Our editing wasn’t as problematic as we initially thought. We over came the problems that we had due to the dodgy camera. We over came other problems that raised by being organized, instead of trying to fix each problem as it came we decided to first build a solid timeline. This then allowed us to focus more of cleaning up our shoots and fixing any problems. The other way we over came our problems was by being creative and using our knowledge of final cut to the fullest.
From the start of the project Shaakira and I wanted our film to have the feel of a match.com advert that included the slight of key colour it has. There was an effect we could just drop on to the clips; instead we had to spend along time trying to find the look we wanted through trial and error. We played with the glow, saturation, defocus and the brightness. After finding the right combination we had to vary for each clips which took lots of our time and sometimes we found ourselves spend a whole lesson on trying to get the perfect balance on a couple of clips.
Throughout the editing process we both kept thinking to ourselves “will the audience get what we wanted to portray to them? Will they ending make sense?” We thought of various ways we could make the ending clearer. One that we came up is was to gets some still shoots of the robbers getting ready for the heist and showing them in between the titles but in a stylish way, which would fit the codes and convention of a heist film but we didn’t end up doing that due to time. So instead I thought it would make it clear to the audience that the robbers were running from the police by putting sounds of police sirens and distant helicopters. Something else we did in the editing stage was to put a wild track underneath our video, this important because it means that when we make cuts the sound wont sound jump or patchy.
The organization we did in our pre-production work helped a lot because it meant we had thing already prepared. Our sound board was vital because we were able to get permissions for one the songs we posted on our blog. We felt the song fitted our film perfectly because it was quirky and niche, it gives the feeling we wanted the audience to have that our film would be light hearted which makes the twist more powerful. To convey the fact that they were both in a trance, we faded down the robber’s voice and slow it down which divided opinions among the rest of the class. We also blurred the last few shots to make it clearer that they are unaware of what’s going on around them.
I think we worked will in the editing stage and in a professional manner. Before each editing lesson we plan what were going to do and how were going to do it which meant we weren’t just doing bits and bobs. I think I gave a lot of ideas to the overall project and did a lot in the editing stages to boost the quality of our film. Shaakira and I worked very well together because we knew each others strong points. I had most of the basic ideas, whilst Shaakira was able to actually get the ideas from head to the camera. Her role in the filming stages was the camera woman and whilst I was the main director. We were both able to put in strong input in to our film and none took over solely it was vey much a partnership.
I think that our short film has it good and it bad points. I think that the colouring is beautiful and it gives the film a certain quirky feeling. I think the plot of the films plays the codes and conventions on a normal romantic drama and it has all the key elements of a good short film. I think we got loads of beautiful shots. One being the slow zoom in between the banister, the shot is well composed and the shades look exceptional. I think also that I casted the actor perfectly they suited there characters well and were able to give us a strong performance, like most short films we had to find the best actors we could with no budget which I think we did. The negatives of our film is that 1 or 2 of the shots we have look a bit dodgy and have problems such as minor shaking. I think the end can be perceived as confusing despite our best efforts to patch it up. There are some parts in the film which is very slow and can get a little bit boring; this might just be because I’ve seen it so many times. There is room for improvement which I think could have been sorted by having a few more hours at the library.
