SARA PROJECT: ART WALKS POST-PRODUCTION

With all of the footage from the shoots on location and from the studio at my disposal I set about editing a test clip of the piece.

As there were several layers workflow was important so I started in Permiere Pro and cut all of the clips. Firstly the shots with audio and picture of Sara shot on a green-screen in the studio a variety of sizes. Then I edited the images of the footage that was shot on location and found clips that reflected what Sara was talking about that were the right length to match the variety of shot sizes talking about the stage of the walk.

From previous attempts in After Effects where I was going to composite the images and sound this was the best way to do it in tracks all then individually exported. This made sure all the timings on all of the pieces of content were the right length and this is easier to do in Premiere than After Effects.

Next I imported them into After Effects where I composited them all together. This is always a time consuming and fiddly job especially as i am still learning the software although I have grasped the basics. It involved lots of scaling, re-framing, animation paths to get it right so was process heavy.

Once all of this was done it was then the creative tuning. Inverted titles with images underneath, backgrounds, opacity,  grading and effects on the footage. This was trial and error as it needed something to marry the images on location and the studio green screen elements. I tried a multitude of colours, textures and filters but I am still not all that happy with the result.

 Overall the piece seems a little flat perhaps due to Saras delivery but it also looks a little too 80's TV. There is a style in there but I have not nailed it yet and it seems a little cheesy and not in keeping with mine or Saras original intentions. I have included area I think need developing if we decide to take the piece forward.

SARA TEST STUFF BEST from Jon Saward on Vimeo.

Things to consider moving forward.

• Greater clarification of the intentions of the piece. Jane Jacobs, walks in general or Saras walk specifically as this is a little confused.
• More grading and time spent refining..
• Smoothing out of the images and backgrounds a little contrasty.
• More footage shot backgrounds, pieces of work against the green screen etc.
• Sara does come across a little cold more coaching in delivery as she is not a presenter.
• Quotes work OK but need more.
• Graphics style close but too clunky and 80's TV the elements need refining.