Editing

Before I could even edit the shots we had film over the past few weeks I needed to upload all of the shots from the camcorders and the tapes. As we took a lot of shots and extra ones just in case, it took a while to upload the film and cut it into each take.

As I have never edit anything before and have never used the software available on the Mac's I was given a brief introduction. I was shown how to use separate each shot in Final Cut Pro, render the shots, speed up the shots using the modify option, cropping and changing the scale, change the different filter options which allowed me to change the brightness, contrast, time echo and sepia and some of the shots where as a group we thought it was necessary.

As Hannah had used two different camcorder while she filmed all the shots the size of the shots were different after I had uploaded them into Final Cut Pro. To solve this problem I had to crop the right and left side off the shots which we took from the camera we used outside of school. While I was cropping the shots we realised in the close up shot of the gate closing that you could see part of Sally's hand and arm. I also cropped this out as the continuity of the trailer would not follow.

During our filming periods as a group we decided to take some extra shot as it was impossible for us to record some of the shots we planned to take we didn't completely follow the story board we designed.

The first shot we concentrated on was the pan shot of the street. We decided it would be best to not use this whole shot as it would take up too much room on the trailer, so I cut the shot so it was only a few seconds long. This way the establishing shot wasn't too long so it seemed like it was dragging on and it wasn't too sort so the viewer would get a good ideas of the location. As I mentioned previously in my Editing Focus post I really liked the effect that they used in the When A Stranger Calls trailer. The part where they edited in a black and white shot of the girl using a short cut and a creepy noise at the start of the trailer. I have tried to include a similar effect into the trailer we created after asking the rest of the group what they thought of the idea and they really liked it. Therefore I looked through the close up of Kate's eye shots and cut out a short section from that shot which I thought would be appreciate. Using the sepia option I change the image into black and white and using the time option I used the echo effect which makes the shot seem slightly distorted. I then separated the establishing shot of the street into two and placed this short clipping in between. As a group we watched the change I made and agreed that adding this effect would have a great impact on the viewer. It creates suspense and tension from the very beginning.

In the filming period we had decided that instead of Hannah just filming a close up shot of the key hole she should also film a shot of Kate leaving the house. We all decided as a group to completely leave out the key hole shot as the shot of Kate leaving the house and locking the door has a better effect on the viewer. We didn't need to use the whole of this shot so I cut out a tiny bit from the start and a bit from the end to make it shorter as our whole teaser trailer would only be around 1 minute and 45 seconds.

After this shot we decided to include another close up shot of Kate's eye as on the When A Stranger Calls trailer they repeat the effect again. So for this reason we wanted to see what it would look like adding another one to our trailer. I repeated the same process I followed for when I created the first short cut eye shot apart from this time I mirrored the whole image using the flop tool so to the viewer it looks like her left eye. After watching the trailer again as a group we really liked the effect of adding two of these shots in. Creating suspense from the beginning immediately grabs the viewers interest.

Following the story board we designed the next shot we decided to include in our teaser trailer was the pan long shot of the large wooded green area. This would be the establishing shot for the next location so the viewer would get a good understanding of where abouts the next few shots would be coming from. I also cut quite a big chunk off the end of this shot as it was too long for an establishing shot in a short teaser trailer. we all agreed on how much should be left for the shot and not to cut any off the beginning off the shot because starting off with the sun blazing into the lens sets an ironic atmosphere.

Again, following the same layout we used in the story board the next shot we decided to include in the teaser trailer was the wide shot of Kate walking through a gate. As Sally had suggested during the filming period to take a close up shot of the gate shutting we had an extra shot to include. Therefore I cut the wide shot of Kate a lot shorter than expected because if we had it in after the continuity of the trailer wouldn't of matched as the viewer would see the same gate shut twice. Including the close up shot of the gate shutting was a great idea as it symbolises the feelings Kate would be feeling later on in the trailer, trapped and alone.

