Finishing editing (ssooound design)

Picking up from my last post about editing, I just had to finish editing the last few scenes and focus on sound. I cut up the scenes relatively fast, but then that's when I got to the real deal...the sound design. One of the most important parts about bringing the whole piece together. I had a line edit ready without too much sound design and honestly, I started getting a little scared. Seeing it all together, I just wasn't sure that it was hitting like I wanted it to. I felt like the acting could have been a little better, and I could have done a better job directing and getting better takes, or that some of the jokes weren't hitting as hard as I wanted them to and that some moments dragged on because of this. I got a little discouraged at this point, but I kept editing cause I had to finish it regardless of my personal feelings towards it. 

But then I started doing the sound design. And slowly but surely, everything felt like it was coming together. The jokes were landing more with little subtle sound effects that emphasize the moment more, like riser or small "booms". Music or ambience sound effects in the background of scenes made moments feel less awkward and help each scene flow better. J-cuts and L-cuts also helped the dialogue flow better and helped with the pacing a bit too. 

The most tedious scenes to edit were definitely the gas station and probably the beginning. The gas station just has a lot going on, with me having to add different foley like the locked door, the car starting and coming to a stop, the boys walking through grass, the homeless man banging on the car window, etc. Theres also other non-diegetic sounds like risers to transition from scene to scene or the tense music when the homeless man is confronting the characters. With the beginning, there's quite a bit that I have to add that is subtle, but works to elevate the scene, like the layers of stomach grumbling, the constant sound of the running car, the tense and foreboding ambience in the background once the poop kicks in, and so forth. 

Once I started put all of the sound together, it really felt like the piece I was trying to make. My fears were subdubbed by the joy I felt that it actually came together, and pretty well at that. There is naturally some things that I would like to go back a do over, but overall, I'm really really happy and proud of the piece that I have created. The best part has been showing other people to get fresh eyes and opinions on the piece. 

I think a big reason why I was so discouraged and uncontent with the piece before the sound has a lot to od with that I've just seen it so many times throughout the editing process and I already know all the jokes, all the beats, every moment that is going to come, so it isn't necessarily as funny as it was when I first wrote and filmed it. I was also just exhausted by the process up until that point and just needed to step away a bit to come back to it with a fresh state of mind. 

Anyway, other people coming into the piece blind has been one of the best parts about the entire process, as they not only provide great a valid critiques or suggestions on stuff that I would have never thought of, but can also help me determine whether certain jokes are hitting with different people, how the pacing is going into it blind, and so on, which is something that I can't determine as well anymore since I've seen it so much at this point. And peoples' reactions are the best. Especially at the cult scene, they are so disgusted, it's fantastic. 

Here she is. My magnum opus. 

But yea, overall, I am quite pleased with the final piece and will now primarily be focusing on wrapping up my social media and reflect over the process as a whole through my critical reflection.