Alex Final V/O Clear-up | May 7th 2019
Introduction V/O
“I’m Alex Baldwin, and I want to know how hard it is to follow your dreams. Since I was young, motorsport has been a huge part of my life. I have immersed myself in the sport… but I’ve never had the chance to race competitively.”
“In 3 months time I’m hoping to race in an endurance club event, in a BMW 3 series.”
“But before I race, there are many things I need to overcome.”
“These challenges will test me to my limit… and question whether the effort, will be worth achieving a life’s ambition.”
Fitness Sequence V/O
“After hearing what Abbi had to say about fitness in motorsport… I decided to go to my local gym and speak to a personal trainer, in order to find out what I need to be focusing on.”
“I spoke to Craig who took me through a number of unique tests which allowed me to understand what areas of the body needed to be trained for my first motor race.”
“He set me a number of aims before this race, firstly to lose 2kg and then to train my upper body strength, focusing on my neck and arms.”
Donington Sequence V/O
“As race day approaches, I’m heading to Donington Park so I can drive the BMW race car for the first time.”
“I’ll also meet up with my teammate Sam, who’ll give me a few pointers and help me settle into the car.”
“Sam’s story is really interesting, he converted his road car into a race car, and still drives it to every event. he started racing 3 years ago and has never missed a race”
“It’s a great way to show everyone that there’s a way into motorsport on a smaller budget.”
Racing License Starting V/O
(15 seconds max)
“My racing license is split into a written test and a practical test in a car, during which an instructor will guide and assess my ability to safely and consistently drive the circuit.”
OR
“Before I step into a race car, I need to obtain a National Racing License. You are required to complete a written test along with a driving examination. If you pass both, you get your National B Racing License”
Kickstarter V/O
(11 seconds max)
OLD:
“I’ve taken on board Jamie’s advice and worked out how much this is actually going to cost. This project is going to cost £4000. That’s including all of the racing, testing, equipment and travel costs.”
NEW:
“I’ve taken on board Jamie’s advice and worked out how much this is actually going to cost. Factoring in our sponsorships and personal contributions, we’re looking at a total budget of £4000.”
EDITING TO BE COMPLETED
After a fantastic feedback session from Simon, we came away with a list of minor changes that we need to complete before we hand in on Monday. As the director, I looked at the list of changes and separated them out into who I thought would be responsible for making these changes. My aim throughout the edit has been to give opinions on improvements while trying my best to allow both George and Cailan space to have their own creative freedom. It has been a hard task to do this as George and I especially don't always have the same perspective on the edit. However, through the challenges, I always feel we have come to a solution which has been a happy medium. As director, I have been trying to make the hard decisions and while that has been tough, I feel like I have done a good job in enabling our mammoth documentary to be condensed to nearly 20 minutes. Simon is happy with the length as it does not seem longer than it needs to at this point, which was the aim once we knew it would negatively affect the story if it were any shorter.
Cailan:
- Music too loud in dad sequence
- Take out or cut gap to “hanging off the harness” test day w/ sam
- Remove goodbye wave in Sams test day
- Revving at the end of Sam test day could be louder?
- Race day car shot lasts 10 seconds! Add another shot either before or after
- “so-so” audio glitch in PTC before race (approach race question)
- 17:12 car as it exits pits, laugh or something?
- Side of garage shot jolts at the end in race sequence - slow down and extend?
- More shots of Alex on track in PTC after qualifying
- Don’t go to black. Go from V/O straight to title sequence
- Alex’s Dad out of sync? just the W/S straight on?
- Graphics need to be easier to read
- Record YouTube cutaways in JC
- Clock between WEID and Sam trackday
George:
- WTC Audio Levels
- Music bed under WTC Stops early?
- Change Abbi off track clip to quick pan shot
- Audio echo?
- Change fitness music
- Remove the V/O from fitness “going to revisit”
- End on drinks bottle being drunk from
- Either cut away or not in Diary Room
- 2nd cutaway in Jamie too quick - extend or remove
- Backing track to Kickstarter ?
- Kickstarter $$ to be lower and text smaller
- jdxj0162 -> replace with a part of the lap that seems faster?
- Sharpen shot that says “I passed” as looks a bit off
- Equipment drone shot is too long
- Sharpening and colour correction in Dan interview is KEY!!!!
- Cut between Q2 and Q3 drags on, less setup for Alex getting in the car? We cutaway from the answer too soon!
- Use a better shot from Rene interview
- DR1 - F1 on tv? Old footage of Alex at Brands “alexzafro2” channel
- ABBI needs to lose 15-20 seconds
- Sound in cutaways in diary room
- JC intro needs at least 2 seconds off drone shot
- YouTube cutaways in JC
- Cut end of Jamie interview
- Kickstarter graphic starting at £0
- Tighten race license intro / drone shot
- List what I've done B4 Dan - License etc (com?)
- Bring out music in Dan slower
- Music that goes through SD, looking back and race day? Could be one track?
- Recap picture before credits?
Thoughts on the final edit weeks:
Along with this feedback, we took onboard final pieces of feedback from Simon on 10th May which allowed us to edit the final parts in the best way possible. These final words of wisdom allowed us to be very happy with the final project, more of which I reflect on in my evaluation. I am immensely proud of myself and my team for completing this project, we had so many filming days and had less time than was ideal to edit this documentary together. But, because of the dedication of us all as a team, we managed to end up with a documentary we are very proud of.
The key improvements over the past 2 weeks have been ensuring all of the scenes merge together as one. Before this, the scenes all felt distinctly different and did not feel connected. The changes in terms of shot choice, as well as work on audio transitions, has allowed the documentary to feel more fluid. This has allowed the documentary to be a much easier watch as we actually feel like we are going on a journey rather than constantly stopping and starting.
We have spent a lot of time on audio levels throughout these last few days as that was an issue we have known about for a while, but it was George's decision to leave it late as we did not know what scenes were going to stay until late on. I disagree with leaving this part of the edit so long as it has affected viewing for a while, but I trusted George and we completed this in the end which is what really matters.
My recent work on colour grading allowed us to have an idea about what we should be doing in the edit in terms of colour. Nathan had shown us some tricks to enable us to have a good looking film, but my research along with his advice ensured our documentary is consistent throughout. This, like the audio levels and transitions, ensured that the documentary feels like a cohesive project with many different segments fitting together.
I am very proud of our final project and more thoughts will be seen in my project evaluation. However, I would like to mention how much fun it has been to take on a new challenge and take myself away from having direct control over the edit. In past projects, I have been able to edit it in a way I think is best. However, on "Dream Chaser" I have taken more of a project leader role in the edit, ensuring everyone is doing their work. The work from both George and Cailan is on a level which I have not reached as an editor. Accepting this fact has allowed the documentary to be better than if I were editing. It took time for me to adjust to this role and trust the decisions of the editors, and while we have disagreed at times, we have finished with a project we are all very proud of. We all pulled our weight at all stages of this project and I am proud of what we have created as a team.
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