The next shot on the story board was an extreme high angle shot of Kate walking through the woods. As Hannah was unable to take this shot due to the technology she had access to we decided to just include the next shot in the story board. The shot of Kate walking through the wooded area facing away from the camera. As the shot was quite long I decided to crop quite a large chunk off the end of this shot so the trailer wasn't too long to be a teaser trailer. Including this shot is good at creating suspense for the viewer as they are unsure about whats going to happen.

Following the story board the next shot we decided to include into the teaser trailer was the point of viewer shot. At the beginning and the end of this shot you could see a few cars driving past. If I included this part of the shot in the trailer this shot wouldn't of built up the suspense and tension as well as we wanted it so. Therefore I cropped the first few seconds off the shot and off the end. I think after Sally has included the heavy breathing to this shot, this shot will create a lot of tension for a viewer. It makes them wonder who is this person, and slightly frustrates them as they can't see who it is.

Again, following the story board the next shot we decided to include in the teaser trailer was the wide shot of Kate running through the woods. during the film period Hannah took two shots of Kate running through the woods and we decided as a group to use the second take because in the first take of Kate running she starts to slow down at the end. Also in the second take Kate looks behind her a lot more, like she is expecting something to appear. This creates tension for a viewer as they wonder what is following her, and again frustrates them because they can not see what it is. As the next nine shots we had planed to be short cuts this shot was too long so I cut a few seconds from the start and the end of the shot.

The next shot we decided to include was the close up shot of the red bloody print on the tree trunk. The shot that Hannah took was around a minute long and as I only needed a few seconds of this take I cropped almost all of it out. The part of the shot that I used was the beginning was this is where the trunk of the tree was central in the shot. I only used a few seconds as this would help create suspense and make the viewer feel involved in the trailer. When Sally adds the heart beat sound effects this shot will be a lot more effective. The bloody hand print makes the viewer wonder who's hand print it is and where it has came from.

The next shot on the story board is of a mans shadow. As Hannah was unable to film this shot due to the equipment we decided to go to the next shot in the story. Which was an over the shoulder shot of Kate. When Hannah filmed this shot a lot of the shot was of Kate starring straight ahead. Near the beginning Kate looks over her left shoulder. we deiced to use this part of the shot as it would have more effect on the viewer than the rest of the take. Again, I only used around two seconds of this shot in the teaser trailer. Including the heart beat sound Sally is intending on including and the two second shots this shot will make the viewer feel more involved in the trailer which gets their adrenalin pumping and excited.

On the story board the next shot we drew was a wide long shot of the wooded area. During the filming period Hannah took a pan wide shot of a wooded area which we decided to include here instead of a still shot. As this pan shot was quote long, and wouldn't suit the rhythm I had created with the previous three shots we decided to cut this shot down. as a group we decided to used the part of the shot where the camera moved slightly faster. I only used around two seconds of this take so it would follow the heart beat rhythm. This shot would encourage a viewer to look carefully into the shot to see if they could see any movement or shadows as they would still be wonder who this person or thing is.

After this shot the next shot included in the story board is a close up of Kate's face. When Hannah filmed this shot the weather was really cold and as Kate had to wear sandals and a dress to follow on with continuity she was very cold. This made the shot look very effective, her eyes were all watery and her face seemed very stiff like she was in shock. This shot was perfect for a close up of someone with a scared worried expression. As we only needed two seconds of this shot to include in the teaser trailer to follow on with the heart beat rhythm.

The next shot follows on from the story board, a close up shot of Kate's feet while she is running. Hannah took a lot of these shots as it was quite difficult to keep the camera on Kate's feet while she was following her. I found one part of the shot which worked really well, and cropped out the end and beginning of the shot as you can see a house over the road and the sun blazing into the camcorder. The rest of the shot that I had left was around two seconds left which was the right size that I needed to continue on with the rhythm.

As the next shot in the story board is a drawing of Kate standing in the woods with a shadow behind her. Due to the equipment Hannah was available to use she was unable to take this shot. So as a group we decided to use another part of the take from the close up of Kate's eye. But this time I didn't change the sepia or the echo of the shot. The only thing I changed was picked a different part of the take and made sure I only had two seconds of the shot.

