shots to show the time difference.

Ben wh0 played the boy who gets beaten up did a very good job of looking around to see if there was an escape route and to emphasise that the gang were all around. He did very well.

2. This is the first time the audience really gets to inspect the main character. The slow start of him getting up is supposed to be a contrast with the fast and furious action of the urban scene.

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 3. This shows the boy being beaten up by the gang which was shown to probably be the intension in the last scene.

I really like how this shot panned out because we never told Ben, who got beaten up that that was going to happen. It just added a bit of surprise. This shot was very good but could have been ruined pretty easily. Firstly, the camera battery was very low and it flashed while taking this shot and I thought it had gone off so nearly stopped filming. Just with instinct, I decided to zoom right in which in the end looked fantastic but it also meant the woman who walked past (pretty swiftly though as she thought it was a real attack) wasn’t seen in the shot. This is one of my favourite shots.

4.

I think this such is quite crucial since it shows what the characters are like in that they will do something horrific and just run away from it.

It’s almost a metaphor of their lives in that they just run away from a problem that they get into, and it never works. The movie plot is also quite similar to this but it’s about not being able to get out.

Again, I like the idea of this shot but I think if I had the choice, I would have asked to do it again because Billy and Liam both laugh while they run, however because both of them are at the back, this is not so noticeable.

5.

 These 3 shots show the character walking down the stairs but not normally. This shot was actually an idea of Giles since the original was just to walk down the stairs normally. But after 2 out takes of it and after a third which looked terrible as Giles went right past the camera, Giles said he does this sometimes and it works very well, portraying the character at the same time.

6.

This shot is supposed to show the character being caught for his actions seen earlier, but it was only after I told them why he was at the police station that people realised which surprised me.

To clear this, I changed the voiceover to say “I was caught for that too..It was my first warning” which now makes it more clear to the audience why he is at the police station.

I like the shot though as it shows the character and where he is at the same time and it saved putting a title on to say what has happened. Everything is potrayed in the movie instead.

7. Probably one of the only original planned shots to stay, that is how much my movie has changed. I had always planned to do this shot and it is my favourite shot. The idea though in the first place was that this shot would split the inside and outside scene. In the end, I got rid of all the outside filming as nothing happened and time meant I couldn’t fit it on. So this ended up being the final shot of the movie. Trying to edit this was a nightmare because the first shot was rubbish as I put the camera on the wrong level of the fridge and the second shot, we opened the fridge up back quickly from doing the shot. So to edit with the titles was really hard. It meant the titles start just before the door fully closes and then we hear the slam of the door.

8. The end title has always been up for debate.

I had always had the title of the movie planned for when the fridge closes, so when that scene was decided to be at the end of the movie, the title would go with it. But seeing others who had done the same as me and put the title at the end, the annoying factor of that the movie looks like a trailer dawned on me. However, I really like the ending and everyone who has watched it has commented on that too, so I kept it. After a lot of editing, it goes so well with the fridge that i just had to keep it like that. The font of the title is very simple because I wanted it to be easily readable so it hits you in the face. The size of the font is also bigger than the other titles to grab the attention more of the audience.

After this scene, the movie would have moved on to introducing Tom, Giles’s friend and his family and then move more into the plot of the movie.

Overall, I am very pleased with my opening sequence and have enjoyed filming and editing it. Knew i’d get through it.

Final Tweaks

Black and white effect

This was an idea from quite from a couple of weeks ago which is now on every clip which is set in town. this is because it know separates the other clips, showing a difference in time between the two clips.

Sound on the clips

Talking with giles, he recommended that while some of the clips during the soundtrack have Non-diegetic sound as well, he felt it didn’t work in places which on looking closely, i agreed with. Plus it was pretty windy some you’ve got that too on the urban clips so sound has been taken out in places.

Sound Levels

Very importantly, the sound of the voiceover has been increased and the sound of the music has been lowered just because they were too quiet and loud respectively.

