Editing Process - Final Cut Pro Screenshots

Firstly, i imported the video footage from the downs and interview with the sound from the interview separately, recorded on a zoom recorder. I then added the archival pictures and the shots i took of his memorabilia. Creating a new project i first tried creating the edit, piecing the shots together in a narrative order, without the sound track (see in practice editing process results). I found it extremely difficult to piece the images in the opening sequence in any sort of rhythm without it, and i found i was focusing to much of my time to try to get it pieced together that i wasn't focusing on getting the narrative together in a sequence. I went home to record the sound with Will, using a zoom recorder like the interview and recorded the intro song, the main sound and the opening and ending quote, chosen appropriately and made up by Will to sum up his love of travelling. Once i had the sound track and intro i found i knew what i wanted to do because i spent alot of time piecing it together in my head of how i envisioned it to look and from my storyboard and narrative break down. Here is the break down of my editing process, using final cut pro to edit video, sound and colour grade.

Here you can see the creation of the project in final cut. These images are additional added archive images in response from Will that fit over certain parts about the narrative of building the school project and the children.

Here is the import of the sound from the zoom recorder of the interview. One thing i forgot to do was to pause the sound in between each part of the narrative in question order that i prepared for Will. I had someone helping me record sound and i didnt tell them to pause it, however i realised half way through and had separate sound files for 4 of the questions. Although half of it was all one long sound clip, i didn't find i wasted a lot of time trying to find the right part i needed to put over the camera sound, but for future i will make sure they are separate for easier saving and use in the video. 

Learning from my mistakes of a continuous sound recording from the interview, when i went home to record the sound track with Will, i recorded each part individually and labelled them correctly so i knew where it had to be placed in the timeline. Here is the import for the beginning intro quote about travelling made by Will, the 'fiji song' (the main body sound track), the second half of the interview which was recorded separately and the intro song which along with the Fiji song was written by Will.

From the final cut sound library, i wanted to use sound effects at certain points in the edit. I found a room tone noise, which i used at a low level in between pauses in the interview so the break up sounds realistic. I also thought for the opening sequence as the documentary begins, to compliment to visuals of Will sitting on the hill, to include a bird sound as it begins, creating an uplifting feel.

Here you can see the opening intro sequence. To begin i used a plain black custom box with a cross fade going into shots from shoot one - the downs. Originally, before i was able to get the recording from Will, i pieced the shots from the downs with the archive pictures, playing 2 seconds apart leading up to the title page. In reaction from others to this, they found the pictures played to fast leading up to the title page and didn't allow enough reaction time to the visuals. I went home and recorded the sound with Will, and fit it in where i had already laid out the clips. I adjusted the bird sound to be higher at the beginning, so its heard just before the intro song comes in. Then applied the sound under the intro talk, playing at -2dbs and the voice was at 12dbs, all the way through. I then repeated the intro song and changed the length of the images to the beat of the song, speeding up as they reach closer to the title page, using a cross dissolve to fade in and out on the visual and a fade out on the soundtrack as it fades into black. I left a couple second delay before moving on to the beginning of the narrative, allowing the audience to take everything in. One thing i was noticing and was told by others i showed my practice edits to, is that the edit was to quick, not allowing enough time for the viewer to take in each part. Researching further and working to the beat, i adjusted the edit with this in mind, leaving air gaps in between (as seen above in the 'beginning intro').

Narrative fades in with the first of the interview shots, (as shown in my storyboard), combining shots from shoot one - 'the downs', over parts of the story where he is talking about wanting to see the world and where he got the idea from. I used them in a metaphorical way, symbolising looking across his home town and remembering the decisions he made to leave it behind for a while, for the first time abroad. I also used shots i took of his memorabilia, using word play from a book to relate to the words Wills saying. I added in the sound from the interview in separately. To make sure the sound was playing over the video at the same time, i listened to the sound from the video, looked through the library to find the match, dragged it on to the timeline and placed it over the sound matching it up so you can hear the echo. To check it was on point, i turned off the camera sound and watched the movement and listened again to make sure it matched up. After researching and discussion with others, i decided that i wanted the 'Fiji song', to play all the way through, but quite low behind the interview so you can only just hear it, but bring it louder on certain parts, for dramatic effect. 

Continuing on with the intro story about leaving, here you can see where i have used a gap like mentioned above, giving the viewer enough time to read the words in the visual and increasing the sound track whilst on the image before fading out for the next chapter of the narrative. I found this part a bit difficult because he used the sentence 'you know' quite often, and i wanted to cut it out. I wanted to use the opening line he said 'the day of the flight', but he mumbled and said the same thing a few times after that line, so i cut out the parts i thought were not really necessary and got to the main point. To compensate for the jump in the interview visual, I found a picture which was relevant to the spoken narrative and used a cross dissolve in and out.

