Editing 1 - Recreating scene 34 and 37

To practice my editing skills I was tasked with editing two scenes from a film given to us by my University.

We needed to practice smooth editing with clear sounds and able to show the story line  To help us with this task we were also provided with the scripts of the scenes.

I used Premier Pro to edit my footage as I found this to be an easier system to work with than the new Final Cut X, which system I disliked and found hard to navigate.

Editing Scene 34: - Vimeo link
Here is my finished scene. I began editing this by watching the clips I was provided with and renaming them for quick and easy access, allowing me to find each clip I wanted to use quickly.

Re editing of Scene 34 from Emma Simms on Vimeo.

I then compared the script with the footage. Slowly I pieced together each clip into the order I wished for them to appear and would show the storyline clearly.

I addressed the sound last because I wanted to create an order to the clips first. I could also go over  the audio later using the unused clips.

Pace:
I decided I wanted a relaxed pace that wasn't too slow due to the seriousness of the action and the character's true intent. I have however adjusted the pace when necessary for quick reaction shots only directed by the narrative. I have especially lengthened Kathrine's reactions as she is the main character of this scene and we are focusing more on what she is doing and her camera. This timing is very important as it can effect the mood of the scene.

Continuity:
Due to the location being a busy public place with the public's involvement instead of 'extras', it was impossible to eliminate all continuity errors. In many close ups the groups of people in shot are not visible in the later long shots, this is mostly due to the footage being filmed at different times. For instance the family visible in the background at 0.42, isn't visible in the long shot at 0.48 even though they are clearly standing still. However I have been able to keep the couple, who they are photographing, on the right side of the frame each time. Kathrine and Tomas are also clearly looking in the right directions each time.

Colour Grading:
Unfortunately looking back at my footage, it appears very dark and should have been lightened. However the colour does remain consistent throughout the whole film. However this darkness can been seen especially on the long shots. This darkness also makes the footage appear slightly grey.

Sound:
The footage that was given to me was not of clear sound quality, this was due to a number of elements. Firstly the sea and wind but also the public, unfortunately these are uncontrollable and most be dealt with in post production. I have however tried to improve on the sound but may have made it worse in some areas. For instance 0.56 repeats the dialogue again but more quietly. This is due to where I have attempted to make two audio clips have a similar volume. This can been seen clearly to not have worked because the following audio clip is too loud. The sound of the sea is also too loud in some clips.

In Conclusion: 
Due to the sound not being clear from the original footage, I have attempted to correct this. I do need more practice at this to improve what I have done and correct the dialogue echoing underneath. I also need to maybe improve on picking the correct reaction shots, for instance a better one would be more suitable for 1.10. Most of my clips flow well together and it is clear that they are watching the couple in the background and trying not to get caught. However there are a few 'jumpy' shots that don't quiet match. However as a first attempt at editing I am very happy with this and have much to learn from.


Editing Scene 37: - Vimeo Link
This scene was shot in a more controlled location, inside and smaller. This made the original sound to be of a much clearer quality than scene 34 which was shot outdoors.

Editing - Scene 37 from Emma Simms on Vimeo.

Pace:
This scene has a faster pace than scene 34, especially when Katherine is trying to avoid Lisa's attention but slows as Lisa leaves with Michael. I also quicken the pace later when Dickey gives his advice. By increasing the timing and pace of the footage, I am able to create tension and anticipation within the audience which creates a more exciting narrative. I increased the pace near the end as this allowed us to think on the morals of what Katherine is doing or what Dickey suspects she is doing.

Continuity:
Due to the location being in a small public, indoor space, it is easier to create better continuity. This is because it is easier to film when there is no public members visible. The type of close up shots used in this scene also aid this ability. However there is still one continuity mistake I have made where Dickey is talking to Katherine but when the camera is reversed she is looking in the wrong direction 1.27. Other than this error I feel I have eliminated most continuity errors.

Colour Grading:
Due to the good quality of the original shots, I felt that these shots only needed to be lightened slightly.

Sound:
There was little to change for the sound quality in this scene due to the original recording of clear sound. However due to this being a public place there were issues with the telephone ringing 2.18 in the background which I was unfortunately unable to remove due to my chosen dialogue.

In Conclusion:
I believe this was a better edit than my scene 34 edit as the material flowed better and was more carefully constructed. I did however have issues with editing this scene as my first copy became corrupted when I attempted to export the material. This was very disappointing. There is only one point at which I am unhappy with this edit and it is when the material jumps and misses a second of the clip. I believe this occurred when I uploaded it to Vimeo.

