UNSCRUPULOUS JUSTICE Post Production: Editing

To begin the post-production stage, I followed the editing protocols Mr. Chiang introduced to us and started off by logging after checking Final Cut Pro preferences, labelling my library, event, and project, and importing all the footage. I then took the time to review all the clips, name them according to their scene number, content, and take number, and lastly I also used the Favourite and Reject function on Final Cut Pro to organize the clips. When I was naming the clips, I got somewhat confused about which scene some of the clips belong to since our plot jumps a lot between the past and the present timeline. To gain a better idea of the flow of the story, I referred to the script and storyboard, and typed out an outline of the plot:

Scene 1: Office. In color. 
- Justice walks in, injured. 
- V.O: "By the time you hear this, it'll already be too late. I suppose at this point in time, I owe you an explanation."

Scene 2: Home / DELETE

Scene 3: Office (Scene 1. cont)
- V.O: "I never forgot how you just dismissed the case after a while, stating it was "just a waste of time" to keep the search going. Nothing I do is "just a waste of time", you understand? "

Scene 4: Flashback begins. Office. In black and white. 
-V.O. "Ever since I've lost Amelia, things have changed drastically. I've become more focused than I ever was before. Secretary King has been bombarding me with questions regarding the cases I've postponed."
- Secretary King comes in, Justice and Jolie talk, Justice leaves to find Widowmaker.

Scene 5: Office. In Color. 
-V.O: There was something about her that made her seem genuine. My instinct was telling me that she was telling the truth. 

Scene 6: Street. In black and white. 
- The scene with Hadrien. 
- Ends with V.O: "Jolie was a different person I originally thought she'd be- I never expected her to shoot, but she saved my life. I feel that I must thank her for what she has done."

Scene 7: Home. In black and white. 
- Jolie Justice talk. Jolie shoots Justice, Justice shoots Jolie. Fade to black. 

Scene 8: Office. Black and white.
- Justice returns to office. 
- V.O: "By the time you hear this, it'll already be too late. I suppose at this point in time, I owe you an explanation."
- Slowly merge into color during V.O, Justice dies.

Scene 9: Home / DELETE

This helped me a lot with identifying where the clips belong to. 

Some ideas: Start and end of a shot of an empty chair, adjust colour scheme, use slow motion, jump cut, black screen in the end when Jolie gets shot

Next was the assembly edit. With a unitary labelling system, I can easily search up the clips I need for each scene and put them in the correct order instead of having to scroll through the browser. When putting the clips in order, I also jotted down some notes on the inspector window about things I am planning to do during the fine edit such as "adjust color scheme" or "insert jump cut to scene X". For example, in the screenshot below, I noted that I wanted to put jump cuts of the different shots we took of Justice (our male protagonist) dying in the final scene in order to provide shots from different angles to the audience to keep them visually interested. I also put black screens between each scene so that I don't get confused when I edit scene by scene. I noticed that all the clips from Scene 6 are very blurry because it was very dark when we were filming and we did not realise that the camera was not in focus. 

Fig. 1: Assembly Edit Timeline

After putting all the clips onto the timeline, I proceeded to trim the clips precisely with the razor blade tool. The assembly edit was almost 12 minutes long and I was worried that our film would go overtime, but luckily after trimming all the clips, our film ended up being just under 7 minutes. 

The next step was to start the fine edit. I added sound effects, overlaid clips over one another, and tried to refine the transitions between scenes and individual clips - which I will be explaining below in detail.

1. Overlaying one clip over another to widen variety of shots, smoothen transitions and cover faulty footage.

In the part where I / Jolie (femme fatale) talks to Justice in Scene 4, I was looking too much at the camera because I was trying to read my lines off the computer screen, which makes the scene seem very unnatural. We filmed the same scene from a different angle, but for that clip, I was speaking without any emotion, plus the audience won't be able to see that I am speaking since it is shot from my back, so I decided that I would not use the audio of the second clip (Fig. 3) and replace the part of the first clip (Fig. 2) where I looked at the camera with the second clip (but still using the audio of the first clip, since you can't see the face of the femme fatale it doesn't matter if the audio matches the movement of the mouth). This also allows the audience to look at the protagonist's reaction to what the femme fatale is saying.

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

In the beginning of Scene 7, which is the part where Jolie and Justice enters the house, they were supposed to stop walking so they can say their lines in the next shot, but instead they kept walking and it doesn't transition well with the next shot. 