Here you can see i used a cross dissolve to change from the image back to the video. I used it here because i thought it looked softer appropriate to what he is discussing, about leaving home and saying good bye to his friends and family, instead of just a straight cut to the next part. I also split the next two parts of the narrative up, by using a picture taken from the brochure he previously mentioned in the narrative, to let that part of the story sink in and build you up for the next part, knowing he has chosen to take this opportunity. I then used a straight cut to the next scene, again, using an image over a cut in the interview shots. I placed it relating to the words he said, so that the audience can put words with a visual. Here i would have used video footage that Will recorded whilst he was out there, but unfortunately he was not able to get hold of it and give it to me, and with time running out, i decided that i would make use of all his archive images and use the 'ken burns' effect on some.

Here he talks about his arrival, and going through the images with Will, to find out who each of the people are so they are placed correctly in the sequence. You can see that i repeated the sound track again, this was because i wanted the bridge just in between the chorus of the song to play once more because its softer and fit well with the words. As the sound track goes on, it becomes more upbeat and faster which i think would distract away from his words, or become in competition with one another and its all about the story with visual aid.

Here he continues to talk about building the schools and the teaching that they were assigned to do, helping the children and the adults. I showed a memorabilia image using the ken burns tool to pan down slowly, giving enough time to see the words and connect when he says the word 'Kindi' to the visual where its shown. I ended the scene using a shot from the building project and used a cross fade to the next part of the story. I reapplied the 'Fiji song' from the beginning, as its calming and slightly sad, fitting with the emotion for the next scene about his hospital encounter.

Here you can see the last parts of the editing sequence from his hospital visit to ending on a high note about going back to the island to finish what he started, how the children made his experience so amazing, and leaving the island and how it made him feel. Previous to this final version, i had the narrative the other way around. I had the hospital story after where he is talking about the children but i thought that having two positive stories in a row and then a sad one didn't create the 'roller-coaster' effect of emotion i was aiming for. So i swapped them around so the sad story was in the middle of the story and start with a high and end with a high. At the end of the edit, i used a shot from 'shoot one - the downs', and ended with the same opening message, so the documentary rounds back up to the beginning. In my original plans, I wanted the ending quote to be something he found that inspired him and then quote the person who said it. However, i was running out of time to get the sound and edit, so i went to my back up plan and i actually prefer it having a round up to the beginning, it feels complete and like he proved his point.
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You can see from the edit screen shot above, that i followed the same pattern of  placing the archival and memorabilia shots into the narrative, listening to the words and showing them on certain words that relate to what is in the picture. For example, when Will said, 'remember all the smiles', i placed over a picture of Will and one of the children smiling together, to reach an emotional reaction from the viewers. You can also see where i have increased the levels of the sound track over parts where Will is not talking, at 0dbs and increased the volume on the ending quote as it sounded a bit low.

 It ends with credits saying the title, starring and created by with the end part of the 'Fiji song'. I used the same font as the opening but used a font closer together as shown above. I ended the piece using the fade to black tool and fade out just a couple of seconds after the sound. Overall, the edit was seven minutes long. Originally I aimed for the piece to be between three to five minutes long, but after i reviewed all of the footage, there was certain parts i felt were to important to leave out from his journey, so i set the maximum aim of seven minutes and i achieved what i wanted to do.

There was a scene i shot of Will, talking about some life advice he was given from the wise village elder which i really wanted to use, but that would have made the piece at least ten minutes long. If i was to make the video again, i would include that scene and make the piece a short feature.

Above shows my colour grading process for the interview shots. The light on the side of his face was a bit harsh and so i wanted to bring t down and make the orange slightly deeper. I decreased the highlights in saturation and exposure and made the mid tones slightly darker so it matched evenly. To make sure all of the interview shots matched in colours and tones, i 'matched colour' and copied on to each shot. For some the lighting was different as i altered the exposure on my camera, so some didn't have to be changed much or at all.

 The same steps were applied to the downs shots. I wanted to bring the greens out a bit more as it was quite cloudy with a little of sun and i wanted it to appear warmer and more inviting. I also made it more contrasted, to make the blacks richer giving the washed out areas more depth. I then applied it to all the out door shots making them have the same look. For the shots from the downs where i am walking with the camera, i found they were quite shaky when looking back. Unfortunately it was to late to re-shoot, so in final cut, i added smooth motion, making the shake of the camera a little steadier. I only adjusted it slightly because you can notice it like a blur motion if its to high.
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During the editing process, i have made changes and improvements, based off of my research and advice from others. At the beginning, i kept a lot of parts in about getting ready to go and the process of packing his life in a bag and the sudden realisation of it really happening. In review, this information was nice but not necessarily important to the narrative and so i cut it down to only the essential points, leading up to each part of the narrative. To save the piece, i exported the file as H.264 and high quality. I saved it to a DVD and created a dvd cover matching the title page in the documentary. I also saved it on my youtube channel, to put on my website.
oliviahurley.wix.com/oliviahurleymedia - (under portfolio - videos)

If i had more time and Will and i had similar work schedules, i would have liked to include some more filler shots of Will and an interview talking with another volunteer from the trip, who lives in Leicester. Unfortunately, we had financial difficulties to meet and we didn't have enough time to shoot these scenes. If i was to recreate it again, i would also include archival pictures of his friends and family to include over the parts at the beginning where he talks about leaving home. Looking back, i would replace the still of the card written from a friend wishing him luck with pictures of his mum, dad and friends. Despite this, I am pleased with the edit and i had fun creating it.