Post Production Reflection/Evaluation

• Justify whether your film clearly depicts the intended genre and describe some specific editing techniques you have used to achieve this;

I believe that my film does clearly depict the intended genre as it is quite suspenseful and a little scary in my opinion. In order to achieve this, I have made the lighting in a lot of the scenes quite dark and gloomy. In the scenes where the murderer is sitting at the desk, the lighting has been made a cool blue colour to give a sense of isolation and coldness. In the scenes where the people get murdered and when the murderer looks out of the window to see the next victim, the lighting has been made more of a red colour to create a sense of danger and bloodshed. The music in the desk scenes is thoughtful but scary plotting music which indicates the murderer is thinking about her previous murders and planning new ones and the music in the murder scenes is rather scary and foreboding, creating a sense of fear and panic.

• Explain whether you used Final Cut Pro effectively to organise your project (through the use of appropriate clip names, bins, sequences) and what you could improve for future projects;

I didn’t use Final Cut Pro effectively to organize my project because I had no idea that you could use clip names, bins or sequences or how to use them. In order to improve for future projects, I could learn what these things are and learn how to use them effectively.

• Describe any problems or difficulties you encountered during post-production and editing. These may include; technical difficulties, corrupt or missing files, difficulty using the editing software etc;

I didn’t have too much trouble during post-production and editing. However, I did have quite a bit of trouble finding appropriate music and sound effects (especially a good scream) for my film, but in the end I managed to find some that was pretty good. I also had some trouble with some parts of my film disappearing in Final Cut Pro, however I was able to fix this by locating these parts elsewhere on my USB. I also didn’t really know how to use the software and kind of learnt how to use it as I went, so it took me a lot longer to do things than it probably should have. In addition, I found it very annoying and time consuming to render parts of my film as I edited it on Final Cut Pro.

• Explain whether you made use of devices such as storyboards, shot-lists and the rough edit to streamline the editing process;

I did occasionally refer back to my planning in order to make difficult decisions in the editing process or if I didn’t know what to do next. I definitely used my rough edit, because I just made the changes I needed to it and continued editing from there instead of starting over again and simply referring back to it. I believe that this saved me a lot of time.

• Discuss whether you made effective use of the EDL and Sound Design templates to support the editing and decision making process;

I did not make effective use of the EDL and Sound Design templates to support the editing and decision making process because I have no idea what these are! But they sound like they could have helped a great deal because I had quite a bit of trouble with choosing sound, so in the future I would source these templates and use them.

• Clarify any time-management issues you encountered during the editing process and describe the steps you could implement to improve in this area;

I could have managed my time a lot better because I had only a couple of days to find and add in my music and sound effects at the end. This was because I had spent so much time editing the footage and playing around with effects and different cuts that I didn’t leave much time for music and sound effects. In the future, in order to improve in this area, I would make a time plan of what had to be done and when it should be completed, which would make me much more organised and able to complete it without stressing about not having enough time.

• Discuss whether you undertook adequate and detailed reflection throughout your project. Have you provided enough evidence to support your work? (Look back at your blogs/journals and think about whether it looks like a whole terms worth of work);

I believe that I have undertaken adequate and detailed reflection throughout my project. This is because I have written a reflection after nearly every lesson throughout the editing process which included what I did that day, my plans for the following lessons and my thoughts on different things.

• List any software skills, techniques, tricks or shortcuts you have learned during the project.

During the project, I have learnt the basics of Final Cut Pro and iMovie as well as how to do some more complex things on these programs. I have also learnt how to use Garage Band and the process of exporting music from this program and importing it into Final Cut Pro in order to use it in my film.

Discuss your feelings about the production task:

• Are you satisfied with the final result?

I am quite satisfied with the final result of my film. I think it tells the story pretty well and is a bit scary and quite suspenseful, which is what I was aiming for. I am really quite happy with the way the footage, editing and sounds all came together in order to produce what I think is a pretty good film.

• Did the editing require more/less time than you had thought?

The editing required a lot more time than I had thought. I had thought that it would only take me a couple of weeks, not a whole term, to finish editing my film. I think that this is because I didn’t realise how much went into editing a film and how many different effects you could put in.

• Would like to change any aspects of your final edit (music, editing techniques etc)?

There are a couple of things that I would like to change about my final edit. First of all, there is a tiny section in the first murder scene where the music isn't quite right – there is a little pause in the music. I would like to fix this part up. In hindsight, I also would have like to included sound effects such as heavy breathing and heartbeats to make the film a bit more scarier. I also would have liked to have less exposure, so that there is less light on the settings in order to only have the audience see what I want them to such as the characters faces, in order to make my film inflict more fear on the audience and create more suspense.

• If you could start the project again what would you do differently?

There wouldn't be too much that I would do differently if I could start the project again. I guess I would create a time plan so that I could remain on top of the project and not have to do a lot of things at the last minute and I would make sure that I knew how to use the software a lot better.