Editing Our Thriller

As our group started to edit, the first step we took was to review our shots and proceed in creating two folders known as bins which in one we stored our wanted and useful shots whilst the other bin was used for shots we felt did not fit our refined storyline. In the end we discarded around a quarter of our shots and used half of the rest. It was a vital aim for our group to create some sort of suspense in our thriller title sequence as most of our shots were close up of the boy typing, his eyes flickering around the screen and the scenery and props. Since all our shots are seemingly quite disjointed it meant that the way we carried out our editing process was essential to succeed in. We started with our slowest and longest shots, being the tracking shot displaying and establishing the scene of the boys room, and then we edited the clips together in order for the shots to gradually speed up and create a climatic effect, ultimately creating suspense for the thriller, being a renowned convention of a thriller.
 

Whilst editing we still had to consider continuity editing devices such as when we were sorting through the majority of our disjointed shots we had to make links between them in order to create a logical order in which they would appear in the thriller. For example, our group used the convention of the eye-line match being the close up, low angle shot of the boy's eyes looking down at the screen had to be followed by the shot of the boy scrolling up and down the screen displaying the codes and links the boy is dealing with in order to let the audience know what he is looking at and for the viewers to understand the action happening.
 

The perspective of our thriller focuses on the activities of a single boy cracking internet codes on his computer, alone in his room. At first our group wanted to create a sense of sympathy for the boy as he is burdened with autism and supposedly does not have many friends as a result of being alone. However, another effect of only incorporating one character in our thriller is that he is portrayed to be a dominant and strong character as there are no other characters in the thriller for the viewer to create comparisons with. As the boy in our thriller is depicted to be cracking a code this could be taken in either a good or bad way as he is technically committing a crime by trespassing private territory yet he is attempting to beat the system for the greater good therefore the boy could be depicted as either a hero or a villain, depending on the viewer's perspective. The boy's dominant portrayal is represented by numerous low angle shots of the boy's eyes flickering around the screen to give him a sense of superiority and as a result of his activities it can be concluded that he has a substantial amount of knowledge in order to crack the codes he has discovered and ultimately knowledge is power.  

 

At first our whole group found the editing process fairly challenging to begin with. However, since editing our preliminary task we still remembered the basic skills to managing Final Cut Pro and editing our work. Therefore as the editing of our thriller progressed we steadily became more accustomed to the programme and the tools in which we used to cut, copy, paste and move clips about the timeline. When editing our thriller we found that using After Effects was particularly difficult when we were creating the slides for each title appearing and disappearing in the title sequence. As we all had a similar idea in our heads of what we wanted to create with the software, we had to experiment with different animations and backgrounds for the titles. We also involved the use of Photoshop for creating our title sequence by using Photoshop fonts and employing the use of the lasoo tool to cut around images that were essential to incorporate within our title sequence. The blade tool was essential to use in Final Cut Pro for our group as we had to cut consecutive shots to become significantly shorter due to the desired effect of creating a climax with fast paced shots.

 

If my group were to do our thriller again I have feeling we would all agree on sticking to our original idea, although we changed it a week before shoot day to concentrate more on the technical gadgets the boy is able to control and is fascinated by this meant that we had to do significantly more editing in After Effects. Since this is a programme our group had never used before in editing we had to become accustomed to it quickly in order to complete a substantial amount of editing as we had a deadline to stick to. However, if our group had stuck to the original plan of shooting in a bedroom we would have been able to incorporate all of our previously planned shots and the amount of After Effects slides we had created would not have been as necessary as they are to our thriller presently.

At first, since I found the editing process quite challenging I did not enjoy the process instantly, however, as I became used to the programmes I started to enjoy the process more as I found it very satisfactory when our group achieved something well and completed an impressive and challenging part of our thriller, therefore allowing my group to move onto the next stage of editing our thriller. For example when we had sorted through all our good and bad shots into the log and rush bins we set out the main structure of the thriller with the definite videos we planned to use. When our group got onto the stage of After Effects I really enjoyed creating and designing the different layouts and details of the slides of the hacking scenes which were supposedly displayed on the boys screen as each one was completely different and required imagination and innovation.
 

