Final Film and Drafts

The Final film was finished a good while ago, though we could not upload it to You Tube due to a copy right issue concerning the music in use. Since then we created a similar song just so we could upload it to You Tube without this issue. The drafts, obviously, also included the original song, though we have edited them so that they contain our own song. Below is the finished film and drafts:

FINAL FILM

Our Final Video features a large number of cuts from scenes in the drafts and a form change as we were originally making a trailer. The other drafts felt to us more like Opening Sequences anyway, but they were just too long so they needed streamlining.

DRAFT 1

Our first draft was the most like an extended trailer, using bits to draw in the audience and ultimately ending with the cliffhanger of the 'who done it?' style question. It featured the shortest conversation which our end result actually is built around. We liked it, but it didn't quite fit the brief and still needed tweaking so we moved on.

DRAFT 2

The second draft was more streamlined, and tweaked slightly, but wasn't majorly different from the first. It featured a longer conversation with some lines that were cut for the final version which was actually longer still. It wasn't until the final cut when it became exactly 2 minutes in length and so much as an opening sequence as it is now.

Vehicle Choice

Citroen Xsara Picasso

Morris Minor

In our production, we chose to use a number of different vehicles for different effects. The audience sees this first car in the first scene of our production. It is used, as the scene is in semi darkness and the whole car is not fully visible, to seem as if it is the Morris Minor from the original Murder case. Due to this semi darkness, we did not need to obtain an older vehicle as the curved, tall shape of the Picasso is reminiscent of the Minor's shape. 

Mercedes C220

The second vehicle is a Mercedes C220, an executive, saloon style car that is associated with the higher classes and those from the upper socio economic bands which were the groups we wished to represent. This car belonged to Mark Glenn, our Pathologist, so the vehicle works well for the person it is linked to. 

Editing Digest - Music Composition

Due to the fact that the piece of music we used in our film is only available for use for education, we could not upload any versions of the film that featured it to the internet. This posed a problem as we needed to do so to link it to our blogs. To remedy this, we made You Tube friendly versions with music we had made ourselves. We made the song so that it was in the same key and chord sequence as You Don't Know so that it would hold the same exophoric reference as we still wanted to convey. So that we could do so quickly and partly so that we could experiment in music making, we used the iPad's Garageband App. We used only Guitar so that it kept the retro feel of the original and didn't sound like a cheesey remake, just to avoid Copyright. The Chord sequences was C-Am-Dm-G, just like the original. Most songs feature this same chord structure, if not sequence so we are not infringing on the rights of EMI who own the song. Overlaying over this chord sequence, we added arpeggio's so that the song was embellished and not boring.

Editing Digest - Audio Envelopes

When filming, we didn't have the budget nor the compatible camera for an external microphone or boom to boost sound quality and sensitivity. This meant that some wind and background noise was picked up during some scenes. To fix this we used the audio enveloping feature in Final Cut - though it can also be done in most other major editors - and masked this with a creepy soundscape over the top. The effect is that you can choose exactly when the volume is heightened or lowered throughout the clip. In the picture to the right you can see that some nodes are higher than others; this signifies the volume being louder or quieter at that segment of the clip.

Editing Digest - Shadow Removal

Due to a fault of our own, this scene originally had the obvious shadow of the tripod over the bonnet of the car. Luckily, the shot also contained a segment where one of the characters walked infront of the camera in such a way that the shadow was covered by another. We masked this over the finished clip to make it seem as if the shadow were something such as a bin or at least something out of shot and less obvious than the tripod.

Creation Process

To create the desired effect, we first placed the original clip on the main storyline and then found a freeze from earlier in the clip where the shadow was obstructed. We then proceeded to use a third party plugin called 'RT 8 Point Matte' which allowed us to mask around the wanted shadow so that it was the only thing visible on the secondary timeline. We were able to add a considerable amount of blur to the edges so that the effect was undetectable if not outlined to the audience. 

We should have realised and re-filmed quicker, though the effect was so easy to reproduce that it was quicker to do so.

Editing Digest - Stabalising Bus Scene

Another scene that didn't make the final cut was the PCI character walking past a bus depot as the voice over details the finding of the murder weapon on the backset of a bus. For this scene, we wanted one of the shots to be a side along track as he walked which would, if we had the budget, usually involve using a dolly. We, instead, had to walk alongside him holding the camera using an onset effect and use a post production effect to finish the effect.

Creation Process

First, we filmed with the tripod still attached and outstretched to steady the camera. This worked wonders as it pulled the camera downwards and reduced the sway side to side which would usually arrise. Secondly, we used an effect called 'Warp Stabalise' in Adobe After Effects to fix the small amount of sway that was picked up in filming. 

Editing Digest - Picture Wall

Throughout the film beginning, a recurring element is that of a picture evidence style wall, which illustrates the connection between the old and new murder while the voice over speaks parallel to it. We made the whole wall as one image on Photoshop at a large dimension size so that it could be zoomed in on and panned around while preserving quality. Final Cut was used to do this where we used simple keyframing to move the image around. Below is the image of the full wall which is in our draft clearly and in the background of the title in the final film:

Editing Digest - Morph Scene

Our film originally features a morphing scene from a print out of a picture of James Hanratty, our presumed antagonist, to another image of him on a wall; adapting the graphic matching technique where one merely fades into the other. 

Creation Process

To create the morph effect we used an application called Morph Age Pro; it is a shareware piece of software that does cost £99.99, however it produces some really good effects such as the one in our drafts. To achieve the desired effect, the user creates a path on one image which is then replicated on the other. By rearranging these to tell the programme where the original point has no moved to, the in between frames are created. The more points created, the smoother the end result will be. We really liked this morph and felt it showed off our shot choice and technical skills well, though when it came to cutting down to two minutes it just was not relevant enough to keep. 

Editing Digest - Film Noire Colour Correction

The opening clip consists of a character stood underneath a lamppost as a car approaches. We first filmed this scene in the dark though the lighting meant that any detail was lost entirely. We resulted to filming the scene again in dusk to gain more detail. The above clip is a composited clip of the raw footage and the edited. The raw is blue and the edited is black and white. 

Creation Process - Camera

Before filming, we implemented a great technique for filming 'Night for Day'. This can be achieved by setting the light function to 'Tungsten' and lowering the exposure to the lowest the camera offers. This, effectively, takes less light into the shutter and gives the clip the blue tinge of night. 

Creation Process - Final Cut Pro X

Once the shots had been filmed we found that the shot being so blue would not be so convincing and also, as a juxtaposition with the Tarantinoesque titles for it to be Film Noire. We completely desaturated the clips, before lowering the exposure and upping the contrast. Furthermore, we masked around the character and lightened the clip so that it gave the impression that the lamp post above him was on.

Editing Digest - Blood Splattered Titles

The 'August 1961' title was the first thing we created, already having the vision for what we wanted and not needing any footage to create it. By the time we made the 'DEADMAN' title, we refined the process and i believe it looks a little better than the first, but I am proud of both.

Creation Process

The blood splatter is laid over the top of the text it needs to be applied to and the 'TrkMat' option is changed to Alpha trackmatte for the blood splatter layer. We repeated this for three blood splatters and placed a fourth over the top on the last sequence as the mess of the splatter is very effective. The first set of blood splatters I had to make as I could not find the ones I used in the second video clip. They were made by using a white paint splatter clip which I masked a bloody texture too before using the method above. I am quite happy with this effect as it has a Tarantino feel who happens to be one of my favourite Directors and the contrast between Film Noire and this is very punchy.