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Therefore, I did not use the shot (Fig. 3) in my film but I extracted its audio (the lines were "Would you like a drink?" - which is necessary to be included in the film since in the previous shot (Fig. 3) Jolie was not holding any wine and in the following (Fig. 5) she is) and used it to transition to the following shot (Fig. 5) since there is no dialogue in the beginning of the shot. 

Fig. 5

Fig. 6: This is how it looks like on the timeline.

2. Sound Effects, Foley, and Ambience

The film starts off with Justice talking to the phone, so I decided to put the sound of a phone ringing in the beginning of the film to create the effect as if the audience is calling the male protagonist to hear his story. 

For the opening scene where Justice enters the room, the audio quality is really bad because you could hear the construction noises and the sounds of his footsteps are not distinct. To recreate the sound of his footsteps, I asked my dad to wear his leather shoes and recorded 10 seconds of him walking. I then added the ambience recording under all the office scenes to make the film sound natural and realistic. 

3. Transitions between the present and the past (Flashbacks)

Fig. 7: Cross Dissolve

Fig. 8: Black Screen

For the flashbacks in our film, I used the cross dissolve effect and black screens to transition between the present and past timeline. However, in the opening scene of our film, there is a very short flashback of snippets from the past timeline while Justice talks to the phone. I initially wanted the flashback to be half transparent by lowering the opacity so you can see both the flashback and Justice talking at the same time, as seen in Fig. 9. 

However, I felt like the shot sizes of the two shots don't merge really well together, and in the end, I decided not to follow my initial idea and keep the opacity of the flashback at 100% (Fig. 10). 

Fig. 9: Test Edit

Fig. 10: Final Decision

4. Altering shot size by cropping and rotating the frame
The shot shown on the left of Fig. 11 is how Justice's final dying scene was originally framed. However, I wanted to create a tilted angle / dutch angle effect since we have been using conventional angles in most of our shots, therefore, I used the cropping function, rotated and enlarged the frame to turn it into the shot shown on the right of Fig. 11.

Fig. 11

5. Compositing to create dizzy / unconscious effect

In the final scene of our film, I wanted to convey to the audience that he is dying, so I decided to portray Justice's state of mind on screen by creating a dizzy effect. As shown in Fig. 12, I copied and pasted the same clip and put it on top of the timeline, then adjusted the opacity of the top clip, and lastly I placed the top clip 0.5 - 1 second out of time to the bottom clip (the original clip) to achieve the effect. You can see the effect at 6:21 on this clip. 

Fig. 12

6. Adjusting colour scheme
I wanted to try changing the colour scheme like how famous Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai did in his film As Tears Go By, as shown in Fig. 13:

Fig. 13: Screenshot from Wong Kar Wai's As Tears Go By

Therefore, for the scenes in colour, I played around with the colour board and applied a blue / navy colour tone to the shots, which I think helps create a serious and (perhaps) sentimental atmosphere as Justice starts to talk about his past (see Fig. 14 and Fig. 15 for a comparison). This is also applied to the ending scene. 

Fig. 14: Original

Fig. 15: Modified

7. Adjusting exposure
After converting all the flashback clips to black and white, I also lowered the exposure for all of the clips to create a darker feeling (see Fig. 16 and Fig. 17 for a comparison).

Fig. 16: Original

Fig. 17: Modified

8. Adjusting Volume 
Last but not least, I adjusted the volume level for all the clips according to what Mr. Chiang told us -Dialogue: between -6 and -3.
Sound effects: between -6 and -9.
Theme music & Ambience: between -6 and -10.

Fig. 18

For some of the clips, the original volume was already very soft, so instead of lowering the volume I had to raise it and matched it with the rest of the film by looking at the sound waves of the other clips. For example, the clips from Scene 7 needed 7db volume in order to match the other scenes that only needed -3db volume. 

- Unscrupulous Justice: First Edit & Unscrupulous Justice: Second Edit 

* Note that the music and voiceovers are missing

- I have shown these two clips to the director and shared the files with him so he can make some adjustments.

Fig. 19: Second Edit Timeline

* Final edit has not been completed yet, as of 31st October.

There is no audio for Scene 6 yet because we could not get the microphone to work properly at the time (as we were in a hurry to finish filming so we did not have time to figure out what's wrong). We will have to do voiceovers once we return to school. We will also need to find gunshot sounds on the audio library (that can only be accessed at school) to replace the gunshot sounds generated by fake guns. Last but not least, we have yet to add theme music to our film to make the film less awkward and help create the film noir atmosphere. 

