Production - Edit Day with George + Meeting With Simon

On Tuesday 12th March I went in to join George and help him with the edit as he was feeling a little lost and overwhelmed with the work he still had to do. Cailan did not attend today's edit session due to work. It was clear that over the past weeks the editing had got behind schedule due to the number of shoot dates we have had, alongside the small amount of free time available. Realising this was an issue, I halved my hours at work to be available for the edit and Cailan has also dropped a day's work to be ready for the edit. George has also mentioned dropping his hours. This will allow our edit to have even more time dedicated to it and I am very happy that as a team we came together to ensure the edit gets as much attention as possible.

Today I helped George edit the Jamie interview and racing license sequence as well as the Team BRIT interview. We knew these sequences needed to be trimmed, especially the interviews, and that was the main focus of today so that we could show Simon our work and get back on schedule. We still have many shoot dates to go and cannot allow it to get away from us. With the recent schedule, we now have a lot of unedited (or only slightly edited) material and we wanted to make sure we got back on schedule. As George is the editor I did not expect to have such a large influence on the edit days. However, it is apparent that George needs me to be there to help with the edit which will mean he is much more productive. This turned out to be the case and in one day we got more editing done than had been done before it. We trimmed down the Jamie interview, Team BRIT interview with Bobby and also condensed the race license sequence. Examples of rough cuts can be seen below. I think that with us both being together in the same room, decisions were made quicker and George was much more productive in this scenario, which is what is most important for this group project.

Jamie Interview:

Team Brit Interview:

We also had a meeting with Simon on Tuesday which allowed us to get a better understanding of how we can better the project and our edit workflow. We showed him the basic editing we had completed and he really enjoyed the interviews we had cut together which was great as they were only in the very early stages of fine-tuning. The actuality interview with Dan around the workshop was especially praised. I really appreciated this as I had spent a lot of time on the questions, shot list and camera plans which meant that the shoot date was especially successful. There were comments similar to last weeks about the Jamie interview and the different way we filmed it. Due to this, we were advised to avoid showing the wide shot unless he is looking towards the camera as it somewhat throws the viewer off. I agree with this and we can edit around this small issue, as the interview itself pulls out some fantastic answers, things I need to know as a racing driver.

However, when showing the rushes of the Diary Room, criticism was raised about the lighting in this scene. As it is the only controlled environment we will be filming in, it was imperative that this scene was visually impressive and the lighting was spot on. I did raise concerns with the team on the day about the lighting but due to time restrictions within the space, we had to go ahead without further changes. I regret this because, as a director, I know this scene could have looked a lot better. In my opinion, the scene filmed is in no way bad, but it certainly could be better and, as the director, I want the one controlled location to stand out. Background lighting and better mise-en-scene were suggested but Simon did state that it was not essential to re-film this sequence because of the time scale of our project. However, I am very picky as a video creator and I do not want this scene to look like this, so I made the decision to re-film this sequence, which will be completed in the next few weeks. In this time I will carefully plan a lighting setup to ensure we arrive and film with no issue. I also know that as a contributor I could have been better by speaking a little more slowly. I am excited to re-film this sequence and I think it will be better for this project as this sequence is so important in my visual plan.

Other notes from this meeting were that we should condense the race license sequence even further and not split the two sections of it up, as it wastes time and does not add anything to the documentary. This is a simple change to edit and I am sure it will not take long for this sequence to be changed and improved because of it. We were also praised for the number of cutaways and coverage we had got on our shoot days which was great to hear because all of my plans indicated the importance of this coverage and it is proving fruitful in the edit as we are having a lot of success and choice because of it. Simon also stressed the importance of seeing an edited sequence of all the scenes we have completed so far, which led us to speak about the possibility of splitting the edit between George and Cailan. Simon said we would be silly not to do this given our current situation and we decided it was the best scenario for our project. You can see below who will be editing what, with George still editing the majority and Cailan focusing on the montage sequences which I know he is very good at. I was very happy that George relinquished some control of the edit as it will allow the whole project to be much smoother and more productive. I am really looking forward to seeing how this process works and by next Tuesday we should have an edited sequence of all the scenes we have currently filmed.

After this news, I spoke with George and also mentioned some further notes I had taken. One is that the front-facing camera in the race license needs to be flipped as it is currently wrong in the timeline and looks very strange. It's only a very small change but things like this make sure the sequence is completely correct. I also suggested we cut the "debrief" in the car as it goes on for too long and slows the documentary down. We must find a subtle balance between authentic actuality and sequences that do not drag on for longer than needed. Otherwise, we are going to struggle to fit in this whole documentary into our 20-minute slot. I also discussed with George my basic plan for the fitness sequence we had filmed. I have had to change my plans because the fitness story was not quite what I expected. As we will now need to have a separate sequence including me doing the exercises at home, it meant the sequence filmed recently needs to be shortened. The idea I created for George was that this sequence would move fast and start by me meeting the instructor. We then go into a room and I say what I am doing and why I am doing it before they explain the tests that I would be doing on the day. After this we see me doing the exercises and I want key points of audio picked out to go in this sequence. After this, we will go back into the room to debrief and the instructor will explain what plan they will put together for me. This will be a short sequence with lots of information so it is very important it is in the right pace so we understand the information but it doesn't drag. I am excited to see what George manages to do with this sequence as I was having to adapt my original plans due to the difference in what is seen. Once an edit is put together I can decide if it works and what changes we make to this sequence going forward.

Overall it was a very productive day and I was very happy to help George with the edit and I felt it made a lot of progress. This along with splitting the editing will allow this project to be even better, I'm very excited to see what comes of the editing over the next week. Below is the "Who edits what" table which allows you to see how we have tackled the issue of having a large variety of sequences. We have made some very positive steps forward today and I am proud that we have taken the feedback well and changed our plans because of this. I am very excited to re-film the Diary Room and prove my vision for this scene and ensure it is exactly what I want.