Editing Sherlock

After weeks of chopping and changing the footage from our sherlock script project, i can finally say i am happy with finished result. Our production involved multiple trips to the location, as when got the footage back and did some rough cuts the story was missing some major plot points, after finally getting the footage and the shots we needed i started creating my edit. quickly i started to realise that there were a lot of errors in the footage that caused some problems with editing, for example on our first trip to the location to film our Z1 was set up on standard definition recording, and on the second trip it was set to high definition so on some of the shots there is different colours, to me its really noticeable but to others I’m not so sure.

Another problem i noticed with footage was that on the shot of the magnifying glass inspecting the wound, you can see the camera and the boom in the reflection, i have tried couple of different techniques to try to hide the reflection but none turned out how i would of liked, there is nothing i can do now this is just something to remember for next time.

Editing the sound for the production was a tedious task to say the least, the scene where sherlock is tuning the radio took a lot of time perfect, the timing had to be right on each transition to the next station. but I’m happy with the end result, i feel i made the radio seem realistic and echo to the right amount for the room. The quick cuts as Sherlock is leaving the house turned out just as i wanted, this was intended to build tension for the big reveal of the character with flashes of his outfit being revealed in the quick cuts, but never the whole package.

I decided to add some of the bloopers whilst making the movie at the end as we had a great time shooting this and it just shows that we had such fun with some of the shots and how they went wrong. The finished edit is at the bottom if you would be so kind as to take a look.

 

http://vimeo.com/37385676

RESEARCH Chris dickens video editor

Chris dickens is a very sought after video editor having won countless awards for work on The Slumdog Millionaire including the Academy Award for Film Editing, BAFTA Award for Best Editing, and the American Cinema Editors Award for Best Edited Feature Film.

BUT these are not the films or awards I am interested in whilst researching Chris Dickens, the one thing that brought him to my attention was his work on Shaun Of The Dead which is a hilarious film which featured a lot of editing techniques i want to pour into my edit of our short film. The main thing is the quick cuts he uses. heres an example.

Chris dickens did edit this footage and in this way but the idea of the style of cuts came from Edgar Wright, one of the writers on Shaun Of The Dead.

I want to use this technique or at least try in my footage to build suspense for my characters big reveal, once he arrives on the crime scene i’ll show him in a powerful shot with a big reveal after building up suspense.

My Script

EXT PENTHOUSE APARTMENT V/O

NARRATOR:

BARRY and KATRINA live an ordinary life, they are both aiming for achieving greatness in there professions. BARRY and KATRINA are seemingly in love, but lets see what happens behind closed doors.

INT PENTHOUSE APARTMENT MORNING

(BOTH JUST WOKE UP IN BED)

KATRINA:

Morning baby.

BARRY:

Morning, did you sleep okay?

KATRINA:

Yeah fine thanks how about you?

BARRY:

Yeah great, like a log I was so tired.

(BOTH GET OUT OF BED SLOWLY)

KATRINA:

Barry?, I may be late home tonight, I might have to work late.

BARRY:

Well i guess you have to do your best at work, that’s fine.

(Montage of BARRY and KATRINA getting ready for work with quick camera cuts)

STREET OUTSIDE HOUSE

(SHOWS BARRY AND KATRINA LEAVING AND KISSING GOODBYE)

BARRY:

Have a good day at work babe.

KATRINA:

Yeah you too, see you tonight at some time.

(SHOWS DOOR TO DOOR CUTS OF BARRY GETTING TO WORK)

INT BARRY’S OFFICES

(BARRY ENTERS WITH A POWER WALK GREETING HIS PALS)

PAL 1:

Morning BARRY, seen your status on FaceBook yesterday quality mate!

BARRY:

Glad you like it mate.

PaL 2:

BARRY you beautiful man! loved your speech in the meeting yesterday.

BARRY:

(WINKS)

Took me a while to write that, happy it payed off!

PAL 3:

BARRY!? Drinks later with the lads?

BARRY:

Maybe mate i should be free I’ll get back to you later.

