Application of Post Production Techniques (Video & Audio)

Video
I began editing the film chronologically by starting of with the introduction scene. I chose to use some of the archive images/videos Wesley had supplied us with, and the shots I had taken on the day. I began the scene with a shot I had captured of "The Wooden House" and added a slow fade in transition using the video key frames. I then followed this up with a fast cut montage consisting of some of Wesley's models.

Then for each of the interview scenes, I added cut always on different video layers which related to the specific topics Wesley was talking about. These showed off Wesley's models, but also kept the audience preoccupied. They also worked brilliantly for covering up where I had cropped Wesley's interviews together.

Between each scene, instead of adding video transitions (fading out and in), I decided to add a few shots to separate the four sections before going straight into dialogue. The only transitions used were the fade in and outs on the first shot, on the last shot, and on the rolling credits at the end.

Lastly, I colour corrected and edited the contrast, lighting, and saturation on some shots to make them match the rest of the footage.

Audio

The first audio added to my timeline was attached to the video files, as I added an external Rode microphone to the camera during the filmming process, so the sound quality was already in sync with the picture. I kept the sound for the interviews, although removed it from the cutaways so it wouldn't distract from the dialogue.

I faded in all of the sound at the beginning of my timeline, and faded it out at the end (in sync with the videos transitions). Although, for the audio I faded each separate audio file over one another, to blend the sound and dialogue together.

I plugged my laptop into the college speakers to listen to the different audio levels, and adjusted them so that they were equal levels to one another.

As well as using the sound I had recorded through my external microphone, I also added royalty free sounds of birds in the introduction, and in between the garden and workshop scenes. Lastly I added royalty free music, which I ended up editing in sync with the introduction montage at the beginning of the film.