Editing

When it came to editing, i initially felt nervous about using final cut pro as i had only used the programme when doing so in the prelim exercise. However, after the first editing session i soon found my confidence again as i remembered the editing techniques that i had learnt previously. The first stage of beginning the editing process was uploading all of our footage. This was time consuming as we had to label each of our clips, however this would in fact make it a lot easier when coming to putting the piece together later on as we would know clearly what shot was which. It was during this uploading stage that me and Luke came across our first serious problem. We was unable to upload all the footage from the video camera as in was in a completely different format. This therefore meant that we had to scrap the idea of having a stalker, which therefore meant cutting out all shot of Chanelle (the dead girl). Although seeming a 'huge' problem initially, we soon discovered when we came to editing that in fact it just made the sequence more simple and easier for the audience to understand as it didn't have a complicated storyline.
Because we had a lot of footage from a variety of different angles it meant that we was able to experiment by finding the best angles with the best continuity,etc. However, the only problem with this was that we found that the footage differed significantly to our original storyboard idea, however, it still had the same principle.
At times i found the editing quite stressful, as i found myself trying to do something that i didn't actually know how to do and so it was often a case of 'trail and error', although i feel that i coped with it well and the footage overall is at it's best arrangement. For example, adding in transitions, effects and titles was something i learnt how to do through a case of ' trail and error'.
The hardest part of the editing stage i personally felt was creating a soundtrack. Because i am unfamiliar with the programme i also felt it was a case of 'trail and error'. We wanted to create an eerie, sinister yet edgy piece of music which built a great deal of tension, which would put the audience on edge. It took me a few lessons, to find pieces of music, however in the end Luke was able to put it together, looping it so that it fitted well with the music. This was the main final stage of the editing process which left us only to perfect the piece, making sure that all transitions were smooth, the text was appropriate and the sound fitted with the visuals,etc.

Becky.