Ghostbusters - re-editing shots

As part of my University course, we have been instructed to re-create a clip from the hit cult film 'Ghostbusters' (1984) directed by Ivan Reitman. This task was designed to allow us to work with new members of our class, to look at our cinematography skills and editing skills. The clip below is the original clip we were tasked with re-creating.

This clip was chose due to the simple cinematography design and simple editing technique. We are able to move carefully from clip to clip. It also made story boarding pretty simple.

Story Board 1

My team and I firstly decided to print of the script of the section used so we were influenced less by what Reitman actually decided to create. This also allowed us to focus on the directions that the script specified were necessary, such as head movements and actions. The script allowed us to create some basic story boards of what we would prefer the video to look like. Due to the story boards being guides it allowed us to deviate when filming actually commenced but gave us a rough idea of what we wanted.

The story boards are very rough designs and therefore are of no artistic talent, they are made to remember the next shot and are frequently just crude drawings. Much of the time only the drawer can actually tell what they mean.

These are the two story boards I created for our Ghostbusters short. As you can see they are not very detailed and provide a clear idea of the camera angle we wish to use.

Due to technical issues we actually ended up filming our clip twice because when we tried to upload our footage to a Mac, the files corrupted and we were unable to recover the lost footage. This was disappointing but it also allowed us to improve upon what decisions we made the first time. It also allowed us to work together more consistently.

Story Board 2

For this task we decided that I would be camera operator and Megan, Rob and Hazel would act. We also decided to film within my kitchen due to the open space. However this meant we had to adapt to the environment such as lack of lighting and background objects. We tried to incorporate the background into our shots as much as possible using 'the rule of thirds' however this was not always possible. Some shots that we had initially wanted were impossible to manoeuvre into in our chosen location and had to revised.

(VIMEO LINK)

Ghostbusters from Rob Young on Vimeo.

Cinematography: 
Our first shot would have worked better if we had been able to use a direct  medium shot, this would have improved the zooming effect, however by using the shot we did, it allowed us to show someone actually entering the room. We were also able to include the necessary details on the door. I also feel we need to do a bigger variety of shots for editing later so we have more choice. We also need the zooming to be smoother than it was.

We attempted to use close ups to show important details such as the 'flirting' and hand holding towards the end and to show the reaction of the characters, particularly Megan being electrocuted (1.18).
Unfortunately some shots are blurred (0.28) or focus more on the background instead of the characters. During the frame 0.28secs the footage jumps and the clip doesn't flow, showing the obvious editing. We also used very static shots, with little movement of the tripod or camera. I've also noticed that the clip 0.49secs is a better angle of Rob than the others used and would have been better to film from than the one we ended up choosing, therefore we would have benefited from filming a wider variety of shots and this would have been avoided. We would have also benefited from marking each shot as we filmed it because when we came to editing, there were a few shots we forgot as to where we wanted to place them. Therefore a clapperboard would have improved this filming as well as more note taking.

We still attempted to use a variety of shots especially high angled shots to show who was more in charge, this effected Rob's character more until Megan becomes angry and has the power to storm out. This shows the power balance of the characters. Hazel however remains very much the same until the final shot of Rob and Hazel 'flirting' were Rob is more clearly in charge of the situation.

Editing:
On looking back at our film, I feel we have cut too quickly to and from the next shots. It would have been better to make the shots more established allowing the scene to flow better. However there are other shots where we have done the opposite and left the cut off too long such as 2.02 of the door closing. This is unnecessary long and there was no need to watch the door such fully. Another shot that would have either been better with a reaction/close up shot splitting the footage, would be when Megan is retrieving the money from her pocket.  Megan stands too long struggling to remove the money although the fast close up following, of her slamming the money down on the table, improves this slightly. However it is out of balance with the slow removal of the money.

The sound quality of our film could also be improved upon. At the beginning a fuzziness can be heard, this could have been replaced with a sound track. Also the dialogue is too early in the second shot compared with the slow opening shot. It makes the footage appear very rushed, this is partly due to the editing and the somewhat bad acting skills. We also have sound issues with someone else speaking in the background such as me directing when to 'Go' or the character talking from another shot.


In conclusion, we have many things to improve on especially timing of our shots. We also need to work on a bigger variety of shots. However, as a first attempt of working together and attempting to combine all of our ideas with no established director, I believe it was a good attempt with plenty to learn from and improve upon. If I were to do this again, I would pace the editing differently and add more angles. I would also change location and improve upon our sound editing.