On our first editing day, we went through all our shots and marked the ones we preferred most for our sequence and shots we preferred not to use. Some shots we didn’t like included punches that looked unrealistic, dialogue that wasn’t said properly and awkward shots where the actors hadn’t played their role properly. We wanted to create meaning for the audience by using tense shots where the Russian men were serious and intimidating towards the spy. We also wanted our sequence to be as realistic as possible, so discarded shots that looked too overtop or unrealistic. Our film followed the conventions of a thriller as we used suspense and tension as our main elements, which give the audience a high level of terror and anxiety.
We used continuity editing devices in our sequence by cutting between different shots and in some cases, by using ‘cross-fading’, which made them smoothly join into a sequence together that worked and made sense. For example, at the beginning of our sequence, a Russian punches the spy in the face and we cut from a wide shot to a close up to emphasise this. This cut helped the audience see the real pain on Simon’s face and the force of the punch, which would bring a tense mood to the atmosphere. We used short reverse shot most commonly between the main Russian and the spy during their dialogue so the audience could see the contrast in moods between them: the main Russian is aggressive towards the spy and the spy is terrified but still tries to be brave and somewhat aggressive in return. Most of the camera time in the diegesis is focused on the main Russian and the spy, as they are the main characters, therefore most of the close-ups and mid shots are of them. We used slow motion at one point when Simon is dunked in the water to bring a tense and anxious feel to the audience as everything is quiet and there is an anticipation of what will happen next.
The main difficulty our group found when editing our thriller was that the pace, especially at the beginning seemed to be too fast and jumpy between cuts. Therefore, to slow down the cuts between each shot we used ‘cross fading’ and slightly extended our shots over each other and as a result, the pace slowed down. Particular attention was made to the beginning where the spy is punch and the effects of that as each shot individually was cut very short so a lot of cuts had to be made in a small space of time to create this one moment. We decided to discard some shots from the beginning also to make it more simple and easier to watch for the audience, as it was less jumpy and confusing. We did this by cutting out unnecessary shots, such as an extra wide shot of the room.
We wanted to show the Russians to be more intimidating and threatening, so we created this perspective by dressing them in black and differentiated them by having them speak in Russian between one another at some points in the sequence. This made the spy look like an outsider and a lot weaker as he wasn’t in control of the situation. This was also supported by the fact he was tied to a chair and was wearing much more casual clothes. He also has a wound on his cheek, which shows they have tortured him for a while and that he has a lot less power as they have no cuts or bruises. Consequently, in this opening sequence we made the Russians stronger and bad, and the spy weaker and good. This idea of the Russians being cruel is again reinforced when they bring the spy’s daughter in and threaten to kill her as well as him. We also showed this by using close up of Simon’s face to show he is suffering and comparing it to close up’s of the main Russian, which represented him to be punishing, violent and serious. The close up’s of the Russians face also show that he isn’t even effected by the violence taking place in this room that he truly doesn’t care about how this spy is treated. Evidently, this makes the audience favour the spy as he is affected and does have feelings, which are depicted when his daughter enters the room.
We used a background sound throughout the whole of our opening sequence, which represented how it was in the middle of nowhere and emphasised the tense mood in the isolated room. We also used punch effects in our thriller to make it more realistic and believable that the spy was being tortured. I found this process of matching up sounds to actions quite hard because I wanted the audience to really be shocked and affected by the man being tortured so I wanted them to believe it, which made me take a lot more care in assuring the sounds were perfectly matched. Sounds of the spy screaming were used to create meaning but once we were in the editing suite, we realised at the end of our sequence, the screaming was too loud and over top. Therefore, we made the volume of his screaming quieter and cut out sounds of him screaming in other shots. This was much more effective as, I believe the audience would be more affected and shocked by a scene where they truly believe the man is petrified for his and his daughter’s life.
I really enjoyed the editing process and I found once I learnt how to use final cut pro after the first two sessions, I found it quite easy to use. However, I found assuring the cuts weren’t jumpy quite challenging at points when a lot of action and different camera shots were happening at one specific moment, such as at the beginning of the sequence. This took a lot more work than other parts in the sequence but because I understood what I needed to do to make the cutting more effective, all it needed was time to perfect it. I also found putting all the shots together to make the opening sequence work quite challenging at the start as various punches and dialogue needed to be cut out to make it more understandable for the audience. As a group we also discarded shots that didn’t look realistic, which were key for some action to happen in our open sequence. Therefore, we had to make sure we were able to cut them out and still create a successful piece of film, which was thrilling and made sense to our audience.
If I would do anything differently, I would have used less dialogue so more non-diegetic could have been used, as I believe this would have been a key technique to attract the audience and make the mood even tenser. During our editing process I noticed at some points there was too much dialogue and not enough action so not much sound could be used. However, with the story our group chose, we had to use dialogue otherwise the storyline would have been too confusing for the audience to comprehend.
I enjoyed editing because I found the process exciting and interesting. Furthermore, I loved the idea that I was able to create my own piece of work and make my own decisions that I thought would be best for a thriller. I also enjoyed learning how to use final cut pro and from the beginning of the process, I was able to work well on my own.
At the beginning of the editing process, I thought we worked well as a team when choosing what shots we liked best and what shots we would use in each order to create a successful storyline. However, I found when the task became more vigorous and more attentiveness was needed, I took a lead role. I believe I worked consistently throughout the whole process and therefore, took part in all the possible roles needed in editing: marking and editing shots, cutting, sound and perfecting our final opening sequence. However, throughout this process, the whole group still took part in these roles also and contributed in parts. I believe I worked well during this editing process and contributed a large and important amount towards our opening sequence.
I feel this process was a lot easier and more exciting than the preliminary task as I was more confident with the camera and editing so I was able to work on it harder and take more time in making the sequence as effective as possible to create a successful thriller, which an audience would enjoy. In addition, it was harder editing the opening sequence than the preliminary because their was a lot more detail and shots that you had to concentrate on, which made the process a lot longer.
Through this experience I have learnt that the whole process of filmmaking takes a lot of time, concentration and care to create something prosperous. During this experience of editing on final cut pro I have overcome challenges of working with sound as before I found it a lot more difficult to figure out how to edit it correctly. Furthermore, it was difficult to add sound efficient enough to work well with our dialogue to make it sound like a thriller and appeal to our target audience.
No comments:
Post a Comment