Editing

On the 28th January, we put together a Recording Log of all the shots that had been filmed on our tape, whether we wanted to use them or not. After this, we had to decide which shots we wanted by viewing the clips on the computer and putting together an Editing Decision List. When we had completed this we had to log and capture the shots. Myself and Hannah did this as Matt was away. We had to make sure that we left two seconds at the beginning and end of the shot so that nothing was cut out. It took quite a while to make sure that all of the shots that we wanted got onto the computer properly. Also, because of the amount of footage we had, loading the shots we had decided on took an hour and a half.
When we put together a rough edit of clips according to the storyboard, we found that what we had was too long to fit the criteria of the film being 3 minutes long. When we were about half way through the storyboard, our film was already 2 and a half minutes. This meant that we had to go back over what we had put in place and cut it down. A major part that we altered in the film was the beginning. Instead of panning across the pictures of them happy, we decided that it would be better for the sequence of the couple together to be a sequence in itself. This way, it would seem like a dream sequence that the girl has just before she wakes up. We decided that this would still fit in with the film whilst taking up less time, allowing us to make the whole film less than 3 minutes. We also shortened other shots that we had put on so the film looked more fluid and a lot more professional. An example of this is when she is chasing him down the stairs, the sharper editing makes the sequence flow better than it did before. After we cropped some of the shots, we found that we had reduced the film by about a minute.
The songs that we chose for the opening were: Joss Stone- L.O.V.E, and Gloria Gaynor- I Will Survive. We felt that these two songs would fit perfectly in our film. For the first half, when the couple are breaking up, L.O.V.E is playing, and the words of the song assist in the telling of the story. We edited the pace of the footage and music to play parallel to one another. When Nova finds the bra under her pillow, the words “love is more than just a game for two” are sung. This plays until Nova’s friends say “Let’s put some music on!!”. The song fades out at the same time as the screen cuts to black. This connotes a new chapter in her life. Whilst the screen is still black, the introduction to I Will Survive is playing. It sounds almost magical at the beginning, like the girls are in a fairytale. The song, I Will Survive, is a very popular karaoke song, and a real feel good song for girls who have just split up from their boyfriend. When this song is playing, Nova’s two best friends are miming to her to make her feel better. The tone of the film at this point begins to change, as Nova starts to get over James. The words of the song could easily be a metaphor of what Nova wants to say to James. When the words “thinking how you did me wrong” are sung, Nova’s friends are trying to pull her up to dance, but she is clearly thinking about James.
One of the major things that we had to consider when editing was the timing of the shots. This is especially important as the friends are meant to be singing in the film. Although we couldn’t get the timing with the singing exactly in sync, we still felt that it was believable. The songs, as I have already mentioned are crucial in the opening to our film, as they tell the story. The first song, is slower and more romantic than the second. We chose these songs because there is a significant difference between the two, which coincides with the tone/mood of the film. We had to put all the shots we wanted onto the timeline, as well as the music that we had chosen. Then, we had to decide how long we wanted the shots to last for, so that we could edit them together. When we had synced the songs to the shots, we locked the audio so that if we changed the length of the shot, the music would also change at the same time. We found that this saved us a significant amount of time later on in the process of editing. Whilst we were still in the planning stages of our film, we knew that we wanted the music to tell a story, and for the significant parts of the film to be accompanied with specific words from the songs. Although we found this really tedious and frustrating at times, we knew that it would only add to the effect of the film.