(Montage of Time passing showing clock and BARRY doing work)

(WE SEE BARRY GETTING HOME WITH QUICK DOOR TO DOOR CUTS)

INT PENTHOUSE APARTMENT EVENING

(WE SEE BARRY HANGING UP HIS COAT, LOSING HIS TIE AND UNTUCKING HIS SHIRT THEN MAKING A READY MEAL)

(BARRYS PHONE RINGS)

PAL 3:

Hey BARRY you still up for drinks tonight with lads then?

Come on it will be a right laugh!

BARRY:

Yeah why the hell not, I’m doing nothing else.

I’ll be round in a bout half an hour mate.

(DOOR TO DOOR CUTS AGAIN FROM BARRYS HOUSE TO HIS MATES HOUSE VIA TAXI)
FRIENDS HOUSE INT

(MONTAGE OF DRINKING AND MASCULINE ACTS WITH DRINKS AND FOOTBALL)

(DOOR TO DOOR CUTS OF BARRY WITH PALS ON ROUTE TO THE CLUBS)

CLUB INT

(BARRY OPENS DOOR FROM A POV SHOT WHERE THE AUDIENCE SEE HIS GIRLFRIEND IN THE ARMS OF ANOTHER MAN)

BARRY:

WHAT THE FUCK! Get your hands off my women! ARRRRRHHH!

(BARRY CHARGES AT THE MAN GRABS HIM BY THE SCRUFF OF THE NECK AND PUSHES HIM THROUGH DOUBLE DOORS)

(CUTS TO BARRY ACTUALLY WITH HIS HANDS AROUND THE NECK OF KATRINA IN THERE APARTMENT)

PENTHOUSE APARTMENT DOOR

(THERES KNOCKING ON THE DOOR, CAMERA ZOOMS AWAY TO REVEAL POLICE AT THE DOOR)

Police officer:

HELLO! Excuse me! anybody there! your neighbors below called us for a disturbance in here!

(DOOR SLOWLY OPENS TO REVEAL KATRINA BEATEN AND BRUISED, SHE THEN FALLS TO THE FLOOR SOBBING)

(FADE TO BLACK)

My outline for the script project

Well after our last lecture of pitching our idea to the group it seems mine was quite well received from my peers, towards the end of the lecture our tutor Clifton advised us to tell other people in our group about our idea, so i did it seems there were a lot of great responses and everybody seemed very intrigued by the idea.

So here it is……..

My story starts with a young happy flirtatious couple getting up for the day in there modern minamalistic Penthouse apartment, seemingly happy and loved up, our story will follow the day of the man in the relationship who is a young dedicated business man who has massive dreams and aspirations.

Whilst the couple are getting ready for work his girlfriend/fiancé lets him know that she may be working late, which our main character accepts.

After this has finished we then follow the day of our main character as the doors he goes through as in he exits the apartments through the double doors it cuts to him getting in his car, basically taking the distance between the doors away this theme continues throughout the short film for every door he use’s. As he is sitting at home in the evening he gets a call from one of his friends asking if he wants to hit the town with lads, as he is sitting round he says why not, so of he goes out continuing the theme with the door to door cuts. Until our character reaches the club he opens the doors to cut to a POV shot of his girlfriend/Fiancé in the arms of another man, kissing and grabbing each other, so as any other man would do he runs over and grabs the man by the scruff of the neck.

As he grabs him he push’s the man through a set of doors to look down and actually be back at home with with his hands still around the neck…… of his girlfriend it then fades to black.

There is a hammering on a door, why? Dare the door be opened?    The door is being knocked on by the police, the door opens to reveal the girl who is black and blue with bruises and cuts in tears.

My Pitch for the scriptwriting project……..

First of can i say that i must have a sixth sense as before we given this task i had an idea floating around my pee brain, and when this project came along with the brief my idea slotted in exactly, i don’t know how it happened but hay what can i say………..

iv gone for the option of coming at you all with a very brief yet intriguing description of my film, so here it is………

 

A day in the average mans life, Brought to you through the doors he enters….. But what happens behind them.