SIBLINGS TEST 1: POST PRODUCTION

The test edit was basically just compiling the footage and the order as shot but experimenting along the way. The finished file is below and some explanations as to my thinking in the key editing areas. Some areas went well, some did not and some came close. Editing is obviously going to be important for telling the narrative of the piece and creating an interesting audience experience and flow and will need more consideration.

The boys edits of them as themselves and their own take on their relationships went fairly well. The most successful of which were the ones where they were cut to look like they were shot live and interacted with each other and the cross over and sense of friendship, fun and sibling bonding and relationships shone through.

The edits where they were presented as animations voicing the words of their parents in my opinion was less successful. It involved editing an image drawn in photoshop and of 4 basic frames, one of head with mouth closed and then three with mouth from slightly open to open. These were then edited to animate to the voice track. The colour of these was interesting and the idea did make some sense appearing as a enhanced version of their kids by the parents who spend the most time worrying about them all and how their personalities and life skills are progressing. However I am not 100% convinced and it is really jarring with the main footage. The same goes for the parents sound on these which is very flat and un-animated and needs a greater more approachable dose of personality next time possibly.

The edits presenting the psychologists were supposed to be cold and clinical and almost to be the foil for the boys actual personalities where the boys counteract their findings. The idea being that you cannot easily pigeon hole people according to studies and one size does not fill all and people confound, stretch and twist established ideas personality and identity rising above these. I played around with making them B/W playing with the contrast, B/W and pixelated to make them more blocky to represent this. I also experimented with sound trying to make this more detached deciding eventually to put a computer effect on the boys voices. The ideas are all rooting in the intentions to make the psychologists sections more detached but possibly was a little heavy handed and OTT for the audience and like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut with much more subtlety needed in future attempts.

Transitions between the comments and talking heads were tricky and to be honest I wimped out with a simple cut to black. I did try messing around with fades to black, dissolves and the such but I likes the abrasiveness of the cut to black and then the next set of comments surprising the audience. The jury is still out on transitions though and this needs further investigation and experiment.