Post Production

Documentary edit

Mathew R. James
Aug 24, 2017 · 3 min read

From the beginning we set out to film as much overlay footage as we could, this was both a blessing and a curse as we had always had enough footage for each character and mostly had footage that complimented what our characters were speaking on but sometimes struggled when we had some parts that looked similar to another. However, we did achieve a great smoothness with this footage as we could use one piece to interlay two different stories.

Although we did use multiple cameras during the project and it did make for easier set ups on shooting days once we got to post making the difference in footage blend was at times not possible. Some shots had been underexposed and needing extra attention in the colour grade that took time away from improving other shots.

As far as sound was concerned I believe our recorded audio proficient in most cases with only minor troubles like facial hair scratching the mike or overly loud external noises, which was more of an issue than I had originally thought but nothing detrimental to the project. Our soundtrack was when both the fun and troubles did arise, as we did not have an original score we had to find royalty free music that felt fresh and complimented our documentary. After hours going through youtube we found near perfect tracks in some cases with each character having there own song to help bring familiarity to each character but still keep each segment feeling fresh to the last. These music cues helped our editor both now when to make cut or leave our character on screen for a moment longer as the action they were performing matched an uplift in or an extra beat in the song.

Our introduction utilised these cues to the max, with extra sound effects used to amplify our transitions and keep the audience not only engaged but help the audience know where to look next on screen and maintain a constant flow with each cut or transition surrounding the beat of the song.

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Mathew R. James

Written by

Filmmaker, Lighting Tech, taker of photos, eater of pizza and once a blogger.

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