I have copied the footage from each scene into separate iMovie files so that I can focus on editing each scene individually and then compile them at the end. From a blogging perspective, it is much easier to break down the editing process and analyse one scene at a time because this way I can justify my choices in more depth. Here is the first scene, untouched and unedited.
My first choice as an editor was to go through the various establishing and cutaway shots that I had filmed at the car park, which amounted to 48 seconds of footage. I knew that with a 5 minute duration I didn't have the time to keep cutting away to the scenery, and so I only wanted shots that would add depth to my narrative.
The derelict and abandoned school next to the car park could help to establish the eerie and isolated setting, but also from a symbolic perspective it could represent the destruction of youth, and thus allude to the death of Dylan's little brother. Although I like the implication of decay and gloom that this shot denotes, I do not think it develops the location in any way. The majority of my scenes take place in rural and green settings, so the urbanisation and sense of industrial decay in this shot doesn't fit the tone or geographical consistency of my narrative. It would, on the other hand, be a perfect shot for some of my sources of inspiration, such as Hell or High Water or Out of the Furnace.
This shot was a lucky moment where I managed to capture a seagull on the floodlights of the astroturf pitch behind the car park. Unfortunately I do not think that I can use this shot because I don't show the astro pitch in my film and so this shot would seem very out of place and asynchronous with the rest of the Mise en scene in the car park.
Much like the extreme close up of the road that I filmed here, I felt that this cutaway shot would be good for implying the context of the narrative, especially with the voiceover that I am going to record to accompany the opening shots. The problem is that it is too shaky, which impedes the quality of the shot. I am going to substitute this shot for the extreme close up of the road and use that to open my narrative instead.
In the editing process I was still very unsure about this planned establishing shot. It took too long to zoom in to the wing mirror and even when sped up, it exposed the shakiness of the upwards tilt. Therefore I am going to remove this shot completely because I don't feel that it achieves the character introduction that I wanted. From a critical perspective I don't find it visually engaging or professional enough to function as the opening shot.
Despite not seeing the can thrown from the window, the shot here implies that it belongs to Dylan. I think that it works as a build up to the character instead of the original shot, because the audience will instantly dismiss him as drunk and behaving erratically. Therefore his decision later on to spare the lives of the Father and Son becomes even more significant because it represents him as strong willed and in control.
Editing becomes most important when you have to move the clips around to make the whole scene more meaningful and continuous. The screenshot above shows how I have pasted a shot of Dylan's eyes in between the shots of the Father coming into view, so that this way the audience can gage Dylan's reaction and understand the importance of this initial response. It shows Dylan's sudden fixation and allows the audience to interpret the story more accurately.
Some shots, like the one above, were perfectly framed but too long in duration. The shot tilts up from the photograph on the dashboard to Dylan's solemn eyes in the mirror, but it took 21 seconds for the camera to complete this motion. Consequently I altered the speed of the clip from 'normal' to 'fast' (shown in the top right) so that I didn't have to cut the shot out to save time, just condense it down. This allows the dynamic movement of the camera to maintain a smoother pace without being too slow.
I didn't want to linger indiscreetly on the gun in Dylan's lap, and so I clipped this shot so that it cut more or less as soon as the gun becomes fully visible. This way I am not undermining my audience because the implications of a gun are fairly obvious and so I don't think I need to devote an extra few seconds of footage to dwell on the image of the gun. It also adds a better pace to the scene because it gives both the character and the viewer less time to reflect on the decisions being made. Including this shot was something that I was adamant on because I love how the lighting fades as the camera tilts down from Dylan to the gun. Since the juxtaposition of light is something that I had planned to use for symbolic value, I thought that this shot would be great for introducing this contrast, since it also introduces the gun and the darker side of the story.
I had to split the shot above in the perfect place, where Dylan's eyes were looking roughly in the direction where the Father enters the frame in the next shot. This way the audience don't instantly know what Dylan is looking towards, creating some suspense. The transition from this shot to the next becomes more progressive because it shows believable continuity.
I am very happy with my first edited sequence, although I know it still might be too long overall. Nevertheless I feel like there is a successful build up that deceitfully foreshadows the death of the Father. In addition, the background context is strongly hinted through the subtext of the Mise en scene.
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