Fiction Adaptation Unit - Editing

Structure

I knew by the structure of how I wanted to edit this film it was going to be a very complex edit. I first of all decided to gain structure and break it down into 5 different sections. These were the intro, the glitching dark,  the streets, beautiful dancer and the ending. I first of all worked on the intro. I wanted to start with a close up of the characters face then transitioning into a wider shot so that the audience can now see that she is dressed different to how they would have first imagined. I then followed this with some walking shots from behind and in front to give the impression that she walks the streets. After this we move swiftly onto the glitching dark section.

This starts of with the 50fps scene of the actress walking down a more busy street slowed down to half speed at 25fps. This worked nicely giving a smooth flow to the slow motion. Over the top of  this shot I layered neon signs that glitch in and out over the top. This works nicely to transition into the darker world that this character lives in. I followed this with strobing clips and a few shots from the club scene to hint at the role of her exotic dancing profession but I don't give too much away as I want to let it slowly build. This dramatically cuts to black and moves onto the streets section.

I wanted to elaborate the streets of Soho for this section. I started by using a building lit up in neon with more glitching neon signs over the top. I felt this was really effective. I then followed by shots of her down colorful lit up alley ways with neon signs still glitching over the top to build tension. After this it cuts to a fast rhythmic montage of the different neon signs of soho cutting faster and faster to then break into the next section.

In beautiful dancer it contains very fast paced cuts of the character dancing in a seductive way mixing slow motion with normal speed to create a good effect. I used lots of different colored shots including strobes to make the scene very disorientating and rapid. I feel this edited together works well and shows what I am trying to portray. Some of the footage was a bit merky so I tried my best to enhance it with colour grading.

The final scene is the ending which rounds off with a different version of the clip of the actress walking down the street. I then follow this with different shots all in 50fps slowed down that are done in a similar way to the first scene. I did this on purpose to create a circular narrative that this is what she does on a day to day basis and her life goes round in circles.

Sound Design

Sound was very important to me in order to give the powerfulness that I wanted the piece to be. In terms of the score I started off by choosing a slow and melancholy sounding song in order for the audience to align with the character and in a way feel sorry for her. This quickly changes in the second scene with a slightly more ominous and eery sounding track that portrays all is not what it seems. The next track is split into two parts. One is the build up that transitions into the electro club scene and the second is the more slower and moodier part that follows to the ending. I feel they both work well and give a real sense of power to what is being shown.


With sound effects, the first thing I added was the low pitch rumbling sound that features throughout the film. I felt this created a sense of unease and was quite unsettling which heightened the dramatic feel to the piece. When neon signs would glitch on the screen I added some royalty free glitching sound effects so that it brought out the flashing, pulsating signs when they appeared. Another sound effect I added was in the glitching dark scene where it shows a few slow motion clips from the club. I added a breath noise when the character flicks back her hair creating a sense of lust.

Although the piece works without voice over, I made sure I recorded some of the sonnet just to see what it was like overlaid on the piece. I found it really brought a sense of impact when I added it on and although I am not putting it on there to contextualist, I feel it adds real depth to the way the narrative is delivered creating effectiveness and power. Also when researching for this film a lot of short films that I was interested in used voice over in this way to dramatize a piece so that is where I am getting my inspiration from.



Vision 

I wanted this piece to look as good as I could make it and so I decided to color grade some clips. The first and last scenes I decided to put into black and white to dramatize what we were being but also to give a sense of dull and bleak. I also added brightness and contrast to these scenes to really make everything pop. When it transitions over into the sexualized world the piece transforms into color to make it stand out and to really focus on the neon and bright lights. This I feel works really well and they compliment each other as they are intended to. There is clear contrast between them but this is what I was aiming for so that you can really notice the sexual world of color.


Overall I feel very happy with the way I have edited the piece together creating a real sense of power and dominance in the way of the tone. I set out everything that I wanted to achieve applying complex skills that I feel worked well together when viewing the final piece.