How my editing developed the film

1. How I edited and cut my film
and the struggles / strengths
/ weaknesses I faced during
this

2. IMPROVEMENT: being prepared for costume!
The lack of option for plain, black men’s clothes
meant that I couldn’t take pictures/shoot below
the chest. I later remembered this at further
filming dates...
STRUGGLE:
changing rooms to
match the scenes,
e.g. taking down
photos, things with
names on etc.
I DID WELL: organising the
times and dates of locations,
and in this whether we would
be travelling. Actors needed
to be prepared in advance
for this.
One of the most difficult parts
of shooting was the most
important monologue scene.
This was due to arranging
dates, permission for visitors in
school, and using the school’s
technology and borrowing
camera equipment.
UNDERSTANDING OF FILM: I have
learnt that lighting and background are
very important in the atmosphere in the
film. I ensured that this went well by
setting up ‘sets’ the day before filming if it
was at my house.

3. After I had edited my film, I realised that the narrative was not as structured and developed as I felt
it should be. By having a mirroring/contrasting voice over of my female character in the same
environment as my male character, this could fit the story together more appropriately.
I also had to re-shoot some of the shots
that did not work so well: for example, the
shot of Oscar picking up keys: this looked
messy, lacked emotion and was an
unrealistic/unstable shot.
A struggle I faced with this was that he
was not wearing the same coat or shoes
as the same shot. I had to use close ups
for most of the shooting to make this less
obvious.

4.  Using movie maker was the simplest
mode of ensuring I had gathered
everything I needed due to its basic
functioning. This meant that I could
edit easily and quickly.
 I cut clips down and organised them
on Sherif Movie Plus by the scenes/
when they were shot. This helped
with organisation because I knew
exactly where
everything was and
didn’t have any additional,
unneeded clips in the timeline.

5.  I added fades to close scenes or
current themes.
 I adjusted volumes of diegetic and
non-diegetic sound to make the
voice-overs hearable.
 I had to make various other cuts
which are visible in my drafted
videos.
I also added higher brightness for
clips that had bad natural lighting
whilst filming.
I put all of the shots in lower
saturation. This sets a general
serious/dramatic tone to the film and
allows my work to be stylised.

6. Communicating online
with the musician was vital
in ensuring the
non-diegetic sound fitted
well with the narrative. I
sent him regular updates
on my scripts and drafts
and his work was edited in
accordance. I then later
made edits to this to fit in
with my desired moods.
A struggle I faced was having a background
buzzing noise with my voice over (perhaps
the sound of the projector). I had to find out
how to remove this as the parts without this
buzz sounded silent; and it also didn’t
compliment the background music.