EDITING

After the shoot day, we began post production in the Editing Suite; we had three weeks until the final fine cut needed to be completed, therefore we started editing straight away. At first, our editing began just by looking over footage and seeing how it all looked. To make the editing easier, we renamed some of the shots, and decided which shot was best; therefore renaming it so later on we were able to look back and find the exact shot needed. After the initial stages of getting to grips with the pop video, we began our editing. We spent the entire three weeks editing, staying evenings and afternoons in order to finish it to the best degree. By having a reasonable amount of time to edit, it meant we were able to keep coming back to it with fresh eyes and therefore seeing what looked good, and also what needed to be cut, or edited slightly differently.

We used ‘Final Cut Pro’ for editing, and ‘Adobe After Effects’ along with ‘Color’ for after effects and brightening the entire video. In order to get a rough cut, we just used ‘final cut pro’ and only after completing the first assembly, did we start to add after effects to make it look better and more professional.

We began building our pop video by first looking at the storyboard. However, whilst putting the storyboard shots in play, it became apparent that some of the shots did not work; therefore we followed the storyboard loosely, whilst adding different shots that we think worked or shots that weren’t even on the storyboard that we decided to film on the day. When we decided that we wanted to use a clip, or piece of action that the singer did, we got the clip in wide, from the camera that remained in the same place all day, and then added in close ups, tilts, pans etc. This was a very efficient way of editing because it meant we had an idea of how the entire scene would look, and only added what we think looked good; therefore we were seeing it visually, not on paper.

In the opening of the pop video, a clapping sound is heard, which we thought would look good if each clap provoked a change of shot to one of Lukas, then jump cutting back to one of Ruby. Although deciding the shots was relatively easy, trying to get each shot change perfect to the beat was something a bit harder; therefore we spent time working out the beat, and getting the cut exactly in time with it. That way, the final pop video would have fluency to it, because it was imitating one of Negus’ conventions. Much of editing was experimental, therefore our first cut was slightly rough, however, that meant that we could improve it largely, as we could see the pop video as a whole, and therefore know where to improve and precisely do it to get a good final cut.

In order to get the final cut, we looked over our whole pop video with Matt and Luke, and they looked at areas which needed to improve. Something that needed improvement was the cutting to the beat, especially in the drumming part. When Lukas hit the drums, it needed to coincide with the sound from the song, but in our first cut it didn’t go exactly in time. Therefore we put markers in the areas of the song which had the sound of the splatting, and furthermore put markers in the area of the video clip where Lukas would be hitting the drum, or paint would splat onto the walls. After doing this, we would match up the markers and that way the sound would match the action. This was a very efficient way of doing this section of editing.

Another thing that we did in order to get the final cut was add the green screen layer to make it look like the film concept we were trying to achieve. We went through out rushes and found the best layer, as there was only one take that went successfully. We then matched up when the music started in the green screen clip with the music of the pop video, and added the layer. We did some after effects in order to blend the two layers together.

The image of our artist which we were trying to sell was that the singer, along with her devious band member, were crazy, fun, mischievous, but also slightly mysterious and confusing. This image was provoked due to the lyrics of the song, and what she was saying. It is about a girl trying to make herself happy, which we realise at the end is in fact herself. Therefore the image was a positive one, and we tried to show this through composition rules, such as, rule of thirds, colour, shapes, lines and editing.

To initially sell the band, we through visually, as Kuleshov stated that “70% of meaning is in the visuals.” Therefore we through of how the stage should look. In order to show the filmic concept, the room needed to be relatively plain and simple; therefore we decided to have an empty room. This meant that much of the enjoyment and meaning from the video came from the band’s performance, and the editing style, along with props; this is an element that we wanted to sell, that the band was unique and crazy all on their own.

Something that helped sell the image was the use of colour. An obvious element that we needed to consider was the fact that the song was French; therefore we wanted the staging to look slightly French. We did this with the use of blue and yellow colours, which we painted the walls and the door; these colours are quite neutral, but also created a base to which the band members can play with, and therefore make whatever they want to, in reference to design, with the use of props. After the first 30 seconds paint then gets splattered all over the wall, which was effective in showing the image of the band, this is shown in the image above.

The bright colours of the props and costumes was effective in showing the characteristics of the band members, and the image that we wanted to create for the band. Due to us jump cutting, it looked more effective if the singer would appear in different costumes, therefore our costume wardrobe was quite big, and full of extravagant and unique dresses, hats, tops etc. We tried to use lots of bright colours, which meant the band members were seen as positive and fun people, as well as placing Ruby in black sexy dresses, which made her more appealing to a wider audience. In the image to the right, you can see the brightly coloured costumes Ruby would wear:

We subverted the picture composition rules in reference to shape. The shape of the stage was very harsh, with hard edge; due to it being a box room, the walls were straight, along with the door and framing. Furthermore, the trapezium was hard edged. The band is quite abstract and different, and slightly rebellish. Therefore, the shapes of the design did not match this, however, this meant that the band’s performance was crucial in showing their image and personality, along with the editing of jump cuts, to show their individuality.

As we used discontinuity editing, which meant that Ruby appeared all round the stage, we did not follow the rule of thirds. Usually, a good character appears on hot spot one, which is on the left hand side; however, Ruby and Lukas were all over the hot spots. Therefore, this meant that the audience are slightly confused to the character of the band members; we did this in order to show their individuality, therefore reinforcing their image of unique.

A convention that we imitated was holding 2-3 second shots, however, we slightly subverted this because sometimes our shots were much shorter, and occasionally slightly longer. We did this in our editing process, and by cutting to the beat, the shots were usually 2-3 seconds long. We tried to keep to the conventions but subverted slightly to show that the band was unique and therefore it would not follow all the conventions.

A shot that was useful in selling the band was a tilt shot. When Ruby was sitting on the trapezium, and swinging back and forth, the camera tilted up her body. We stayed of this shot slightly longer to show its significance. By tilting up her body, it showed her as an aesthetically pleasing object, which is part of the image that we were trying to sell. This image on the right: We tiled up from her feet to her face.

Much of the pop video was in a wide, to show the film concept; but we also had lots of close ups. In our editing process, we did quick cuts between wide shots and close ups, which we hoped would slightly shock the audience, but in a pleasing way, therefore agreeing with Bathes theory of ‘jouissance.’ Going from shots seen on the left, straight to shots seen on the right.