Titles

The first blackout titles have been kept because i like them but  as explained earlier, their was no continuity of the titles so I have added extra titles over the top of the clips of actors who were in the opening sequence. these are placed in the bottom right corner, so they are out of the way. They are also the same size font as the other clips to show extra continuity.

Music

As I said before as well, the music starts at the beginning of the movie and fades out and then comes back in after the voiceover for the last bit. This has now been put in. However, the song was 3 minutes long and my movie is 1:36 so I took the first 27 seconds of the song for the beginning and the last 13 seconds of the song for the end which I think works nicely.

But the opening sequence is now done. At last. editing reaction coming up.

Voiceover

The voiceover was done yesterday with Giles voicing himself. The result was okay however the sound hasn’t come out perfectly. Plus, with the music, I felt you couldn’t hear the voiceover enough. So the music now starts when the movie does, with the non-diegetic sound being taken out for this bit. Then the voiceover commences in the usual position as the music is faded out. The music then fades back in near the end just before the end of the voiceover. Here is a transcript of it which Giles and I edited.

My Name is Edward Giles(.) friends call me Gilo and Last year I helped attack another person(2)I didn’t want to do it(2)I was forced. But something inside me enjoyed the thrill of it(3) You wouldn’t think I’m that kind of person(.) Mum wishes I wasn’t(.) Dad wouldn’t care(.) He’s in London on business all the time(4) They just get in the way(.) Makes me frustrated(.) Maybe that’s why I take it out on others. (3) They don’t understand me (1.5) They don’t understand my best friend Tom either. (3)Why can’t she understand that i don’t want to stay in the class system where it’s full of dull uninteresting people who can’t stand a thrill ride (.) Just because i have a good upbringing doesn’t mean I have to stay there(5) Oh I was caught for that too(.) It was my first warning (10)The problem got worse as I got into more and more trouble(.) It led to something that changed my life forever.

Music

I might just have my song. It’s a piano instrumental piece by Kendra Springer who is american and it is called Hope. I found it on Jamendo.com after searching for the last 2 hours, going through a lot of rubbish songs. I am pretty sure I will use this as it also is an instrumental piece, it will go well with the voiceover. I used the first edit and played the music over it and it sounded alright, although accompanied by the voiceover it will sound much better.

I have till Wednesday to finish. For then, I will have to add a few more titles on which won’t take me long, add the voiceover which I am trying to do tomorrow first thing or Tuesday as Giles and I both have frees then. Also, the music has to go on plus the voiceover of course. Apart from that, virtually the rest is done.

Improvements

Okay so since my first edit went up, I have asked friends and others in the media class to take a look at my movie to see if any improvements could bere made. Miss Ollett also chipped in: As I write, this is what has been changed since the first edit.

1. The sound from the shots to the blackout titles have been carried on to show more continuity.
2. Clips of Giles getting up and waking up have been shortened to give the movie a quicker pace.
3. There is now one blackout title less.This is firstly because Miss Ollett felt there was no title continuity so to do this I am in the process of putting titles during the footage with the slower scene at Giles’s house. I also had to do this because I anted to credit some more of my actors and with Giles being credited before, some other names would come up and it won’t be known to the audience who they are.
4. The problem of the final credit not looking very good has been fixed with Hattie’s help.

That’s it for the moment but I have a free and I am planning to have a final edit done for the end of tomorrow so I can plan the voiceover and music over the weekend and add them begore Wednesday. That’s the plan

Rough Edit

Above is a very rough edit of my Movie which I finished today. This just gives a basic idea of how the film will be like but changes could and will be made.

1. This has no soundtrack on, which i’m still working at. If  i’m still desperate at the end of the week, I will use my original music but if  I have to, I won’t be happy with it.

2. No voiceover yet. This is planned to be done this week. I have a free last lesson tomorrow so I could aim to do it then.

3. The titles were done very quickly just to show people where they will be. But they show a simple format of what they will be like. Font and size may change but I like the effects.

