Editing our Thriller

Editing can be a tricky process.   We walked into the editing suite with confident smiles on our faces, only to be met with an unloving blank stare from the computer monitors.

After all our clips were uploaded onto the server, we sat down, selected our folder and checked it in.  Now we were ready to begin the true editing process.  Naturally, the first thing we did was to create a Rush bin, and move all the clips into there, and put a Log bin above for the clips we might be using.  Since we were quite an indecisive team, we created a Maybe bin, for clips where the audio was useful or if the visual was more useful.

We put our log, rush and maybe bins in the browser after checking them in the viewer.
We then put them together on the timeline and watched the finished product in the canvas. 

Preceding the creation of the bins and watching/sorting the clips, we began dragging the best clips we had into order, into a sort of rough draft.  This took a couple of sessions.

The way we organised the actual editing was to have one person controlling the computer, while the other two would just contribute to how we should cut it or what order it should go in.  We had external people watch the clip to confirm its verisimilitude and to let us know if we succeed in creating interest.

After we had set up the main chronological order and cut down the clips, we saved it to one computer, taking it off the Final Cut Server, and put it into High Definition.  This gave us a completely new perspective on how we would add in special effects for the flashbacks, as well as how fluid it was so far.


The main thing we worked on during the process, after we had put everything into order and cut it down was the special effects for the flashbacks and the sound.

For the flashbacks, we used the filter "Bad Film" and sped up the clips to create a shaky effect.  This really helped differentiate between the flashbacks and the main clips, as well as adding a creepier atmosphere to it and creating the enigma of the film.  We also added shatter sounds during the flashbacks from Soundtrack Pro to further differentiate them from the rest of the clip.



















The sound was what took up the majority of our time in editing.  We had to cut different sounds to create the effect we wanted, meaning we had to split many of the audio tracks from their video clips to move them around, which proved quite confusing.  We elongated the sounds of one of the car clips to cover the entire car scene because it was the best out of them all, continuing it to the text "Zirgi" as the detective slammed the second door, it created fluidity in editing.  We also auditioned sounds from Soundtrack Pro for the wind ambient sounds, to create a remote, wintry Eastern European setting.  We put these sounds throughout the thriller and put reverb on them to create an atmosphere that one might find inside a shipping container, metallic and cold.

An important contribution that I made to the editing process was cropping the frame of the clip to cover up some mistakes that our actors made when the detective (Simon) was looking at the handprint.  I did this by resizing it and increasing the definition of the newly cropped clip.  This took me about 20 minutes to figure out, but it made a big difference to the visual appeal of our film as well as keeping the verisimilitude of it.

 All in all, I found the editing process to be, although extremely stressful, very rewarding.  The most difficult part was splitting up the work equally and coming to agreements in the group, but these problems were usually easily solved.  Despite the issues we ran into, it was very interesting and fulfilling to see what weeks of planning and hours of shaping and polishing would lead to: our finished product.

Vertigo vs. Warner Bros

Vertigo Films UK



"Act like a criminal to catch a criminal."

Vertigo Films is a British film production company which promotes commercially driven independent films, that is to say, independent films that may become mainstream and have a larger profit margin than most independent films would.  The majority of the films are either action, thriller, or rough comedy.

A recent film made by Vertigo is "The Sweeney", based on the TV show from the 70s of the same name. It is about a detective who enters the Flying Squad of London's Metropolitan Police.  The film was premiered in Switzerland, at the Locarno Film Festival (August 1st) and was subsequently released in the UK on the 12th September.  It was not highly anticipated by the US audience, due to the story as well as the fact that it was mainly promoted in the UK.  It was promoted with Orange, as a pre-film advertisement in cinemas across the UK. 


The film had an original budget of £3,000,000, however, after production, the final budget ended up being less than £2,000,000!  The film made a box office total of £4,474,661, successful considering the lower box-office returns of the UK. It topped the box office in the opening weekend, bringing in 1.5 million and replacing Dredd at the top of the chart.   It was advertised well, mainly appearing as posters in tube stations or in newspapers.  Facebook pages and Twitter were also means of promoting the film.  



This film was set to target the 15-35 male audience that Vertigo has targeted in the past (The Football Factory, Monsters, Retreat) and was a success. It was released in December 2012 on Blu-ray and DVD.  













Warner Bros. 




Warner Bros. is one of the big six, that is to say they are one of the six highest profit film companies in the world.  They are vertically integrated, owning almost everything from production to post-production to distribution to merchandise. 

A successful film recently made by WB Pictures is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.  Released July 7th, 2011, to coincide with the school holidays, this film was the ultimate of the Harry Potter series.  The pre-sold elements of it being a sequel, a franchise and already having a fan base from the books, as well as having well-known actors and a high-concept, simplistic storyline made it an obvious success.  

Its budget was $250 million, mostly spent on above the line costs such as set, special effects and props.  Marketing for the film included posters ("It all ends 7.15"), Facebook groups, Twitter, a website, behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast and merchandising.  

$1,328,111,219 was its worldwide earning, making it the fourth-highest grossing film in history and the highest grossing film of 2011.  

Distribution of the film for home-media began in December 2011.  It was released on DVD and Blu-ray, in both single set and box set format.  It became the fastest-selling pre-order on Amazon as well!

Contrasts

While Vertigo makes mainly British, lower budget, experimental films, Warner Bros. makes high-budget, high-concept, franchise films destined for global success.  

This is due to the conglomerate status of WB Pictures, as well as the fact that the American film industry is much more vast and rich than that of Britain.