Prior to the group feedback session, we decided to watch our second fine cut on the big screen and connected up to the speakers so that we could see what it looks like on a screen other than the Mac screens and coming through speakers other than the Mac speakers.
This helped us to pin-point things that needed to be adapted in the edit:
- slight continuity error in scene 2 when Tim begins to walk towards the van (hand goes from being down to being slightly raised - this should be able to be covered by a longer clip of the van slogan)
- add game sound effects to Tim playing on his phone in scene 10
- the sound of the owl flapping and screeching in scene 11 needs to be lower - too overpowering
- music needs to be added to scene 1, 4, 10 and 12 / credits
- the credits and title graphic need to be added
- the colour grade looks as expected, although, could be slightly more contrasted as the faded look (which is intended to compliment the cinematic element) washes out some of the shadows so that they appear more grey in colour rather than black.
As the group feedback took place the day after, there was not enough time to implement all these changes and export a third fine cut - so we showed the second fine cut to the group to gain feedback on the project.
The feedback was generally positive with a few bits of constructive advice that will help improve the quality of the product further:
- there was a lot of unexpected comedy - the narrative leads you to believe one thing before actually leading you in a different direction which adds an element of surprise which, in turn, emphasises the comedy
- the reveal of the 'we love large cock' joke in scene 2 is slightly spoilt through the wide shot prior to Tim and Luke's reaction shot as this gives away the joke before the intended reveal. This shot was added to reduce visual confusion as Tim breaks the 180 degree rule slightly when cutting straight from him inside the van to outside the van. Therefore, I will crop in this shot slightly so that the whole slogan can not be seen so that the audience don't see the full joke until the intended reveal.
- the visuals are pretty much there - each scene has a slightly different look but the colour grade helps to bring the production together and flow as one consistent piece. I think once I alter the colour grade to have slightly more of a contrast, the visuals of the project will be complete.
- Simon pointed out that the engine sound in scene 3 is the same before and after the dog hit - yet before the dog hit, this engine sound is supposed to indicate the movement of the van, whilst the van is supposed to be stationary after the dog hit (but the same sound remains). This is a simple fix - I will find a different stationary engine sound to insert after the dog hit.
- it was also suggested that music should be added - this is something we were already considering but hadn't found the appropriate music yet. I will work with the director to find the appropriate music that best fits the tone of the production and creates the right atmosphere for the scenes where the music will be added.
This feedback was very helpful and will be implemented for the third fine cut (along with the changes we pin pointed in our own VET-MAN group viewing session) to improve the quality of the production.
Grade Day
Following the group crit feedback, I applied these changes and our own changes we flagged to the edit and produced the third fine cut.
We then showed this to Nathan to gain his insight into the project and see what improvements he thought could be made as well as giving advice on the colour grade.
The advice Nathan gave was:
- in scene 2, there needs to be more time given to read the whole van sign before Tim walks towards the van. This is so that the punchline of the cropped slogan is more effective as the audience know exactly what the slogan said beforehand (whereas, in its current state, the audience are not given enough time to read the whole slogan).
- in scene 4, the image of the dead dog appears lower quality than the rest of the footage. To compensate for this, the image could be frozen and sharpened and then some film grain added on top to give the impression of a moving image. This will improve the visual quality of the production.
- in scene 4, the montage of Tim preparing for surgery could be quicker to get the audience to the surgery scene quicker. The music works to build the tension so the footage does not need to be drawn out.
- in scene 5, Sheila's hands appear slightly exposed when hugging Luke. This could be rectified by reducing the highlights but this would also affect the exposure on Sheila. I will play around with this clip to see if it is possible to reduce the highlight level on Sheila's hands without affecting the highlights of the rest of the clip - this could be done by masking part of the clip but this will take time as it will have to be masked on each frame and I am unsure whether there will be enough time to do this as well as the other tweaks that need to be made.
- in scene 7, the shot where Luke says "that's so smart Tim" is slightly jarring when cut to the other angle as it cuts from a two shot to another two shot. As we shot in 4K, I can crop one of these shots without the quality being lost which will mean I can make one of the shots a medium closeup single instead of a two shot - this will make this transition between the two shots smoother.
- in scene 9, the clip of Tim dangling the pills either needs to be cut shorter or extended longer to allow for Tim's nodding to be seen - at the moment it cuts in an awkward position where the audience are left wondering if there is more to be seen - so I either need to show them that there is more to be seen (Tim nodding) or I need to cut just after Tim holds up the pills.
- in scene 11, a couple of the closeups of the owl flapping look similar due to the owl doing similar motions. To avoid this looking like a repeated clip (despite it not being a repeated clip, just a clip where the owl seems to be doing similar movements) I will crop in one of the clips so that it looks visually different from the other.
After this advice, Nathan suggested some colour adjustments that could be made.
He suggested that the highlights in the first scene could be reduced to reduce the glow coming from the window behind the closed curtains. He suggested that this could be masked if I only wanted to reduce the highlights around the window instead of reducing the highlights of the whole scene - however, this will take time that we don't have as each frame including the window will need to be masked. Instead, I reduced the highlights of the entire image of the clips including the window (whilst also ensuring that these clips fit in with the colours and exposure of the remaining clips of the scene).
Nathan also suggested that the shadows throughout the production be brought down to give the shadows less of a washed out grey look and more of a black look. I worked through the production scene by scene, reducing the shadows on a separate adjustment layer under the adjustment layer with the LUT so that the shadows of the clip were adjusted not the shadows of the LUT.
The scene where reducing the shadows made the biggest difference was the night scene. The shadows appeared more black instead of washed out. I also adjusted the colours within the footage to appear cooler in tone to emulate the tones usually seen at night (as suggested by Nathan).
Nathan also suggested that some clips just needed slight colour adjustments to make all the clips within all the scenes match perfectly. (i.e. I adjusted the colour of the closeup of the light switch in scene 1 when Tess turns it on - I adjusted the colour of the clip just after the light has been switched as it does not appear as warm in tone as the following clip so I made them match).
Whilst the edits made were only subtle, I feel they still worked to enhance the look of the production and make the colours stand out more - which aid the desired natural yet cinematic look of the production.
These edits and the other feedback given (the cuts and changes to be made) will make the final cut of the production.
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