Major Project: Final Cut Workflow & Result

As we had achieved picture lock during the Fine Cut of Double Exposure, the remaining changes that would turn the film into a Final Cut consisted of adding our audio's mixdown (levelling all tracks' volume and exporting them as one single track) to the Premiere project, making one last audio correction, altering the end credits, and having final reviews within our group and with outside opinions before rendering and exporting.

Aside from overhauling the audio, these were all minor changes that in total were completed within two days due to how much the Director and I had achieved by the end of the Fine Cut, leaving plenty of time for rendering and exporting a number of copies of the film.

Below are my final edit logs, tasks and screenshots of my work...

Day 25 (Adding Mixdown Track, Sound Issue Recognition & Credit Alterations)

Day 25 Edit Log

• After the Fine Cut was complete, picture lock had been achieved, and I had arranged all audio tracks in Audition ready for our hired Sound Mixer, he spent two days working on the audio to attempt noise/distortion fixes, add echo effects where needed, lift and level the volume, and create the final mixdown.

• Once this was finished, I added the single mixdown track to the project, synced this with the current audio tracks and reviewed this to ensure that this was in sync throughout the film. Once I was happy, I removed all separate audio tracks from the film, leaving the single mixdown track. Below are the before and after images of the tracks before the mixdown, and after the mixdown was added...

Before

After

• The Director and I then reviewed the film again with the new track to further check it's syncing and to check for any issues. When doing this we found a digital pop-like sound during one scene that had occurred during the Sound Mixer's export of the audio. With help and advice from our technical advisor, he conducted tests on this clip in a different software called Protools to attempt to fix this.

• Following this, we had separate viewings with our tutor and Director Andrea Kapos. We received positive feedback that there's great attention to detail, it's edited very well and the way the music has been used is very effective in heightening tension.

• As a group, we then decided on our three submission film stills that best represent the film, three behind the scenes photos, and our three minute extract of the film - all for submission. Our three minute extract is the opening three minutes of the film, as we feel that this establishes Emily's character, provides drama and tension, gives the feel of a psychological thriller, and leaves a cliffhanger at the end - without revealing any spoilers.

• I then added our DOP's name and my own name to the credit of 'Promotional Materials' in the end credits due to our joined contributions to the poster, and my own contribution of creating our film's website and YouTube channel. I then also added the Double Exposure website address to the credits as planned. And lastly, I re-positioned and spaced out the text of the credits to make it clearer for the viewers and to appear more even.

I feel that the Final Cut audio has improved in certain areas, as the echo effects added to certain clips are very effective, and certain areas of dialogue were cleaned up. However, due to how many issues the original clips contained, as a group we have accepted that the audio is as good as it can be, which is an average quality that I and the Sound Mixer have worked hard on.

On the first of these two days for the Final Cut, I feel that this was very productive. I was able to make all of my planned final adjustments, have multiple viewings of the film for quality checks, and received positive feedback from our tutor and a professional Director.

Day 26 / Final Day (Fixed Audio Clip Added, Rendering & Exporting)

Day 26 / Final Edit Log

• On the final day of editing, we received the fixed audio clip that had removed the digital pop issue, and I then added this into the timeline, synced it, and disabled the corrupted clip. This involved adding a second track to the project to so that I could add fade effects to either end of the clip in order to blend it in seamlessly. This marked the final change to the film. Below is a screenshot of the corrected clip added to the timeline...

• The Director and I then reviewed the film one last time before rendering and exporting.

• We found no further issues, so I made a new project for our three minute extract, rendered, and exported this at an accessible Apple ProRes 422 quality with 1920 x 1080 resolution. I then reviewed this and added it to our YouTube channel and website.

• I then rendered the whole final film in Premiere, and exported two separate copies. Both in a high quality Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) format, but with one at a 3840 x 2160 resolution for use at our degree screening, and the other at a 1920 x 1080 resolution for general distribution and viewing (laptops, YouTube etc.). Below is a screenshot of the screening copy of the film being exported...

• I then viewed these exported copies of the film with the Director to ensure that there were no issues. We were happy with the exports, and the film was complete.

This was technically the most crucial day of the entire project. After the final correction was made (replacing the corrupted clip), I was able to spend the rest of the day having multiple viewings with the Director to be certain that the film was ready, and then allow plenty of time to render and export three separate versions of the film three days before submission.

Results

Although the Final Cut of the film took a total of two days including rendering and exporting, I feel that I approached this in a sensible way by giving myself double the amount of days that it actually took. As this way if any extra problems came up (such as the corrupted audio clip) I would have time to fix this. I'm glad that the Final Cut of the film wasn't rushed, and that I was able to take my time with any minor changes and have multiple reviews of the visuals and audio to ensure that the film was completely ready for submission.

I think that although the Fine Cut version of Double Exposure was extremely close to a finished film, the Final Cut took it to it's final stage by having a completed and fine tuned mixdown track in place of multiple un-mixed audio clips, updated credits, helpful and positive feedback, and the certainty as a group that the film was complete and that we were happy with it. I will talk about the overall results of the film and my critical reflections in my next and final post.