So, it's over. Time to breathe a big sigh of relief and spend the next couple of weeks in total zombie mode, living each moment as a sloth and catching up with friends, past issues of Frankie and I.D. magazines, and eating lots of wintry food out of big bowls. Ahh. But before this can commence, I want to reflect on the last couple of weeks, the weeks in post-production of Oculus Mentis.
We had our class screening, which essentially was just every scene of our footage cut one shot after the next. Very basic, but it was all there. Without music, colour saturation, or quick edits, it was clear to all of us that there was much that needed to be done before it achieved the light-hearted, snappy pace we wanted.
We began by editing the shots, bringing it down to just under 5 minutes. We implemented flops, speeding up certain shots, and inserting more cut-aways and shots to Jane's reactions. We then began on sound. I helped Kieran a little, but he had a pretty clear idea of what he wanted, and came up with a basic structure of background music increasing during the fantasy sequences. Colour saturation and credits were inserted and the final cut was achieved! The screening went well, however Paul was right, it was nerve-wracking and I found myself unable to watch for the most of it.
Looking back on the entire process from beginning to end, I would say the biggest thing I have taken from the directing experience is having a clear vision, and then the conviction to carry out that vision. Hand-picking advice, using what works for your team, and allowing each team member to shine through.
I have really enjoyed my role as director, and discovered how much planning is required to create a short film. The biggest challenge with this project was that it wasn't my script, and this hindered me considerably. However, I learnt a huge amount about working in a team, about production and post-production.
