Editing a Conspiracy Edit
As part of my post production course we were tasked with editing together a conspiracy video using archive footage from a number of sources. My group consisting of Megan Williams, Hazel Manongwa and myself, choose the subject of MK Ultra, a form of mental manipulation used by the US government. Megan and Hazel were to edit the film while I was to oversee and direct the edit. The edit had to be exactly 3 minuets long with as much relevant information included as possible.
We began by finding videos relevant to our topic and researching the topic fully before deciding the direction we wanted our video to take. We wanted it to be convincing and show the facts of MK Ultra. Once a decision had been made on the sources we wanted to use, we then analysed each individually to choose the relevant information for our film. As well as creating a shocking and entertaining video but also highly informative.
We labeled each clip individually so we were clear on which clip was which. Then we devised a short storyboard of the order we wished to place the clips in. This was only a brief outline that we were able to adjust when actually editing. We decided we wanted a 'scare factor' to our edit and therefore re-used a 'haunting' sound from an original clip and overlapped it in the background throughout our feature.
We began our film with silence and the image of the world to catch our audiences attention before interrupting it with the sound of music and narration and cut aways of brainwaves. The footage corresponds with the narration to show historic archive footage of Nazi Germany. By having Hitler talking then crowds of people celebrating and waving it tells our audience that Mk Ultra was effective. The footage then moves to iconic images of America - the white house and congress, we did this because these images represent America as a whole without having to show more footage and use more time.
After this and about 30 seconds into our film we display the title against a black background in white bold to stand out and hold the audiences attention with the dates. We then cut to interviews describing the effects and what MK Ultra was and did. Throughout these interviews we use cutaways to in force what the narration is saying.
Many of the cutaways are there to emphasize the drug use and psychological impact on the brain, so we used images of eyes and brain waves.
We then move to a court case of a victim speaking our against the abuse and what was inflicted on her as a child. This is highly shocking for an audience and it emphasizes the real threat and everyone was a target. We made this information more shocking by including images of children during and after some form of abuse. All the while the woman continues to describe her abuse to a court and our audience.
We continue with more historic imagery and narration again describing the abuse on different types of people emphasizing the wide spectrum following by another court case of a victim describing the effects it still holds on her and the importance of helping those affected and stopping it from happening again. Therefore relying and emphasizing the message we want to get across to our audience.
Our soundtrack is very important because it keeps the footage upbeat but also a feeling of little time to correct these mistakes before they happen again and that someone should pay for what has happened.
Overall I believe our film has been successful in relaying a message and shocking our audience. It is a believable documentary.
Above is the final edit.
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