Editing Issue

On Friday 27th February, was our sponsored walk however this begun at approximately 8:30AM and this ment that for the next couple of hours the sixth form split up into individual groups to collect money. But we decided on this day to meet up after the sponsored walk to go back and edit the opening scene. However Amber and Kayleigh were together on the sponsored walk day and they were told that the event ended at 10:30 whereas I was on one of the busier roads near school where a huge majority of sixth form were and we were all told it ended at 11:30 so when it was 10:30, Amber and Kayleigh went back to edit and then finished between 11:50 and 12:00 which was the time I got back to school, so therefore I was not present at this editing session.

Editing: Day 7

I rotated the text so it was alligned with the wall.

This is the seventh editing session we have completed, and in this session we wanted to complete any additional editing.

Firsly, we decided to complete the opening credits. From previous editing sessions we completed part of the opening credits so we needed to finish it off. We all contributed, for example Kayleigh copied and pasted the text, I arranged and positioned the text and Amber wrote the text. After we finished the opening credits we watched the entire sequence from the beginning to look for any errors.

I went through the sequence, to look for all the sound errors.

After this we let our teacher watch the sequence and she noticed that it still wasnt clear enough that Agent Logan is watching Agent Boyer when she is picking up the key. So we had a shot of Amy picking up the key, however we changed this so then the next shot was Paul walking on to the set and then he is watching her pick up the key. This is so its clear that Paul has seen her pick up the key and knows what she possess'. However when we played the entire sequence back after arranging the shots into there new positions, I noticed the sound was no longer in sync with the action. Amber also noticed this so we made a note that we need to change the soundtrack in our next editing session which should hopefully be our last.

We discussed what company to inlcude.

Editing: Day 6

This is the sixth editing session we have now completed,and in this session we wanted to complete all of the opening credits.

I started to apply the text, and included the font and different colours.

Firstly we each presented our information on opening credits which we were asked to complete. After talking and discussing the information with each other we then decided to pick out the most relevant information for example who it was directed by and who the casting was by. After this we then started to add the text into the shots and used the chosen font from last lesson which we all agreed on and applied this to the text. However we didnt know which order for it to go in, so I numbered each of the credits and placed them in order so we could increase our producivity and therefore have more work completed. After this we then started to type the information in, and for the first name which was Amy's we placed the text near the bottom which helps show the white text more clearly due to the fact that we placed it near a dark area.

I used the features of Final Cut and added a blur effect.

When we were placing the first part of the text onto the sequence we used the different features of Final Cut Pro which could alter the transparency of the text also it could add a shadow and blur effect. When adding the credits we decided to only use two colours because then this looks more professional. The colours we used were white and black, on the shots which had high key lighting we used black text and on shots were the lighting ws low we used white to help contrast the colours so the text was always clear throughout.

I rotated the text so it is alligned.

When it came to including the directors names, Amber suggested we should have the text along side the wall to help it appear like its part of the setting. Me and Kayleigh liked the idea so we attempted to do this, however Amber wasnt sure how to turn the text so I took over and used the transform keys to rotate the text so that it is more inline with the wall, however we noticed that there was a large gap between the previous credit so we decided to change this.

Editing: Day 5

This is the five editing session we have now completed, however on this day we actually had two hours because of two media lessons which gave us more time to edit. In this session we mainly concentrated on the sound and completing the teachers feedback.

This is an image of the teachers feedback which we were given to help us improve our opening sequence.

I suggested the text should be altered so there is consistency.

We begun by adding the sound which we uploaded onto the iMacs in the previous lesson. However we found it difficult to add the sound file to Final Cut Pro and we all attempted to import the file. But I realised the file was in a zip format so I opened up the file and then dragged the main file which was inside, into the Final Cut Pro Timeline. Once the sound had been successfully imported into the software we all decided to listen to the whole sequence so we know that we are happy with the track chosen. As we listened to the track we watched the shots and looked out for anywhere that may need the sound to be cut shorter or just to adjust the volume.

 This is the chase scene with the soundtrack which helps create suspense and a dramatic part in the sequence.

I cut the soundtrack so the music was related to the genre convention.

One part of the sound sounded very natural and contained noises which would normally be associated with the rainforest so this didn't match the conventions of a spy thriller. However the rest of the soundtrack matches the genre conventions and works really well with the opening scene. Also the soundtrack matches certain scenes with the type of tensions and suspense. However the point of view shot, which is the part which builds up to a dramatic scene had music which is to loud and so I changed volume of the soundtrack by using the cursor to edit the sound on the timeline therefore the tension was increased.

I edited the sound and altered the volume and tone of the music.

The first 10 seconds of the track were cut due to the sounds being related to rainforest and animal noises. Here is the sound file: http://www.freeplaymusic.com/search.aspx?q=maneater

Another part of the sound which we did was near the beginning. Amber cut the sound track into sections and then deleted the parts which werent needed. Then I simple copied and pasted the sound parts and placed them next to each other. This helped create an effective opening part as the sound amplied the suspense.

This is the scene where Amber cut and deleted the soundtrack and where I copied and pasted the parts of the the sound and placed them in there correct poistions so it is in time with the movement.

This is the sound effect we wanted for the scene.

In the normality scene, we added some extra sound effects and this helped improve the scene. When we listened to Agent Boyer her voice was hard to hear and therefore we couldnt understand what she was saying. So I increased the volume of Agent Boyer's voice so that it was clear to understand what she was saying and also when searching through the sound section we came across different mobile phone sounds, so we decided to include one of these sounds in the normality scene so it appears that the phone is ringing and this helps make the scene more realistic. Also Kayleigh noticed that at the end of one of the sounds a mans voice appears however this wasnt very clear so we decided that we could crop the mans voice out of the track and place it after Amy speaks. I adjusted the mans voice so that it was clearer and easier to understand and then this made the whole normality scene more realistic. 

In this shot we added a different sounds to help make the scene more realistic. We added a phone call ring sound and also a mans voice which helps make the scene more mysterious.

This is one of the font we found on DaFont.

After we were happy with the sound we watched the entire opening sequence again to ensure the sound was fully correct and there was no issues. After this we moved onto the opening credits and and decided on a font. However when searching the font list we didnt see a font we liked so we decided to go onto Dafont. We saw several fonts that we thought were good as they matched the genre conventions and had spy elements to them. For example the image on the right shows a code like text which refers to the spy thriller genre. However we didnt know how to apply this font into Final Cut Pro so we carried on searching through the font on the current software and discovered a font that we all liked which matched the genre conventions.
 

Teacher Feedback

Within our fourth editing session we sat down and watched our entire sequence with the teacher observing and making notes. Once the we had finished watching the opening scene we listened to the teachers suggestions and her opinions and then we explained to her certain parts and what we were trying to create and the effect of it.

Teacher's Suggestions:

- Create a establishing shot which helps the audience visualize the setting. Also this establishing shot may work the most effective at the beginning of the sequence.

-  Remove or edit the static shot of Paul walking towards the camera. The effect which has been placed on the shot makes Paul appear blurred and fits in with more of a science fiction film rather than a spy thriller. Also the shot is quite long and the audience may loose concentration and become bored.

- Neaten up the entire sequence. This is so that the opening scene has clean shots which swiftly move into each other without there being any timing delays.

- Make sure that the Protagonist and Antagonist are clearly identified. This is so the audience knows who's bad and who is good and ensures that the audience doesn't get confused.

- There is no clear shot showing that the Protagonist sees the Antagonist following her. This is because there seems to be a gab missing in between two shots. One shot shows her walking and then it cuts to a shot of her running.

Opening Credits

I decided to complete some research on Opening Credits. I have done this because I believe that if we have credits in the opening scene, our sequence will look more realistic and professional. Also from the first editing session, we noticed the lighting had changed and that some areas were very dark, so including names in the dark areas will actually enhance the entire sequence.

Some of the opening credits which are usually included in the opening scenes of films are:

Performers
• Cast Members - Cast
• Main Characters - Starring
• Commentator - Commentary by
• Introduced by
• Presenter - Presented by
• Narrator - Narrated by

Writers / Creators / Format

• Adapted By 

• Based on an original idea by

• Based on the book by

• Deviser - Devised by 

• Dramatised by

• Format devised by

• From an idea by

• Screenplay by

• Series Creator - Series created by

• Series Deviser - Series devised by

• Writer - Written by

Production / Editorial

• Producer - Produced by

• Director - Directed by

Editing Schedule

As a group we plan to complete all editing in lesson time and so for our editing sessions are very productive and we manage to get a lot of work complete. In our sessions we aim for each of us to input an equal amount of work. While one person is editing, others observe and suggest what we could do.

Our filming is complete so have focused purely on editing and so far we don't think we have to re-shoot any scenes. However we have only done a rough edit of our whole opening scene because our teacher wanted to view what work we have already done. However we think we will complete all the editing in lesson time, but if any problems occur we can finish it in our own time.

The next time we will edit will probably be next week in lesson because we are currently in a half term break so we cannot complete any extra editing.

Editing: Day 4

This is the fourth editing session we have completed, and in this session we finished cutting and laying the shots of the timeline so it was then ready to be watched.

Firstly we sat down and watched the whole sequence from the start and then we begun to get to editing. I suggested we move the title animation between the chase scene and the normality because this will help create tension and suspense for the audience and also this is a good way to separate the two periods of time. Also in this session we discussed the transitions we could use, but only a few were used because we didn't want our opening scene to appear like a slideshow.

This is the website where we downloaded the audio track.

