After The Dark (2013)

After The Dark is a philosophy fantasy film written, produced and directed by John Huddles and edited by William Yeh.

The opening scene is clearly coloured to be warmer than it actually is,with pretty constant cuts between close-ups the the couple before an establishing wide. A fade is used to shorten the time it takes for Petra (Sophie Lowe) to leave before the slower music changes to a much faster piece that reflects James’ (Ryhs Wakefield) rush. The edit however, doesn’t reflect his rush, using the slow pans and crane-shots; while this does help set the location in India, it doesn’t reflect the Wakefield’s hurry and panic and so isn’t as effective as it could be if the shots had been cut a little shorter, for example.

Once in the classroom, the wide shots are often used to show everyone in the room before using mid-shots to those talking. Once again, the colours are very rich, especially the darker wood, which suggests the colour correction was used to do this, perhaps to remind the audience of the Indian setting and the private international school. Some of the mid-shots are used not only to show those speaking but also the reactions to those talking, using voiceovers to continue the story.

One particular shot uses a track between the desks and while it should be introducing the students more, letting the audience see as many faces as possible so they can be recognised later, the end point is the back of the classroom and seems to detract from the students. The next shot seems more useful, where the track goes the other way and focuses its end point on the teacher, showing that the previous shot could’ve been left out as the amount of other shots, including wides and mids of students, would’ve been enough for the audience to start noting the characters.

In this scene, there are mentioned different philosophical theories and to illustrate these, the edit cuts away to scenes that have been completed with a green screen; this allows the backgrounds to be more flexible and allow the audience to focus on the action. Some features of the ‘theory scenes’ are also computer-animated, such as a speeding tram or building; while they are rather obvious in being computer-generated, this can be an advantage as it adds to the atmosphere that this scene isn’t real, it’s just serves as a visual explanation to some philosophical theories that could be quite hard to understand otherwise. The cuts between the reality and explanations are quick cuts to ensure the audience are distracted by the break in the edit from the classroom.

It is during this point that the debates and arguments begin and these are shown via quick cuts between mid and close-ups of those in the argument. The cuts never linger for longer than the person speaking or even a few seconds and the quick pace is beneficial in showing the quick-thinking and heightened emotions of those arguing. However, this can be inconsistent; at one point, the edit cuts between the teacher and one character, Chips (Daryl Sabara) and the composition mid-shot of Sabara changes each time he’s cut back to. This implies the editor used different takes and while this isn’t usually a problem, because the composition changes, it can be distracting to the eye.

A common feature in this edit is cuts prompted by dialogue; because half of the film is a philosophical exercise, it is shown in the film as action, rather than the entire film being set in a classroom and the actions being spoken from desks and this means the edit must switch between both. One example is the teacher, Mr Zimit (James D’Arcy) setting up the exercise and says “Ready… Set… Think.” between each word, there are two cuts, a wide of the classroom followed by a close-up or mid of the teacher. While two cuts looks like too many, because it can’t linger on the scene long enough before changing before D’Arcy speaks once more, the edit cuts to the ‘apocalypse scene’ as soon as D’Arcy has said “Think”. The cut prompted by the speech works well in introducing the next scene as well as acting as build-up to the climactic boom of a bomb exploding, coupled with a bright flash put in. This sudden loud noise and flash of light work well to surprise the audience and the resulting explosions and mushroom clouds added in fully immerse the audience in this supposed apocalypse.

The next scene, where the bunker is first introduced cleverly uses the footage to save transitions; the bunker is designed to withstand the impending doom of the apocalypse and so there are multiple doors. As the group explore, the doors pull back and the edit uses this almost like a wipe transition to move the group further down the corridor and save time. Once again, the music doesn’t quite fit with what’s on the screen; the music is almost synth-pop, an edgy tune meant to fit with the end-of-the-world feeling and the strange situation the group have found themselves in, but the tentative walking of the exploring group and the slower pans and exposition shots of the new locations doesn’t really fit the music placed in the background. If the intention of the music was to be jarring, to further add to the bizarre situation of the group’s final day of the year, then it has succeeded, but it isn’t as effective as it could be.

