Changes Made to the Final Cut

To others, there may not seem to be a big difference between our rough cut and final cut, but to me, the changes are super clear, and they’re exactly what make our final cut actually better. At the time, we thought the rough cut was decent, but after showing it to people and getting proper feedback (especially from Sir), we realised just how much more potential the video had. So, we decided to start over. Like, completely over. Yep, we reshot everything.

The biggest reason for that was that the rough cut didn’t properly communicate the narrative. It felt more like a series of aesthetic clips just put together, which, sure, looked good in isolation, but as a whole, it didn’t make sense. We knew the idea was there, but the execution just wasn’t strong enough. So when we went in for the final cut, we made sure every single shot had a clear purpose and helped tell the story.

We re-shot most of the intense parts because, in the rough cut, those scenes didn’t really carry the weight or emotion they were supposed to. The energy was flat, and the impact wasn’t strong enough. This time, we were super intentional about things like framing and movement. We wanted the audience to feel the shift, not just see it.

A big change in editing was removing the glitch effect. In the rough cut, the glitch was this sudden break, the transition between the dream and the discomfort, but looking back, it was way too abrupt. It kind of ruined the flow and took people out of the experience instead of pulling them in. So in the final cut, we went for a more gradual transition. We let the tone shift slowly, with changes in visuals, sound, and pacing that made the discomfort creep up instead of crash down. It was so much more effective.

Then came colour grading, which was honestly a game changer. For the rough cut, we barely paid attention to it. The first half of the video was left as raw footage, and then we just threw a basic greyish filter over the second half to make it feel “dark.” But it ended up looking flat, and honestly, kind of lazy on our part. For the final cut, I spent proper time grading each clip. The first half used warm, bright tones to give that dreamy, comforting feeling. Then, as the tone started to shift, the colours began fading slowly, clip by clip. By the time we reached the final shot before the character wakes up, the colours were nearly black and white, which added so much to the emotional impact and sense of isolation.

Honestly, each of these changes, the re-shoot, removing the glitch, and proper colour grading, completely transformed the final cut. The whole thing now flows better, looks cleaner, and most importantly, actually tells a story. It’s no longer just a visual piece, but something that makes sense narratively too.

I’m actually feeling super proud of how far this project has come since the rough cut. The difference is wild.