'The Fall'

This week I started to do some film research into different editing techniques that have been used in the films I watch. The first I will write about is directed by Tarsem Singh called 'The Fall' (2006). This is a very imaginative fairytale like film about an injured man in hospital telling a story to a little girl about 5 mythical heroes set in an exotic far off land.

The film switches between the real time of the man in hospital and the fairytale element of the film, and often purposely confuses the two. In observing the way that the film blends the two elements, the first method is the use of sound. The man begins to tell the story, and as he does, the visuals switch to the other part of the film (like in the picture above) and he becomes a voiceover, telling the story. This smooths the transition between the two. Furthermore, later in the film the characters begin to interact with the voiceover, and even further in the film, the man and the child become characters in the fairy tale. I like this element of it because it does really make it feel like a fairy tale.

The film also uses a lot of extreme long shots in the fairytale part of the film to establish a setting to the scene. An example of this is above and below. These work really well with the rest of the visuals in the film, to give it that 'fairytale' look.

I really enjoy watching this film, mainly for the visuals. However I think as I am currently doing post production, it is interesting to take note of the way different films make the transition in one way or another, and in this case it is between two completely different realms. I think the whole element of the voiceover is something which I can take into account when editing the footage from Night Journey.

After the feedback session I went on to improve my edit. Below is a screenshot of my progress so far:

Here I split up the audio of the narration a lot more to give time for the characters to interact with what each other had said. It has given it a much better rhythem now and I think it is very much an improvement.

This is an example of how I tried to improve the rhythm of it by including more reaction shots of the narrator, which is used in response to the cannibal, but also when the narrator is speaking.

I even managed to use the shot of the narrator grasping the newspaper. This is used in the part where the cannibal is talking about eating him, and thus the narrator grasps it anxiously. I think it works well and keeps the continuity well with shots further on.

There was also this part where the character in this shot walks in to the carriage to ask for a light. At first I had it with the narration over the top which really didn't work. Now however, I have it without narration and it is cut with a shot of the narrator which works 100% better.

Feedback from session

Generally it was thought that the dialogue controlled the flow of the piece. However the dialogue seemed non-stop throughout and that a break was needed to give some kind of feel to the images that are being displayed. For the most part there didn't seem to be much feeling between the two characters as most of the focus was on the cannibal character. To improve it I will slow down the pace of it by including some different shots and by removing some of the narration.

Night Journey so far

This screenshot shows my progress so far, and currently I am just over 3 and a half minutes in. It has been challenging, yet very enjoyable.

The shot displayed in the right hand viewer is one that I really liked and decided to include. I think it sets the scene as I intended it to, and with the sound over the top of it I think it works really well.





During the editing I noticed a few continuity problems. For instance in this shot, there is no newspaper present next to the man on the left, yet in the script it says to include a close up of him holding one. If I included it however, this shot would not work because there isn't a newspaper present. Therefore I scrapped the close up shot of the newspaper completelty.






Further on in the editing I required the use of this shot to show the narrator leaving his seat. As can be seen, the newspaper causes another slight problem as in this shot it is visible. I decided to stick with the shot because first of all it is essential to show that he has left. Secondly I don't think it is too much of a problem that it wasn't there before hand because it could look as if he has only just put it in viewing of the audience because he has reached the point where he needs to gather his belongings as he is leaving.

Night Journey

Currently I am editing footage from the film 'Night Journey' by following a rough script of how the film should look (this is prior to actually having seen the film as I think this would be a much better way of sticking to my own judgement). Whilst following the script, I am also taking into account my own opinion and judgement on how I think the film should look. With this I am making changes where I feel necessary. The whole process of following a script and having to make your own decisions on the editing of the film is quite a challenging yet enjoyable exercise. It is allowing me to see how competent I am with editing and is not only testing my skills with using Final Cut Pro, but also with keeping to the actual script.

I will post screenshots at a later date to show my progress.