Reflection on the Final Cut

Not gonna lie... watching the final cut now just makes me feel a different kind of proud. After everything we went through, the rough cut stress, endlessly going through footage, sitting in front of the screen for hours trying to figure out pacing and colour grading, it actually feels finished. Like, for real. Not just “good enough,” but something that genuinely represents our idea, our vision, and all the hard work behind it.

What's really amazing to see, is that how far we've come narrative wise. If the rough and final cut are put into comparison, they're veryyy different. The rough cut had potential, but it was all over the place, more like a montage from a music video than an actual story. It looked nice, sure, but it didn’t say much. Now, everything fits together, the shots, the cuts, and the sound. We focused so much more on making the story feel like a journey, and I think we achieved that.

One of the biggest things that helped us get there was the feedback we got, especially from Sir Zia. I remember how nervous I was showing it in class, and how unreadable his expressions were (seriously, poker face level infinity). But when he gave us that proud smile at the end and started pointing out the good parts and how to improve, that was a turning point. He saw something in our work, and that honestly gave us the push to start fresh and make it better instead of just fixing a few parts.

Technically speaking, we improved a lot. The re-shoot made a massive difference, as this time, every shot was planned with purpose. In the rough cut, some clips were just there because they looked cool. Now, we shot with the narrative in mind. Even the intense parts had more emotion, more impact. We paid attention to the framing, camera angles, and movements that could actually make the viewer feel something instead of just watching passively.

Also, the decision to remove the glitch transition was a huge change... and a good one. At first, we thought the glitch added a cool “shock” moment, but it ended up feeling way too abrupt and kind of took away from the overall atmosphere. In the final cut, we went for a slow build, letting the discomfort grow gradually, which honestly made it way more effective and gave the whole sequence a sort of emotional tension that wasn’t there before.

Then there’s the sound. Sound mixing wasn’t too hard for us because we’d already decided on most of the tracks before editing, but it still played such a huge role in the final cut. The transition between traditional music and drums, fading one in while fading the other out, that layering really helped with the shift in tone. And at the veryy final moment when the intense sound swells, and then abruptly stops... that’s something I’m really proud of. It hit the exact feeling we wanted to leave the audience with.

Colour grading also changed everything. In the rough cut, we were honestly just lazy with it, raw clips for the first half and a dull grey filter for the second. It was just plain boring. But in the final cut, I took the time to colour grade each clip individually. The warm, bright tones at the start gave such a dreamy vibe. Then slowly, as the tone shifted, the colours started to fade, until the last shot before she wakes up was basically black and white. That colour transformation helped carry the story emotionally, especially without any dialogue.

What I’ve learned from this whole process is how important details are. Every tiny thing matters, the pacing of a shot, the way a sound fades, how colour makes you feel something. I’ve also realised how much I’ve grown in just this one project. I came into this thinking I’d just put together a few cool clips and call it a day. But now? I understand how editing, sound, colour, and performance all come together to actually tell a story.

Sooo yeah, the final cut isn’t just a video. It’s proof of our growth and our creativity. Nothing is perfect of course, and there are still tiny things I think we could’ve polished even more, but this is something I’m genuinely proud of. The journey from rough to final was definitely stressful and chaotic at times, but seeing the result now makes it all feel worth it.