Editing Practice

Editing Practice

As a group we have practiced using iMovie to edit our pre-lim, which we found quite easy.  Although we have found out recently that finalcut editing software is much better to use because it has many more settings and gives a more professional outcome.  So before we use finalcut to edit our real film opening, I wanted to practice using it to get a feel for the software.  

 Once I had imported the first clip I realised that it was too dark so I went onto the side bar for colouring.  First I put up the exposure and then decreased the saturation lightly to create a darker tone for the horror genre.   I also wanted there to be no background noise so I went on the audio option and made background noise removal 100%.

I wanted to add some slightly sinister background noise to the clip so I went onto music and sound and eventually found an appropriate sound called Bass FX D3. .After editing the size of the clip using the blade tool the clip was an appropriate length, was visible and had effective sound. 

I then wanted to practice creating a flashback for our film opening.  So using the transitions side tab I picked the flash transition.  This looked effective as a conventional flashback.  I then layered some audio beneath it of a flash.  I also merged the two audios so the cut between them as not too harsh. 

I then imported the second clip and dragged it onto the timeline. Then using the blade tool I cut it down to the length I wanted it.  Next I experimented with multiple audios to find a "Cardboard box packing" sound which simulated normal movement in a home, then a gasp and boom when the camera went up to the ceiling.  After listening I saw this was not enough sound and so I layered another metal and glass crashing onto the clip.

                                                                              After importing and cutting down the last clip I added audio of a woman's heavy breathing to make the POV shot more realistic.  I also put in running footsteps audio to increase the realism. At this point I also put in walking footsteps into the first clip to match.  Then to end on a scary tone I put in thunder audio to give the shot an ominous feel.

To evaluate I think that the editing process went quite smoothly and I enjoyed experimenting with all the different audios.  I came across some technical problems because I am not very experienced in using finalcut but these problems will go in time.  One downfall of this practice is when I had saved and uploaded the video, the sound was not as loud as it was on the software.  I will have to look at this when we come to editing our final piece as not all the layers can be heard.