Post - Production

Post – Production

Once we had completed filming, a few problems arose with editing and uploading the Prelim. I used iMovie on the iPhone 5 to edit the prelim, and I found that the shape of the clip would change when I put it on iMovie. I decided to scrap the whole project, and start fresh, and then I found that the shape of the shots stayed the same. When I uploaded it to YouTube, the video was private, not public, and so when our group had to show the rest of the class our Prelim video, we couldn’t find it on YouTube, even though I knew I’d uploaded it.  Another problem was that I filmed some shots diagonally, so when we thought we had completed the prelim, we realised that it didn’t look very smooth, and then it would mean the audience would be able to see the editing.

When I watch the prelim task back, it does match my visualization with the cinematography, but the framing doesn’t. From filming the prelim, it’s made me more aware of what you need to watch out for, like how you hold the camera, because I realised that some shots were diagonal and the whole footage put together didn’t flow well, which meant we didn’t have continuity editing. This has made me more aware, so that when I film the thriller, I’ll be more aware of how I hold the camera.

I thought the prelim was a very useful exercise, because if I’d have gone out filming my thriller straight away without any practise, then I would have filmed in different angles, then realised that it doesn’t fit together in the editing process, so this prelim has definitely been beneficial because it’s helped me to improve my filmmaking skills. It was a good practise task, before we start thinking about our main task, because it helps us get used to filming, holding the camera steady, and making sure we have enough footage.

When I first edited it, the iMovie app automatically put transitions in between each piece of footage. This didn’t make the shot reverse shot look realistic, and so I took them out. Also, with the editing, I had to retake some shots because they were originally filmed diagonally, I didn’t think about holding the camera the same way throughout the whole prelim, I was only focusing on making sure I got everyone and the props in the shot, but after the editing process on iMovie, it made me realise that you must be aware of how you film, as well as what you film.

I learnt that editing is a tricky process when you haven’t taken enough footage. It really helps the editing process if you’ve taken more than enough footage because you can then chop and change the clips to make it run smoothly. We now know for our main task that we will plan more, (e.g. – We didn’t think about the lighting, and what effect it would have on the footage, and so when we arrived at the place we were filming, and the light filled up the shot, so we had to change the angle we were going to shoot at). I think a tripod could have been used, because the benefits would have shown up in the prelim, because it would have looked more professional and smooth.

Audience Feedback has been quite positive, and the transitions between shots were good. We got told that the lighting was very good in the prelim, so we thought it were happy we that we decided to change the way we filmed the prelim. We have also had some feedback, which will help us improve our filmmaking skills. In our prelim, the heads were cut off once I edited the footage. When we originally filmed it, the heads were in it, and once I put the footage on iMovie, it seemed to cut them out and I didn’t know how to fix it. We also could have established a better setting for the prelim, with a different use of cinematography. All of this feedback has now made us more aware of what we need to work on in our main task.