The words in the song are especially in sync with the significant points in the film. To emphasise the importance of this, we decided to put transitions and effects in at those points. This is also because we didn’t want the rest of the film to be too busy. When Nova discovers her boyfriend has been cheating on her the song explains that “Love is more than just a game for two”, to connote that their relationship is being ruined by a third person. During the second song, the words “thinking how you did me wrong” are sung, we felt that this was a really significant part of the film. To emphasise this, we dissolved together two shots – a shot as her friends are trying to get her to dance, and a shot of Nova and James happy together, to show that she cant forget him. Also during the second song, some of the words are “and I grew strong”, this is the point in the film when Nova’s friends persuade her to enjoy herself, and she gets up to sing and dance. Also, James is trying to get back into the door as the words “I should have changed that stupid lock” are sung. Even though Nova is getting over James, it is clear that she is still thinking about him. “You’d be back to bother me”, as these words are said, there is a black and white shot of them together that was originally intended to go at the beginning. We had cut it out, but decided that it fitted in with how Nova would still be thinking about her relationship with James. Another edit we used was a fade towards the end of the film when all of the girls are dancing in the street. This editing decision was made for two reasons. Firstly, we wanted to show a passage of time. We also needed to put the fade in because the two shot that had been filmed had the girls at different places in the road, so by putting the slow fade in, it looked more believable. At the very end of the film, as the title appears on the screen the words being sung are “I will survive, as long as I know how to love I know I’ll stay alive…”
Not all of the edits in the film were done just so they went with the music. We didn’t want all of our shots to have effects on them, as this would make it less realistic. However, I feel the edits we used worked really well with the shots they were used on. One of the hardest things to edit in the film, was the split screen when the two girls are singing. Not only did we have to distort Kirsty’s frame, we also had to make it look like the girls were singing in time. The main reason we had trouble aligning the two shots was because of how the girls were standing, and dancing. Kirsty moved a little bit more than Sinead so she took up more space. To make the split screen, we had to view the images with wireframes enabled, and put them on op of one another. This allowed us to move them around and position them how we wanted. This was also frustrating as when we got one girl how we wanted, the other didn’t fit in the frame. At some points when we were editing, we discovered that unfortunately, we had not captured some of the shots that we wanted. An example of this is when Nova has just thrown James out, and she slides down the door. The problem we had was that Nova’s hair was on different sides for the shots. However, the fade hides the mistake. In our preliminary task, we had to use a match on action, we also decided to use 2 matches on action in our film so that the editing would look seamless. They are when Nova rolls over to kiss James in the first half of the film. The other match on action, which is less noticeable, is when Nova is eating crisps. The film is from Nova’s point of view, we decided to reflect this by using point of view shots to show the audience the film from her perspective. This is shown in the picture as Kirsty and Sinead put make up on Nova to try and make her feel better. At certain times in the film, we faded and cut the screen to black or white. We did this to connote the lightness and darkness of the film, and also to mirror how Nova is feeling. When the screen cuts to black as the girls put some music on, there are connotations of a new chapter in Nova’s life starting and she is forgetting the bad times. This could also be perceived as a passage of time. At the end of the opening, the camera tilts up to the sky and fades to white to show how the sky is her limit. Also, the lighting is brighter in the second half as she begins to get over James. When we started to watch our film back, we noticed that when Nova screams, there is a change in her voice because it is a mix of two different shots. To get over this, we made the first audio clip of the scream longer so that her voice didn’t change. When the friends arrive at Nova’s house, they bring with them the essentials of a girly night in – alcohol and junk food!! There is a pan across empty bottles and glasses, not only to show a passage of time, but also to show that the girls are gradually getting more and more drunk. When the girls are outside dancing, there is a particular shot when they point to the sky, that we wanted to be in time with the music. When we did, we found that the rest of the footage was out of time. This meant that we had to spend extra time making everything fit together.
When we had finished putting the shots and music as we wanted them, we had to put credits on top of the shots. When we were waiting for the editing suite one day, myself and Hannah decided to call our production company Minted Pictures. We also decided that our credits would be pink and white, to connote love. There is also the connotation of two different sides to everyone. Kirsty’s and Sinead’s names appear when Nova discovers the bra, this is to show that they are there for her when she is in trouble. For the rest of the credits, we tried to put them evenly throughout the film, so that it wasn’t to busy at one point. Also, we positioned them at different places in the frame, so that they weren’t covering anything. This could also be thought of as unpredictable, like the characters themselves.
We handed in our final edit on 27th February, and we were all really happy with our film. Although we did have a few disagreements along the way, I think that this proves that we all wanted the film to be the best that it could be. I also think its good how we were all passionate about the end product.
In our film, we mainly represent the differences in gender. As the film is a romantic comedy, and typically more females will go and watch this sort of film, we wanted females to be represented as strong and able to cope without a man. Although our film was largely influenced by Bridget Jones, we didn’t want to have the typical formula, in the sense that the couple are broken up at the beginning instead of later in the film. In the film, it is the female who throws James out, representing her as strong. However, when he isn’t around, she breaks down. When she is upset, it is her best friends that are there to help her, as soon as she texts them, they are at her door. Also, it was the female in the relationship who made decisions i.e- most of the furniture is pink, which is obviously down to her. It is also her who is making the effort in the relationship as she leans over to kiss him , whilst he seems less concerned. The male in the film was represented as an idiot. He is meant to be cheating on his girlfriend, but he is so stupid that he hides a bra under her pillow. Also, he is humiliated by her . The separation between the two characters is shown as they lie in bed facing opposite way, and also they are shown in separate shots when they are arguing.