Monday Shoot (17th October) & Thursday Shoot (20th October)

This is our last week to film before our production is due, since our director / male lead is away during mid-term break. We first filmed on Monday at Dr. Mok's office, finishing all our office scenes, then filmed the street & home scenes at Wing Kwan's house on Thursday. In this post, I will discuss and reflect on my contribution to the following areas:

Preparation for Post-Production 

At the beginning of the filming sessions, I would help with initialising the SD card to make sure the card format is compatible with my laptop. After every filming session, I imported all of the footage onto my laptop - on which I have installed Final Cut Pro X so I could edit during mid term break. After checking the Final Cut Pro preferences (selected "create optimised media" and "create proxy media"), I have started logging the footage from last week's shoot by naming them and making use of the reject / favourite function to organise the clips. 

Logistics (Time Management, Equipment, Locations, Props, etc.)

As the editor, my job largely focuses on the post-production stage. Therefore, during the production stage, I helped with borrowing equipment and reserving locations (communicating with Dr. Mok about using her office). We made a lot of changes to our production plan. Originally, we planned to film our office scenes at Wing Kwan's house, but after location scouting, we decided that Dr. Mok's office is the ideal setting to film our scenes since her office has blinds which we could use to create the iconic venetian blind effect in film noir. We also hoped to finish filming all our scenes by the beginning of the second week of October, but due to our team's miscommunication and our busy schedules, we completed most of the filming during the third week of October. In the second week, we spent two class periods at her office filming, but we did make much progress from those two sessions, since it took us almost half the period to get ready (setting up equipment and changing into costumes) to film as we were still in the process of re-familiarising ourselves with the using the equipment.

It was difficult to find a time when everyone is free to film - on Monday, Henry could only participate in the first half of the shoot; on Thursday, Charlotte couldn't attend the session. This may have impacted the quality of our film since Charlotte / Henry had to control the camera and hold the microphone at the same time by themselves since Wing Kwan and I were acting. During our Thursday shoot, we found Hadrien to help us act as the "knowledge dude" in our film, but the issue was that he was in a hurry to leave and with only around fifteen minutes left, we were therefore in a rush to finish filming his scenes. Meanwhile, we could not get the microphone to work properly, hence we will have to do voiceovers afterwards. From my point of view, the situation was slightly out of control as the scene was added to the script after our cinematographer finished the storyboard and we had to decide on the spot about what shot types to use for that scene. What we should've done is to plan out the shots beforehand with the cinematographer, especially because she could not attend the session. We should have also reconfirmed with each other about the shooting dates to make sure everyone can participate and to avoid any confusion (we borrowed equipment and then returned it right afterwards as we realised we were not shooting).

Cinematography

Since I am the editor, my role focuses on the post-production stage. During the filming sessions, I shared my ideas with the group about the framing and the lighting, even though the final decision is still made by the director and cinematographer. Throughout the production stage, I have started thinking about how I would edit the film - for example, in the scene of the male lead dying, I would like to try adjusting the frame to make it seem like the shot was filmed with a dutch angle, since this is one of the major characteristics of film noir that I don't think we used during our production stage. I would also like to try adjusting the colour scheme of the shots in the opening scene / ending scene and apply a blue / purple tint to it (Wong Kar-wai editing style). After reviewing the footage, I also noticed that some shots are quite bright / do not have a strong contrast between black and whites, therefore during post-production, I would like to try adjusting the contrast to emphasise the use of chiaroscuro lighting in our film. Unfortunately, there were some construction noises during our Tuesday shoot, and we made the mistake of not turning off the air-conditioner sound during our Thursday shoot, so I will have to work on noise cancelling when editing. At the end of each filming session, I would review the footage and make sure that the visual and audio quality is okay, looking out for what we could improve for our next shoot. We also filmed some of the scenes from different angles so that I can decide which one best fits our film when editing. 

Lesson #16: Film Shoot #2

Today during Period 2, we went to Dr. Mok's office to film our office scenes again. Things went quite well in general, but when Wing Kwan was trying to do his voiceover, there were some construction sounds going on in the background. We will have to review the footage to see if the construction noises can be heard. I think that we need to use more close ups and dutch angles, and experiment with the lighting a bit more in our office scene. In the opening scene, where Wing Kwan is sitting at the desk, I feel like there is too much light shining on his face, even though it does create a nice silhouette in the background. 

