Editing Spotlight - Shadow Removal

When we were filming the car shot we couldnt help but have the shadow of the tripod obstruct the shot. However, during filming one of the characters walks in front of the shadow making another one. we used this extra shadow to mask the other one so that the shadow covered the orginal tripod shadow.

Creation Process

To create the effect we wanted, we first had to place the original clip on the main vidoe track, then freeze frame from earlier in the clip where the shadow was obstructed. However, in order to get the look we had to use an external plugin called 'RT 8 Point Matte' this allowed us to mask around the wanted shadow so that it was the only thing that could be seen on the secondary timeline. We managed to blur the edges of the picture so it became undectable if not outlined to the audience.

Admitedly we should have realised and refilmed quicker, however, this affect was so easy to produce that this was not neccessary.

Editing Spotlight - Audio Envelopes

During the filning process we need to record a lot of speech however, we didnt have the funds nor a compatible camera to be able to connect a microphone or external boom mic to increase the sound quality and sensitivity.This caused wind and other backgorund noise to be picked up during the filming of our production.  In order to fix this issue we used the Audio Enveloping feature which is built in to Final Cut Pro X and masked it with a soundscape on top. This is allows you to control the height and therefore the volume of the sound in each shot. In the Print Screen you can see that some of the audio tracks have peaks which show when the audio is louder or the other way round, quieter.

Editing Spotlight -- Composition of Music

Due to the restrictions involving copyright for the song we used in our production, meaning we could only use it for educartional purposes only. This lead us on to having to create a new version of the song ourselves so it met with the criteria and could be uploaded to the Blog. To solve this problem we made copyright free versions of our productiona and drafts that included our song. We tried to make the song in the same key and and chords to make it sound as close as possible to the original You Dont Know by Helen Shapiro. However, we had not a lot of tine to do this so in order for it to be done qucikly we used the Ipad with the Garageband App installed. We used just the guitar for the remake so that we could still keep the retro feel and it wouldnt be cringy for the audiecnce to listen to. The chord sequence used was C-Am-Dm-G which is exactly like the original. This didnt infringe copyright meaning that we could use it in our film. We also added some arpeggios so that it gace the song some depth and made it not boring to listen to.

Editing Digest - Hospital Sign

One of the most important scenes featured in our production is the final scene before the title of the production is revealed, in which the Pathologist informs the DCI in charge of the investigation that the investigation may have took a twist as the DNA results have been tampered with. Ideally we wanted to film this scene in a hospital to give it that look like it was situated in a laboratory. However, we realised that because we had such a tight schedule and gaining permission to film in a hospital would take time that this would not be viable. But, we still wanted it to look as if it was in some form of Lab, therefore Ross and I set out to produce signs similar to that would be found in a Lab:

Images to come

How it was made

We used many of different techniques in order to produce the signs from above, below are snippets of how they were produced.

Directional Sign - We added a bevel effect to the individual section of the sign, this created the look that the sign was actually rounded on metal however, it was actually printed on paper.This was ideal as it gave the look of typical signs you may see but was extremely easy and cheap to create. However, we felt that the size of the sign may not have been correct, but overall we were very happy with the look of the sign with other commenting that it looked very realistic.

Name Plaque  - This took a long time to produce due the use of a trailn and error method to find what worked well. The effects that were the most important and helpful are below:

For the text inside the plaque, we added a thing called noise which made the sign look old and well used. This adds realism and dexterity to the sign and breaks up the solid black text which featured previously.

One of the most useful and effective looking techniques as it creates the overall etched effect making it seem 3D and tricking the on looker into seeing depth. This effect was vital during the use in our production as the first two signs are shot fairly and foccussed on largely. It they did not perceive as if they were 3D then they would not have the same impressiveness.

The final effect i will mention is the use of gaussian blur on the text involved in the plaque to make the text seem less sharp and more worn. This creates the impression of a rough effect sometimes seen on realistic plaques.

On printing the signs for use the in our production, the directional sign incurred a slightn dent that we inittially thought would hinder the look, but luckily it enhanced the look and made it look like the sign was worn giving it a more authentic look.

Feedback - After we has produced this scene and shown it to our audience they said that they thought the scene had been filmed in a real hospital/laboratory when in fact we had actually filmed it in ross' living room.

Editing Digest - Blood Splattered Titles

Insert vid

The titles we used for out production 'August 1961' were the very first thing we created, this is because we knew that we would definitely include it in the production and we did not require any footage in order to create it. For the 'DEADMAN' title we tried make it look as sleek and professional as possible this took a lot of refining and we are in the end very proud of how it looks.

In order to create the effect of the blood overlaying the text, we first had to lay the blood over the top of the text in order for us to be able to attach it to the 'TrkMat' which needed to be changed to Alpha Trackmatte for the blood splatter layer. This process was repeated three times to give the end look on August 1961 text. We added a final blood splatter to splash on the top of Deadman at the end of the film as we thought this looked very effective. The blood splatters were created by Ross who first downloaded some white paint splatters from the internet and then morphed a blood texture onto them to make them look like realistic blood. We and Ross are both very happy with this effect as we think it looks realistic and professional.

Vehicle Use

In our production we used two different vehicles to connote different meanings.

The first vehicle you seen in the production is a Citroen Picasso:

This car is used in the first scene set in August of 1961, the reason this car was used is because we felt it would be the closest to a Morris Minor as we could get without having to fork out any money to rent one. This car is also a similar height to that of a Morris Minor so in the dark scene and the use of shadows we would be able to pull of that the car coming towards the killer in 1961 is actually a Morris Minor. A Morris Minor is featured below for your comparison.

The second vehicle used in our production is a Mercedes C220   Diesel Saloon. We used this car to connote a formal and executive representation of our Pathologist so that the audience would see them as a higher status in society. The picture of the Mercedes is below: