Edit Progress

Editing was quite easy due to us using long takes. The tape footage playing on the television at the beginning had to be filmed in order so we could film it directly from the camera plugged into the TV, meaning we did not have to edit any of the tape footage. We colour graded the footage to be much warmer, giving the ending a dramatic sunset colour and adding to the film’s red and yellow colour scheme.

The most difficult part to edit was the final scene. It was paced slowly and had no dialogue, as well as telling a lot of the story. We cut out as much as we could, going for less cuts and longer takes to focus on the performance and set the pace. Initially we had hoped to reveal Madison as a hallucination by using a two shot with her in and then not after cutting back, but we decided to cut this and convey it more subtly. We experimented with different editing techniques such as making the footage jump slightly during the ending scene, which makes the viewer question the reality of the scene, making it more alike the previous scene shot on tape which pauses and fastforwards. Feedback for the rough edit was mostly positive and helpful, and looked at changed some cuts after showing it.

Script read through workshop approach

Due to our film containing large parts of pure cinema and others with only loose dialogue which we hoped to improvise, doing a readthrough is a hard task. The parts of pure cinema were also very static and would be difficult to practice in a workshop. We planned to talk to the actors about the characters they may play, and use them to help characterize them further and assist the writing of more scripted dialogue for the moor argument based off our current script, which to be effective must be well written and performed realistically. This way we will have scripted dialogue for the shoot to work off if the actors cannot improvise. We also have sections of our film where a diegetic camera is used and potentially diegetic sound through the camera’s microphone as if he were carrying it, meaning the actor playing Josh would either have to move with the cameraman or be the cameraman. We hope to test which works best in the workshop, and decide which approach works best.

Film idea pitch

About A Girl (Brian Percival, 2001) 200 word response

About A Girl is a short realist drama about an English working class girl and her difficult relationship with her family. The film cuts between following the protagonist as she recounts parts of her life to the audience, and flashbacks to different scenes in her life as she talks about them. The use of tragic irony through these cuts, such as when she says her father took her in the pub yet we see her sat alone outside, is emotive and makes us sympathise with the protagonist.

The film uses quick cutting, jump cuts and unsteady handheld camerawork to make the film feel uncomfortable and rushed, and to give it a documentary aesthetic. In contrast, slower editing and more steady camerawork is employed on moments of revelation, such as the café scene with her father, and at the end where she disposes of the baby in the canal. The clarity of these scenes suggests we are seeing the objective truth, whilst the more subjective camerawork and girl’s rambling monologue conveys a disorientated and unreliable protagonist, affected by her surroundings and troubled family life. The protagonist’s singing is emotive and expressive of her character, whilst still remaining diegetic in keeping with the realist style.