The first major difference between the original footage and the edited film is the colour. I reduced the saturation of the video significantly to produce a black and white film effect, using the available tools on Adobe Premier. I did this as I felt some of the colours in the original footage weren't suitable for the narrative of the film; such as the green curtain at the beginning of the film. I also think this made it more believable as a film and less staged.
Additionally, I altered the scale and the positioning of the video. I reduced the scale, which produced black strips above and below the frame, which I feel create a really good, cinematic effect and contribute to the authentic feel of the film. I also shifted the frame to the right slightly, to ensure that the dealer character is not visible in the shot at the start, as in the original footage.
I also added several sound effects to strengthen the existing audio, including very loud footsteps when the bodyguard and the dealer are walking at the start of the film. I did this to try and create the effect that the room is silent and to make the bodyguard's walk feel more threatening, enhancing his 'imposing' character. I also inserted a knocking sound effect in place of the existing knocking as I thought it needed to be louder and more assertive. When the bodyguard goes to let the dealer into the room, I added a creaking door sound effect, as I don't think it was obvious that a door was opened in the original footage. The final sound sample I used is right at the end of the film when the bodyguard slams the dealer's head on the table; in the original footage I felt that this sound was weak and didn't achieve the desired effect, so I inserted a 'boom' sound effect which I think makes the impact seem greater and harder.
In addition to adding new sound samples, I also played about with the existing audio. After the bodyguard samples the cocaine and says "It's good", I thought this was too quiet and was hard to make out, so I increased the volume for this piece of speech. I also took the background noise from the start of the film when there are no other sounds, to use for the start and end titles as the titles didn't seem suitable with no audio at all.
In addition, I attempted to edit out the mistakes in the dialogue, by trying to cut out the areas of hesitation. I believe the result was good in terms of audio; however, the sudden change in the video may make these edits too obvious.
I created the opening title in this style as I feel it contributes to the cinematic feel I tried to produce. I inserted a fading effect for the transition from the end of the film to the credits, as without it, the ending was too sudden and abrupt. Overall, I am happy with the final output; although, in the opening scene, the curtain in the background is clearly evident and I feel this takes away from the authentic feel of the film.