Lesson #15: First Shoot

Today during class we started filming our first office scene. We got permission from Dr. Mok to use her office during Period 1 to film. It took us quite a long time to set up all the equipment and decide on where the camera should be positioned, so in the end we only had around 20 minutes of shorting time, which allowed us to finish filming a very short opening scene. Setting up was very consuming because it turned out that both the batteries we were given were not working, so we had to go back and forth from Mr. Chiang's office to Dr.Mok's office. We were not able to use the battery charger because there were no sockets around where the camera needed to be placed. Next lesson, we should be able to have more time to film because we have now figured out where the camera needs to be and became familiar with adjusting the camera settings and setting up all the equipment. 

Lesson #14: Tech Class - Editing

Final Cut Pro X (not Final Cut Pro 7)

Icon with Four Stars = Library

1. Check Final Cut Pro Preferences - Import Tab: MUST Select "Create optimised media" and "Create proxy media". Do not select "Analyze for balance color / fix audio problems".

2. File Organisation: Label your library. Label your event (one star icon).

Never title your film "Final". 

Good organization skills is important to have. 

3. Import media (down arrow): Always import all of your clips. Click the number button below the viewer - opens background render - tells you what is happening. 

Inspector window - inspect or alter any audio or video you need to change. 

EDITING PROTOCOLS

01. Logging 

Going through all of your footage and define whether footage is good or not, using a labelling system - Green Star and Red X button. Select the clip and either FAVOURITE (letter F or green star) or REJECT (delete key or Red X) it. Green / Red line will show up. Go to dropdown bar and you can choose to only view favourite / rejected clips.

Relabel clip names if you have time. 

02. Assembly Edit

Putting the clips in the correct order in the timeline (not trimming anything, no effects at this point). 

Command N to create new project (exists within event). Select clip and drag it onto timeline. 

Insert buttons: Button E - adds clip to the end of the timeline. To do a smooth slow motion, you go to Settings and choose Interlace. 

03. Rough Edit 

Trimming clips, using the Razor Blade Tool (keyboard shortcut key B / cursor: A).

04. Fine Edit / 2nd Edit

Looking to see if we need transitions:

- Cut vs. Jump Cut - jump cut is transition between clips from the same scene, cut is transition between different scenes. 

- Dissolve - Cross Dissolve: use when you are moving from scene to scene. Can be used to show passage of time, or to transition from black screen.

Every film must START and END with a BLACK SCREEN (5 secs) - go to generators button (box with 2 inside) - go to Solids - choose Customs - drag into front of timeline. 

SOUND

Go through level of sound - sound waves of each clip - you can look at sound meter on the side:

Dialogue: between -6 and -3.

Sound effects: between -6 and -9.

Theme music & Ambience: between -6 and -10.

Sound peaks - distorted sound - lower the volume bar to adjust volume. Avoid recording loud sound - distortion cannot be fixed.  Volume Bar - hold down option key to create dots and select individual bits of sound. 

Inspector: Audio Tab - Audio Enhancement -You can select Background Noise Removal - be careful with the amount you apply. 

Letter Key V - disables the clip. 

Panning - Go to Audio: Pan Mode. Sound from left to right. Create 3-dimensional space in sound. 

You can also choose Surround Sound and fit sound in different places - makes sound feel more dynamic and real. 

Audio Effects.

Audio Equalization - enhance voices. 

Expand Audio Components / Channel Configuration - view channels. 

All the sounds you use must come from Final Cut Pro or the online library. 

Royalty free music is not reliable, not really "royalty free". You can record your own foley. 

VISUAL EFFECTS

Magic Wand - Show Color Board - Color Correction Panel:

- Global Color Correction

- Shadows

- Mid-Tones

- Highlights

Saturate - turn to black and white. 

Exposure: 

To apply color settings to all other clips - Go to Edit - Copy and Paste Attributes. 

You can automate effects. 

Lesson #13: Working on Production Plan

Today is the last lesson for us to finalise our production plan with our group members. We needed to find a location for our office scenes, preferably a place with blinds. I thought that Ms. Chang's office would be suitable, so Charlotte and I went location scouting while Wing Kwan and Henry continued to finalise the script. In the end, we discovered that Dr. Mok's office would be a better option because Ms. Chang's office is too small and there's a LED board in the middle of her windows. We will have to ask Dr. Mok for permission to use her office.