Practical: Editing Experiment - Static to Clips

Editing: Adding Static to Clips

We are planning to add a static effect to some of our shots to break up the clips and create more tension. The static effect will be partnered with static noise, therefore reducing the amount of the clip the audience can see/hear, creating enigma and suspense. 
We could use static to transition our clips as it would hide the jump from scene to scene and allow the film opening to flow. Repeating the static would allow us to build suspense and create a lead up to a jump scare or red herring. 

I used Final Cut Pro to edit the preliminary clips, shot in my garden. 

1. I downloaded all of the clips on my SD card onto iPhoto to then convert into Final Cut Pro. I deleted all of the clips that I didn't believe would look good or were too long/out of focus.

2. I decided the order of my clips and dragged them into the timeline. This would allow me to edit the clips later.

3. I used the zoom option in the bottom right hand corner to enable me to see the clips in more detail and to make them easier to edit.

4. I muted all of the clips to avoid bad sound transitions between clips. I did this by dragging down the sound bar within the clip properties as shown in the picture below.

5. I dragged a generator into the timeline, already made and available in the Final Cut Pro program. The generator is a clip of horizontal lines that move slightly. It reminded me of the static effect so I decided to experiment with that rather than over complicate things in my first use of Final Cut Pro.

6. I cropped the clips to ensure the best part of the clips were in, so the video wouldn't be as long. Again, to ensure that I do not over complicate things. I also used the 'blade' option to cut the 'lines' clip so the size was more manageable. The small orange line on the left of the lines clip is where I cropped the video to.

7. After I cropped the generator, I copied a section of it to then copy and repeat to create a broken static effect.

8. To play the clips over each other, I have to adjust the opacity of the video I filmed myself. I did this by choosing the clip and using CTRL and T to bring up video transactions. From this I scrolled to the bottom of the pop-up and dragged the opacity scale to the centre. I did this from both sides so they met in the middle. I also dragged the 100% opacity downwards to ensure that the video was less than 100% throughout.

9. The line generator was green, blue and orange - not the colours of static. To make the clip greyscale, I reduced the saturation of the clip to 0, I did this by dragging the option to the lowest amount.

10. I decided to leave it as a short clip for the purpose of the preliminary and to upload to the blog. So I deleted all of the clips past the end of the first. I experimented with the distance between the static interruptions to create a pattern, and for what length of time was the most effective.  

This is the short clip of the static interruption:

We will use the static interruption in our film opening to increase the tension and suspense. We are planning to use it during the process of possession as it makes the original image harder to see and therefore an easy effect to create enigma and cause the audience to feel uneasy. We could also use it to transition the short clips together in the fast editing section; this would carry a repetitive effect throughout the film opening and help bring the editing together.

To improve the editing technique I would download the static affect from YouTube (abiding by copyright laws) and use that instead, as the lines generator had horizontal lines compared to the well-known vertical static lines. The generator lines moved slowly, in comparison to the fast, broken static lines. To improve it further, I would download the static noise and play the noise in short time frames that goes with the pattern of the static interruptions.