Editors Journal

When editing, I created a journal which would give a guide to what and
how I carried out my editing process.

Day 1
In order to edit my footage, I used the programme Final Cut X. This
programme contained everything I needed to effectively edited the
footage into one small film. I could have used programmes such as Adobe
Premiere and Sony Vegas Pro 14 however I decided it would be best that I
should use Final Cut. On the first day of editing, I created a draft for
myself in order to visualise how I should carry out my editing process. I
then spent an hour experimenting with filters and transitions and recorded
those which I think should and could be used in our film. I then quickly
created markers in order to help me visualise what the whole film would
sound and look like. Overall I think the draft was a success and it will help
me when I begin editing properly.

Day 2
I began editing properly this day. I decided to start editing the second
scene first as that is the main scene in the film. I first put the events in
order. Then I began to play with the effects. I used footage from other
clips and used it to reflect the horror theme by transitioning between
shots rapidly which then made it seem distorted. I also used blur
transitions in POV shots in order to get a first person feel of the victim.
Once I had done that, I played with various sound effects which would fit
the scene and implemented them in. I used static sounds and repetitive
dialogue sounds which sound distorted. I used hard light in order to lower
the lighting in the scene making it look darker and scarier.

Day 3
This day, I started to finish up the second scene by adding colour
correction to the scene and duplicating to every clip. I lowered the
saturation to make it darker and added a blue highlight to reflect how cold
hearted the protagonist can be This was a simple but long process but I
eventually had it done. This process changed the atmosphere of the
scenes incredibly. I had my group members review the colour of the
scenes in order for them to make suggestions of what can and should be
changed. I also began editing the third scene as it was the easiest scene
to edit but only managed to edit a mere few seconds. I imported all the
footage in order to make an instant start when I edit again.
Day 4
This day, I was finishing the third scene by double checking everything to
see if it flowed. I also added colour correction to this scene too. I lowered
the saturation to create a different atmosphere and kept the blue highlight
throughout the scenes. I added the sound effects in the scene. This took
some time as I had to get the right car sounds and the sound of doors
opening. I also had to alter the dialogue as some of it was distorted. I then
began to edit the first scene. I made myself a small draft in order to get a
guide for what I will edit. I then had my group members review what I
have edited so far in order to get feedback and improvements. I also had
my teacher, Mr Assegai review the footage as well. I imported the footage
from the first scene so that I can start editing immediately when I return.

Day 5
I started editing the first scene. This took quite some time as the footage
had to be cut down as it was too long to keep in our film. I eventually
edited all the edited footage and added the remaining sound effects to the
scene. I found It hard to find sound effects as particular sound effects are
reasonably hard to find, therefore I used generic sounds of an oven
opening and a tray being taken out. Once I had edited the scene I had to
merge all the scene into one. This was fairly easy, however when the
scenes were merged some of the sound effects were out of place and I
had to put them back into order. I then added the ambience to all scenes.
I found this challenging as some ambience scores did not fit the scene but
I eventually had it done with the help of my group members.

Day 6
This day I began adding the rest of the music. For this I had to work with
my group members. I had them scrutinize my work in order to find some
flaws. Eventually we came to the conclusion that we had to change some
of the music. We changed the music and reviewed the film for more
scrutiny. After scrutinizing the film, reviewed it many more times to ensure
that the whole film flowed well.

Day 7
On the final day, I worked on the audio levels ensuring that it wouldnt go
beyond -6 decibels. This was a long process as it required me to listen to
every piece of sound and lower it below -6 decibels. After checking the
sound levels, I had my group members come over for one more time to
scrutinize my work. After we were all satisfied I exported the film as a
master file and gave it in.