Post Production Essay

“The post-production process can be the most important part of the filming process”.

How important has the post-production stage been in your foundation and advanced portfolios and how have your skills developed over these two years? 

In my two years of A-level media I have been required to make to productions. Across the two productions I have created a thriller opening as my foundation portfolio and a music video as my advanced portfolio. I feel that the post production process was the most important step because as it enabled me to edit all my footage together and produce a product with meaning and conventions. Eisenstein believed that editing was the foundation of film art. He believed that meaning behind film was not in individual shots but in the relationship between them. He claims the relationship is created though editing. In this essay I will discuss my development in skills and editing made throughout the two years, using this idea.

In my thriller opening I used voice overs to add narrative to my video. They also created confusion, a convention of thriller films. It was through iMovie that I was able to over lay these voice overs on to my footage and through garage band that I recorded theses voice overs. . It was for the police report and a phone call that voice overs where used. These voice clips formed the sound to my video along with a music track; there was no direct conversation between characters.

In my music video, I had to overlay the music track on to my footage. It was through iMovie and the options to adjust the timings of my footage that I was able to lip sync this track. I feel this shows progression as I had to use precise editing through iMovie to synchronise my sound clips in my second production. Eisenstein’s belief that meaning is created through editing and becomes the foundation of that film is evident here – the voice overs add the whole narrative to the film.

In my thriller opening I used blur and dissolve transitions when showing two simultaneous events to merge the footage. I did this using the default transitions on IMovie and adding them in between shots. This effect was used in between shots of the boy and the girl.

In my music video, I used the green screen effect. This effect enabled me to show two shots with in the same frame. This allowed me to emphasise on the lyrics ‘Stranded on the beach’ and match them to the action within the shot. I feel this shows progression as my ability to work with iMovie more creatively enabled me to find this effect. This effect allowed me to match lyrics to visuals, fitting the conventions of the product.

In my thriller opening, I used fast motion shots to show how time has past since the main character has gone missing. It was through iMovie and the options available to adjust the speed of the framw to speed up the shot. The editing effect was used when showing flash backs of the main character.

In my music video, the spped of the shot was reduced to repseresent the lyrics, ‘im adrifting in an endless ocean’, where I wanted to emphasise how the boy felt when lost in his emotions and his confusion. I feel that the progression here is clear as I was matching visuals to lyrics at the editing stage. Eisensteins belief that meaning is created through editing and becomes the foundation of the film is evident here – the slow motion makes the boys emotions more apparent here.