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Test Editing

Noise and Grain reduction test

Here is the footage that I shot this weekend of me talking to camera to go in my film. It’s not been put in the correct order yet and there will be other clips and me doing voice overs interspersed, but I wanted to film all of me talking to camera since they are all shot in the woods. These clips were shot in a location I found off the paths (see “Location Scouting”) to avoid as many people as possible.

 

While talking with my tutor, Tom, about a previous clip, he noticed that the exposure, aperture and ISO were not right due to the fact I was recording on auto exposure, aperture and ISO. He recommended a website (CameraSim) for me to experiment with the exposure, aperture and ISO, which I experimented with. I thought that I was getting the hang of it, and everything looked fine on my camera screen during filming. But, when I was looking back at this footage at home on my computer, I noticed that there was some noise and grain on my waistcoat that I found distracting. I thought there might be something on After Effects, so I had a look and found a “Noise and Grain” effect under the effect tab, and in the Noise and Grain tab I found a “reduce Grain” effect which I had a play around with on the clips.

 

I managed to remove most of the noise and grain, and I don’t find it distracting anymore. In order to make it easier to compare the before and after, I put them side by side. I asked both my parents to look at the comparison between the two, and they agreed with me that it was much better. However, I decided I would like to double check with my tutor, Tom and get some feedback. Here are the comparisons between the before editing and after editing.

 

These are the clips I intend to use in my final film, however I decided to show my editing tests in order to show the journey from raw footage to final film. I have also not colour graded or white balanced them yet, this is still raw footage, the only editing being the removal of the noise and grain in the right-hand clips.

Woods vs Garden test

I started editing bits of my video and some of the test footage I had shot to begin to get a rough idea of how bits would look. It is not yet in the order that I would want it in my video. 

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I wanted to check somethings with Tom, my tutor to get feedback about whether its OK to use the test footage of "filming me filming" if I can’t get back into the woods to re shoot it. I'm dependent on my Mum and Dad for crew, and my Dad is very busy with work. He is hoping that he can be available this Saturday morning, and I think it would look a lot better if I shoot the "filming me filming" segment in the woods because it is a better backdrop to feel like part of a real film. But just in case this is not possible, I wanted to check Tom's views on the footage I test shot in the garden, to find out how much of an effect it would have if I can’t reshoot in the woods.

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Hopefully it won't come to that, but I would rather be prepared and know the impact if it does.

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In the main test editing here I have included some bits of me starting talking in the woods. They are not in the right order, but I thought they give a flavour of what the "filming me filming" clips will be in the same video as.

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I also shot a few short videos of my Mum in the woods, to see if I think the scene would be better with her standing up or sitting somewhere, because, when I looked back at the footage in the garden I wasn't totally convinced that her sitting down made sense in the sense of being part of another film.

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Partial Test Edit V1

I put this Test Editing on my website to show my tutor, Tom, for during a feedback session. It is not by any means complete.

 

The purpose is to show Tom how it is coming together, and to give him a rough idea of the format and style, since I don’t think that I did a very good job at the start explaining how I envisaged my final product being, even though I was pretty clear myself in my head. And to get some feedback about anything in particular that he notices before I complete my editing. I'm hoping that I don't need to make any changes, but it is easier to make them now than after I complete the editing, so it makes sense to ask now too.

 

My other tutor, Nargess, said that she will take a look for me on Monday, after the weekend, when I hope to have pretty much completed my editing, so she can see a more completed version.

 

I would have liked to be further with my editing at this point, but, as I detail in my Filming Evaluation, there has been a knock-on effect of having problems with Location Scouting due to the coronavirus lockdown and changing lockdown rules.

 

However, I am happy with the final locations, and with the footage that I have ended up with (except that I still don’t really like being in it).

