Editing (Day 11)

Today, with all the clips in and trimmed, I asked Sir to watch our music video and give us feedback on what we can improve.

• To add a transition to the first flashback and change the transition going from the bed scene with the New Lover and the artist to the bus stop, first meeting clip

Sir suggested that for the first flashback, as a code for the audience and to make it clear that the the sequence they were about to see was in the past and a memory, we put a transition on it. After testing a number of transitions, we chose to apply Cross Dissolve, which would have the picture fade to the next clip. This would signal to the audience that the music video had gone back in time and the effect Cross Dissolve is reminiscent of memories, a generic convention used in films and music videos to represent thought, the past and remembering. We put it at the end of the clip as well, to signal to the audience that we are out of the flashback and that any clips with that effect are of the past.

We also changed the transition to the first meeting, which we had as Cross Dissolve as well. We'd initially tried the Bloom effect but it was very cinematic and a little cheesy for our music video. However, I felt that using the Cross Dissolve effect twice would confuse the audience in identifying that the bus stop scene was the couple's first meeting. The Bloom effect, on reflection, wasn't that bad and so we reinstated it, as it acts as a noticeable signal that what the audience is about to see has some relevance and is more important than the other flashbacks in the sense that this is the couple's first meeting.

• To change the effect put on the flashback shots of the couple to a lighter effect

We'd added an effect to the flashback shots, however, it was quite a dark effect and didn't really give off the sense of these being a happier time. We searched with Sir and came up with Teal Orange, which was much brighter and made the shots seem much more happier and upbeat.

• Possibly add the clip of the record in a little earlier

The record entering a little later seemed a little odd to Sir and so in order to fix this problem, I just rearranged the clips a little, placing shots of the record player earlier on in the music video.

• Do something with the uniform of the soldier

There wasn't much we could do about changing the uniform of the soldier. The 1940's uniform just didn't fit in with the modern day setting, despite us wanting the music video to have a vintage twist, and Sir really just wasn't going for it. As a result, he suggested we add the Black & White effect, which we did to all the filler shots of the soldier walking home except for the last little sequence which we left in colour. This would hide the 1940's-esque uniform and solve the problem of it looking out of place, which although we were worried people might forget or not recognise Eliot's character as a soldier, leaving the last couple of shots in colour solves that problem. 

It also gives the idea that the Black & White shots are of past soldiers running home, and that war is a terrible thing that separates loads of families and couples, giving our music video a moral message as well. The colour shots bring it back to the present and place the soldier in the music video, in the present but maintain the idea that war has horrible consequences on the soldier who fight in it.