Post Production Diary

 draft 1- day 1

once i had all my footage, i put my footage into premier pro, as i was editing my footage when i ran into loads of problems, my own equipment which i usually use for convenience wasn't powerful enough to run any decent editing software. i needed to use the college's computers to be able to run premier pro to have the best software possible for my editing but even that had its problems. i imported the footage from my phone to the computer, first the files wouldn't import properly or the computer i was using would either estimate the download time as over 4 hours which i didn't have or it would corrupt the footage or only upload parts of the footage

i tried using microsoft teams to send the footage to myself from the mobile app to be able to access them and download them from teams onto the computer but unfortunately that didn't work either as it downloaded at a slow pace, after i had the file downloaded i checked the downloads in the files app on the computer to check its there

i decided the best place to keep the footage to make it easier to access was to put it on the desktop, i dragged and dropped the files onto the desktop and kept running into the same error of that it couldn't be downloaded while the file was open in teams

teams was opened in the background so i thought that if i closed teams that i would be able to access the files as teams isn't running and accessing the files, so i closed teams and tried to move the file from the downloads to the desktop but even with teams closed i still ran into the same errors, this was frustrating but not impossible to fix so i had to think of other ways of getting it to work, even if that meant re-trying the same methods and hope they will work

i tried uploading the files directly from my phone to the computer which was the longer option as it would take twice as long to upload directly from the phone but it was the only option i could think of other than using my phone to edit the footage

once i had the footage on the computer i put the footage into premier pro to start editing. as i was editing the footage i noticed that the footage was being saved as windows VCL media player which was the wrong type of file format for footage shot on an iphone that uses Apple quick time player, this meant that the frames of the footage heavily suffered and slowed down from 50-60 frames per second at 1080p to 5-10 frames per second at 360p due to the file format not matching with the footage file format meaning that i couldn't edit on a pc as no matter what software i used the same slow down and quality issue would be ran into again. i tried to find and download or even just attain some sort of version of apple's quick time player to be able to get the footage back up to 1080p and 60fps but i couldn't get a version to work or even be compatible with the hardware i was using. my only other option was to use hardware that was either compatible with apple quick time player or an apple product to use the apple quick time player. the only device i had to use that had the correct hardware for the file format was my iphone meaning that because of the limited hardware of an iphone i couldn't use premier pro so i looked into alternatives to use for the editing

draft 1- day 2

i explored many different software for my editing of my first draft. the first software i used was imovie, a free editing app for my first draft

my first draft of my product was made on imovie, an easy to learn, simple to use platform that i can learn and use without spending hours on trying to figure out how to use it, the problem with imovie is that you can't really do much with it as its a very basic editing software. i didn't run into any problems with imovie, i decided that it was just too basic to keep up to the same level of quality as premier pro and it wasn't the right software too make my product as good as it can be whilst lacking all the features premier pro has

Draft 1

The feedback for this draft was that it was too basic, the transitions didn't fit the theme of the film i was trying to produce, i was told that i needed to add music and some credits, to make it as good as it can be, there was more negative comments than positive so i'll have a lot to change for my second draft.

draft 2- day 1

the next editing software i used was an app called splice, it had good tools and features but more simplified to make it user friendly for the limitations of mobile apps, this again allowed me to have accessibility to the quick time player to get 60fps 1080p for my product, it had better tools and more features than imove, i thought that i had found a great app to make my product as good as it can be as it had access to implement transitions and text easily making it on the same level as premier pro in terms of quality, like imovie i didn't run into any technical problems, the only problem i had was that it was an unsuspectingly paid app, because my product was longer than the free version allowed i had to pay to be able to export my work to be able to use it away from splice, every attempt at trying to get around this pay wall resulted in a watermark being present in the video so i had to look for a better free software, so unfortunately that was a draft lost and a couple of hours lost due to the app not letting me export it without paying for it

draft 2- day 2

on day two i found a better free software called capcut, it had better access to text tools, transitions, music etc. this was the only software i used that didn't cause me any problems, it was easy to learn and use and was a good tool with plenty of options to edit my film to the best it can be without using premier pro due to the obvious slow down problems as mentioned

i first started by opening the app and choosing the new project option, i hadn't used this software before so i had to learn how to use it as i was editing

i then had to import the footage from my phone which made the process easier as i didn't have to wait for the files to either download or upload which didn't work well on the computers and wasted time so this was a huge time saver.

