Editing Practical - Final Product

 This is the final product of my editing practical. 

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Reflection on editing

For this practical, we used Adobe Premiere Pro to edit our video. The school provided the app, which we edited directly on their laptop. However, because of limited time and the inconvenience, I downloaded it on my own laptop to be able to edit it on the weekend. For me, this is a whole new experience. I used to edit a lot but never dig deep into these professional applications. Therefore, learning and using tools in Premiere Pro has been the most significant challenge. 

I learned all the features and tricks from YouTube and Google.

1. Import scenes

We started by importing all the scenes we had filmed a week before. As we added scenes, my group realized they could have been more connected as smoothly as we had imagined. We struggled right at the beginning, which delayed us compared to other students. Then, we rearranged the schedule and asked the actors to come and act again so we could film better shots. Fortunately, our actors are all free and agreed to help us with the project again. 

Behind the scenes of the second day

'The cat is watching us, wow so cute,' 😓

2. Color grading

This is the most difficult part of the steps. I had to try different color recipes and apply them to nearly 20 scenes. It is time-wasting, and the original scenes were quite dark from the start, increasing my difficulty in coloring grading. 

I aimed to turn my video into a grey and dark to create a mystery. However, while adjusting the color, I realized that if the color is turned down too much, people will find it hard to see all the details in my video, for example. In the exchange suitcase scene, our suitcase was brown, and the surroundings were black, and if I decreased the contrast or exposure more, it would disappear. Therefore, I changed from grey to blue. I was thinking of warm and bright colors, but I did not like them, and they did not fit my wants. 

After color grading

Formula 

3. Transition

Aside from the dissolve effect, a few transitions in my video move from Spy A's to Spy B's. Otherwise, to lessen visual confusion, I chose straight cuts. 

4. Sound design

This is the most enjoyable part of the process. I found and collected sound from YouTube, a well-known entertainment video platform. Because the original films had too much background noise, I searched keywords such as "Action background music,""cigarettes drop sound," etc., to mix it with a suitable scene. I tried to make it more natural so people could believe there was a diegetic sound, but some still sounded fake. For the dialogue, I asked our actors to record a voiceover for their lines and put it into the video. Besides that, throughout the sequence, there will always be a soundtrack in the background that matches the mood inside the video. For example, the music in picking up the phone scene will be different from the fighting scene. At first, it was just steady music, which I utilized to avoid the boredom. Then, when Spy A pushed Spy B down to the floor and pointed at him, the beats became more frequent and denser, encoding the serious and nervous mood of the scene. 

5. Typography

Given that red is associated with blood, power, and danger—all appropriate given the video's setting—I figured mafias would identify with it. Two spies had to carry out a risky task that was easy for police to discover: a covert deal. To make the audience feel more at ease while watching the video, I highlighted the words with red for the title and yellow for the subtitles.

 

To conclude, I learned a lot from this exercise, such as color grading, adding subtitles, adding sound, etc. Also, I know how to use the Premiere Pro application, which will be helpful for me in the future, especially for my opening sequence.