Nagini's Blog

Food On Film – Week 9

 

Before the editing

In the class, we learned the process of editing a micro-documentary. Name all the files of what we’ve got is really important for me. I also think that watching the footages that we shoot as many times as possible is very useful when I start to do the edit. I agree with Fox (p.215) states that ‘it is the director’s responsibility to be familiar with all the footage and collected materials for a project’. I think the strategy of re-watch those footages allow me to organize the materials as well. It is easier for me to separate which footages is good to use, which is bad to use.

 

Edit techniques

Our project Shinmai Tasty is an expository and essay style documentary, Tong and I plan to start with her personal experiences of what she feels authentic food is, why and how does she understand Japanese Food as a Thai, and making those answers become a large-scale theme. Our project theme is that authenticity is one of the key factors to run a successful ethnic restaurant, and that will earn consumers’ patronage and keep it to be a mainstream restaurant. Therefore, I think our project soundtrack dominates by an interview-based soundtrack, Tah’s voice over. And also, it should with supplemental imagery placed into the visual track to illustrate what Tah said. For instance, when Tak talks about Shinmai Tasty décor has a Japanese style, we should put B-roll and the environment footages of Shinmai tasty to support what she said. Fox mentions that ‘the use of musical score to heighten the emotional impact of certain moments’. When we guide the journey through her experiences as our audiences try to find the meaning of authentic food. I am now considering that the musical soundtrack of she talks about her personal experiences in Thailand should be typical Thai music. And when the content of her voice overturn to this restaurant, it should change to an Osaka style music. I think the creation of those moments can involve the relationships between images and sounds to produce the meaning of food cultural blending.

On the other hand, different types of transitions between shots also began to carry specific connotations in the minds of viewers. I think we can apply the  dissolve to the transitions of our film, because Fox (2017, p.219)notes  “A dissolve – essentially an overlapping fade out and in, where for some determined duration, images of both the incoming and outgoing shots are both visible on top of one another—has become associated with the passage of time.” I think this transition could help us to edit two shots softly. For instance, from Tah’s face to the sushi Shinmai Tasty served.

Shot 1

 

Shot 2

 

 

Question

Although it is a 6 mins micro-documentary, I believe our audiences defiantly don’t want to watch and hear Tah talks 6 mins. The pauses between the shots are very important as well. When should we give our audiences a break in the film is the main problem for Tong and me now.

Reference

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