The same piece of music is used a little later, in the classroom, when the D’Arcy is handing out roles for each student to fill in the exercise. The music works better here because the cuts are much quicker, showing multiple students taking out their pieces of paper and finding out their jobs. This music helps speed up the montage yet still gives audience the relevant information without skipping too far ahead in the story. Montage is used again only a few minutes later, when the group decide who will go into the bunker; this montage also uses music, but it is slower and voiceovers are used over the top of the music. The contrast between the actors shown on screen and the voiceovers discussing them works well as it cuts down the time of the debates into a key sentence that shows the group’s decision and reminds the audience which character got which job.

The next montage opens with the students reacting to the idea of being the bunker, cutting between wide shots of various characters in pairs. It then focuses on a pair and cuts between the ‘apocalypse scene’ and the classroom; the cuts are dictated by one person’s movements across the classroom and each action taken in one setting is completed in the other, e.g. approaching someone and sitting down. The edit is a clever way of reminding the audience that this is still just a thought experiment, while also speeding up the time between the next crucial event in the story, as well as explaining the changing layout of the classroom.

There is one point that an overlay is used; it only serves to cover the camera pulling back a metre or so and the scene doesn’t change for another thirty or so seconds afterwards. The actors don’t change position and one character’s question is heard as a voiceover during part of the transition. It seems to serve no purpose, unless it is to hide the lack of footage of said character’s question actually being said. If so, it seems like an ineffective way to hide one actor’s mouth not moving when it could’ve cut or faded to another new scene and still used the voiceover technique. The question itself wasn’t that vital to the story’s progression and could’ve been cut entirely, removing the need for the overlay that just disrupts the flow of the edit.

The overlay is used again during an intimate scene between one of the couples; once more it seems redundant when it’s only being used to cut between different angles of the same scene, when a match cut would do. The fact that this hasn’t been done once again suggests a lack of coverage or the editor trying to make the scene ‘romantic’ by using a slower transition than a simple cut, but it doesn’t seem to have that impact. The couple featured in this scene are the same as in the opening and once more the colouring has been altered to be much warmer with a lot more orange in it; the consistency is pleasing and suggests to the audience this relationship is a good one to be supported as well as helping them remember the earlier scene and draw the parallels from the lighting and the actors’ positions.

The next montage shows the year in the bunker passing; using a montage is the obvious choice to show such a large amount of time pass as quickly as possible. The music used is quite dramatic, with a clear beat that shows the gravity of the situation the characters find themselves in; the clear beat suggests that it could be used as a guide in the edit, having the edit cut to a new person living in the bunker at every other beat, perhaps. Instead the music seems to have been disregarded as a guide and the edit cuts to a new shot whenever an action, such as pulling out a packet is completed or whenever it was felt the scene, such as nail-painting has been shown for long enough. While each clip was at a suitable length, not going on long enough to bore the audience or too short so that it was unclear what was going on, some of these clips could’ve been trimmed to fit with the beat and given the montage a much more smoother flow and perhaps even sped up the montage so the story could continue at a faster pace; granted, this could compromise the idea that an entire year is passing and perhaps the slower pace, ignoring the music is better to remind the audience that there is an extended period of time passing that would take a toll on all the characters shown.

There are a lot of montages used in this film; it is understandable, due to the huge amount of time that the editor must show in only a few minutes, but they can start to be a little repetitive to view. For example, the montage of the group now trying to survive after they can’t get out of the bunker is slow, which makes it difficult to watch, but it is matched with the dialogue used as a voiceover, and so it dictated by whatever the dialogue is describing, as the corresponding footage must be shown. The overlay transition is used once more and while it makes sense to use it, as it helps to skip between each member of the group without having to use tracks while filming and just use a much longer clip of a camera going around some faces, the fade seems too long and by the time the previous image is gone, sometimes the current clip is already finished and it feels like some of the montage is almost going too fast for the effects to keep up.