To make sure the heart beat rhythm part of the teaser trailer was large enough to create excitement and tension for a viewer we decided to include another shot. As we all think the close up shots of Kate's feel while she is running worked really well to create excitement we decided to use another one of them shots from the take Hannah took. This shot is of Kate running in the opposite direction. I also cut the shot so it was at least two seconds long to flow with the heart beat rhythm.

In the story board the next shot is on Kate discovering the shrine. But during the filming period Hannah filmed a mid pan shot of the shrine without Kate in it. This shot introduces the shrine to the viewer so they have enough time to realise it's full of photographs of Kate. As a group we decided to use this shot just before the full shrine shot. We also decide to keep this shot in the two seconds rhythm to carry on the heart beat sound.

Now, following from the story board the next shot I included in the teaser trailer was the wide shot of Kate discovering the shrine. We decided to use the whole of this shot apart from the first few seconds and the last few seconds as we wanted the shot to end on Kate starring at the camera. Also if I didn't cut down this shot it would of been too long to be the ending shot.

The final shot in the story board was the black screen with the film title and the release date. I went in Adove Photoshop and placed the film title text from the previous group final film magazine front cover. I then included the release date and used the style opptions avliavle in Adobe Photoshop. I then saved this as a Jpeg and imported it into Final Cut Pro and placed it at the end of our teaser trailer.

After I had cut and cropped all of the correct shots, placed them into the correct places and as a group we were all happy with where the shots were I needed to change the brightness contrasts for certain shots so the continuity flowed. For the last shot of the shrine that would we the darkest shot and gradually throughout the trailer the shots would get brighter. In Final Cut Pro I used the brightness and contrasts effect options to change the brightness contrasts. I did this to several of the shots at the end of the trailer and gradual made each shot darker the closer the shot was to the end. Changing the contrasts to these shots defiantly added to the horror thriller effect of the trailer, especially to the close up shot of Kate's face, it make her scared expression stand out more.

After making certain shots in the trailer darker than others we had noticed that some of the shots could be slightly sped up to create more suspense. we decided to speed up the wide shot of Kate running, the establishing shot of the street, the establishing shot of the wedge, the pan shot of the wooded area, both close up shots f Kate's feet while shes running, all three close up eye shots, the introducing the shrine shot, Kate discovering the shrine shot, and Kate walking away from the camera shot.

In the story board we had also included a producers logo shot, tag line shot and a quote from a magazine shot. We decided to stick to what we had in the story board and placed all these shots in the correct place. Earlier on Hannah and Laura had created a producers logo in Adobe Photoshop, which I placed into Final Cut Pro. Using the effects options in Final Cut Pro I used the Light mortise master template for the producers logo. I shortened the template down and inserted the producers logo image in the drop down box. When we played over this you could see the producers logo underneath this fog like mist. It looked really good, and it suited the horror thriller theme of the teaser trailer. Next I needed to create a shot including the tag line for the trailer which we had decided earlier on in the project. Using the same effects options in Final Cut Pro I used the Text Corner Crawl master template I changed the sample text and included our tag line 'It lies beneath the trees'. When I played the tag line shot over we could see the text slowly crawling up the screen. We all really liked this but we agreed that it needed to be a little bit faster. So using the modify speed tool in Final Cut Pro I change the speed of the whole shot. Following the same process I created the shot which included the quote from a film magazine. As we had decided earlier on in the project we were going to use 'Scariest film of all time' from Empire.

It came to the stage where we needed to include the transitions. As a group we decided to keep all the shots as straight cuts as it would have a better effect on the reading making it seem more realistic. But there was one transition in the teaser trailer that we wanted to be a fade. So using the filter options in Final Cut Pro I placed two key frames in the shot just before the producers logo. In the second key frame I changed the opacity to 0 and kept the first frame normal. I had to make the dissolve transition this way as the normal transition option in Final Cut Pro would not work when the shot was cutting to a master template. We had also decided to use a dissolve transition at the end of our trailer with the shot where Kate discovers the shrine and cuts to the final shot of the film title and the release date. I then repeated the same process I went through for creating the dissolve transition for the previous cut.