During class on Monday, we are set to screen our rough cut of screen project one. Though we already had the extremely rough cut, much of the audio was not synced, we had random sounds in the background, additional diegetic sounds had not been added/were inappropriate, we didn’t have a soundtrack, and some of our shots were still rough.
But the idea was there.
Still, though, we all wanted to meet up before hand in order to finalize our rough cut before we screened it to the class. I wasn’t able to be there physically, so had to skype in – and it can be really difficult to understand what is happening when you can’t actually see it.
But what was unanimously decided was that the beginning – and the chopping and changing – was too much too soon, and that it didn’t give Sid’s rituals much to build on. Additionally, none of us really liked the first shot of the original and much preferred starting on black and then going to a clock – as the clock had become a more and more essential aspect of the story (in the original, Sid was much more concerned with the door than timing – seems like ages ago now!).
So, deciding that rather than trying to remain 100% truthful to the script, we should aim to make the best sequences/film out of the footage we had in front of us. Some of our footage had changed due to us contesting with time on the shoot, and it didn’t compliment the original script as well as it would another sequence – the beats have remained the same, but some of the action has differed slightly.
So gone was the long, annoying and questionably well filmed panning shot at the beginning, and in it’s place was intense darkness with the ominous sound of a ticking clock. This did a much better job at setting up the mood of a horror film, and the shot of a clock being the first thing the audience sees was a good way at setting up the importance of time in the film.
Sid’s ritual in the bathroom was also shortened – he never gets the toothbrush in his mouth. We were lucky that we had a shot of the toothbrush being washed where the water landed on the handle, rather than the head, because this ended up being the perfect opportunity to have Sid panic before he screws up the light switch, and allows us to introduce Doc earlier. While we had originally been against introducing Doc early, the hitting of the light switch just wasn’t playing off because the audience had no idea why Sid was scared. It also wasn’t clear in the first draft that Sid’s rituals are a remedy to Doc.
This also brought the pacing up, and it much more suited that of a horror film.
It was a rough cut, and we knew we had major issues with sound, etc. etc. but it was more than enough to convey the intent for our film.
And, given our reservations, we were very happy with the feedback we got from the screening, which was essentially that it was intense/scary enough that the audience was engaged throughout. There was some clunky moments that dissipated that tension, but those were all ones we knew about, and had planned on editing anyway.
We were still more critical of the rough cut, though, and knew there were still more issues that needed to be addressed. Our final shot – which needs to be really strong – was so awkward to film and the result wasn’t what we wanted – Doc was evident too early and the shot wasn’t smooth enough, but it didn’t seem to bother our audience as much as it did us.
The non-linear sequence also wasn’t there, but again, no one picked up on it because they didn’t know it was missing.
Finally, there was some ‘digenic sounds’ that had been added as supporting/enhancing sounds, and they just didn’t fit (like Doc thudding on the door while Sid was trying to lock it) and some just needed to be muffled and/or sound levels needed to be brought down.
But with all that said and done, we were pretty happy with the feedback.
And ready for another editing sesh.
