LO3: Offline Edit with Review

This is the offline edit of the documentary 'Peak Sheffield'. This version contains no transitions, effects, titles, credits or music. Normally an offline edit would not even contain a voiceover, but for my film it was essential for me to place the clips around the voiceover, so that they were the right length.

Reviewing this offline edit, I can see the film coming together well. Adding transitions, effects, titles, credits and music for the full version will polish it off and hopefully give it a really professional documentary feel. For now I think this offline edit is strong, and has the foundations of what I want the final film to be. It should start to come together quickly now, as much of the hard work was done in choosing the shots, putting them in the right order and getting their lengths right.

LO3: Evidence of Editing - Offline and Full Edits

Offline Edit

This is the 'import' option in the File menu of Adobe Premiere Pro, which I used to import my footage.

This is a window showing the progress of file importing.

Here, I was browsing through footage and watching different clips in the Clip Bin, to decide which I should put on the timeline.

Here, I am using the Razor Tool to cut a section of voiceover at the shown point. After this was done, I could move the two parts around separately.

This shows the end section of my video timeline for the offline edit.

Final Version

After I had completed my offline edit, I could work on the final version of my documentary, which includes titles, credits, transitions, effects and music.

The first thing I did after completing the offline edit was add transitions in necessary locations on the timeline, in order to better separate the different sections of the film.

This shows a "dip to black" effect at the very start of the documentary.

This is another "dip to black" later in the documentary, at the end of a clip. I used a different effect, "dip to white", in other places on the timeline too, to vary the effects used.

I also worked on the initial "Peak Sheffield" introductory title, positioning it centrally at the top, changing the font, and adjusting the kerning.

The top highlighted clip is this title placed on the timeline.

On one clip of Mam Tor, I added an artificial slow zoom by adding Scale keyframes at the start and end of the clip.

This is the clip at the start of the zoom...

...and this is it at the end of the zoom.

This is how the clip looks in the timeline - its yellow 'fx' box shows it has an effect applied, in comparison to the grey box of the clip next to it, which has no effect applied.

I also added credits to my film using titles superimposed over shots of Fernilee Reservoir. The above screenshot shows the credits section of the timeline.

The transition at the start and end of each credit is a "cross dissolve", which slowly fades the credit in and out without affecting the background reservoir shot.

The reason that two of the clips behind the credits have a yellow 'fx' box is that they have been slowed down with the 'speed/duration' option, which can be selected by right-clicking on the clip and choosing it from the above menu.

I made the clips run at 50% of their original speed - this is so that the credits have time to appear over them without the clip ending. You can't tell from looking at the clips that they have been slowed down, because they were already still, calm shots of the reservoir.

Here is a screenshot of a part of the credits.

Finally, I added the music track which was composed by Josh Shirt to fit the film perfectly. It is the audio track highlighted in white, at the bottom.

LO3: Edit Decision List

LO3: Logging Rushes

In order to create an edit decision list for use in editing my final film, I first needed to make a footage log of my rushes video.

The first thing I did was fill in all of the in and out timecodes (on the far right of the document), whilst watching the video of my rushes.

I then watched through the video again, filling in technical details about the shots I saw. For example, some used a "canted angle", meaning the camera is tilted on its side slightly. It isn't perfectly level.

Finally, I watched through the rushes for a third time, filling in basic details about what was in each shot, for example "Buxton viewed from afar".

Below is my complete log of rushes:

LO3: Rushes

LO2: Following the Style and Conventions of the Documentary Genre

Video
The footage in my documentary follows conventions of the genre. One way in which it does this is through the use of establishing shots for each new location. I tried to show the viewer the new locations with many different angles, using the wide-angle lens to get as much in the frame as possible. This gives the viewer an immediate feel for the places shown.

I also used lots of slow pans and tilts in the documentary, a key convention in the documentary genre. These camera movements allow the viewer to really take in a location as the camera moves around it slowly. It feels calm and doesn't rush the viewer, which is especially important in a nature documentary as they often have a relaxing feel to them. The movements also allow the viewer to see locations from all angles, as the pans and tilts give them an all-around impression of a place.

Static shots, too, are an important convention that I followed. They balance out the use of pans and zooms so that the documentary doesn't move too quickly or become overwhelming for viewers. The occasional static shot of a place or a signpost also allows the viewer to pause for thought, or take in details that they might not see with a camera movement.

Audio
The voiceover for the documentary was done by Josh Shirt. It follows documentary conventions perfectly because he professionally compressed, equalised and normalised the audio of the voiceover based on different BBC documentaries. This gives Peak Sheffield the energy and tone of a real TV documentary.

In addition, the music which plays throughout the documentary was composed by Josh Shirt. He used the BBC documentary "Planet Earth II" as a reference point for the volume level, and for the mix with the voiceover. This means that the voiceover and soundtrack don't compete with each other for the viewer's attention, and sound very professional.

LO2: Evidence of Following Storyboard / Shooting Script

Storyboard

Below you can see various examples of how the footage I took for my short film corresponds to my storyboard sketches.

Shooting Script

You can see evidence of how I followed this section of the shooting script at the timecode 5:08 in the final film (below).

You can see evidence of this section of the shooting script being followed at the timecode 5:47 in the final film (below).