First Draft Feedback

We showed the first draft of our opening to several other students, in order to gain their feedback.
They stated what they found to be effective, and also what they felt didn't work so well.
The parts that people felt were effective were:

• The large range of shots
• The non diegetic sound
• Typography
• Flashback shots are effective

The parts that people felt were less effective:

• Horror genre unclear
• Ending too abrupt
• Title should appear at end

To improve, we moved the title ("Young Blood") to the end of the sequence.  We felt that this would also solve the problem of the ending being too abrupt and confusing.

Editing: Sound Alterations

• When editing our film opening 'Locust Toybox - So 2005' was used as our introductory music.
• When the music was applied to footage it became apparent that it didn't work.
• After the thought that it didn't work I asked peers for their opinion.
• They agreed as well as saying that the music sounded 'too medieval' for the sequence.

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• As an alternative to the non-diegetic soundtrack I thought that diegtic sounds of the environment would provide a better opening to set the scene rather that the non-diegetic music.
• Seeing as the film opening starts on a bridge over a busy road, it made sense for traffic to be in place.
• The diegetic sounds of traffic are more effective as it builds and fades into the non-diegetic soundtrack. 
• This provides a build in tension with the start of a seemingly normal scene which progressively builds in tension and horror.
• Below is the diegetic traffic sound effects that we decided on as a group.

Editing: Reviewing and Refining

• After finishing the basic outline of our film opening I went through the editing to check for continuity and improvements in which could be made.
• When reviewing the editing I noticed a couple of clips which were out of place and lead to a lack of continuity.
• The main problems which had to be corrected was with the bridge scene.
• The first major continuity problem was that there was a shot of the killer walking towards the victim then after several shots including the victim walking and flashbacks the killer was back at the beginning of the bridge looking the victim.
• To correct this I had to switch the clips around as well as a couple shots of the victim as their position on the bridge was also not flowing continuously.

The 2 shots which were in the incorrect order.

• After continuity issue was that with the killer walking shot.
• The clip was shown after the victim has already gone done the stairs which was an issue because the victim was in shot. (This can be seen in the shots below)
• However this was corrected when I changed the continuity problem above.

• When going through the film opening I noticed there were too much of the same flashback shot used which I felt was too repetitive.
• Instead of filming for more flashback shots I used some old shots from my practical source of inspiration (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5w2quV8bzU)
•  I felt that this would be ideal as it is using the same location and would blend nicely in with the current footage.
• By using this footage I was able to break the repetitive flashback shots used with a couple shots of the location and bloody hands. (shown above)

• Another factor I looked for when reviewing the film opening was making sure that the most suitable clips have been selected.
• When reviewing the footage I came across several inconsistencies where there equipment or people in shot when they shouldn't have.
• In the example above, I saw that there was a tripod in frame which ruined the scene.
• To correct this I selected the blade tool (example 1) and selected the point in which I will cut the clip (example 2) which was where the inconsistency stopped.
• Finally (in example 3) after it had split into 2 clips I selected the first section and deleted it.

• In previous blog posts I have looked into the 'letterbox' style.
• This is where the video is cropped to a narrow aspect ratio.
• As finishing touches to the film opening I applied letterbox to all of the clips on the timeline.
• Before I used iMovie, in which I had to make it tailor made using a green screen effect.
• However in Final Cut Pro, it is one of the effect options.

• To apply the 'letterbox' effect to each clip I went into Video & Audio Effects and selected Letterbox which was under 'Stylise'.
• From here I went into the inspector and changed the border size from 0 to 5.
• I feel that by using letterbox framing it provides a more cinematic look and also brings out the colours within the footage more.

Before and After Letterbox Framing

Editing Colour and Sound

In this editing session I made more colour adjustments and correction as well as experimented with adding diegetic sound to the footage to make it appear and sound more realistic.

I began correcting colours in consecutive shots that did not have the same colouring, so the continuity of these shots would be fluid and therefore look more professional. The footage was dark and had a red cast to it, so I counteracted this by bringing out more blue midtones and shadows as well as increasing the saturation and exposure slightly so it would not look as dark as before.

I continued this process on continuous shots that had a different shot cutting in between them. They were differently coloured despite being shot in the same location with the same miss-en-scene, so I adjusted the saturation levels of both shots and corrected the dark reddish cast present in the shots by focusing most of the colouring in the blues and greens on the colour board.

After correcting colours, I began working with sound. As it was my first time adding and adjusting external sounds on Final Cut Pro, I only used one sound.

I added the diegetic sound of a purse being dropped to the  corresponding shot, moving it so it would be directly parallel to the action instead of being disconnected and therefore making the footage look amateurish.

I then used the blade tool to cut the sound and make it shorter, as it was too long to correctly match the action in the shot. After this, the sound matched the footage but was too loud and some faint background noise was present, so I used the select tool to lower the volume of the individual sound to match the action but not overpower it.

Evaluation

I feel that this editing was successful, as I had more confidence and experience with the colour correcting, but I still did not do as much as I could have due to inexperience with editing sound. As the sound I edited was successful, I will work on more sounds in the future and improve further.

Recording Sounds

Recording More Sounds.

When we continued to edit our final film opening we realised that we needed one more sound in order for the audience to know what was happening in the sequence.

We had to record the sound of a purse falling onto the ground and so we went to a quiet place and recorded this using an actual purse a few times in order to get the right sound effect.

Soundtrack

• When searching for uncopyrighted music, we found tracks created by David Firth, and felt that the tracks 'Mortician's Wife' and 'so 2005' would be effective in out opening.

• I chose the track 'so 2005' as I was inspired by the use of contrapuntal sound in the opening sequence of the film 'The Woman in Black', in which the music has a positive tone, and contrasts with the sinister images seen in the sequence.

• 'Mortician's Wife' is more effective for the second half of the sequence, as its ominous tone is more pronounced.  This is useful for our sequence, as we need the tension to build towards the end of the sequence, in which the killer approaches their victim.

• However, I asked peers for feedback on this use of sound, and some stated that the slow pace of the music contrasted too heavily with the fast, jumpy pace at which the shots change.
• Therefore, I feel that another upcopyrighted piece of music may need to be used.

'Glitch' Non-Diegetic Sound

• As the flashbacks occur in our opening, non-diegetic 'glitch' sound effects can be heard, to emphasise the contrast between the happiness surrounding the victim, and the horror surrounding the killer.
• These glitch sound effects were found on vimeo:

• I also created glitch sound effects by warping recorded sounds, using garageband.
• These sounds are parallel to the flashback shots that occur within the sequence.

• Initially, the sound effects are quiet, but grow in volume as the sequence continues, to give the sequence a 'jumpy' mood.

• Overall, I feel that these non-diegetic sounds are effective as they contrast with the calm mood in the beginning of the sequence and therefore create a sinister ambience.  Furthermore, the flashback shots are less confusing and out of place when paired with the sounds.