In After Effects, the editor tracked the position of a title card to follow the panning movement in a long take shot handheld. Lens blur was also added to add realism as the camera shifts focus. In Final Cut Pro, bird's eye view shots were imported and color adjustments were made. Masking was used to transition between early and late morning scenes seamlessly. Letterboxes were applied to all clips to achieve a more cinematic look.

1. O P E N I N G I M A G E T O S . I I I
P O S T- P R O D U C T I O N

2. S O F T WA R E
• Adobe After Effects CS5 (Ae)
• Final Cut Pro 2 (FCP)

3. E X P O S U R E , H I G H L I G H T S , S H A D O W S
In FCP, I imported the bird’s eye view shots we filmed in Day 1. These
shots did not require a lot of editing, like most which I had to import in
Ae first, however it did need some colour adjustments because it was a
little darker than how it had looked in my viewfinder during the shoot.

4. T I T L E C A R D F X
In Ae, I opened up the first long take. This footage begins in a dark space, on which I put the
title. Under Effects, I tracked its position which I had envisioned to change in each frame, to
follow the panning movement. I also applied a Wiggle effect to add some realism in its
movement, since I filmed the footage handheld. Also, although I had not planned to, I
applied Lens Blur, again to add some realism as the camera technically shifts its focus from
the title to the kitchen.

6. E D I T I N G S O U N D
The first long take ends with Harold’s dialogue gradually
becoming inaudible. In order to do this, I applied a sound effect
(Underwater) from FCP. However, I had to edit further to make
sure the change is not too sudden.

7. C O L O U R A D J U S T M E N T
The next scene took place in our room with all our lights
turned off - our only source of light being a torch, so
naturally I had to adjust the footage’s exposure and
contrast in post-production.

8. M A S K I N G
Masking is a technique I have just come across using Ae, and will have to do for a couple of scenes
throughout this project (notably in Agnes’ inescapable hallway scene).
In my first draft, I had to do it to transition from the early morning kitchen scene to a late morning
living room scene. Before editing, I had to make sure the exit from the kitchen would end in a dark
space, which was the doorframe. During the next shoot, which I had to do earlier, I started from the
doorframe. Fortunately, the Monochrome preset made the frame completely black, which makes
the two cuts seamless, naturally.

9. While editing, I noticed that the two
breakfast clips were inconsistent - the mug
and newspaper exchange positions.
Although we will probably re-film this entire
scene, I may consider keeping what was
originally a mistake, just to create a sense of
confusion
(I was confused and thought I had flipped
one of them vertically while editing).
I N C O N S I S T E N C I E S

10. L E T T E R B O X
Finally, to achieve a more cinematic look, I applied
letterboxes on all the clips.