Directions Unit: 4 Minute Film| Editing Notes

Introduction

After assembling my film into the right order, it is now time for editing. Below are some key editing devices which I have incorporated into my film:

Dizzy/Distorted effect 

Because my character is nervously waiting for his results, he is obviously going to be very shaky, anxious and scared to see how he is done. Here I started to think about what would you physically see when you are in a position like this? You're head is spinning so you'll feel dizzy, your breathing will become heavier, so I decided to incorporate some effects when the camera is in Kane's perspective (point of view shot). This is what I added to each shot:

Firstly, I added an effect called 'trails'. It creates a sort of doubled/tripled vision look (depending on how much of the effect you use) which you often see in films when a character is dazed or even drunk. I then added an effect called' gaussian' - this effect blurs the screen, which I thought would work effectively as you tend to blur your eye sight slightly when you become light headed and dazed. Below are some examples of the effects taking place which are taken from my film.

As you can see from this image, I have both effects on quite low, hence why you can't really see the trails effect happening. This is because Im aiming to build up the effects closer towards the climax, to make the build up seem more intensified and to generally make the climax more effective.

Here you can see that I'm using more of the effects - everything is much more dazed and blurred thus reinforcing the idea that my characters nerves are getting even worse.

After adding these effects, I also added in a breathing fx - this is to reinforce that the audience are positioned as Kane in his perspective, so the use of adding breathing reinforces the realism of the shot. Below is an example of the effect being added.

Above you can see the sound effect, named 'Motorcycle Helmet Breathing'. Although Kane obviously isn't wearing a helmet, I felt that this was the most effective breathing effect which I could find, as it suits the mood and the character as well. The sound effect was royal free and was found on Youtube.

After this, I felt that the sound needed to have this dazed/distorted effect which I aiming to find. This is when I looked at the audio effects on FCP. Initially I felt most of the effects didn't really change the sound that much - until I found a sound effect called 'monster', which you can see below.

This effect worked quite well and helped to make the sound seem distorted and somewhat startled - perfect for the mood I am trying to set. This was added to the sound coming from the film and not to the breath fx.

All of these effects were added to shot's situated in Kane's perspective, to help reinforce the consistency of the effects. Some of the trials and gaussain effects were also added to low close up shots of Kane just so that the audience are clearly aware that Kane is nervous to get his results.

Colour Palette Editing

As mentioned in my director's statement, I am also going to use a colour tone effect to add to the monotony of Kane receiving his results which furthermore juxtaposes against the more vibrant and positive look when he has got his results.

Here, I added an effect called 'combat' - it gives the shot a 'sepia' approach however slightly more grim and dark, thus making the shot seem less colourful and generally quite bland. This suits perfectly as it helps to add to the idea of Kane being trapped, and that school is taking over his life, thus leading him to be unhappy and therefore 'colourless'. However, I didn't want to add the effect to an extend that it may reduce the realism of my film. Therefore, I changed the depth of the effect as you can see in the image below.

Nonetheless, as soon as Kane enters the office, this is when the change of my story is beginning as he is moments away from receiving his results. So, once he enters the office, the combat effect suddenly weakens until it isn't there, turning the colour tone back to normal with no effects whatsoever. This is evident below, where you can see I used key frames to allow this process to work.

Here you can see that the combat effect is around 100%

As soon as the door closes, the combat effect switches back to 0%.
This is done by using key frames which you can see to the right
hand side of the image

After this, once Kane receives his results, the combat effect is instead swapped with another effect called 'glory'. This effect is only used in the shot when Kane is tidying his room, as I felt that not only does it brighten the mood but it also helps to reinforce the cross-cut between the room tidying shot to when Kane is on the phone. Below is a print screen showing the glory effect being used.

Although there is a clear difference in the colour palette, I initially wanted the change to be even more significant. This could have been done by having more light for the shot above and the other shots after the change occurs, as the lighting in general then was quite low as it was coming towards the end of the day.

General Editing

As well as this editing, I also generally made sure that the lighting in all shots remain consistent throughout. This was done by frequently pressing the 'balance' button making the lighting more neutral, as well as sometimes using the match tool to match the lighting between different shots so they are likely to be more similar. This is evident in the screen shots below.

Using the match tool button

Using the balance button and showing the match tool button

Conclusion

Thus, I feel that these effects remain consistent as well as effective as they work in a metaphorical way to reinforce the change within my story, as well as making the mood of the story change effectively as well.