After organising the footage into separate bins in 'Final Cut Pro' we went through and renamed each clip to make the editing more dynamic. Each clip name would also consist of what type of shot it was such as 'Medium Shot' or 'POV', we also felt that the weather was an important detail to add to the title of the clip to help maintain continuity throughout the timeline as in some shots its distinctively frosty, snowy or luminous.
Though we had arranged the bedroom footage into a bin of its own we felt that the shots themselves didn't add anything to the documentary, we understood the character talked about the weather and how it impacts his climbing therefore rendering this footage useless when formulating a story arc. This however made filling the 5 minute timeline more of a challenge, as well as not using the bedroom footage we decided not to use the interviews with poor audio quality with subtitles as they would ruin the flow.
For the opening of the documentary we introduced the character with climbing shots and wide establishing clips, in terms of audio we went for an energetic electronic track to give the documentary pace right from the outset. The initial opening montage shows footage that we would utilise later in the piece almost foreshadowing the narrative content, to fit the audio track we only used footage that would complement the dynamic feel the track suggested.
Prior to the opening montage we used some interview audio explaining the rocks/environment we were seeing on screen. So the dialogue wasn't competing against the music track, we reduced the volume of the music track to a subtle level and then key framed a fade as he finished talking then cut the montage previously mentioned on the highest keyframe, using keyframes in 'Final Cut Pro' as opposed to a audio cross fade in the effects tab we were able to control audio level much more precisely. When cutting the opening montage sequence we used the technique of matching a cut on a significant beat positively cutting through much like a music video thus forming a more interesting viewing.
The subject in the documentary mentions 'Stanage Edge' being a famous climbing spot in Britain and abroad and so we felt it would be right to cut to a wide shot of this location as part of a relational montage subsequently cross fading to the character for a locked off vox pop shot.
After the brief opening interview and tonal montage to establish the context of the documentary we decided cut out a piece of derogatory dialogue from the interview ('fucking agony') to create an abrupt beginning to the first interview, this statement was then contextualised by cutting from the vox pop to a shot of the climbers hands. We also amplified the volume of "fucking agony" to exaggerate the statement creating more of an impact to keep the viewer interested. He then goes on to talk about how the cold affects a climbers hands, shots such as him shaking his hands, slipping off the rock face and others relevant to this dialogue were then utilised.
To end this interview we faded out to black along with fading out the dialogue to suggest the end to a day of climbing, the character also talks about how he was happy to get off the climb on that day and so we felt the fades best conveyed this sense of relief.
To develop a rough narrative structure within the documentary we added text in the lower left corner stating what day it was, these dates substituted plot points which would be used in a narrative piece, thus allowing the sense of an emotional fluctuation. The suspended camera angle that overlooks the cliff is justified by the dialogue as the contributor talks about how you do get scared when you're climbing 'sometimes you do get scared".
Our next interview consisted of information about how he uses his ropes and safety equipment however we noticed that the audio was considerably low in comparison to the rest of the documentary, and so amplified it to the correct mix level of -12 db we used the green and red metering gauge in the lower corner to accurately adjust the audio.
In this specific piece of audio we brought the level up by an additional 5db.
This sequence is indicative of a key plot point in the documentary as it suggests a struggle as the character fails repeatedly as he tries to overcome a difficult section of rocks. We started by introducing a track that begins with harmonious notes and then overlaying the actual diegetic audio at a higher volume in the mix as we felt his doubtful expressions aided the mood of his struggling endeavor.
Shot 1
Shot 2
Shot 1 and 2 were used within the sequence, to retain the continuity made sure the safety mat was in the same place as the tonal montage continued.
After we had cut through a sufficient amount of shots that displayed the struggle, we raised the audio with key frames, the highest key frame was carefully placed where the song changes from harmonious to a significantly more paced and energetic beat ( see screen shot bellow).
Key frames used to introduce the music accurately, on the highest keyframe we cut to a shot of the climber overcoming the difficult section.
Though we had already added two music tracks they were 'lossy' as they had been compressed into the mp3 format, we addressed this issue by converting the MP3 version of the tracks to uncompressed WAV format with much higher quality playback.
We did this by opening the track in 'itunes', going to preferences and setting the conversion format to WAV. We could then right click the track and choose "Create WAV Version" from the list, this then converted and duplicated the track.
Once the file had been located we deleted the MP3 version from the bin within our 'Final Cut Pro' project and imported the WAV file subsequently reconnecting it the track in our timeline with the new high quality uncompressed variant.
To end the documentary we established a montage with use of a previous track with a sequence of clips that reflect back on the already seen footage, the CU of the climbers face as he laughs in high spirits completes the emotional arc ending on a high.
We placed two cut frames together to quickly display the sense he had overcome the rocks despite the poor weather conditions.
This is the second of the two cut frames.
Much like the opening montage we used shots that complemented the music track, here we used a shot of the climber dusting his hands with chalk, the movement in the shot works well with the sudden pitch/pace change making for more interesting viewing.
This is the last shot we used it works well to conclude the documentary as we see him pictured carrying all his gear which can be easily distinguished as a sign he's leaving the climb for that day.
The piece then concluded with a cut to black complemented with a beat in the music then holding black as the music fades out.
Shot 1 and 2 were used within the sequence, to retain the continuity made sure the safety mat was in the same place as the tonal montage continued.
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