Nightmare on editor's street |
12th Aug 2023
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On first going through the footage, I realized I had entered every editor's nightmare, shaky footage and bad audio quality. It was not that I could not fix it in post, but the fact the footage required a lot of time and effort to produce a result which could have been done if we used an external microphone such as that of the iPhone 14 that was available to us.
The first step consisted of me coming back the day of the shoot to sort out all the clips we had shot since they were still fresh in my memory sorting through the files became easier. Miraal sent me the file from her DSLR uploaded to drive, Noor also sent the clips shot on her iphone. With a ton of content and mug full of coffee, I began sorting by first downloading the entire DSLR folder which was already in mp4, so I faced no compatibility issue. For the mov iPhone file, all videos were viewed on drive first and I only downloaded the ones I choose to save some time in converting them to DNxHD using EaseFab Video convertor.
The first step consisted of me coming back the day of the shoot to sort out all the clips we had shot since they were still fresh in my memory sorting through the files became easier. Miraal sent me the file from her DSLR uploaded to drive, Noor also sent the clips shot on her iphone. With a ton of content and mug full of coffee, I began sorting by first downloading the entire DSLR folder which was already in mp4, so I faced no compatibility issue. For the mov iPhone file, all videos were viewed on drive first and I only downloaded the ones I choose to save some time in converting them to DNxHD using EaseFab Video convertor.
Opening Title design |
19th Aug 2023
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step 3, weaving the storyline (roughly) |
19th Aug 2023
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On VSDC, I made a rough draft to make ensure I knew the exact clips I was going to use for the polished version on DaVinci. This again is my tried and tested way of editing since I don't trust Davinci anymore to handle to many changes without crashing.
The first cut has simple editing, as I stuck to the basics of cut, crop and layering to create a film flow. However, I did use the colour grade feature on VSDC to enhance the footage slightly and get a more precise overview of the final product.
I used the Luts feature for the montage scene, using the built-in Proxima LUT in Davinci and the colour curves for certain other scenes. This version could be deemed our prototype on which we based our entire film opening. |
AUDIO FIXING: Making it sound not so horrible
The audacity software, specifically made for music production, provided a wider array of tools for audio manipulation than my regular Video Editing Software. The tools that I used on the conversation audio between the two characters, included the special feature of vocal isolation to amplify the vocals and reduce the background audio in order to make the dialogue more audible.
![Picture](/uploads/1/4/2/9/142955884/editor/noise-reduction.png?1711654230)
Alongside, I made use of the noise reduction feature by first selecting the region of noise which was the starting of the clip and then I used the default settings for noise removal.
A few seconds of the song are featured in the very opening of the film opening, along with the audio of Zia Ul Haqq's Martial Law original speech that I found on YouTube that fades in as the radio tuning sound effect fades out. In the rest of the opening, I have used Man Pasand Naghme by Ustad Slamar Ali khan's
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With the rough cut done, it was up to us to now improve on it and make it conform to the film industries standards. For the first version, the clips have only been arranged and in the second version of rough cut I made it a little more presentable by adding the borders and color grading.
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VERSION 2 |
26th Aug 2023
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Let it be known, that if I were to mention each and every version of the film opening, I created, this post would never end. As an editor I am my worst enemy seeing the tiny imperfection in each version pushes me to improve and so the never-ending cycle continues. So, to stop me from driving myself crazy, I decided to depend on external validation from my peers and teacher whom I trust to be honest with me to tell me when they think the opening is finalized.
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In version two, I did not deviate much from the original version of our film opening, importing the exact clips I had in VSDC and trying to be more precise in trimming the clips. Despite my DO NOT MOVE ANYTHING INSIDE THIS FOLDER warning, I managed to somehow get a clip linking error which was an easy yet time consuming fix. Aside from it most time was spent in positioning the clips and stabilizing them.
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Color Grading: Adding the cherry on top
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For color grading my footage, I first created a color correction node to adjust the white balance and luminance using Luminance curve. The serial node inserted next, includes the Mosiqi LUT that I created during the preliminary task with opacity varied depending each clip, so that together they may look coherent, by reducing the Key Output gain. |
PIXELATION EFFECT
I sent the team this rough version via whatsapp, this caused some pixalation in the first few seconds. This unintentional affect was appreciated by noor, and that is when it struck us to replicate the opening by adding pixalation and old tv effect. The video tools broken TV, posterize and bit reduction on VSDC were used to achieve a similar look.
