Today, following our filming session yesterday, we spent the lesson in the editing suites. Having a basic-intermediate level knowledge of how to use Premiere Pro from my classes last year, definitely came in handy today. Both Emma and Siobhan joined me in the suite to learn from me, how to do a basic edit for this footage.

Firstly, I’d like to say that I am very pleased with the way the footage came out, as I was worried it would be excessively over/under exposed as I am still getting my head around the process of getting the levels right. I am very grateful that Robin had extensively covered how to adjust the contrast/brightness levels which the camera allows. Although still being unsure when I put it to the test, the lessons on contrast gave me confidence that I had a better chance of adjusting them appropriately to the lighting provided. It does prove that it’s all about actually putting the theory into practice in order to learn and come up with a result; trial and error.

Note: Our ‘imagined window,’ obviously, is going to show characters in an over-exposed light, but we did this intentionally.

Our final edit above is what I created with Emma and Siobhan in the suites. I used this task to show basic editing skills to them as well, as they had not used, or not recently used Premiere Pro. I found this task very easy as we had enough footage to work with, yet the amount was not overwhelming. Even though we captured our shots in a messy order, we luckily didn’t run into any issues that hindered our production process.

Analysing the scene we created, it is clear that the first shot (MS), with the two characters centred establishes the ‘imagined setting’. The second shot (MCU), taken from the left of Serena (foreground) and Vera (background), captured more closely, the movement of putting her head out of the window – an important action in the storyline of the script. The third, (MCU) focuses on Serena from the right side of her face, focusing on her as she looks in her ‘mirror’ in an attempt to see what it is she has stuck in her eye from putting her head out of the window. The back of Vera’s head is seen partially in the foreground, yet, the focus remains on Serena as the key lighting of the shot aluminates only her face. The fourth shot, a ECU of Serena’s attempt to fish out the foreign object from her eye, highlights the panic she has in getting it out. The ECU creates a sole focus on its importance. The fifth switch in the scene, is back to the same composition of the third shot, coming back to the initial action which was momentarily left, to highlight the fact there was in fact something irritating her eye. The sixth (MCU) focuses on both of the characters, taken from a slight left of Serena, yet, frames Vera more than she previously had been – because in this shot, she is involved with the action which is also important in telling the story which the script entails. Vera grabs Serena and takes the foreign material from Serena’s eye. The last shot, is the same (or close to) as the initial shot (MS), where the two are sitting next to each other, again silent, but now with an awkward vibe between the two (their actions show this accordingly).