The First Reflection

After the completion of the rough cut, I’ve had plenty of time to reflect on how it all came together (or didn’t… in some cases). When I first started, I honestly didn’t really know what to expect. We did have this grand idea in our heads, but once the footage was all out, displayed in front of us, things didn’t quite go as smoothly as I imagined. It wasn’t a disaster, but it definitely wasn’t as polished as I had hoped. This first edit was really an eye opener as to just how much more work editing takes than I initially thought.

At first, we were super excited to get into the editing process, thinking we’d breeze through it. But reality hit hard. I remember just staring at the footage for a while, trying to figure out where to start. It was overwhelming, and honestly, we didn’t have a solid plan in place (lesson learned for next time). We started by organising the shots, but even that was a struggle. Some shots looked great, others… not so much. We had this whole pile of footage, and it was just about picking what fit the vibe we were going for. We didn’t know if we should jump straight into a particular sequence or just start throwing shots together at random. Initially, it was pure confusion as there were just so many shots, and we had no idea which ones would work the way we wanted or would tell the story how we’d come up with it.

The biggest realisation, for me at least, was how crucial the pacing actually is. Getting carried away is pretty easy when you have all these cool shots, but actually, it is much more important that they flow together in a way that’s cohesive and understandable in terms of narrative. At the beginning, we were just placing shots together without much thought, just going with what felt right. And yeah, it did work to an extent, but now, I see how crucial it is to slow down and really think about the transitions between scenes, how each shot impacts the next, and the overall rhythm of the sequence. We did have a plan about dividing the narrative (the 'good' and 'bad'), but actually translating that onto screen was more difficult than expected.

When thinking about the editing process, I remember feeling like we were stuck in a loop, which meant trying different things and not being sure what direction to take. At first, we just had the method of “this looks nice… put it in,” but it was later realised that we needed a more structured approach. Once we started organising by narrative, it was easier to tackle the rest of the editing. But honestly, at that point, we were still figuring things out. We didn’t even know exactly where the opening shot should go or how to sequence the dream-like elements in a way that made sense to the viewer. But it worked, eventually. Not perfectly, but it was a start.

Sound, surprisingly, wasn’t a challenge at all. We actually finalised all our sound choices before we even began editing. On the way to the shoot, we played different music options on the car Bluetooth, envisioning how each would pair with the visuals, and within like 15 minutes, we had made all the decisions. It was quick, but super effective. We found this perfect cultural track on YouTube that instantly clicked for the ‘good part’ of the sequence, and once that was locked in, everything else sort of flowed from there. Even the glitch sound and dramatic buildup were already decided before editing began, so when it came time to actually put everything together, we already knew exactly what was going where.

One of the most surprising things for me was how difficult it was to keep the tension and suspense going through the ‘bad part.’ Once we transitioned from the dream state into the glitch moment, I realised that we couldn’t just throw in intense shots as we pleased. We needed to slowly build the suspense, letting the audience feel the change before hitting them with the heavy stuff. That took a lot of careful planning and, honestly, trial and error. We had to keep in mind the pacing, even of a single shot, which was definitely harder than it sounds. Easing the viewer into the transition was very crucial, giving them time to process the shift in tone before hitting them with the intense clips. We hadn’t quite anticipated this, but it was a valuable lesson on how impactful a gradual shift can be.

The final shot, which we originally thought was perfect, ended up letting me down. A long, no-cuts take actually seemed perfect at the time, but when I looked back, it kind of let down the intense pace and all the anticipation we had established earlier. The quick cuts to build suspense were immediately interrupted by this long shot, and the flow just didn’t feel right. I have to give credit to Sir Zia, who pointed that out, because we wouldn’t have noticed it otherwise. It wasn’t the worst thing, but definitely something to keep in mind for the final cut.

Overall, reflecting on the first edit, I see so much that we did so well (hehe, super proud) and also a lot of areas that need improvement. We were really content with what we had achieved at the time, but now I can see the mistakes more clearly. But I feel that’s actually the good part. We started with something rough, and through refinement, we made it better. The excitement of going back and fixing my mistakes is real, because then seeing a more refined version will actually make me so happy. This first edit was a huge learning experience, and I’m so grateful for it. I know we’ll take these lessons and apply them to the final cut to make it even better.