Editing

This post will be about the progress of how my teammate Bagas edited our documentary. Including the problems, small details, and improvements. 

Pre-Editing

Since the shots we took were using multiple phones, we as a group decided to make a Google Drive to ease up the collection process so that we could review all the clips at once. This also saved my storage space within my phone as it was nearly at its limit, as all of the footage combined was around 6 Gigabytes while my phone was only capable of holding another 2 Gigabytes.  

At the beginning of the week, when this project was introduced, I was confident that I could learn editing software within these months for this project. Davinci Resolve is an editing software that I chose at first.  This was very new to me, usually, I use my mobile phone to quickly edit things but since this is a big project I may want to switch over to using desktop software. However, a huge problem was that I didn’t manage my time well, therefore I didn’t have enough time to really explore and dig deep into the application. Hence, as time was ticking and the deadline got closer I decided to switch over to capcut on my mobile phone. As I do have experience editing using this software. 

Editing process

The first step I did was to lay out all of the clips in the order of the script, person by person. After that, I matched up the audio with the correct clip and synchronized it with their lip movement. This is because we had a mic issue, the issue was not having an external mic, so we decided to use another phone to record the audio. The way I did this was by extracting the audio from the video itself, this is a cool feature I discovered in capcut while editing. Then I added pictures between the conversations, using things such as slideshows or screenshots of Bagus to make it more authentic and realistic. This feature of a crime documentary was also found in my research, the use of real-life evidence. 

Then I added finishing touches such as effects, for example, in the flashback I added a black and white effect that connotes Bagus’s hopelessness after the rejection. Increasing the dramatic effect. Another effect I added was a vignette, this was to increase the focus towards the interviewees. The dark edges create a sense of claustrophobia which makes the audience feel more uneasy. 

As well I added a blur effect towards the ending with a fade in transition as the flower drops, this is to make the audience anticipate why the video was obscured and make them have to watch more to know what happens next. 

Lastly, I added the subtitles for the videos. A reason why I did subtitles last is because If I wanted to adjust the clips, for example moving the audio forwards or backwards I have to push every other clip. This is because, to my knowledge, capcut doesn’t have a feature that allows clips to stick to their audio or effects. Hence it will be a hassle to adjust everything again when it's already in place. Therefore doing subtitles last would be the most efficient way to finish the documentary. 

FEEDBACKS GIVEN:

A feedback we got from our teacher was that during a high-angle shot when Nicho came out, the bed was in the shot making it not suit with the other clips. Therefore a solution we got was adding a split screen feature and cropping the clip so that the bed will not be showing. The other side was then used as a slideshow to show Bagus’s pictures. We as a team decided to keep this change by our teacher as we needed a way to put more pictures in the documentary, and this change helped us add more pictures.

 

Another feedback we got is the diegetic sound of the light turning off during the book's closing scene. My teacher advised us to use the same sound effect for the light switch noise, we realised this was a problem as it made it as if the place was in two settings. In the end, we were satisfied with this change as it now connects with the whole scene. 

Lastly, we got feedback about the ending. My teacher recommended putting a picture or video behind the text in the end, because the background was pure black. By adding the video in the end, even though it was blurred, it helps build the suspenseful mood making the text seem more ominous. Therefore we decided to keep this change.

Self Reflection:

The editing process was done by my teammate Bagas but I played the role of giving feedback, choosing the sound, and which scenes should be included and which should not. Editing plays a big role for a documentary video but choosing the right scenes was more important. We worked as a group to decide which scenes we wanted inside of our video and which weren't as significant. We wanted the audience to decode the meaning of mysteriousness and spike their curiosity by utilizing our knowledge of camera angles and camera shots. We also discussed the order of scenes to make a documentary with a better flow that won't make it boring for the audience. We also gave feedback to Bagas and asked the teacher for feedback which made him make several changes to our first draft. With only 1 guy editing the video, it makes it easier for the rest of us to split our work and finish all the tasks on time. The progress of editing made me learn a few things. I also assisted Bagas with making the subtitles. Making the subtitles alone would take more time as Bagas would have needed to listen to the clip over and over again. Having another form of help to make the subtitles is crucial when completing our documentary project. Although not done by me, editing needs to be precise and careful as a simple mistake would make the whole project fail. We as a team learned how to be more cautious and how to focus more on the small details that have the potential to alter the meaning encoded for the audience to something completely new.