i then selected the files/clips i wanted to import before starting to put them into the timeline to start editing them, i had to select the files in the order i wanted so they'd appear on the timeline in the order i needed them, this would make editing easier than putting them into the timeline one by one as i would have to watch through the footage over and over to ensure it was in the right order, i also wanted to try avoid either putting the same clips in twice which would've happened more frequently if i was to put them in one at a time i could've also been more likely to accidentally put outtakes into my timeline through selecting one clip at a time as a lot of the thumbnails for the videos that show up look similar so i could've either put two of the same clips in or put outtakes into my timeline 

with the clips selected they were put into the timeline, I watched through the footage to make sure they were in the right order and to make sure that there wasn't any repeat clips or any outtakes in the timeline. I made sure that all the clips contained everything I intended to be in my final draft. 

for the text i added a photo of a black screen and put into the timeline and extended the time frame that it stayed on screen for, with a black screen implemented i could overlay the text and keep that on screen for the same amount of time as the black screen otherwise i'd have the text visible throughout the duration

with the black screen  overlay into the timeline i could select the add text tool to type the text i want to add, choose from different colours and fonts as well as text animations to add over the black overlay, the black overlay will make the text stand out more, especially if its a lighter colour as the contrast will bring more attention to the text and font i choose

this is a good idea for the title card as there isn't any other overly colourful elements that could stand out over the title, the reason for this is because with my film being a very simplistic, i thought going for a simplistic title card would match with the simplistic filming style

this is an example of the text used, the text was changed in the final version of the draft, this shows how the black overlay adds to the title card of the film as  it brings more attention to the title as well as no having any overwhelming elements that outshines the title as that would cause the audience to pay attention to the other elements. it was these reasons for why i chose to make the title card simplistic, i wanted to give it a very raw and amateur film style/editing style like the blair witch project which where the inspiration for my film comes from.

with the text added for both the title card and the credits i added transitions that fit the theme of the film which is why i chose the glitch effects from the transitions tool, different versions and types of transitions were used throughout the footage to give it a jumpy corrupted look as you look through the footage, i used a similar transition style throughout the credit sequence as well, this adds to the found footage style as it gives the film a very glitchy and corrupted look as if the device the footage was found on was damaged as again because i wanted to follow the style of blair witch where the footage is found on an abandoned device.

then i chose the music to go in both the start and the end of my product.

i chose the add sound tool and searched through some royalty free horror music for my short film, this music sets the tone for the beginning of the film and gives something else for the title card rather than just silence with some text on the screen, one example of a famous horror that uses a rather simplistic title is Halloween 1979. i also added music to the end credits to close out the film with the credits, this way the music becomes associated with the film and gives the closing credits a more horror style than it already has.

with the music added i had to make sure that it didn't play throughout the entire film, just the title card and the credits so i had to cut it down and move it to the appropriate points on the timeline, this way i could ensure that the music played properly for their designated parts of the film, i wanted to make sure the music didn't suddenly play half way through then film so i cut the music and scrapped the extra parts of the music and made sure it stopped before the film itself started and the music started when the end credits started

finally before exporting it i had to make sure the music faded in and out correctly so the music didn't just abruptly start and finish. the fade in and fade out in both the title card and the closing credits have that cleaner and more professional sounding fade in and fade out which sounded much better than what it did when it just jump-started, this way the music eases in and adds atmosphere to the film rather than acting as an unintended jump scare at the beginning and the end of the film

once i was finished with editing the music to fade in and fade out at the appropriate points, i uploaded it to YouTube and got a group of people to watch it and await their feedback

Draft 2

i followed the feedback to make draft 2 better than the first draft, after getting a few people to watch it i was given feedback, the first person to give me feedback said, that thoughts towards it were positive as it's a good short film, i was told more could've been added but it was good for what it was, the first person who watched my short film said it fit the brief as its set in Sunderland and i'm using young actors from Sunderland but although you can tell by the accents that its set in Sunderland, to include more outdoor scenes next time as that will help really showcase some Sunderland landmarks to really show the setting. they said it fits in with my age demographic "as a young adult and teenager, this content would be something i would watch". one thing i was told i could change about a future project is to increase the length as it feels more like a trailer or preview and it feels a bit rushed for a short film. they really liked the credits as they thought they were really unique and different from others and the style that I've done is really good. the only bit of feedback for this was to take more time planning next time and to fix a couple of editing errors like accidentally looping two bits of the same footage and accidentally adding some outtake clips instead of the actual clips.

the second person who watched my short film said, that its a good product overall, it had a natural feel and had a sense of realism as the actors portrayed how a group of college students and a group of friends would act, there was a mention of some language that could have been avoided by the actors, re-shot or edited out but it still added to the realism of it as a found footage film wouldn't really have censorship and it is the type of language a young adult would use anyway so it again adds to the realism aspect. again its suitable for the Sunderland culture due exhibition due to the setting and the local young actors from Sunderland meaning it highlights upcoming sunderland talent thus adding to Sunderland's culture.

