Post-Production Preliminary Task

A few weeks ago, we learnt how to use Final Cut server, a computer programme created by Apple Mac which is used to put together a series of shots to produce a film. This is a screenshot of Final Cut Pro.

To start, all clips must be uploaded onto Final Cut. Then we watched the clips to find the ones which fitted our sequence the best with the least mistakes. We put the best clips into a log bin which helps to separates the clips and makes them easily accessible and therefore more organized.

It was our first trial of filming, and so there was obviously going to be a lot of mistakes, however we tried to get rid of these mistakes by cutting down clips with background noise or extra talking to make the scene appear more professional. This helped us to find the best fitting cuts to build a scene which really worked.

Whilst editing, we had to constantly think about continuity editing, making sure that the scene flowed smoothly. We also had to remember to fit the correct sound to the correct action, otherwise the scene wouldn’t work. We had to choose the most relevant shots to build a scene which flowed smoothly in order to manipulate time and space in the narrative. We had to think carefully about choosing appropriate shots to help the audience to side with the protagonist and the antagonist. The shots have to appear in a particular order so that the audience can have some background understanding of the scene. The scene showed this by showing the antagonist walking along into the room, opening the door and then closing it behind him. The woman is sat holding a gun, this makes the audience think that she is perhaps the antagonist as she is going to shoot the man, however, she could also be protecting herself with the gun so the audience are left in suspense. During this 30 second clip, the audience can tell that the man is the antagonist because he looks threatening and therefore the audience understands that he is dangerous.

The chosen shots were then put onto the storyboard and this storyboard worked as a timeline which would fit each of the clips together. Once we had dragged them onto the storyboard in the correct positions, we had to make sure the background sound was in time with the movement of the shots. In our sequence, we had more screen time on the protagonist (the woman) as we wanted to highlight how she is good and how her reactions are of great importance. In the editing we made the cuts between each of them fast to portray the tension between the two characters. There is also a few single shots of the gun to highlight the danger within this scene.

Overall, I think the editing of our sequence turned out very well and the scene looked professional in the end. However, when we were watching is through, we realized that we had left a flash-frame, which is when there is a second when the scene goes blank in between 2 clips. This meant that the clips were not directly next to each other, therefore we had to go back and pull the clips together. It was quite a subtle mistake, however through the eyes of an expert, it would be very obvious.