Preliminary task: Finished film

Post production

After we had finished filming we uploaded all our footage onto computers so that we could begin editing.      

We used Adobe Premier Pro as our editing software and so as to speed up the process we edited simultaneously on two computer's with George and Leah cutting together the first half of the film up until the point of the match on action of the case being placed on the desk and myself and Martin editing the second half of the film. Although there was the risk that the rhythm of the film could be displaced by editing on separate computers and with different editors we wanted everyone to be able to have the chance to edit and by being aware of how the two different parts of film were being edited together by communicating with one another we were able to create a smooth transition from one to the other when we eventually joined the two sections together.

I found that because i'd used the editing software before I was fairly confident at making basic edits and having a feel for what worked and what didn't. However Martin deserve's most of the credit as he did a really good job at editing the majority of the transitions, the shot reverse shot of myself and George's conversation flowed well and had a good rhythm to it, neither holding shots too long which would have made the exchange of dialogue lack purpose, nor too short, which would have ruined the natural pace of the film and made it look disjointed.

The match on action proved harder to get right and we found we had to be more precise about were to cut each shot. I learnt that sometimes, even if technically the match on action is edited almost perfectly from a continuity of the positioning point of view the edit can still not appear smooth. for example the walking to the desk and the placing of the case match on action shot didn't seem to match the rhythm of the rest of the film. No matter how smooth the match on action, the overall sequence still appeared slightly rushed compared to the other sequences and shots.

One of the main things i had to do in the edit was to put in the music over the top of the last sequences. The track we used was 'Prince Charming'  in keeping with our idea of an 'Adam and the Ants' parody. Rather than just using the beginning of the track, I cut to a section halfway through the track where you get a guitar bridge (to be played over the close up shot of myself putting on the white streak of makeup) which then goes into the chorus. I managed to crop and cut the track so that the chorus came in just as it cut to a wide shot of myself dancing on the corridor. 

We decided it would be a good idea to end on a freeze frame so that the audience were left with the comic image of the ridiculous pose of myself doing an 80's dance move. We couldn't find any straightforward way of doing this as we weren't able to extend the longevity of the individual frame to make it last more than a second and so using a copy and paste method we were able to get the freeze frame effect we wanted. It was then up to me to put in the credits that appeared at the end, we decided we didn't want anything gimmicky and so I chose a simple font with our names appearing in a white text, simple yet classy.

I was fortunate that I was in group containing two already very skilled and competent editors in George and Martin and i great learner in Leah which meant that all our match on action shots were spot on and there were no jerky transitions or cuts. I felt I learnt a lot about the importance of remembering to keep a clear narrative when editing and of establishing a rhythm. I improved in my ability to edit together both audio and visual content and the role music can play in helping to convey an atmosphere or mood. I think next time I get the chance to edit a film I would like to take on more responsibility as I felt I could have improved more if I had volunteered to edit more of the footage.

Pre Production Process

After we were set our preliminary task, the first thing to do was to come up with an idea. We discussed a couple of different ideas in our group and soon settled on a thriller spoof that focused on some kind of deal transaction being made between two people, the idea being that we would build up suspense and tension and the audience would presume it was some kind of drug deal. Then there would be a comic twist right at the end.
Once we were clear on our narrative, we started to consider the shot sequences we wanted and the types of shots which could help create the 'thriller' style mood and tense atmosphere. I think we did well in really thinking about using imaginative shots 'such as the tracking shot of the feet' and from an editorial point of view how different shots would fit together to create a sense of rhythm. For example we came up with the idea of cross cutting between George's feet and my hands tapping the desk with the same rhythm as George's walking stride.
After our initial ideas on the different shots we wanted,  it was important to start getting our ideas on paper and create visual prints of the camera shots and the chronological order of them in the form of Storyboards. In the boxes we drew pictures of each shot, annotated with type of shot (e.g. Over the Shoulder) and it's framing(e.g. mid shot). We also annotated the camera movement. Generally we were successful in creating a clear plan of the shots we wanted to film that hopefully would help us to be efficient in the production process, however we did have some problems in drawing accurate pictures of each shot because of our lack of illustrative skill this meant that sometimes there was some slight confusion over how each shot was meant to look but mostly we were able to re-draw and eventually get on the same wave length for the film in how we want it to look.
Although our planning and research process may have been limited, we didn't create a shooting script or dialogue script and we probably could have discussed location in more depth. Generally we went into the production process with a clear idea of how we wanted to film our preliminary and an understanding of each others strengths and weaknesses.