 

Some points to note about this Test Editing are:

 

  1. I have put on all the footage that I filmed, both of me talking to camera, and the "filming me filming" parts.

  2. I have edited the "filming me filming" parts to be the 3 sequences of the actual shots, and also the 3 sequences of the edited shots on 2 screens with the "behind the scenes" footage of me filming each of them, synced up to what the footage I shot..

  3. I have put in all the audio of me speaking the voice-over.

  4. All these 3 parts above are now in the right order.

  5. I have downloaded all the clips that I intend to use, including the behind the scenes footage from films, and I have started, but not finished putting them in and editing them together.

  6. I have many of the stills that I want ready to edit in, but watching and listening through my voice-over has highlighted some additional images that I realise I need to make it flow, e.g. Some film posters of the films that I mention would be helpful.

  7. I have decided which birdsong effect I want to use over the 3 scenes but haven’t edited it on yet.

  8. I have some ideas for music to be running throughout the video, louder in some parts and fading in others as appropriate, but I want to get the visuals edited first because if necessary it may work without music running through, but it can’t work without the visuals.

 

So I have edited a fair part, but I still have a way to go.

Final Version Drafts

Film With Monopod

Film Without Monopod

My video is pretty nearly finished now, I have a couple of questions that I would like to check with my tutor Nargess, and also to get some feedback from her, so I am putting my last 2 edits here in Test Editing so that I can discuss them with her.

 

Points to note:

 

AUDIO QUESTION

1. I have put in my footage, all the clips and stills that I have planned, added sound effects (birdsong in the parts where I deliberately didn’t record sound) and music, put the audio in the right order, added text, white balanced and colour graded it.

 

2. Audio is one of the areas I want to discuss with Nargess. I have used the pen tool on the audio to make it pretty much all the same level. This also reduced the very loud "crunching leaves" sound that my mic picked up when I wasn't talking. When I was discussing it with Tom, with a version with audio unedited, he suggested I consider equalising the audio. I tried to put the equaliser on all of it, as Tom suggested, however I was unable to. I looked up in YouTube to see if I find how to do it, and did what was suggested, however it still didn’t work.

 

3. I would like to check with Nargess if, with me having now done some editing on the audio, she feels equalising is still necessary. And if she does, then I am hoping she can help me work out how to make equalising work n my Premiere Pro

 

EDITING QUESTION

4. The reason why there are 2 versions of my "Final" version because another thing I would like Nargess's opinion on is an editing decision that I made, as a result of showing my first "Final" version to some people.

 

5. This is that I removed a section that I had filmed, and I would like her opinion, as a professional, whether she thinks my video is better with or without it.

 

6. Originally, I had loads of ideas to include in this video. I whittled them down to a few, namely looking at how filmmakers use camera movement in big films and TV (including clips in my video), me filming an experiment to show the difference that 3 different camera movement makes to an audience, and also experimenting with using different things around the house (since we are in lockdown) to get camera movement. E.g. if you haven't got a slider, which I hadn’t at that point. However, my parent got me a slider for part of my 18th Birthday present. So, I was able to use this slider in my film comparing 3 different camera movements, which I feel makes it better and more professional looking than if I had to find a less professional way of simulating a slider. This reduced the emphasis/need to find lots of different ways to make camera movement myself, and I feel the 2 parts of the video balance each other well, i.e. big film camera movement and my experiment in the difference camera movement makes.

 

7. However, I had had an idea to see if a tripod could simulate a monopod (which I don’t have) and filmed that when I was filming the other shots. I included it because I thought it was interesting. However, I am now thinking that maybe it needs to be part of a different video concentrating on different ways to produce camera movement with everyday objects, and that it doesn’t actually fit in here, and it seems a bit disjointed. I also can’t think of anything appropriate to have on screen when there the long black bit

 

8. I would like to ask Nargess to watch the video labelled "Without Monopod", which I am thinking should be my final one, but to also check the version "With Monopod" in case she can see a reason that I have missed that it would still be good to include bit with the pretend monopod in.

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