I have put the footage into Premiere Pro and begun editing it together. The main things I’m having difficulty with is colour-grading the opening scene inside Storey Hall. Because of the bright lighting, some parts of the image look overexposed (see screenshot below), however stylistically I don’t mind that.
I’m also finding it difficult to find the right music track for the scene inside the Guild Hall Commune. I’m trying to find a track with just one basic note that continues throughout the scene, ideally creating a surreal, dreamlike atmosphere. A lot of the music that I can find has what I want at the beginning of the track but then changes into a melody on piano or guitar. I’ve concluded that I’ll just have to create the sound myself by taking snippets from the ambient sections of these tracks and blending them together to extend the duration. This is what I did for the introductory scene inside Storey Hall so I should be able to figure something out.
Finally, I’m finding it difficult to create a distorted image at the end. In my original script, I was going to have Scene 2 (“Inside The Commune”) distort and transition into a shot of present day Storey Hall from outside on Swanston Street. However, having tried to do this, I’ve decided that (while it is extremely difficult to do well) it actually detracts from the entire mood of the piece. I’ve made the creative decision to end the film after Scene 2, as I want viewers to metaphorically stay in 1917 rather than return to the present day. Furthermore, I’d rather leave the film’s meaning ambiguous; I have placed a number of clues in the mise-en-scene that allude to the historical setting in which the second segment takes place. It is up to the audience to find these and put them together.
Another decision I made was to post-process the scene inside Storey Hall into black and white. I applied a black tint over the footage and increased the contrast and brightness. Not only does it act as another clue for the diegetic time period, it provides a stark contrast between Scene 1 (Storey Hall in 2015) and Scene 2 (The Guild Hall Commune in 1917). The shift from colour to black and white emphasises the sudden shift in time. I also believe it adds to the haunted quality of the film.
So far, the editing is coming along well and I’m very excited to see the finished product.
