Editing

Now we have collected all the footage we need its time to start editing the film together ready for our first rough cut showing. 

So as stated when we were practising editing, we used Final Cut Pro X to edit our film in. This software enables us to adjust audio, music, enhance and add effects to frames within our film so basically the power was in our hands. All we had to do was know how to use it well and effectively. 
Before we even began to edit, we needed to sort the footage out into scenes so that it was easy to sort through the footage, finding the not so good footage and then separating the scenes out.

So these are the folders that were used to separate each of the scenes and shots in order to make it more efficient when looking for clips and sound as we would soon discover!



Editing Session 1:

Well in the first session we started to build the scenes together starting with the scene where Mallory started to get ready for her day at work, shortening the clips each time to make them snappy and short to show her morning routine. We then watched this scene with all the clips together and began to shorten the clips to make them the right length to show a flowing routine of Mallory getting ready and leaving for work. Once this scene was roughly in we did the same with the meeting between Mallory and Peter, adding in the match on action shots. So basically in this session we began to add at the shots in and editing them together. 

The addition of the ident and footage for our film.

This session was rather successful, we completed majority of the scenes that we had hope including the three meeting scenes and the final scene of the film whereby Mallory meets Alex.We didn't really have much trouble with the editing due to us already having practise on adding and editing the shots we had, it was just keeping to time that we needed to remember which we did and so we managed to complete a lot within this session. 

Editing Session 2- 

So of course we needed to finish off adding in the clips to build up the scenes for our film which we were hoping to finish by the end of this lesson, however we notices that some of the scenes jumped due to them being filmed at a similar angle and so we realised we were going to have to have cut away shots within the scene or re film. So we worked our way around it adding in the footage that we had and could work with. We later remembered we had filmed a 'fireplace scene' and so placed it between the two clips. We had a shot to show where Mallory was as well as joining the clips together. So once all the clips were in we then briefly moved on to adding in some of the sound effects including the kettle, toaster and the door closing and locking. 

Editing of the bedroom footage for when Mallory first wakes up.

With all the clips in place and the foley sounds beginning to be entered, good progress was made within this editing session. We did have a few issues with the matching of the clips but with a few intricate edits and cuts, they fit together smoothly and flowed between shots, telling the story as we planned. Next up it was time to carry on with the sound. 

Editing Session 3-

As said in the last session, we were focusing on the sound this time round with the choice of music and the foley sound. So we had music in our animatic but the music sounded a bit cliche and common so we decided to opt for some different styles of music to show the different moods in which Mallory has when she meets the 1st male and then the second. So we searched on some royalty free sites such as ben sound where we got both the soundtracks for our film. So once the sounds were downloaded we just needed to add and edit them into final cut.

 We needed music that represented the feelings of her miserable life before and then the way in which it changes when she find out the male doesn't  exist. We then went on to sort out the levels of the sound but once this was done we could begin to add in the audio that had been recorded separately  on a location recording kit. So we added in each of the audio sections for the actor which took a little longer due as we needed to match the audio exactly with the actors speaking on screen. We managed to complete a few scenes but this would be the main aim of the next editing session. We also completed most of the foley sounds for the kitchen scene and the scene with Mallory typing. 


Editing Session 4-

So in the last session we added in all the audio of the actors that we had recorded separately as the sound from the camera isn't the greatest quality which especially when it is windy! This, as said last time, took a while due to having to match all the clips to the sound. However, in some cases it was detected and so we didn't really have to do much with it thankfully!

The green bars show the audio and sound that was added to the film on top of the clips on the timeline.

Once all the sounds were in, just in time, it left us some spare time to touch up some of the sounds as well as add in the titles for the actors etc. Some of the sounds were a little louder than others and so the levels needed adjusting and a few replacements of the foley sounds and our rough cut was ready! 

Evaluation of overall editing:

The editing sessions were generally a success. We completed the rough cut in the time given meaning we stuck to the time frame given which was a positive. The actual adding in and editing the clips also went well, we didn't have any problems with adding in clips or even finding them due to sorting out each of the scene clips into folders. This was we could just edit the footage in each of the scenes and find additional clips in the folders we created. 

Also matching of the clips and sound, although it was time consuming it wasn't too difficult to do as majority of the clips perfectly matched the action on screen, it was just cutting a few of them down that took the time. 

The music wasn't too difficult to find either to fit the mood as there was a lot of music that was royalty free for us to use. The website we really used was 'Ben Sound' due to the music available being slow and fitting for the emotions in the on screen action. All we had to do really was blend the tracks into each other and show the change in emotions through the music which we hope that's what it does. 

Some of the things that did become a problem was the finding of the foley sounds. There were so many sounds to choose from and difficult to find which ones matched. For example we needed a key locking noise and a door shutting sound to go together as if it was one routine. We search a variety of websites and found one but I think the foley sounds were the more difficult sounds to find that were appropriate for our film.Another sound that was difficult to find was the turning off of an alarm. None of the sounds sounded realistic for turning off a clock. We did find one eventually but it was difficult finding one to match well. 

So thats it for the editing for now, its time to face the music...our demon critics await. Is it going to be a 5 star rating or a 1 and no BAFTA coming our way just yet? Time to find out!