The document discusses the student's experience using various post-production tools in Final Cut while editing projects for their Advanced Subsidiary (AS) and Advanced 2 (A2) courses. In AS, the student learned the basics of Final Cut and used tools like the snap tool, effects, transitions, and the soundwave tool. They found that the skills and knowledge gained in AS helped them improve their A2 project, a music video, by allowing them to better edit lighting, apply effects when needed, use more advanced transitions, and precisely sync up the video and audio. Rendering took the longest during post-production but allowed the student to review their work and make improvements.

1. Post Production
When I first started AS I was introduced to iMovie to use when editing. After
completing my prelim task, I was then introduced to final cut. The transition
from iMovie to final cut was a big effect. Final cut provided much more
opportunities to personalize your project and help you reach the image you see
in your head. When moving to A2, I never looked back at iMovie, as I knew
immediately that final cut would come in more useful when coming to changing
any light and editing sound etc.
In AS, I started using the snap tool on final cut. This has its own strengths and
weaknesses; its strengths are its main purpose, lining up different shots on your
timeline perfectly so there are no gaps in your project. However in my A2 project
is where I found its weakness, it is difficult to line up the shot where you
specifically want it when using the snap tool. This was easily fixable; just by
turning the snap tool off allows you to position the shot freely. This came in
handy when making my music video more so than my opening sequence in AS
because I needed to line up the shots with beats from the music. As I was not
familiar with final cut in AS, it gave me time in my first year to get accustomed to
the program, which showed greatly in my A2 work.
At AS, I was introduced to effects in final cut. It was up to me to choose how I
want to use them. Whether it be distorting how you could view the video by
adding or taking colour, or quite simply changing the hue and saturation. These
effects came in extremely useful as I was making an opening sequence to a film
noir, so to fit conventions of this particular genre, I was able to change the
sequence from colour to black and white, all thanks to the effects available of
final cut. At A2, I did not need to use the effects as much as I did at AS because I
was doing an alternative rock music video, I didn’t really need to add or change
anything as the colours are all natural. However one point during post-
production I did need to change the lighting, as it did not match the previous
shot. Therefore my knowledge and skills I had learned in AS came in useful and I
was able to develop this when altering the light in final cut to my project.
In AS, transitions were shown to be a key part in following a variety of shots on
from each other. When I started AS, I was unaware of the various amounts of
transitions there were, I thought there was only a simple cut. In my noir
sequence at AS, the video transitions came in useful due to the suspense that
certain fades would make, I found it surprising how much of an impact on a
video. At A2, I used and developed these skills I made in AS in relation to
transitions because as I now know how to apply them successfully, it gave me the
opportunity to improve my music video, such as at the end of the video I was
able to fade it out as opposed to just using a cut.
The cut tool in final cut is the simplest tool of all. Applying this tool to AS and A2
allowed my skills of cutting my footage to be developed. The use of this tool is
exactly the same for both AS and A2, it is used for choosing and/or selecting the
bits of footage that you want to feature in your music video. The cutting tool
allows accuracy and timing throughout my music video and noir sequence.

2. At AS, the part that took the longest and restricted my project from being
finished earlier was the rendering. Rendering allowed me to watch back both my
noir sequence and music video (AS & A2) to see if the footage that I had put
together was suitable and what I had imagined. Allowing me to make changes to
any issues visible in my production.
The soundwave tool was probably the most useful tool in all of final cut. In both
AS and A2 it allowed me to match up the sound so everything was perfectly in
time. At AS, when filming I had trouble with the sound due to windy weather
conditions… the soundwave tool allowed me to lower the sound of the wind and
heighten the dialogue, allowing my noir sequence to reach its full potential
without sound being a downfall. At A2, I didn’t have any trouble with weather
conditions due to its being a music video, therefore no actual sound from the
video was being used. However I did still use my skills I gathered in AS regarding
the soundwave tool due to me then being able to match up the sound with the
video. An example is when I had to hit the drumbeats.