Although my role in the post-production stage is that of fine cut editor, I sequenced the visuals and audio for scenes 7, 8 and 9 and began to form a rough cut of them. I did this because these scenes were shot in the first two shoot days before the week long break before the rest of the shoot days. I wanted to ensure that the shot types I decided to use and my idea of performing the zooms when it felt most natural as opposed to filming them at the scheduled moments worked to produce the best quality production with the comedy being delivered and emphasised as intended.
Firstly, I had to match up the audios and visuals for each clip. We used a clapper board when shooting each scene so this could be used to show which shot and which take each visual clip was. The sound could then be synced up as the director calls the shot and take at the beginning of each clip before the clapper board claps. The visual of the clapper board clapping can then be matched with the spike in the audio which is created by the clapper board clapping. Once the audio and visual are synced, I then linked them so that when a change / cut is made to the visuals, the same is done to the corresponding audio. I then did this for all the clips in these scenes.
After the audio and visual clips from these scenes were synced, I began to work them into a rough cut. I did this by following my shot list as this shows how the shot types progress. I did differ slightly from my shot list when alternate places to cut / alternate shots to use felt more appropriate. This leads on from my research into being a DOP - you need to be flexible with your ideas to gain the best outcome - even though I thought my original ideas would create the desired effect, in reality, alternate shots can have a greater effect so should be used instead of sticking stringently to the plan.
My research into DOP and editor, Tom Baker, also pointed out that when you take on both roles of DOP and editor, you care more about the product as you are overseeing a greater portion of the production. I definitely felt this as I came to cut together the footage - I knew exactly what shots I wanted to use to deliver the comedy as I shot them and, therefore, knew which shots were most effective.
After syncing and creating a rough cut of these scenes, I decided to hand the project back over to the rough cut editor to perform the same functions for the rest of the scenes once they are shot. This will give the rough cut editor a guide on how the scenes should be sequenced to fit with the natural and observational tone of the production whilst delivering the comedy in the most effective way.
What I gained from doing this:
- I was able to reassure myself that the filming style being used was having the desired effect of delivering the dialogue in the optimum way to capture the comedy as effectively as possible whilst retaining the natural and observational feel of the production.
- I also kickstarted the edit so that the rough cut director would have something to work off and look at for reference. Even though the rough cut editor has the script, my shot list and my storyboard for guidance for how to piece together the production, I thought it would be beneficial to create a sequence that clearly showed how the clips worked together to produce the intended result. I did this because the rough cut editor's other role has been producer - so she largely hasn't been engaged with the specifics of the technical production elements (i.e. what shot types are used in which situations to produce which result) - so by cutting together a sequence, I have clearly demonstrated how the shot types should be used to deliver the comedy within the scene.
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