Editing 'The Letter'

The next stage of my Arts Challenge was editing the footage I had taken in order to produce my two short films. This was one of the most important parts of the project as the editing was one of the main ways I was able to manipulate the footage to create two films of completely contrasting genres - horror and romance. Before I went straight into editing my films on iMovie, I tested out different effects in order to establish which would suit the genres I was aiming to achieve, using my research. I managed to edit both films over the space of two evenings.

Color Tinting

Original

I tested out different colour tints in order to see what effect they would have on the mood of the film. I decided that the blue tint was the most appropriate for the horror genre, as the cool tone added an eerie element, whereas the warmer orange and pink tints were more suitable to use for the romance.

Effects

As well as colour tinting, I added effects in order to further highlight the different genres. Although this created a very over-exaggerated style, it helped show how far you can change and manipulate footage in order to completely alter its style, mood and genre. For the romantic film, I used the 'Romance' effect, adding a dream-like feel, and for the horror, the 'Sci-Fi' effect. 

Romance Effect

Sci-Fi Effect

Music and Sound Effects

I had a lot of fun playing around with different music and sound effects to use for my two short films, especially for the horror genre. I found it a lot more difficult to make the romantic film interesting using sound effects, so I ended up simply using a piano piece in the background to create the right atmosphere. In the horror film, I used a variety of sound effects layered on top of a backing track in order to increase the tension, such as footsteps, a heartbeat, a ticking clock and a scream to create a dramatic ending.