the same feedback of fixing some editing errors were mentioned which i will fix for the final draft

Draft 3

after posting what i thought to be my final draft another problem was brought to my attention and that was that there was a watermark present at the end of my film, this brings down the overall quality of the product so using the feedback given i had to fix the problem and remove the watermark

to start off with i imported the already exported and downloaded footage of the already edited project into premier pro and put it into the project panel before putting it into the timeline, this way i can see that the length of the footage matches with the correct version of the draft before i started editing as all i needed to make absolutely perfect was the final draft and the first step of that was making sure that i had place the correct draft into the project panel

after i had ensured that it was the correct draft of my project i put the footage into the timeline, being as precise as i could i watched through the footage and found the exact point in my film where the watermark appears and end, this was to make sure that the watermark didn't show up into any points of the film that would have me have to either re-edit the entire thing or end up having to cut up the footage and splice the two points of the film where the watermark appeared. Luckily the watermark showed up at the end of the film meaning that removing it wouldn't cause too much issues with the final product

i used the razor tool to cut out the undesired portion of the project, that being the watermark, is was the easiest way to get rid of the watermark as it meant i could split the timeline into two different sections, them being both the section with the finished product and the section with the watermark.

with the section of the footage removed i re-exported the file into a vcl media file to reduce any slow down that might have remained on the footage and uploaded the final draft with the watermark removed to YouTube.

posters

i started editing the posters along side the editing of my short film, i used an app called photoshop express to edit the posters into 3 different looking drafts

first i started on the first page of the app, i then chose combine photos as i'd need to add and manipulate many different images and elements to make my posters, the reason this is the best option is because it allows you to manipulate many different images at a time rather than edit the images separately and add them in later, this is to make sure that the wrong image didn't end up being an unremovable background layer, i could choose which image is the background and what layer was in what order so i didn't have the wrong image overlapping something else as that would cause more problems and figuring out what layers are in the wrong place and which layers need moving, this saves more time and makes the organisation of my layers easier

Once i had all of my images imported into photoshop i could choose which images go into the right order, having all my images here means i can see what images i need, and make sure that i include all the elements into my poster, having the feature to be able to see all the images together is great for being able to see if i'm missing any images i want included in my posters, this means i can ensure i have everything and i'm less likely to miss any crucial images as well as being able to have them be in the right order as mentioned before

After i had all of image imported i noticed it didn't come with a background, i couldn't edit over just the title so used the background option, selected colour then added the background, with a background layer it makes it easier to manipulate the other layers and being able to have a chosen amount of space for my background to ensure that i had enough space for all the elements to fit on the poster without causing overlapping issues

When i added the background it copied the size of the logo so to fix that i used the aspect ratio tool and manipulated the background layer to make fill out the screen before scaling the scratched logo to size to an appropriate size that also fit the borders of the poster, again this gives me the necessary space needed to be able to make my poster without worrying about overlapping issues.

Using the same method as with the title, i added my second image, i couldn't manipulate it and make it look good with the white border, the white border makes it look terrible and takes away from what i wanted the poster to look like so i had to get rid of the white box border from the images

To get rid of the white background on the disc i used the cutout tool to get rid of any white in the image as well as cutting some parts of the disc out of the image to make it look more damaged and broken, this makes the poster look more professional and helps the disc blend in better and audience's eyes won't be drawn to a distracting, unprofessional looking white border, with the border removed it looks a lot cleaner and even adds a more damaged look to the disc.

Once i did that i selected the later of the disc image, duplicated it and put it on the poster, this was easier than importing another image and having to go through the same steps as before, through duplicating the layer i can ensure that both layers are the same size so it looks like two halves of the same disc rather than discs that look two different sizes. 

The problem with this was they were facing the same way and i could turn them and keep them the same size, to get around this issue i used the edit layer tool and flipped the image horizontally before moving it into position, this rotates the image to the correct the position as i wanted the disc halves to be next to each other rather than the two halves facing the same way overlapping as that doesn't look very good compared to the other choice of design.

Using the same method as the cd i imported the blood images and cutout the white backgrounds, i added some blood to the disc and dripping blood to the letters to give it a horror look and theme and make it look as good as it can be

Draft 1, 2 and 3

I asked for feedback on which of these poster designs i should use, the feedback i got was really helpful, the feedback i was given was, "They all fit the them very well and have enough difference to be unique from each other. Whilst all are good i think maybe adding something in the background might help give it an extra layer maybe add one of the main characters experiment more. I like the first one the best feels the most fitting for this film i would make the disk slightly bigger emphasize its importance."

Due to me only being able to do so much with the poster size and being limited to 5 layers/images per project, there isn't much i can do to improve this feedback but they are things to consider going forward for future projects