Children drama editing-Evaluation

Within the children drama editing, we used Adobe Premiere Pro. Under the setting of DV-PAL, Widescreen 48 KHz, as it is the U.K format along it gives out the best sound quality. Due to video clips takes up a lot of memory; we had to either save it on a mini hard drive or on the Z drive. We saved it on the Z drive at first, we made a folder with our name so people would know it is our work, along it would be easier for us to find it. But sadly later on, the computer did not work our file for a while as it kept on crashing our work, to the point where we could not save it. so we had to transfer our work into a mini hard drive and work on different computers.

When we imported our work into the new project in Premiere Pro (go to File, then down that row there is “Import” click on it to bring up a box and then you find your footage to put in to the project), it took a while. However we went through the footages and deleted the faulty, unneeded footage that we did not want. Such as there was a footage where Hannah accidently swear, it was amusing and funny at that moment but we did not need it, therefore we deleted it. That way we it would be easier to find the footage we need and save some space.

At first we drag one footage clip at a time, to the timeline, so we can watch one by one and cut out the unneeded bits, and then we put it in order. That way it would look better and we can actually see which part of the clips we need and edit. Instead of us putting all the footage clips on the timeline and keep on scrolling or dragging, to put all the footage together. As that way it would create a mess on the timeline, making you confuse which part of the footage you cut out that you need, and end up making you rewatch all of it again.

However I mainly did the rough cuts and small snippets, along putting some clips in order, but I did not really do the final cuts. This is because I cannot make the scene’s blend together well and make it flow. This is where I need to improve and hopefully do abit more of it within the Thriller project.

But within the children drama I stuck to doing the rough and block cuts, cutting out the unwanted parts within the clips. Using the cut tool then highlighted the unwanted scenes then press delete. I decided to play around with the lighting and sound level, as some clips was either brighter than other or louder than other. In order to try to make the footage link, as it would be odd if some footage was brighter than other or louder than other when necessary. The brightness of the footage was dealt by the fact that on the editing box the video footage has a line over it, where the editor can move it around. While the audio, on the audio track it is the same as on the video track, however if we want the footage to either fade in or fade out, it can be done by pressing Ctrl and press the left button on the mouse, over the audio you want to change and a little yellow diamond appear on the line.  

 However I did do one final cut which was where Hannah was on the slide, that clip was the longest. It took me a while to cut as I was not sure whether some parts were needed.

When we first did our block cuts our children drama went over five minute, so we had to cut out a lot of scenes. That’s where I kept watching it and trying to pick out the unnecessary parts within some scenes. Such as the scene where Hannah is playing in the park on her own, while Ann-Marie and Bambi where sitting on swings. At first we thought it was needed to show the audience that Hannah character is childish. But when we saw the time limit, I cut it out, as the scene was too long and seemed pointless as it did not pass on the message well. Nevertheless the shot was not filmed well, as the sound was fuzzy due to the bad weather on that day. Therefore we got rid of it and just made Hannah characters seem like a happy, hyper, person.

Nevertheless I also added some effects to make the scene flow together better. Using fade to black or white, this effects and other can be found on the transition folder. However that effect was not always used as it would be boring and not look that great, so to make it feel more of a children drama. We used the Flip effect, where it gives a light switch affect. Giving a cheesy feel like, so it makes the drama look less serious. Nevertheless for some footage I had to zoom in quite deeply to cut out only few second of the scene. Even though it is only few second, it does make a big difference when watching it.

However after dealing with the scenes we got out music tracks, I only got us a few tracks but none where used. But due to the deadline we ended up rushing other member’s tracks, however I did move some of the tracks. This is because it did not sound right, where it was originally placed. So I did most of the sound volume part and cutting it, such as which part of the song starts and where, For example the introduction track, I made it fade in to create a build up, leading it to the animation intro, where the track gradually got louder then slowly faded out towards the end. Also building up the intro, it will alert the audience that the theme song and journey is about to start.  

Though when our children drama was shown, some people did not get the story, we so added on more After Affects. I suggested we have thought bubbles with an icon inside, such as World of Warcraft to make Bambi character too into the game world. Along showing he is a nerd, as people count World Of Warcraft is a nerd game. So the audience would understand his character more and why the thing he says is more dramatic and does not make much sense.

Overall, most of the things I done, I asked the other group members opinion. To see if they agreed with what I done, I mainly asked Hannah, as she is good at editing. Though some of the things I did such as sound level and brightness, I did not ask them as I personally believe they did not notice. This is good as it makes the footage brightness and volume seem like it was natural. But to improve, on the next project, the thriller I would personally like to edit it more, in a more detail way so I can create a good final cut and make it flow with the following scene. Along I should ask Hannah less, for her opinions and advice about some shots and editing.