Editing Review

This is a review of the editing that we have conducted in order to produce our final product, the two-minute opening for Necro5is. I feel we have made a massive amount of progress in our editing, using lots of different effects and even (what I would call) a professional skill - colour correction. We applied colour correction to almost every single one of our clips in order to make them darker and more fitting to our genre (alongside making them all flow better and not obviously show they were filmed at different times of day (for continuity)).

We used Adobe Premiere Pro as our main software for editing due to the fact it can offer us all of the features that we need to make a good product, like a variety of editing techniques and effects. For example, there is the ability to change the sound on different clips and adjust the levels. This was perfect for us because we needed to constantly change the levels of background music and the little bits of dialogue we had and the sound effects that we used. The majority of our editing took place in just simple cuts but we did use some fade transitions and other effects like black and white distortion and a strobing effect, where a clip is flashed quickly over another. Another editing technique that we used, which was already mentioned, was colour correction that allowed our clips to blend together better. Also, we used text effects to have them interact with a scene, for example changing the motion to have the text appear from behind Princess, or disappear when Basket-Case steps on it.

2nd Draft Focus Group

Necro5is 2nd Draft

Typography Decisions

Narrative Progress

Our film's storyline has changed majorly from the original story arc, mainly due to scheduling problems with our actors leading to us not getting enough footage. Also, as we did not like the way that our actors acted, in regards to their voices, we muted the majority of the audio on the actual video footage, focusing instead on using background music. We removed some key scenes, altered others and added new ones that completely warped the original story-line, with the introduction of the sixth character.

The start of our actual product begins with the opening credits, which are different shots of items and locations based on our film. In comparison, our story-arch started with a person being chased down by the killer. Whilst we did incorporate these shots into the credits, it was not the main focus, instead being shown briefly in order to raise the sense of mystery. We still included the drone shots of the woodland, but instead used it as the very first scene as opposed to the follow-up of the main title (which was replaced by the shot of the exploding fire). Due to the muting of our clips, we removed the scene with the birds being startled by the female scream, but did include the shots with Jock and Princess hugging whilst Criminal watches. We used all of the character introductions included in our story-arch, in exactly the same way, apart from changing the audio (for example we didn't use a heartbeat sound effect for Basket-Case). We completely removed the scene with the characters sitting around the fire as they did not turn up for filming, but we did still use shots of a fire in the film. We did include the Criminal and Basket-Case flashback and the Criminal with the switch-blade flashback, but removed the others as we didn't have time to film. We replaced the final part of the two-minutes with the build-up to the reveal of the sixth character, who has been captured and is being held captive at the end. This builds up intrigue for the movie, and we thought it was a more effective ending than the one we had planned.

Soundtrack Development

During our editing process we have had to find some suitable music and/or sound effects that could be used in our final product to add to the effect of the film and also to apply more genre conventions to it. We decided to use a backing track and three different sound effects during editing, each of which is royalty free, meaning that we will not face any copyright problems when publishing and distributing the product. We downloaded the sound effects off of Youtube. We also used a voice-over in order to better explain the story of the film, as it was not very clear. This was recorded ourselves, meaning that obviously it is copyright free and could perfectly suit what we needed.

For the majority of our product we will have a backing soundtrack that adds to the suspense of the scenes shown. For this soundtrack we researched into ‘suspense backing-tracks’, which produced the result of The Hidden (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxXE4LhmFmg). This is a royalty free backing track used for horror or thriller films. We decided to use this backing track as it features changes in pace and volume/pitch, which could be manipulated alongside our clips (so that it gets faster during a more suspenseful scene and slower during the credits). It also has Bass bumps, where the base is increased a lot in and for a very short amount of time, that could be used to support a transition or scene change, or to be shown alongside an important clip to the plot. This idea is one that we actually focused on at the end of our two-minute opening.

For the main title of the film, we decided to use a static effect over the flickering/glitching of the text. The one we chose was this one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-z4UJCEIXs), named Slender Jump-Scare static effect. This is from a video game, so we checked that it was royalty free, which it was. The reason we chose to use this is because it has an initial rise, before the static kicks in, that builds up suspense and tension. Also, when the static does kick in it is quite eerie and painful to hear, which would increase how uncomfortable the audience would feel hearing it, immediately assigning a sub-conscious bad feeling to the title of the film.

When the title fades away we needed to have a sound effect that would accompany the transition between the fire exploding and the reintroduction of the soundtrack. For this we chose a funeral bell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKTIe6piDOI), as it holds the connotations of death, sadness and pain. It is also a very stereotypical sound used in many different horror movies to accompany an important scene, which in the case of the scene with the fire exploding is needed.

For the final portion of our opening 2 minutes we decided to turn down the backing-track (The Hidden) and instead add some ambient forest sounds (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV6W6morRm4), in order to juxtapose the scene and the relaxing backing track. The aim here was to make the audience feel more relaxed and calm before the major reveal of the kidnapped sixth character, which was added after feedback from our focus groups). By having the quiet forest sounds, the audience can immerse themselves more in the setting, an immersion that is broken in a shocking fashion by the reveal and the accompanied sound effect.

The final sound effect, as just mentioned, is called Bass Impact (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-H0RlBc46U) and was used to accompany the fast and sharp transitions of the final couple of shots, that reveal the sixth character in the story. The reason we chose this is because it is loud and booming, which would shock the audience, but is also similar and recognisable as it is a staple of most TV shows and horror movies. It helps to improve the effect of each shot, as there is a loud and jarring sound played over their transitions. 

Production Diary 14/01/2017

Our first draft of Necro5is includes very little of our actually filmed footage. It was more of an experimentation with effects, fonts and editing techniques/programs. We edited this draft using iMovie, which we have come to realise is not a sufficient program to achieve the quality we require out of our final product. Also, the intro sequence that we have edited has not been well received by and teacher or our focus groups and as a result we have gone back to the drawing boards for that part. We have started brainstorming where to go from here and have decided that we are going to take a day in order to produce a 2nd draft that meets the standards that we require.

Camera Review (6 Key Shots)

Necro5is 1st Draft

Target Audience Feedback (First Batch of Footage)

Filming Days Production Diary

Filming Day Three

So, due to a lot of problems with re-organising the cast in order to film the rest of our project, we have been unable to complete all of the required scenes. Instead, we spent this final filming day to get a multitude of different shots of the woodland and of specific props in order to act as filler for our finished product. For example, we got shots of the fire (without the characters), an eerie rope swing we found in the forest and a shot of a log and a swampy area. At this moment in time we practically have all of the footage that we need to complete the project but some major changes will need to be made to our original vision as we cannot get some of the scenes filmed.