The second incarnation of the exercise follows much the same pattern as the first in terms of both story and edit; this does allow it to be easier for the audience to watch and it makes sense that if it looked good the first time, then trying to change it might not be worth it. It also means that the audience expect certain things to happen, such as the selection process, but it can be altered to still be interesting. In this version, the selection montage was cut in with the classroom so that when the characters are being chosen to stay or go into the bunker, they can also be seen switching seats in the classroom, reminding the audience that this is still a classroom experiment while contrasting it with the grave interactions in the ‘apocalypse scene’. Once more the year in the bunker is shown through a montage but this time it is intercut with scenes outside of the bunker, such as explosions and mushroom clouds. These scenes contain features of CGI, such as the explosions; the impressive aspect of these is that these have been created to match the rest of the footage’s composition, for example a lot of the explosions are put into the thirds of the screen like a lot of the closeups of the actors. This fits with the aesthetic of the film and looks pleasing to the eye. Having the scenes of the outside also helps the passage of time move forward, with time lapses of an eclipse and clouds going across the moon; the time lapses are a very obvious way of showing time passing but paired with the slower music that then cuts to the couples, it shows the audience how long they’ve been together and how it still isn’t working.

During this second bunker portion, there is a conversation; the scene is edited to show everyone speaking and those reacting to the dialogue, lingering long enough to get a good impression without staying too long that the audience grows tired. In the background is a repetitive booming noise that is explained as the atomic bombs still falling. These noises are barely heard over the dialogue, but these noises slowly become louder and occur more often and help increase the tension as the conversation becomes darker and more menacing. These noises lead into the music that has a much more rapid beat that accompanies the escalation in the events on screen. The fight that breaks out is edited well; the cuts between the different angles are well timed so that there’s no overlaps of movement and the fast cuts mean that the pace remains fast to suit the fight scene.

The scene in which D’Arcy’s deception is revealed in well-edited; a particularly nice feature is the music used. Once Wakefield has the box, a chime is heard; the bell begins to ring and as he looks into the box the bell starts to ring more often, even as dialogue starts again. As it gets faster, the tension is increased and it slows down to allow the dialogue but the steady beat continues as the trickery with the box is explained. To reveal how the box works, a square wipe is used to show a cutaway of the box’s inside and the extra compartments; it’s a good way to explain how the box works without taking extra time away from the story, instead using the flashback so that the audience are aware of how D’Arcy managed the deception when they first watched it.

The third and final ‘apocalypse scene’ has a nice exposition; while the shot of the bunker could’ve perhaps been shown a little longer as it cuts away a little fast to be recognised but it cuts back to the boat approaching the beach and considering this is the main focus as it is carrying the characters, the quick cut is understandable. D’Arcy running toward the bunker is edited in an interesting way; as he runs across the beach, he comes from the bottom left corner of the screen and before he leaves the top right, the scene cuts to him running in from the bottom middle into the left of the screen. This transition works as it explains his journey and the eye can easily follow his running.

Once more the selection process happens and again an overlay is used to shorten Lowe going down the line of the group and selecting them. While this does cut down on some time, it doesn’t cut out who gets selected nor does it have any real impact on the edit. Considering Lowe barely moves position in the shot, it may have looked better to attempt a match cut rather than put an effect on the edit.

This third ‘apocalypse scene’ features a lot of flashbacks to explain certain events, such as how certain characters ended up with guns. These flashbacks have the same music as the current events, but they are cut to only show new angles the audience didn’t see previously, such as closeups of the previously seen characters and mid-shots of the characters and events now being introduced. The inclusion of new footage with different angles makes the flashback still interesting to watch. However some of the cuts, particularly when the boy is retrieving the hidden gun are jarring; it’s been cut so the events are sped up, so the audience only see him hiding and retrieving the gun but it is uncomfortable to watch him suddenly jump forward across the room with no preamble. If it was even just set to the beat of the music, it may be easier to watch, but as it isn’t, the audience must watch a disjointed journey that is admittedly helpful in explaining the events currently happening.

