Post-production is the phase of construction after principal shooting has finished. Basically, it means the editing process. Even though each production was video-based, the fact that one was a film opening and the other was a teaser trailer means that they each have very different forms and conventions, and editing is one of these.
Technical ConsiderationsFirstly, what were the technical skills required in transporting footage from camera to editing station? Most of you will have used digital miniDV tapes, but some may have used cameras which record straight to a hard-drive in HiDef. What were the particular technical problems which you had to overcome? Was the Advanced production easier than the Foundation one?
What type of editing software did you use? It will have been iMovieHD for the Foundation production, but when it came to your Advanced production you had the choice of using Final Cut Express and iMovie9 on the new macs, both of which required you to develop your editing skills in different ways. If you chose to continue using iMovieHD, then you may still have learned new tricks such as
extracting audio streams for voice-overs. Almost everybody will have used LiveType to create animated titles.
Editing for Continuity/NarrativeThe film opening was very much an exercise in continuity editing. You had to introduce a character, establish a setting, and create an enigma - all to make the audience suspend their disbelief and accept the world which you had created as being realistic. The continuity techniques to do this included things such as
match on action,
the 180-degree rule, and the
shot/reverse-shot pattern. Give some specific details of how when and how you did this.
The teaser trailer was much different, requiring use of different types of
transitions. For a start, trailers have to briefly summarise a lot of the narrative very quickly, by giving snatched glimpses of some important scenes and glossing over big gaps of time. This is called
elision, or missing something out. You create this in editing by using
fades and
wipes. So: as part of the editing process did you use more fades and wipes? Almost certainly.
Working with SoundRemind yourself of the different types of sound:
- diegetic: exists within the world of the narrative
- non-diegetic: doesn't exist within the world of the narrative
- ambient: recorded at the time of filming as part of the surrounding background noise
- incidental music: music designed to create atmosphere or communicate some aspect of character
- musical stings: short burst of music or sound effects designed to shock, surprise, or draw attention to something happening suddenly.
- dialogue: characters talking to each other
- voice-over: any character's speech heard over the sight of something different than them speaking
- sound bridge: any sound which carries the audience out of one scene and into the next
Each production will have used more of some and less of others. You need to write about which ones you used and whether or not you got better at using some more than others. Also, which ones you composed yourself, and how, or whether you acquired them from sound-effects sites or copyright-free music sites.
Titles and Special EffectsDid you use any special colour
filters? Did you use lens-flares, ghost-trails, saturated or desaturated colour, or any other exotic effects? Did you speed up or slow down the footage? What did you do differently/better with your use of titles?
