Documentary Edit: Ending and Sound

As we neared the time-limit for the film we wanted to try and create an effective transition to the concluding sequence. To do this we used Addie's speech about the spoken word scene being 'a revolution', and reiterat that many people are finding it accessible. In support of this we used a montage of images of different acts at the events, trying to use a variety of shots such as close-ups and pans to not keep it static.

Montage of acts

When Addie says 'every story needs to be heard' we cut to the audience enjoying the night, and when he says they're 'picking up their paper and getting on stage' we used a literal cut to someone reciting a poem on stage. As he finishes this section we cut to him sat in the new location on the hill, and used the audio of him talking about his future with poetry and the future of the poetry scene in general to conclude.

However, as we felt that none of the sound-bytes worked as a satisfying concluding comment, we added a short section afterwards, panning down Addie's back and fading to black. We used a line from his first poem to end it in a similar way to as it started: 'What did you want to be when you grow up. What was your passion. Whats stopping you?' We felt that this was appropriate as Addie is now inviting the audience to share their story through the medium as well. To support this we used a shot which we had initially discarded of an empty stage with a microphone, suggesting they are waiting for the viewer to get involved.

After we had the rough cut of the film we went through to cut some sections down as we were running over the time limit. This involved mainly having the introductions to new sequences being made shorter and introducing audio voice-overs sooner. We also sharpened up the transitions between shots and interviews in the Rutland pub and moved footage from the opening sequence to fill the 'inspiration' sequence instead.

For fades in and out of audio we went through and checked that the key-frames were implemented properly and that the audio level was consistent among the entire film. We used the clip gain option on the tool-bar to tweak this, particularly when the audience applauds as it was much louder. We also added ambient noise of the park, and sounds of the audience for the appropriate sections - checking that the separately recorded audio matched in-camera sound for all the interviews.

In our final review of the film we wanted to trim down some clips of Addie in the park using the ripple tool, but we had difficulties with this affecting other tracks and audio losing sync - so we decided to leave it instead. We also only realized during the end of the final session that we had adjusted our audio slightly too low for the entire film, but didn't have the time to change this. However, we will keep this in mind for future projects.