The post production process

Once filming was finished, we uploaded all of our footage onto the computer. Although the thriller was supposed to be only two minutes, the total footage which we had filmed had come to about an hour, as it included a lot of shots which had been messed up (very common when filming in a public area), as well as lots of alternative shots and multiple takes just to make sure we had everything and there were no mistakes.

My job was to sift through all of this footage and find the most appropriate and effective shots, ignoring duplicated shots and any shots with mistakes. I was extremely glad that we had performed multiple takes of every shot, however; as it meant we did not have to go back and do any filming again.

Our storyboarding played an important role in the editing process as it helped me to put each shot in order without too much hassle. Alongside this, it was also helpful that we had found an appropriate soundtrack for our thriller beforehand. This meant that while editing, I was able to make sure that the stings in the soundtrack coincided with what was happening on screen. This added a lot to the overall atmosphere of the thriller.

We decided that the best way of showing the scenes on public transport without losing the interest of the viewer, was to use fades and dissolves to represent time passing but without having to show every second of him being on the train. We then integrated the credits into the opening minute of the film by fading to black and showing the credits, before fading back to another shot. This creates the illusion of time passing and also adds to the atmosphere of the thriller.

The font used in the credits (courier new) was chosen because it is a regular font similar to that used by a typewriter, for example. This represents the apparant normality of our lead character, which is the idea we were trying to put across with the shots of him getting on the train. We spent a lot of time considering how we should show the credits, as if we had simply slapped some credits over the top without thinking it through, it would have completely ruined the atmosphere of the thriller and made the whole thing look unprofessional.

Continuity is also paramount to creating a believeable scenario within our thriller. Therefore, I had to make sure that Tom's appearance did not change from shot to shot, and also that continuity was maintained with the editing. For example, if there is a cut between two shots where he is walking, it is important that his actions match up so that he doees not appear to 'jump'. Overall, I feel that I achieved this successfully.