Editing Update - Fifth and Final Draft

We had very little to edit for our final draft it was generally just little touch ups and quicker cut clips to make the whole thing flow better. 

We found that after this phase of editing we felt we were definitely finished and after showing the opening to our focus group they also confirmed that there was nothing that they felt we could improve. 

Overall I am extremely proud of how we worked as a group. Looking back at the whole editing process I feel that it was a lot harder than I was expecting ti to be however I have thoroughly enjoyed the journey and as well as being proud of my group as a whole I am hugely proud of myself and the excellent work I feel I have done. We have produced a very good piece of work that is of extremely high quality and I am very happy with what we have produced. 

Editing Update - Third and Forth Draft

Once again as the head editor Kirsty took lead role in the editing however we both worked very closely together as i always sat with her with her when she was editing, helping er figure out the editing software and deciding whether something she did had the right look and fitted with the conventions. 

Since the last draft we had added music and sound effects which we felt were very effective and made our product seen very professional and of a high quality, it also added to the suspense of the whole opening as the music builds up the tension (for example when they open the barn door the music goes very loud indicating/foreshadowing to the bad that will come).

We also colour corrected some of the scenes to make it look nicer as a whole. We made the opening flash-forward darker to allude to the coming terror and fear in the film. In addition we made the part when the two characters are outside more blue to make it seem even colder than it already did. Although these were only slight nearly unnoticeable differences I feel it was very effective.

We finally got round to adding the titles of the cast and crew as well as the logo so it was clear that it was our production. However we did hit a snag as we realised that out company logo was black on a black background so we made the decision to have a different one rather than re-edit our original one. 

I felt that although i was very disappointed that we couldn't use the logo that i had created (and was very proud of) we made the right decision and came up with a very interesting new way of presenting our production company name

. 

Personally I finally edited together the clip that I was yet to do and I felt that I was very effective. It gave another level of fear to the piece and made it even more scary.

I feel that we have nearly finished the editing of our product, however there are some small bits that need to be tweaked slightly.

Editing Update - Second Draft

During the second part of editing although Kirsty did most of it as head editor, I sat with her and gave her some guidance on what looked good, what we wanted and whether her ideas fitted with the film.

Edit from draft 1

Edit from draft 2

For the second draft we cut down the shots in the clips that were too long or moved parts of clips around to remove unwanted parts but keep small parts that we really liked.

We also added music to fit with our opening.

After the guidance to get rid of the hide and seek board

we went back to a previous idea about creating a stop-motion piece using the font we had previously scratched into the board (which it why the board was kept in so we could have future reference).

We still have to add the production roles, logos and our company name throughout the opening and colour correct specific scenes.

Personally I have yet to be able to film and edit together one clip (where there is a black screen saying 'Charlie and Ant phone call').

Editing Update - First Draft

When it came to editing our first draft we decided to create a rota where we would each edit our own scenes (Winn's scene 0:00-0:20, Lauren's scene 0:20-1:06, my scene 1:06-1:38 and Kirsty's scene 1:38-2:37) and then have one person assisting us. 

WINN'S SCENE - I helped edit Winn's scene. This scene was very difficult as before we had even started editing we encountered a problem. As a group we were conflicted on how we would go about making it clear to the audience that is was a flash forward and not part of the other three scenes. We had a few ideas; for example making it black and white (however we decided that that would create a feel of a flashback not forward), giving the clips a brownish tint (but this was decided would also give the idea of a flashback, aged look which was not what we wanted) and a Schindler's list/Sin City effect where we would have it all in black and white except from the bright red coat Yoli's character was wearing. As a group we eventually decided on the Sin City effect as it is very evocative and highlights the red, which connotes danger, and got to work. 

This was where we encountered another problem as our group only had basic editing ability so we had to learn from the very begining by playing around with the colour correction filter in Final Cut pro and watching instructional YouTube videos. Winn, Kirsty and I all learned how to create this effect. Although Winn was the person doing the main bulk of the editing, Kirsty and I still learned so that we would also have that skill and in case Winn needed our help (which she did when it came to the more difficult clips with a lot of moving around). 

LAUREN'S SCENE - I was not that involved in the editing of Laurens scene as it was Winn who helped her, however I was always there to help when they needed guidance of which clip to use and where to cut certain parts so that it flowed better. 

MY SCENE - For my scene I had Lauren helping me. I felt that the first part of my scene was fairly straight forward however for the middle part I wanted to create match-on-action which I found rather difficult at first considering how I have had very little editing experience, however I found that I was very happy with what I had produced but felt that to improve it I could have it more cut up and jumpy to really give the effect that the character is travelling (1:22-1:31). 

There was also a small clip that I was yet to film which I had left out but replaced with some text indicating where it went in case I forgot about it. 

KIRSTY'S SCENE - I helped Kirsty with her scene, however she is rather independent and just got on with it. Although she rarely needed my help I made sure that I was there in case she needed my opinion on a clip or a piece she had edited (which I did help her with). 

I believe that we had a effective way of editing our whole opening as we did it in a way that we all contributed equally however not in a way that we were all shouting over each other or arguing about who edits what bit and whether or not a certain clip fit. We made sure to be respectful of each others space and scenes but always being there to give guidance.