Opening

Sequence Editing
By Conor Window

Final Cut Pro X

Final Cut Pro X is the software in which we used to
edit our opening sequence. The application looks like
this:

Overview
I used a majority of different features in order to make my
opening sequence seem as realistic and professional as
possible. This included a number of filters, as well as a
variety of sounds and shots. Below is a screenshot and
dissection of the complete editing process.
Titles

Transitio
ns

Shots

Non-diegetic soundtrack

Non-diegetic voiceover

Diegetic
dialogue

Sound

There is a direct correlation between the non-diegetic

dialogue and non-diegetic soundtrack: as the volume
of the dialogue rises, the volume of the soundtrack
decreases; as seen bellow:

We decided to include this feature in order

to increase the sound quality, allowing the
audience to hear the voiceover better, as
well as preventing the music from drowning
out the speech.

We also included a
number of diegetic
sounds. These include
machine gunfire,
footsteps and dialogue.

Effects
We decided to use two different filters when editing our opening
sequence:
We used the
vignette to denote
darkness. This was
in order to connote
the dark themes
and narrative of
London Boy. An
example of these
would be murder,
as seen in our
opening sequence.

We used the filter Aged Film for the

parts of our opening sequence where
Frankie was walking through London.
This was effective as it conforms with
the genre, as most gangster films are
from the 20th century, meaning camera
quality was not as good as it is today.
This allowed us to create a modern film,
whilst still denoting old film features.

We used the filter 50s TV (a black

and white filter) for the flashback in
our opening scene. This allowed us to
connote that this scene is in the past.
It also assisted us in hiding Frankie
Rodgers identity until the very end of
the trailer, as even though his face
was covered, this made his eyes less
recognisable.

Advanced Editing
We used multiple titles of peoples names, denoting
that these are the many actors that feature
throughout the rest of the film. We also included A
Harry Lee Film, denoting that my partner was the
director of the film. These titles give the opening
sequence a more professional look.
We specially edited the
part of our opening
sequence by purposely
synchronizing the
picking up of the gun
with the beat of the
music. We did this by
repeating the lifting of
the gun as the music
makes a specific sound.

We used a variety of transitions

in our opening sequence. This
allowed us to naturally blend
multiple shots together into one.
These transitions include jump
cuts and fades to black.