4. The 3rd shot of the gang walking along; I have two clips of this and the other one is better so I will edit this.

5. I feel the 4th clip should be shorter, by about 2 seconds to show a bit more continuity.

6. The ending title needs to fit in with the closing of the fridge better because at the moment it looks rubbish and very obvious that the title has just been added right on top.

Anyway enjoy

Final bit of filming – done

After deciding the opening sequence was a little lacklustre, I decided to do a little extra filming today in town with Giles and some friends as we were meeting up anyway.

The first shots were taken down near the police station in Bury St Edmunds which were of Giles leaving the police station so we presume he’s been in trouble.

The other bit of filming i did involved everyone and especially my friend Ben who had to be beaten up which we didn’t tell him we were doing but I said if anything happens, just to keep  his composure and not laugh and he did fantastically. Plus, the scene looks brilliant. Then I filmed the gang walking up with Giles at the front to show he is the main character. There is also  bit of him walking with the camera down at his feet which will look good added in with other clips. There is also a scene of the gang running away from the victim and then another shot of them running away further. After looking at the shot, they look brilliant and it has given me 5-6 new shots to use in my opening sequence. It also means i have a hell of a lot of work to do still. Music searching will be done tomorrow because at the moment, I have nothing good whatsoever sound wise. Every song is so bad. No wonder they haven’t been signed up. Only The Dada Weatherman is good.

My big dilemma today was that I took the camera out last night and went to my mum’s Tea room, left the camera there and then went home. So I checked on the bus this morning and it had no battery at all. BUT, I went into the apple store and asked a massive favour if they could charge it up for me for an hour or so and the man was very nice and did it for me.

So it’s been a hectic, action packed day and can’t wait to edit first thing Monday morning with a lesson in the afternoon. Need to do a hell of a lot of work but I am looking forward to the challenge

Good day

IDEA

It’s a revelation. I have just about sorted out my narration which is on my last post although this is not final.

The fridge shut is in the middle of the film so my idea is to cut the bit after out, film some more to put in before and the time dilemma would work with it too. To be honest, this is the most boring part of the film as nothing happens and it solves everything even though I do like some of the shots after.

So to conclude; the movie will cut from the urban setting, to a title with the contradiction of the rural setting in between. While Giles wakes up, it cuts back to when they get into trouble which i am filming on saturday. Then i finish with the shot of the fridge closing.

Filming saturday

The filming planned for saturday will be held at the same place where i filmed the last shot and will include Giles and some others who will be with me anyway. I was going to Bury anyway on saturday and so this would fit in pretty well. One shot i am planning is of a long shot of them running away shouting `police`. I have the shot which i caught of a siren which would go perfectly with this.

Anyway, I need to do a lot of editing next week although i have a pretty busy week. But got a lot to do to finish in just 2 weeks time.

A whole lot of changes

Today in the media lesson, Miss Ollett had a look at my rough edit of my film and concluded that it was a little pedestrian. This had been a worry of mine since the start and so many changes have been made and will be made for the final opening sequence.

Clips have been changed around but more importantly, the first few clips were of the urban setting and then it cuts straight to the rural one. I liked this contradiction but on thinking on it it is very confusing and doesn’t show much at all. So these clips have been put in in different parts of the movie instead to show this contradiction better. However, this gave a dilemma because i didn’t have enough suitable clips of the urban setting to do this so on saturday I am going to Bury anyway and will film around 6 more shots with around 5 people involved which will give a good effect of a gang. Also, the final clip has been cut out because it just contradicts the second last shot with the sun so i will finish on this shot instead.

My final dilemma is time. I only have 2 minutes available and an estimation of the length of the new clips means i am over 2 minutes long and i haven’t even added titles yet which i need to do. But before i do any filming, i need to sort out the narration which will be used to dictate where the clips will finally be.

The draft narration will now be added onto as well

Latest on the music is that i haven’t got any good music yet after looking last night so again, I will look over the next few days and the weekend although my computer still played up on the website and jamendo is blocked on the school system which is very annoying.

Anyway, bye for now