HW: Post production

Homework - to complete 4 paragraphs using PEE in response to the question below:

“The post-production process can be the most important part of the filming process”.
How important has the post-production stage been in your foundation and advanced portfolios and how have your skills developed over these two years?

POINT – What editing tool / technique did you use? What did it suggest / connote / represent?

EVIDENCE – Specific evidence from your film (AS? A2?)

EXPLAIN – Have you progressed from AS to A2? How does this example show this progression? What did you experiment with? Take risks with? Were you more confident? Were you more adventurous?

“The post-production process can be the most important part of the filming process”

How important has the post production stage been in your foundation and advanced portfolios and how have your skills developed over these two years?


During the editing stage of both my music video and my thriller opening, I would certainly say this became the most important part of the filming process as I was able to manipulate my raw material using software to transform my film into a finished media product.

Software I used which enabled me to do this was the programme ‘iMovie’ on the Mac Computers. This allowed me to use editing effects to create meaning within my footage. During my advanced portfolio I experimented with the options available, whereas during the post production stages of my advanced portfolio I was already knowledgable of the tools I could use; therefore I would agree that my skills have certainly developed over these two years.

For my thriller opening, despite being new to the post-production software, I was quite adventurous and experimental with my use of editing effects; instead of only using simple cuts I used a variety of transitions and effects which connoted characteristics of the thriller conventions. For example, my thriller opening included ‘flashback’ scenes, in which the female villain looks into her past. I showed this via editing techniques by flashing a clip of her eye opening at the beginning of the flashback, and then closing at the end of the flashback. I used a transition between the ‘flashbacks’ and the ordinary footage called ‘cross zoom’, which created an other worldy effect, making the audience aware this was a flashback. I feel this was successful as the transition is really noticable, which creates a sense of enigma for the audience; an emotion I wanted to capture for my thriller opening. During these ‘flashbacks’, I decided an effect was needed on the footage within the flashback. I chose an effect called ‘Romantic’, which increased the brightness and saturation but also slightly blurred the screen; this not only led the audience to believe the ‘flashbacks’ were in the past, but also caused them to wonder whether the footage within the flashback was a dreamworld, due to the blur effect, which made the audience question whether the clips of footage were flashbacks or indeed the female villains imagination. To really focus viwers’ concentration on my thriller opening, I used an editing effect on the opening and closing eye before the ‘flashbacks’ called ‘vignette’; this created a shaded circle around the eye to make the audience focus on the eye. Other editing effects I used which were an important part of my filming process included overlapping text on the screen for the titles, playing clips of footage in reverse e.g. the eye opens, but had to be reversed so it could close, using clow motion effects to make a short piece of footage longer, and removing sound at dramatic points.


Clearly the post production stage of my thriller opening was invaluable in creating my finished media product, but through this I developed my skills with my knowledge and understanding of the software so that for my advanced portfolio I was able to be even more adventurous and edit my raw material much quicker than before. My music video was full of editing effects, all which linked to my artist. An example of this is the pink colourisation effect I used on the screen at certain points during the music video; this indicated my artists electro-pop genre, but also indicated a little about the artists personality- pink often connoting femininity, fun, and flirtatiousness. I carried this theme throughout my music video; at various points in the video, I inserted text on the screen in a bold, bright, colourful font. My music video was extremely lively and fast paced to match the song I had chosen, and my transitions and effects reflected this such as fast cut montage.

I would therefore say that the post-production process was probably the most important part of the filming process, and was the stage where I developed my skills the most over the two years as I learnt new tools and techniques.