EDITING 'BOBBIE & CLIVE'
Editing this film was a very long and complicated process. This was the most time I've ever spent editing anything, and the most work I've ever put into an edit. I will try to put every detail into this blogpost, but there are a lot of fine tuning details that'll I'll probably leave out.
As I had already set up my edit and logged all of the footage, I was able to get straight on with the edit.
Syncing
Normally the first step of the editing process is to assemble all of the footage on the timeline and start cutting it together. However on this occasion I chose to sync all of my footage and sound up first, as I felt further down the line this would save me time, and it would more difficult to sync everything up once I had started cutting things down.
Premiere Pro does have a auto syncing tool but in the past it hasn't worked very well for me so I chose not to use it. To sync the sound up I created new timelines for each scene which I called scenename_SYNC so I could identify them in my bins.
 |
| My syncing sequences |
I then added the clips first to the timeline. For each clip I zoomed in on the camera audio and found the spike created by the clapper board. I then found the corresponding audio clip and spike and then synced the clips up on the timeline using the spikes.
 |
| Syncing using the audio spikes |
For each clip I had two audio clips as we recorded using multiple mics. The first audio clip has the boom mic and Clive's mic on it, and the second audio clip has Bobbie's mic on it. Once all the audio was synced for each clip, I went back through and slit the three mic channels up onto separate timeline tracks and labelled those timeline tracks so I could easily find them. This would make the editing process easier further down the line during the sound mixing process.
 |
| Splitting the clips up into their separate channels |
Once all of this was complete, the syncing process was done and I could begin to assemble the film.
Assembly
The next step of the process was to begin assembling the film. Earlier on in the process of making this film I had created a shooting script that pretty much was an edit of this film but on paper. So to assemble this film I just followed that shooting script.
I began by doing all of the smallest scenes as I knew they'd take less time, and then I worked on the longer scenes. For each edit I did a small about of sound mixing by blending the sound between clips which helps blend the edits and make them seem less obvious.
 |
| Set-up for the assembly edit |
The hardest part about the assembly process was choosing which takes to use. As I'm also the director, I went through each take for each shot in each scene and made the decision as to which I thought was best. They will most likely change as the process continues.
Once I was happy with the assembly cuts of each scene I moved onto the next stage.
Fine Tuning
My next stage was fine tuning. I went back through each sequence and used the ripple delete and rolling edit tools to tighten up some of the edits I had made. This was a very quick process as I had already created quite a tight edit during the assembly process.
Sound Design and Mixing
Before doing any sound design or mixing, I first sound cancelled everything. For each clip I opened it's audio in Adobe Audition and use the noise reduction tools to remove any background noise. I found that overall this improved the entire sound edit of the film and helped blend some of the sound edits even more.
 |
| Using noise reduction in Adobe Audition |
 |
| An example of some of the sound design tracks |
For sound design I was working with Ellen as she was the sound designer. My involvement in this part of the process was placing the sounds onto the time line where Ellen wanted them and then mixing them into the edit. The sound design mostly involved adding in atmos and foley, which really added to each scene and made it feel so much better. More information on sound design can be found on Ellens blog.
After all of the sound design was complete, I began to mix all of the sound. I was aiming to level everything out at about -12db as that is a good level for playback at a good level on most devices. To do this I used the built in audio track and clip mixing tools. I went through each scene and each individual audio clip and levelled it. I found this to be quite a long and difficult process. Trying to balance out everything, and also keep certain sound effects sounding realistic was a challenge but in the end I think I got all it to sound good and well balanced.
 |
| Editing the sound in Premiere Pro |
Colour Correction
As part of my role as editor I am in charge of colour correcting all of the footage so it is ready for the colour grading process. The film will be graded by the DOP Ellen. By colour correcting all of the footage, the colour grading process will be made easier because all of the footage will blend nicely pre-grade and so will hopefully blend really well post-grade too.
I used Premiere's built in colour tools to colour correct everything. I used the lumetri scopes as a reference as the two monitors I was using to edit seemed to be showing me different looks for the footage. Most of the footage was already well coloured, however scene 7 had some major issues. Most of the footage was very off in terms of white balance, and so I had to use the white balance tool to try and correct it as best as I could. This was a challenge, and I still don't think I've ever got it perfectly correct. I wish we had set the right white balance during the production days.
I slowly worked my way through each clip white balancing it, colour correcting it and trying to blend each one so the film looking consistent throughout. As I mentioned, this would make the colour grading process a lot easier.
 |
| Colour correcting in Premiere using the scopes |
Colour Grading
In terms of colour grading that was Ellen's job as she is the DOP. As director I still have a small say in it, but Ellen will lead. My only involvement was finding a good preset to use as a starting point. I found a Premiere present called SL Blue Moon which is designed for Canon 7Ds. Ellen and I had previously discussed that we wanted to go for a natural look with the colour grade, but one that was more cool than warm and I felt this preset represented that quite well. Ellen agreed.
The colour grading process started with us putting the preset on top of the entire film. We then went through the edit, fine tuning the grade for each individual shot. It was a long and challenging process, but I'm happy with the final outcome. I think that starting with a present designed for the camera we used was a good idea, and it definitely saved us a lot of time, as did me colour correcting all of the footage beforehand.
 |
| Before grade and colour correction |
 |
| After grade and colour correction |
Visual Effects
There is one visual effects shot in this film, but it is not too obvious. During the filming process we discovered that for our final scene we couldn't actually open the storage room shutter door on for real because it was too loud and slow. So instead we filmed the shot with the door already open with a plan to edit a shutter door opening in post-production. In preparation for this, I took a picture of the door in the same lighting conditions as it would've been in the scene. I then took this picture, and the original shot into After Effects.
In After Effects I added the picture over the shot. I then cropped it and zoomed in so it would match it's positioning if it were there for real. Once this was done I used the position tools to animated the door as though it was opening. I then added motion blur to make it look more realistic. Finally I added some colouring to the door image so it would match the original shot and blend into the colour grade well.
 |
| Editing the shutter door effect in After Effects |
Back in the main edit, Ellen provided me with a sound effect to put over the shot to again help sell the effect.
Finishing Touches
Now that the main bulk of the film was edited together, I began working on some of the smaller details:
- I added the Triptych animated logo to the start of the film, and mixed some of the sound design over it to blend it into the beginning of the film nicely.
- I put a letterbox on top of the entire film to give it the cinematic look we are going for.
- I added a special credits sequence I created for the film, which I have written about in a different blog post.
- And the final touch was adding the UCA end card to the end of the film.
- At this point in time I hadn't added any music.
And the film was finished. This is a run down of the edit over time. All of these processes did not take place on the first rough cut, they happened over many rough and fine cuts. Feedback over time was mostly about changing some shots around, adding and mixing some more sound design, and adding some music, which we did do for the final edit, including our custom credits track composed by Matthew J Saunders.
Throughout the final stages the colour grade caused a few problems because the film seemed to look different on different screens. We worked very hard on fixing these issues and I believe the final version of the film, with it's colour grade, it's honestly the best we could do. If I were to colour grade a film ever again, I'd probably get a professional to do it.
Overall I am very happy with the final edit. It is a very tightly cut film with great sound design and cinematic clean visuals. The colour grade is natural and cool as intended. I really enjoyed editing this film and watching it take shape.
 |
| The final timeline for 'Bobbie & Clive' |
0 comments:
Post a Comment