Diary Entry - Editing the Final Cut

14th March

  Today, we are editing the rough cut, from which we received feedback from our audience, and will make any necessary improvements to enhance the quality, delivery and overall effect of the opening sequence. 

  From our feedback about the rough cut, one important aspect that was mentioned was the use of music in the opening scene in the kitchen.  The audience felt that this music is not suitable as they can't really relate to a song that they have never heard before.  Furthermore, this is one part of the film where we can really exploit the audience's appeal and interests because if we use a song that is popular and well known amongst our marketability, they will really enjoy the party scene which will interest them and is less likely to make the opening scene drag.  Therefore, the song we agreed upon to use for this scene is 'Bangarang' as it is a well known song that is likely to be regularly played at parties and is popular.  However, this caused some problems because in the kitchen scene, there is diegetic music and so if we add 'Bangarang' over the top as non-diegetic music, there will be an overlap of noise.  To solve this, we had to mute the scenes where Ellie is making drinks and then add the music over the top.  However, this resulted in another problem because now, the diegetic sounds of Ellie picking the drinks up (making a clinking noise) and the sound of the drinks being poured out would be gone.  The only solution to this was to add non-diegetic sounds from the phony artist section of Final Cut Pro where there are pre-recorded sounds.  We then used the non-diegetic sound of the glass bottles clinking and the sound of the drinks being poured out to make the scene more realistic.  We were worried about whether the non-diegetic sounds would be too staged and noticeable but when we put the song over the top, it sounded good.  We also asked fellow class mates of what they thought and they said that is sounds realistic but not to noticeable as the song is the dominant sound in the scene. 



Jump cut

  Another mistake that was brought up in the feedback about the rough cut was that of the jump cut when Ellie leaves and re-enters the kitchen.  This was not some small aspect that could be overlooked as it obviously was something that distracted the audience due to the feedback.  We had two choices: get rid of the scene where she leaves and enters the room completely or add in another scene in between.  We thought about both choices but the problem with cutting the scene out completely is that a lot of the story about 'someone following me' in the text message and some titles will be lost.  It will also considerably shorten the length of the opening.  Therefore, we decided we would fit in a party sequence in the middle of the two scene to keep the continuity of the opening and this meant that we could keep the footage.  Also, we thought it would be effective in establishing the party scene.

  Another aspect of the rough cut that Jess and I questioned was the scene where Carla looks confused at the killer.  This is because it made the scene a bit jumpy and didn't make as much sense as we thought it would on paper.  Therefore, we decided to cut this scene out because it looked messy and untidy and complicated the opening too much.  We didn't want to be in a situation where the audience got too confused that they would start to lose the plot of the story.

    The scene where Carla looks confused is not the only footage we got rid of.  We also left the scene where Carla leaves the party out of the final cut because we thought that this made the sequence drag on too much and also, it made the sequence too jumpy.  By leaving this scene out, the opening sequence is a lot tighter and sharper.  We felt that in the end, the sequences with Carla are just too much so the only sequence with Carla is in the party scene.

  Another point that Jess and I picked out was that the scene where the killer looks into the window needs to be altered because it is the same actor who plays Billy (ie. ME!).  Therefore, we felt we needed to do something about the shot.  We didn't want to get rid of the shot because it is quite an important scene in building the tension up in the party scene and is the connection between the party and the genre of being a crime/thriller as well as leading the audience into understanding the plot of the story.  We  chose to use the blur effect again as the feedback showed that this is effective in the portrayal of the killer.  Also, if we use it in this scene where Carla looks out of the window, it will show the continuity of how Carla is feeling and will link nicely with the end shot where there is a blurry point of view shot looking at the killer.  It might also enable the audience to draw the connection between the two scenes as being point of view shots from Carla.  It also aids the scene in creating more tension because, along with the eerie effect of the music, it will make the killer a really mysterious character.  We also decided to make this part darker as this will link in with the dark effect we used for the outside car scene and will enhance the continuity.  It also makes the scene scarier and more intense by our alteration of the contrast and saturation levels.

  Another part of the opening sequence we thought needed some change was the scene where the killer pulls the knife out of his pocket outside the party.  We thought that maybe this scene didn't look as sharp as it should be because it was supposed to be an escalation of tension from that point on.  Therefore, as before in other shots, we decided to edit the colouration of the scene by changing the contrast to make the dark areas look darker and vice versa.  We also altered the saturation to make it look deeper with bolder colours.  The screen shot above shows the difference and we felt that with the altered colours, the scene looks a lot scarier and portrays the killer in a better way. 

  One point that was brought out by someone after the feedback and whilst we were editing our final cut was that the killer's movements don't make sense.  They made the point that the fact that the killer  is firstly outside the party and is then seen walking up the pathway just doesn't make sense.  Therefore, we had to give this some thought and consideration.  We didn't want to alter the scene too much as it was a big positive from the feedback so we thought of moving the scenes around.  In this way, we had the killer walking up the drive at the start, then cut to the party and then to the killer walking into the house.  This was only a small point but we agreed and felt that it is the small improvements that contribute to an overall professional finish of the film.  The last thing we want to do is confuse the audience as this will result in them losing interest and not watching the film.

  From the feedback we received about our rough cut, some people brought out that they could hear whispering in some scenes and could hear music in the wrong places.  This can be heard when killer is watching 'girl 1' enters the party and also when the killer enters the house. We had to urgently rectify this as it is very noticeable and distracting.  Therefore, we had to mute the sound of the clips to a minimum level.  However, in the car scene, this meant that the diegetic sounds would be lost.  Therefore, we had to add in non-diegetic sounds of the car door slamming to make the scene realistic.  As regards the scene where the killer enters the house, we had to mute the sound of the clip but as there was very little diegetic sound in the original clip, we could add the tense music over the top so that the tension was still there and the scene still flowed well without having any noises that could compromise the continuity.

  A penultimate feature of the final cut edit was the titles themselves.  Not only did we have to add a few more titles to our sequence (we ran out of time to add them all during the rough cut edit) but also, we had to change the names from just being Jess and I.  This is because in a real film opening, unless it is a really low budget film, there are normally a lot of different people who have different jobs rather than the whole film being by two people from production to costume designer etc.  Therefore, we had to ensure that we used different names in order to make the sequence more realistic and to conform to the conventions of a real film opening.

  Finally, a last touch to the film opening was to add a scream in the background when the killer enters the bedroom.  We felt that this would be a good addition to the opening as it would signify a climax in tension for the whole scene and would show the fear of the character of Carla.  Also, the scream would have a foreboding effect that something bad will happen.  Furthermore, a scream is a common feature that is in many crime/thrillers so this would help to reinforce the genre so that there is no ambiguity.  At first, we thought of using a pre-recorded scream from Final Cut Pro but after listening to a few, we felt they were too unrealistic.  Therefore, we recorded a real scream, courtesy of Jess, and this sounded a lot better when we added it to the scene.

  In conclusion, we feel that after all the improvements to the rough cut due to the feedback we received and our own opinions, the final cut is a lot better.  We feel that through different features, there is a greater building in tension and the genre as well as the storyline itself is reinforced and portrayed a lot better.