Account of editing

After our day of filming we went into the editing suite and uploaded all of our footage we had filmed. The next day we started sorting through the footage. We divided the clips up into folders; creating a folder called 'rushes' where we put the shots we did not want to use in, a folder called 'logs' where we put the good shots, and inside logs we also made 'use' which were the clips that we used. We discarded about half of our footage as we mainly filmed each shot twice when filming, just in case one was bad. I am pleased with the ones we ended up using, as together they created a good, mysterious narrative and suited the action, thriller genre.

Our story board helped us when putting the clips together, as it showed us roughly our storyline and order of each clip. While editing we had to keep an eye out for any continuity errors, for example cutting from a shot of Anna loading the car (with the door shut), they to a shot of Anna walking back with a bag but the car door is not open. We avoided these errors well on the shooting day, however the main one we found while editing was when Anna drives away Tom the assassin is no longer there. After discussing this problem as a team, we decided to cut the frame, zooming in closer so you could not see where he should be anymore.

We started with a slow tracking shot to introduce the setting and the characters; we felt this was a good way to start the thriller as it looked professional and added a variety of shots to our thriller. We then cut the shots of Anna and Paul going back and forth loading the car; we used shot reverse shots and close ups. I enjoyed editing this as it was our first use of advanced editing. Using the match on action technique, we varied between shots of Anna and Paul, cutting up each shot and switching between the two. I especially liked putting together the sequence of Paul locking the cargo container up, as we cut up three different shots of this motion, each one getting closer and closer, making the simple action more visually pleasing. Using this technique, our aim was to build tension through small actions in the opening sequence before the main action scene.

As it had snowed we wanted to get snow in the shot, as it suited our thriller genre and made the setting appear more mysterious. We edited the shots to emphasise the snow by adding a colour contrast to the footage making it look harsher. When editing the scene of Anna and Paul in the car we started to make the shots a bit faster; in contrast with the previous shots which we made longer to create suspense and to open the film to avoid jumping straight into violence and action.

The dialogue in this scene was very quiet and muffled therefore I looked through the clips from the rushes folder and cut the sound from those clips and replaced them, as the speech was clearer and louder. However, when we reviewed the new clip we decided to increase the volume of their speech to emphasise the dialogue and help the audience connect with the characters.

After this short scene of dialogue we felt we needed to pick up the pace; we achieved this by adding the next shot of the assassin arriving unexpectedly. We then cut to the reaction of Anna and then again to outside the car where Anna quickly rolls out while the assassin shoots Paul. However, when we replayed it we felt this action sequence was quite slow paced. We researched some action thrillers, where we were inspired by the incredibly fast action scenes as they were edited into short clips and put together. This technique is very effective as the scene just before was often a lot slower, making more impact when the action occurred, dramatically changing the pace.

We decided to use the short, sharp editing techniques like in other thrillers. When readjusting the shooting scene we made these clips 20% faster than usual to intensify the action and make the audience more engrossed as the action picks up. We continued interspersing quick shots of Anna and the assassin from different angles. Contrasting between the different paces and emotions of the characters; creating a visually dynamic scene. We also edited in a lot of the hand held filming scene as it created more realism and made the scene even more frantic. This was also helped by adding in some close ups of the guns and close ups of their faces, restricting the audience from seeing the whole picture to create a gripping and bewildering atmosphere. I found editing this scene more challenging than the others, due to the fast and complex cuts. However it was a lot more fun and exciting as we got to use different techniques and experiment with putting different clips together.

After Anna shoots the assassin we felt we needed to slow the pace back down so the audience could digest the action that had just taken place, and make sense of it all. This is why we slowed down the speed of the shot of Anna pulling her gun away and bending into the car to stroke Paul’s hair in a medium close up. We really wanted to emphasise this action, so the audience would focus on the affection and understand that Anna did have feelings for him but still had to run away without him.

We felt like we needed to show the aftermath of the deaths of the two men; Paul and the assassin. We chose an extreme wide shot to show the result of the action scene and slowed this shot down slightly to emphasise their deaths. We then cut to a wide shot of her dragging the victim out the car; which appears quite heartless, however she needed to escape and she shows remorse. Showing Anna in both lights portrays a more realistic, human character who the audience can relate to.

We finally decided to finish the thriller with a medium wide shot of Anna driving away in the car leaving the bodies and the destruction behind. When she drives away we added a final shot filmed from the ground, showing Paul’s dead body in a low angle shot making him look pitiful and emphasising his naivety. In contrast, Anna drives off in the background introducing her as the powerful and dominant main character.

After we were pleased with these shots we then uploaded it to high definition so it was in the best quality before adding some special effects and sound. We worked on Adobe After Effects software to create muzzle flashes, blood and shattered glass in our footage. I found creating these very complex and intricate, but they were very effective one we completed them. The only downside was that they looked quite fake, so we then edited them making less vivid by fading the edges using blending modes to alter the density and colour, making them look more real and effective. We also had to mask out and draw around any objects in front of the blood or explosions, which was quite time consuming as we had to do this for every frame needed. Especially for Paul’s arm which flails across his body as he is shot, meaning the audience should not be able to see the blood coming from his torso. We had to draw round his arm for every frame, it was a long process as his arm moved a lot, but once finished it looked very realistic and accurate. For the glass, we scaled and rotated the window so it would smash directly over the Anna’s head, looking very convincing. When the assassin is shot we added a gun wound to his face as he fell to the ground. We chose to add this near his eye as we had to create it for each frame and needed somewhere obvious so it was easier to place it in the same spot each time to ensure continuity.

We chose sound effects and backing music that were appropriate for the actions in our thriller, from Sound Track Pro and selected gun noises etc. We edited the selected backing track and combined it with our own music, making it unique and original. This was really fun and we worked very well as a group helping each other with creative ideas. I then personally went back and made each sound from our footage equal on both the left and right speaker. I did this by listening to both the left and right sounds, choosing the best one, and copying and replacing it for the other side. I then levelled them so they would play equally. This was a long process and was quite tedious, however it was successful as when I listened to it with headphones before it sounded odd, but afterwards the sound was stronger and more effective.

Overall I really enjoyed the editing process as we worked really well as a team and all contributed fairly and equally, incorporating everyone’s ideas and letting each person have a turn at it all. At first I was quite overwhelmed by the software as it was intricate and complex, however once I got used to using it I did not find it so difficult. It was really exciting to finally see our original idea from paper turn into an actual thriller opening and I am very pleased with the final result and of all the techniques and skills I have learned!