Post-Production on Vanishing Act

As my main role as cinematographer was complete I didn't want to sit back and not contribute to the editing process, so when I could I was involved in the group editing sessions which Jack Kinch held. In addition to this, I did the colour grading for the film.

Editing began just after we wrapped so we wouldn't be leaving this crucial step too late. Unfortunately, as a lot of the early edit sessions were held during Easter I could not attend due to prior commitments, Jack kept us all updated and sent over various stages of the cut which was massively appreciated. I relayed some of my initial comments which were just to do with the pacing of some scenes, this included allowing some shots to settle as opposed to quickly cutting away. The style of editing was quite hard to grasp though as it had to fit the genre of comedy but still have noir conventions.

Towards the end of the editing process, Jack really grasped the balance of these two criteria and made necessary cuts for the narrative so it flows smoothly now. One of the main issues was with one of the bar scenes where our protagonist was having a conversation with the bartender, it was originally quite a dragged-out scene and the full couple of scenes weren't adding anything to the narrative so Jack cut it down to be a shortened version as it still provided good character development for the protagonist.

Jack Kinch and Harry Morton moved on to the sound edit after achieving picture lock the weeks following the 8th of April, they were busy in the foley studio and creating ambience. I think that this turned out so well and heightens some of the scenes as it makes them feel more alive such as the bar scene.

We decided to add a voiceover from the protagonist's point of view as it gives the audience a more in-depth view of how he thinks and his intentions for what he does in the film. Finlay Dodd wrote this voiceover out and we got Max Arlott (actor) to record his lines in the sound studio. Jack then added this to some of the stand-out scenes which has enhanced the film so much more.

Once all the sound had been added and edited the film was given over to me to start the colour grade. As this project is meant to look as if it was plucked from the 30s my main goal was to give it the appearance that it was recorded onto old film.

I thought it best to keep it in Premiere Pro so that the grade could just be imported into the final edit with ease. My first task was simply to turn the saturation all the way down, I then went shot by shot adjusting so that it looked cohesive. Because the lighting was always quite harsh it did make it slightly difficult to expose the skin tones of the three main actors as I wanted to have the highlights quite high so that props such as the white gloves and beads were glowing, but this also meant the faces got brighter. To combat this, I went into the colour wheel section and made the midtones balance out slightly more in addition to this I turned the exposure down on a few of the shots as it was just too bright.

Another element I was focused on was enhancing the grittiness of the outdoor scenes, for this they were more heavily contrasted and I also adjusted the black tones to be darker rather than grey so that it would make bricks and the like look dirtier.

I also added a subtle grain to the whole film however this ended up not working well and distracting from the cinematography slightly, so instead I added a vignette which I think highlights especially the theatre scenes as it creates even more of a focus on the performers.

Finlay Dodd was also in the sessions with me to make sure everything was working well as I always believe having a second pair of eyes is beneficial particularly when colour grading.

The final editing session was on 24/04/2024 and went well with just a few shots to tighten up and music to be added. We wanted a mixture of lounge jazz and then slightly more dramatic jazz to really lean into the noir aspects.

Ozzy Reaney also came in and helped with the titles and credits which are typical once again of a noir film, I think these turned out perfectly for what we wanted to achieve with these.

And that was Vanishing Act completed!

Everyone has worked incredibly hard on this film and dedicated so much time and effort into it and it shows. I am beyond proud of the outcome and I cannot wait to have it shown to wider audiences.