The scene that shows the group that didn’t get into the bunker escaping on the boat feels like it runs on too long. The shot of just the island and the water flowing past makes sense as the view from the boat, but goes on too long as the audience may not always understand this and then the next shot of them all on the boat runs on too long. It’s obvious they’re all on the boat and that they’re travelling away; it once more cuts away to the island as the camera moves away but this one is much shorter and so works better in the edit.

The year in the bunker montage is different this time. It has a constant voiceover of Lowe; it is cut according to the dialogue and there is an acoustic guitar used as music in the parts with no dialogue. It suggests a lighter version of events and fits with the characters now enjoying their time in the bunker. The montage uses mostly cuts between the action as it is dictated by the dialogue but occasionally overlays are used again. It appears this time that the overlays are being used to show a fluidity of movement as well as the time passing, but the time passing is already mentioned in the dialogue so the overlay is once again unnecessary.

This scene features a flashback to the very beginning of the film and the contrast between the colouring is very evident. In the bunker, the colour is very cold, with a lot of blues whereas at the beginning, the colouring is much warmer, with oranges. Considering this is the same couple, the edit implies the relationship is changing, but the continuing use of white in the edit suggests there’s still some similarities which is an effective way of communicating this to the audience without having to use time and dialogue to do so.

The overlay is used again to show the process of the harp being built, but it finally makes sense in the edit. The overlay uses the movements of the actors to its advantage as they cross the same area over and over carrying different pieces of metal to show the passage of time effectively. It is also used to show D’Arcy’s survival in the cave and this works well to show the lengthy passage of time he experienced on his own and the insanity he felt.

The whiteout of the bomb exploding is effective as the music cuts at the same time and the white remains for only a second, to make sure the audience understand the impact of the events and the end of the thought experiment before cutting straight back to the classroom.

The scene showing Sabara’s own thought experiment is a lighter portion to the film and this is reflected by the more upbeat music and the more comical events. What adds to the comedy is the edit itself, for example when one character is killed by a baracuda attack, the edit starts by showing him at a mid-shot in the ocean before cutting to a wide that shows him being dragged under the water. This helps the comedy aspect as the character already looks smaller and music helps to sell the comedy, as well as the swift cut back to the classroom with the next situation to be explained.

The handing in of the textbooks is a quick scene with match cuts of each student approaching and dropping their book. The closeups reveal their expressions and their attitude to the teacher at the end of all that has happened. It’s nicely edited with the quick cuts between each student and this is probably what should’ve been done on similar sequences that showed all the students instead of using overlays.

The sequence with D’Arcy’s character walking up the stairs is confusing; it is repeated three times, as if to suggest alternate endings. Alternate endings are not something previously shown in this edit and while this film does deal with the choices potentially made and the fallout, this seems out of place. The fact that it is repeated three times does fit with the three thought experiments conducted but after the experiments had concluded some time before this, it still seems jarring to watch and is ultimately very confusing to the audience.

The use of silence is just as effective in these type of scenes, as it helps the audience fully appreciate certain statements previously said, or the wild track can be made louder so that the tension can be fully appreciated or the audience can focus more on other aspects, such as the character’s acting. This film features a lot of conversation and this edit does well in keeping up with the changing speakers without making it a dizzying switch between two faces, as well as ensuring the audience still see the characters react to the speaker and the dialogue as well. However during some scenes with dialogue, there can be too much emphasis on silence, which means there are often sequences where the audience are left staring at inactive characters.

Overall, After The Dark is a well-edited film that flows well and makes a very dialogue-heavy film interesting to watch. It needs to be noted that a good portion of what makes the film so interesting to watch is the different shots used, such as crane and tracked shots; this however, are down to production so only had to be put into the edit as a whole and make it look good with little action from the editor. This being said, the rest of the edit is cut well, especially when dealing with conversations and the soundtrack is, for the most part, used well to help build emotions in the scene. Some of the transitions weren’t as effective as they could be, but the montages used were cut well to further the story and make sure the audience understand and enjoy the full story.