Finalised editing

After discussing and going over what needed to be changed in the previous meeting, the group and I changed the mistakes. After we done this we put the scenes together which did not take any time at all as it was simple. This was because our film was in chronological order anyway so we did not have to play around too much. We then watched the film again to check if there was anything else needed to be changed but everything was fine. We then came to a decision that the sound that we were going to use in the film was the phone messages being played in the opening scenes.    

Editing rough cut meeting

As everybody in the group has finished editing there sections we thought it was time to discuss what we could improve on. As a group we watched each other’s sections one by one and commented on them. When I say commented on them we discussed what changes could be made to the scenes in order for improvement. We talked about what techniques we could be better of using and what parts to add them in. After this we then started to discuss where the titles could be placed in the film with an idea of them being seen when watching the beginning scenes.

Editing

When it came to the editing process of our project we decided that everybody in the group will edit their own sequence. The software we used to edit our programme was called Movie Pro 11.

The first sequence I edited was the scene where Alex is posting the letter at Melissa’s house. The first shot seen in this sequence is an ECU of someone holding a letter and from this I used a dissolve to show Alex standing there looking at the front. Then simple actions match edits were used for when Alex was posting the letter. When the letter was posted a jump cut was used to see the letter drop and hit the floor. This was the part where I used a number of dissolves to show the different letters being posted with considerable time passing. This then faded out to show it was the end of the scene.

My second sequence that I edited was for the Park scene and I started off using edits that dissolved into each other as Alex walked up towards the bench. Once Alex was sitting on the bench I made sure that the edits were longer to suggest him becoming bored. These long takes continued until Alex decided to get off the bench and walk out towards the park to see if Melissa was coming. The editing technique I used he was with Alex walking towards the camera until it is black. Then straight away the camera is behind Alex to aid the continuity. When Alex is looking for Melissa the edits became a little shorter to emphasise the fact that he is becoming stressed. In this scene I used slow and fast editing to signify boredom and stress.

The last scene that I edited was the scene with Alex and his best mate at the pub. For this scene the first shot I used was an establishing shot to set the scene. Then I used consistent shot, reverse shots to show the reactions and responses in the conversation. This was all I needed to do for the editing in this scene as it was just a conversation. At the end of the scene I faded it out with Alex saying the line “And she’s still mine”.

The edits I have used in my scenes are very subjective with them positioning the audience into taking the side of Alex and sympathising with him.     

Post-production meeting

When we got back to school we decided to hold another meeting and discuss what we done over the half term. As we got all of the filming done we talked about how it went and what minor problems there were. The problems were not that severe and we knew we could solve them in the editing process. As a group we discussed that in the future lessons we were going to view all of the footage and make decisions on what and not to use. This will also gives us the chance to see if any of the scenes needed to be re-filmed.    

Shooting Diaries 4

On the last day of filming we only had to film the scene where Alex sits down at a park bench hoping that Melissa will meet him. We met up the park at 1pm and all we needed was the people within the group as no other actors were needed, only Adam. In this scene there are a number of different camera shots and movements. This is one of the most interesting scenes in terms of camera techniques as it uses a different range of them. The shots varied from close ups to extreme long shots and the camera movements included forward tracks to pans.  Overall I think the filming was very successful and we did not encounter any major problems. The filming took four days to complete and was very enjoyable.  

Shooting Diaries 3

On the third day we decided to film the scene where Alex meets up with his best mate at the pub. We met at Adams house at 12am and Adam drove us down the pub we were going to be filming at. I got the two actors sitting at the bench opposite each other a recorded the scene twice from opposite sides of the bench. I used consistent over the shoulder shots in this scene as it was showing a conversation taking place. I also chose to film it from either side twice so the camera would be in the same position. I also used other shots like a two shot from the side of the bench and a few slight dominant shots as well. The only problems we had when filming this scene was the actors forgetting some of their lines so we had to do a few more takes than expected.

After we finished this scene we went back to Adams house to film the scene where Alex is on a social network looking up Melissa. This scene did not take very long to film as all we needed was an over the shoulder shot of Adam on the computer. We also included shots like an ECU of Adams hand using the mouse and shots of his eyes and face. We also filmed what was being done on screen as well but it did not look that good on camera.    

Shooting Diaries 2

On the second day of filming with decided to film one of the friend’s scenes with it being the one where Alex tries to get some information off Melissa’s friends. This scene involved two other actors and we all decided to meet at Adams house at 10am. We decided to film this scene outside Adams house as we used his car for the part where he is waiting for Melissa’s friends. When they appear the dialogue starts and we used a number of over the shoulder shots to show this. We also used close ups and a panning shot as well. We did have one minor problem when filming this scene though and it was the fact that it was a bit windy which made the dialogue slightly harder to hear.

After we finished this scene we went into Adams house and recorded the phone messages for the first scene. Adam had the script in front of him and he simply acted out the lines into the phone. After this we used the camera to film the phone messages on the answering machine.