It was easier for me to create a simple opening through Davinci and then shift to VSDC for effects and opening credits at the end in order to reduce rendering time on Davinci. |
After filming the ending of an opening
After selecting shots, they went through the same flow, cut, crop, stabilize, color grade and adding audio at the very end to create the ending of our film opening.
I also additionally a new clip, which I initially discarded, since it seemed too visually aesthetic for me to miss out on. Along with it, I edited the conversation in the fields colors to be distinct from the film opening so it's evident that it is a flash back. Specifically for the scene of the field, I added another node and switched the LUT to a Godfather film inspired LUT I had downloaded a while back. This created an old nostalgic look that I wanted to achieve. In the additional node, the radial window was created. I inverted the key output gain so that the surroundings were edited to be slightly more saturated and added a slight blur; this was just an artistic flair I wanted to add.
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VERSION 3: VERY MUCH DONE
THE FINISH LINE IS IN SIGHT |
27th Sept 2023
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Sacrificing both my sleep and Saturday to go to school to get feedback from my media teacher was inevitably great for my project as I made maximum use of the time to get detailed notes on how he would like me to change the film opening along with suggestions from my teammates such as Noor suggested colour grading some footage again to match the cool tone of the entire film opening. Another common concern shared by everyone was that the pacing of the shots was rapid, not allowing them to appreciate the shots. I carefully noted down each edit that could be made for smoothing out and polishing this opening further.
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THE FINAL EDIT
I downloaded foley sounds of forest birds, walking on metal stairs and a door creak for the opening scene to create verisimilitude.
To add smoothness to the improved audio clip from audacity, I used the sound volume curve to reduce the volume of the starting and increase only for duration of the dialogue to keep the noise audio low.
I used the transitions on opening credits of dissolve and added a fade out on radio tuning.
Using Dip to color dissolve on clip, uses an ease curve to fade the screen to white. The transition gives an effect of Emil walking into the unknown.
I slowed down certain clips to 70-85% of their original speed so that it gives illusion of better camera stability and makes the clips look a lot more cinematic.
On the suggestion of my teacher, I took out the ending credits since sir told to keep it as close to an opening as possible, and by that logic ending credits do not make any sense. I slowed down the clips and stabilized them as well.
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After the Final (aka final cut(with changes) pls god help me 2.0_) was done I imported it into VSDC simply adding on the effects, along with radio tuning sound after the credits giving an effect of actual old broken TV
ALAS, PRESENTING PARCHAYIAN
Behold, everything that's wrong with our film openings editing from the eye of the creater
Before I start critiquing my work, I want to take a moment to appreciate the beauty of symmetry in shots, as when I watched the K-dram Little Women for the second time with Zahra after begging her to watch it. The scene below stood out to me; it blocked half of the frame with a wall, adding depth of field with our characters situated in the other half of the screen, forcing the viewer to focus on them. I tried to do something similar with my shots of Zoya's paintings to add depth to the shot and with the red colour of the painting with words visible on it, making it clear to be the centre of attention. And I honestly think the execution on the shot was up to my standards.
Now that it's out of the way, despite constant affirmation from my team and sir that our film opening is perfectly fine and does not need changes, let me list you some imperfections I have detected on rewatching it for the 50th time.
1. The shot right before opening the door could be slowed down along with the transition to give the clip a breathing period
2. A five years later slide, that I was suggested not to do by my teacher to add enigma to the film. I still think would be helpful in giving context to the viewer of what is happening towards the end of the opening.
3. The audio volumes of the audio clips can use a little tweaking, by slightly increasing the volumes of the dialogues and Hum Dekhenge.
That's all the major ones and rest are small changes in the color grading that probably no one except me would ever notice.
1. The shot right before opening the door could be slowed down along with the transition to give the clip a breathing period
2. A five years later slide, that I was suggested not to do by my teacher to add enigma to the film. I still think would be helpful in giving context to the viewer of what is happening towards the end of the opening.
3. The audio volumes of the audio clips can use a little tweaking, by slightly increasing the volumes of the dialogues and Hum Dekhenge.
That's all the major ones and rest are small changes in the color grading that probably no one except me would ever notice.