An Editing Miracle: The Long Lost Shot

So, a little update.

We have made pretty good progress in the editing phase, and we had every shot in the order we liked, but there was just one spot none of us could get past.

During the film, there are spooky shadows that pop up everywhere, making it obvious to the audience that Lionel is being followed by someone... or something. Anyways, once Lionel walks into the second hospital room, he bends down to pick up a mysterious open laptop on the ground. Then, he turns and looks at the curtain across from him, as if he felt like something was possibly watching him. The problem here is that, out of all the shadows we had incorporated into the title sequence, we didn't use any shots that told the audience a shadow was watching him in that specific moment. This threw off a few seconds on the scene, because, if we never used dramatic irony in that moment (the audience knowing a shadow is watching him, but Lionel being un-aware), then it may seem odd for Lionel to look at the curtain for no apparent reason. Here is the shot, for reference.

Notice how he looks at the curtain as if something was there? Well, in the title sequence, we never placed an earlier shot showing something actually there. It makes no sense that Robert would turn his head like that if we never suggested to the audience that something was watching him.

But then Pierce spoke up.

He INSISTED that there was a shot he filmed of me (I was the person forming the shadows) behind the curtain as Robert explored the second room. We searched and searched and searched, but never found this mysterious shot. Eventually I handed him my computer with my 2 folders full of shots and said "have at it!" After some time passed, wouldn't you know it, he found it! Here is the long lost shot.

Notice how this shot actually uses dramatic irony by showing the audience someone is most certainly watching Lionel, while Lionel is simultaneously oblivious. This shot also explains the first shot I demonstrated at the start of this post. It gives context as to WHY Lionel is looking back at the curtain, telling the audience that Lionel either feels like someone is watching him, or he thought he saw a shadow, but the camera shows us no one is there. This also helps to increase the trill level amongst viewers, because the audience now knows that whoever that was, is no longer behind the curtain. So where did they go? *dun dun dunnnnn*

This shot was exactly the one we needed to fill in the void in our video, and thankfully it was simple for Ben to edit this clip in . Thanks, Pierce, for unearthing it under our hundreds of clips! Go team! 

May the editing process continue.