Today I was able to see a good 80% of the film in an edited timeline. Over the past few weeks we have shot a large chunk of the film - around 40%. During that time our editors have been working away on the footage that has been coming in, putting that in a timeline based on the script and storyboards and colour grading the footage. This is where a lot of the pre production planning came in handy. From the earliest stages of the film I provided a big canvas which was filled up with the storyboards and shot lists. I also left notes for the editors on specific images which were tagged with importance in regards to visual effects or some sort of elaborate editing technique. Over the past few weeks the narrative timeline and colour grade have progressed nicely, and now it's reaching that point in post production where I have more time to sit down with the edit and work out the finer details. At this point its all about the specifics of the story, and the edit is the time and place to focus on nailing the characters, dialogue, theme and timing all in one coherent fashion. In the past I have had some great experience in working with an editor/editors in post production. One of the main things I have learned that is essential in the edit is patience, and that is something I inevitably going to take into the post production process of Echoes of Silence.
Today was the day, as I mentioned, that I got to see a lot of the film. As things stand I'm extremely optimistic about the few weeks ahead in post production because there seems to be less technical issues than we usually have. The quality of the sound seems a lot better than our past projects, which have required hours of work in immense detail, often leaving us stressed about the project and wishing it to be over. With Echoes of Silence that isn't the case. So far we've hit no real issues in the edit, and everything is going extremely smoothly. As the footage has been coming in regularly over the course of 3-4 month, it has given our editors time to perfect sequences in advance. I anticipate that in the next few weeks we will be fixing and changing things in meticulous fashion, which I see as a great thing. Our quality of work now means we aren't faced with huge issues, but small ones which are either easily fixed or worked around. We are now four days from hand-in as I write this, and we are almost in the perfect position. We still have one and a half scenes left to film, and unfortunately one of the important final scenes may be missing from the hand-in version of the film. This was down to a deeply personal issue with one main member of the cast. We were supposed to shoot that one full scene today, and the half scene tomorrow then we would be all finished for hand-in midday Monday. However last night I received a call from a member of the cast who was scheduled in today that they would not be able to make it for personal members. I understood their position and I sincerely empathised with them, telling them not to worry and that we'll shoot that scene in due time, and that they must take the day off to get their head around things. I made this decision on the basis that we have already committed ourselves to our best work of our degree, and despite the film not being perfect for hand-in, I undoubtedly believe we have outdone ourselves in every way possible. We are extremely privileged to be in this position, to be able to do what we love as a group of likeminded of individuals, which is why we have to remember that we are only human at the end of the day. If something arises which makes someone upset or takes them out of the mindset required for a day of filming, I'd much rather see them rested than force on them a feeling of discomfort through what would be selfishness, and my desire to see the film done. Despite this major set back, I followed up with our cast member in question today and they have informed me they're willing to film tomorrow to complete our half scene. I anticipate that like all of our previous shoots, the one tomorrow will go smoothly and will fill the gaps in the edit for Monday.
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