O P E N I N G I M A G E T O S . I I IPOST- PRODUCT ION

SOFTWARE

• Adobe After Effects CS5 (Ae) • Final Cut Pro 2 (FCP)

E X P O S U R E , H I G H L I G H T S , S H A D O W S

In FCP, I imported the bird’s eye view shots we filmed in Day 1. These shots did not require a lot of editing, like most which I had to import in Ae first, however it did need some colour adjustments because it was a little darker than how it had looked in my viewfinder during the shoot.

T I T L E C A R D F X

In Ae, I opened up the first long take. This footage begins in a dark space, on which I put the title. Under Effects, I tracked its position which I had envisioned to change in each frame, to

follow the panning movement. I also applied a Wiggle effect to add some realism in its movement, since I filmed the footage handheld. Also, although I had not planned to, I

applied Lens Blur, again to add some realism as the camera technically shifts its focus from the title to the kitchen.

E D I T I N G S O U N D

The first long take ends with Harold’s dialogue gradually becoming inaudible. In order to do this, I applied a sound effect

(Underwater) from FCP. However, I had to edit further to make sure the change is not too sudden.

C O L O U R A D J U S T M E N T

The next scene took place in our room with all our lights turned off - our only source of light being a torch, so naturally I had to adjust the footage’s exposure and

contrast in post-production.

M A S K I N G

Masking is a technique I have just come across using Ae, and will have to do for a couple of scenes throughout this project (notably in Agnes’ inescapable hallway scene).

In my first draft, I had to do it to transition from the early morning kitchen scene to a late morning living room scene. Before editing, I had to make sure the exit from the kitchen would end in a dark space, which was the doorframe. During the next shoot, which I had to do earlier, I started from the

doorframe. Fortunately, the Monochrome preset made the frame completely black, which makes the two cuts seamless, naturally.

While editing, I noticed that the two breakfast clips were inconsistent - the mug and newspaper exchange positions.

Although we will probably re-film this entire scene, I may consider keeping what was originally a mistake, just to create a sense of confusion

(I was confused and thought I had flipped one of them vertically while editing).

I N C O N S I S T E N C I E S

L E T T E R B O X

Finally, to achieve a more cinematic look, I applied letterboxes on all the clips.