Editing- Part One (12th March)

In today's lesson we captured the footage which we shot earlier in our free period in our final filming session and begun the editing process. Before we started however we looked through all the clips we had shot, naming them so we could remember what part was what. This was a task crucial to the efficiency of the group as some groups in the past have had lots of clips and cannot remember what each one was.

We had filmed several versions of the same scene to ensure that if any mistakes were made we had a different version to use and did not have to go out at the last minute to re-film. Because of this, as we looked through the clips we discussed which were the versions of the scenes we would use as some were better than others. For example the shot where the killer drops the camera was filmed several times and initially we had opted for the version where the camera cuts very briefly to footage previously recorded on the tape as the effect suited the action however we found when we watched the shot on the computer that it froze instead. Therefore we now had to use the first version we took, although this is not perfect I suggested we could cut a small section out where Andrew's hands come into the shot and speed it up- giving the effect of falling. Below is the computer we edited on using Adobe Premier Pro:

We also decided that the handheld camera filming of the photos was superior to the version we filmed on the tri-pod, which was rigid, inconsistent and not as smooth. Although the handheld footage could be shaky at times we watched all of the footage we filmed and cut out the excess footage that was not needed or was not good enough. We then edited the best quality footage into three seperate parts. We judged the quality on how still the camera was and if a consistent slow- medium speed pan over the photos was sustained. We will place these three different parts of the photo pan sequence in between the scenes of our victims later in the editing process. We added a spotlight effect to highlight what was in the centre of the screen and create the effect of camera lens, fitting in with the narrative of taking photos. The idea is that the opening will keep cutting back and forth between the panning of the photos and clips of the victims.

Next, we started editing the section of Victim One- played by Andrew walking and being followed. We filmed Andrew walking down the street from a side viewpoint from the other side of the road, in front of him as he walked towards the camera and behind him as he walked away. We placed these three clips together on the timeline starting with the side viewpoint before cutting to the front view and then the rear view. We spent a lot of time cutting little sections away so they matched with each other, meaning the continuty was met. For example at the end of sideview shot Andrew walks past the end of a wall and as the camera then cuts to the front view he needs to be in the same position so we cut the clip so it started with Andrew next to the wall meaning it follwed on accurately. This can take time and you have to be very specific however it is rewarding when you get the shots to match and the transition perfect and it looks effective having different shots and angles in a scene and is a techinque actual films use.

We decided to have our opening in black and white as this symbolises flashbacks or prologues and fits the mood of the piece. Initially we only had the photo pan section in black and white however the transition from black and white to colour for the other scenes was an obvious contrasting change and did not work. We then tried putting everything we had done so far colour and edited the saturation and colour but it made the footage look unclear and a slight cartoon feel. We all preferred black and white as it fitted the style of a Thriller by creating a dark tense mood.

So far we have the first part of the photo pan at the start and then the camera cuts to the scene of Victim one. In between the twos scenes we placed a fade effect at the end so the scene faded smoothly into the first shot of Andrew walking. We tried several transition effects including dissolve and wipe however some were not smooth enough and some made too much happen, whereas we wanted the transition between the two to be as subtle as possible. We even tried leaving the transition without an effect however it was too sudden. Unfortunately we ended a successful editing lesson badly due to realising that the photo pan footage and the footage of Andrew which we filmed earlier were not in widescreen and so was not in the required format and meant that the screen was smaller than the rest of the footage. We do not have time to re-film anything now so we will use the footage for the draft and re-film anything we need in widescreen for the final edit. We perhaps forgot to check the format on those occasions due to problems with night mode and the rain.