 I felt our group worked very well altogether on editing our thriller as we alternated roles frequently, letting each other have a substantial amount of time on Final Cut Pro. When we first started editing I felt I had quite an essential role I renamed all the shots that we took on the shoot day by basically summing up the content of the video for example I would name shots of the actors eyes ‘eyes close up 1’ and ‘eyes close up 2’ depending on the shot and the number of them we took. After this I helped sort through the videos with the group into different folders, known as bins, depending on the quality of the shots and whether we wanted to use them in our thriller. Afterwards, another member of the group and I started to structure the thriller with the definite videos we wanted to incorporate into our video. This created the basic storyline and presentation of the film. We then swapped over to give the other two members of our group a chance to contribute to developing the arrangement of the thriller. Next, I contributed the idea of cutting longer shots in the video to be shorter and consequently building up, creating a climax towards the end of the thriller, as every thriller must include the typical aspect of suspense. Therefore I set to work using the blade tool in Final Cut Pro to cut each clip shorter and consecutively shorter in order to achieve the desired effect of a climax. We left significant gaps in the film in order to incorporate scenes of a hacking nature, enabling the audience to see what the boy is supposedly viewing on his computer screen as well as breaking codes and discovering links etc. These hacking scenes were all completed in the editing program After Effects, which we were not, accustomed to before but we soon became familiar with it in order to complete the thriller. I set to work by finding necessary images off Google to incorporate in the hacking scenes such as world maps, globes, links, codes, images from the game ‘uplink’ and blueprints of machinery. We were then given a tutorial on how After Effects worked. I personally specialised in creating the titles which included typing out names and their roles, deciding on fonts and moving the positions during each title on screen. By moving the positions of each title I had to alter the start and end key frame positions of the font and the program would automatically develop a path for the font to move by, known as inbetweening the animation. This was fairly easy once I mastered the basic method of inbetweening. As well as this we all had a say in what music we wanted for the soundtrack of the thriller, I contributed the idea of having a fast paced techno beat soundtrack able to create a suspenseful atmosphere for the typical convention of a thriller and we made a group effort in completing this task.

 

This task of editing the thriller was a complete step up from the preliminary task. Firstly we had to create a storyline of our own ideas, shoot it in the way we envisaged the thriller linking certain aspects of our work to typical conventions of thrillers. Therefore the editing was a completely different task to what we had completed previously in the preliminary task. The preliminary task was very basic in its required editing as it was the first time in which any of our group had used the editing program Final Cut Pro. We also did not have the task of creating a suspenseful atmosphere in the preliminary with slow and consequent fast paced moments which had to incorporate in the thriller. Therefore this involved having to cut more shots at varying lengths. As well as this we had much more of an in depth detailed task of tackling the editing program After Effects which was completely new to our group. The  challenge of operating the program was soon overcome by our group and we created numerous title slides in our title sequence with ease, incorporating our own innovative ideas in the thriller to achieve our desired storyline. Additionally we were required to create our own soundtrack in order to enhance the suspense of our thriller. Since we had no script in order to maintain this suspenseful atmosphere the non-diegetic soundtrack was therefore incredibly significant for creating the right effect for our work.
 

I feel I have learnt a great deal about filmmaking as a result of this project. The one thing that I will always recall from this task is that filmmaking is not easy. It requires a significant amount of time, work, detail and dedication. Although this was only a small scale project the thriller was still entirely challenging and a massive task to complete in a given time limit. Since completing the thriller it is apparent that our group has overcome numerous hardships to achieve what we was expected of us as well as what we wanted to achieve ourselves. For example, the return to Final Cut Pro and familiarising our selves with the program again was not incredibly easy, the introduction to the new program After Effects and the creation of our own non-diegetic soundtrack for the thriller which none of our group had ever attempted beforehand. The fact was that we were making a thriller and therefore we had to incorporate certain typical conventions of thrillers in our own work such a suspenseful atmosphere primarily created by slow/fast paced non-diegetic music and shots. We also created the majority of our thriller on After Effects where each title had a focus on the hacking and decoding of private links as well as the examination of diagrams of supposed servers of the FBI in which the boy was unintentionally attempting to hack and decode in order to gain entry into the FBI mainframe. Therefore this material incorporated in our thriller will appeal to our primary target audience of 18-40 year old males, interested in the possible action, cracking of codes and the vast amount of technology and gadgets included in our thriller.