Editing: Creating a Fire Flashback



For this task, I was responsible for adding a fire flashback, whereby during the scene in which we see the killer lighting a match, a short flash of a fire appears once the match has been lit. To do this, I used multiple cuts using the blade tool and overlaid a transition to allow for a smooth and professional look; the following screenshots detail this process.

 

Adding the Fire Flashback:

 



Firstly, using the Blade tool, I made a cut between the footage at the interval in which I wanted to place the footage of the fire. I then imported the fire footage previously recorded in the newly formed cut.

This screenshot shows the fire footage which I then imported into the cut. I had to shorten this clip substantially in order to create an effective flash as if the footage was too long, the flashback would seem unrealistic and would not tie in with the match lighting sequence.

I also decided to change the speed of the clip by slowing it down by 50% using the control panel on the right hand side. This was because due to the short duration of the clip, the audience could not clearly tell that the flash was a fire.

Finally, I then layered the sound of crackling fire over this short flash to make the audience more aware of the fire and create enigma as to why the fire flashback is important. The clip that I used in the end was taken from YouTube as the diegetic sound of the fire crackling from the footage itself was unclear and there was a lot of background noise.

I also decided to add flashes of fire to the opening of the scene itself whereby the victim is seen to walk towards the shack, which followed the same process as explored above.

Evaluation:

I feel that adding the flashes of fire helped to tie the narrative and genre together more tightly in the restricted time that we had for the opening. Despite the process used being simple, the effect of the flashback is very successful and emphasises our creativity and skills as a group. Overall, the flashback effect looked professional and demonstrated skill and understanding of the genre.