Once we had completely finished cutting and laying out the sequence, we then decided to get some music for our opening scene. But before this editing session, we assigned roles for different tasks, and Amber was in charge of the sound. So we went onto Free play music which was the website Amber used for her research. There were three types of audio which Amber had selected and the tracks were Peacekeeper, Man eater and Army Angels. We sat down as a group and listened to all three and discussed which one we liked best and out of the three, we thought Man eater was the best track. This was because the speed of the music and the tones used would be suitable for our opening scene. The track has a total length of 2 minutes and 10 seconds so we have plenty of audio to use when inputting the sound to the sequence.

This is the link to the audio track: http://www.freeplaymusic.com/search.aspx?q=maneater

After choosing the music, we sat down with our teacher and watched the entire sequence on the iMacs. After viewing the opening scene, suggestions were made on how we could improve the opening scene. One suggestion was to include an establishing shot which will help establish the setting. Fortunately, when filming we filmed a train going passed when we were filming on the stairs, so we could use this at the very beginning of the sequence to both, establish the setting and to meet the conventions of a spy thriller. Another suggestion was to be extra precise when using the blade tool as there were very small mistakes made which where visible when watching the sequence.

After our teacher finished giving us feedback we then took her advice on board and another one of her suggestions made was to delete a certain shot of Paul walking to the camera because this revealed his identity and looked out of place. We deleted this shot entirely and then we watched the sequence again and we believe this made more sense as Paul appears more like a antagonist.

This is the Raw Footage of the shot that we decided to delete. This shot shows the antagonist walking in throw the main entrance without being cautious. This is not realistic and the antagonist needs to be more sneaky and aggressive.

Filming: Day 3

Introduction

We all decided to meet up at 11:00 AM to complete our next filming session, however we didn't actually begin filming at this time because Amber and Amy were late and we started filming at 11:45 AM.

Camera Shots & Locations

In today's session, we first decided to finish the part of chase scene which occurred on the stair case. This didn't take as long as we thought and we worked very well as a team to get a variety of extra shots as well in case we want certain shots changing when we come to edit our footage in our next editing session. Weather was not issue on this day and we managed to use the weather to our advantage because I suggested that we have a shot where we see the protagonists and antagonists shadows when they were running. Also I filmed Amy running to the bottom of the stairs with Paul chasing her. Then Amber filmed the continuation of my shot with Amy and Paul running up the stairs. After this we moved the camera and the rest of the equipment upstairs and Kayleigh suggested we should have a high angle shot of them running up the stairs so we were looking downwards at them while filming, so I filmed the high angle shot however we filmed two of these types of shots. Kayleigh filmed a high angle shot half way up the stairs and I filmed mine higher up the stairs. Within this location we filmed a few additional shots including the camera shot showing the characters shadows which Amber filmed. 

After we finished filming in this location we needed to find another location which helped show that the characters appeared to run into another setting which in fact was another location else where. This took longer than expected as we walked to various areas to see if we could match the two locations together. Eventually we managed to find a location and we then set up the camera and tripod in the right place. Me and Amber went to the area where Amy and Paul where going to continue to run and Kayleigh filmed from a balcony above. We gave specific instructions to the actors and then moved out of the way while Kayleigh filmed. We had the actors run through a gate which looked very similar to another gate which was in another location we had previously visited. We then walked to this location and spent a while filming in this new area.

Amber filmed Amy and Paul running through the gate so it matched the previous shot and then I filmed a pan shot which was match on action shot to Amber's shot of the characters running through the gate. We decided to have Paul and Amy split up when running so that the character confront each other as Paul appears to take a short cut. When the characters separate they go down two separate alley ways which then meant we had to find a new location, however across the road we knew there was a part where there were various alley ways and therefore we filmed at this new location.

This is Raw footage of one of the shots I have filmed in this session. It shows a pan shot of Amy being chased by Paul.

At this location we had Paul run through one passage way and then to run behind a wall which shows that he is waiting for Amy. Amber originally attempted to try to film a pan shot of Paul running however she couldn't keep the camera steady due to the cold, so I took over and filmed this particular shot. Next I also shot a static shot of Amy being grabbed by Paul who was waiting for her, this took a few attempts because the way Paul and Amy acted wasn't as realistic as we wanted.

Editing: Day 3

This is the third editing session we have completed and in this we continued to cut and edit the opening scene.

Firstly, we decided to watch the opening sequence from the beginning to check for any errors we might of made so far. After this we begun to start cutting the chase scene but we encountered some difficulties within this process because some shot which we were using had been re-filmed therefore there were some noticeable differences for example lighting.

One problem which we encountered was that the match on action shot of Amy running up the stairs was more difficult to complete than we thought. First Amber attempted the cutting of the shot to match the continuity however this was very difficult and then I had a turn at the match on action shot and after several attempts I managed to create an effective shot.

When discussing the whole arrangement of the scenes, I suggested that the opening titles should go just before the normality scene, when we moved this part into the suggested place it made more sense and helped create a more mysterious atmosphere in the first two scenes. Also by placing the opening title in this position helped create a barrier between the two times of the flash forward and the present day. This also helped remove a problem for us as we were still unsure how to separate the two times.