Editing
The final stage of production was editing. Since I had no post VFX work to do, I was able to take my renders straight from Unreal Engine and import them as image sequences into Premiere Pro.
music
One of the first things I focused on finding was suitable music. Production was a rolling process, and I had some early shots rendered and in Premiere before I had even finished animating the later ones. But with those early shots and my Previz, I started searching for music.
Finding good music for animations is something I've always struggled with, as I have a desire for the animation to sync up with the music which is often difficult with off the shelf songs. For my film, I was hoping to find a song with a slow mystical opening that ramped up into something more action packed.
One of the first places I looked was ProductionCrate.com. It's a fantastic website that I've used for a while that features tonnes of high quality free sound effects and music, as well as VFX elements. You can search by genre which is handy in identifying songs with the right tone. It didn't take long for me to find a piece that half suited my needs.
Under the genre of fantasy, was a song named Unknown Path. It was suspenseful and epic, yet somewhat mystical. It lacked the action packed build up I was searching for, but I figured that I would possibly be able to blend two tracks together to get the desired result.
I experimented with a second track from Production Crate called 'The Creatures Lair', but decided that ultimately it didn't fit the vibe I was going for.
UnknownPath.mp3
TheCreaturesLair.mp3
The second place I searched was TeknoAxe on Youtube. He's a royalty free music creator who I've used extensively over the years for many of my projects, including my showreel. Despite his extensive library, I couldn't quite find a track that fit my needs.
However I did eventually return to TeknoAxe when I needed a song for the credits. I chose a track named Orchestral piece named Classically Refined Troll.
After searching many sites, I eventually discovered a track named 'Into Battle!' by LemonMusicStudio. It featured an exciting build up that I could just picture accompanying the hammer slam in my animation. I experimented with blending it into the intro song, and with the sound of the door slamming I was able to seamlessly introduce this track.
Sound design
Sound Effects and Music are one of the most important parts of visual media. I believe that sound is 50% of film which is why it pains me to be so bad at it. Personally, I find the struggle to exist in the sourcing of high quality sounds. Typically, I can imagine what I want something to sound like, but finding the perfect noise to match my idea is a skillset I don't think I posses.
Nonetheless, I tried my best to populate my film with high quality, punchy sound effects. I once again visited FootageCrate.com for sounds, as well as Freesound.org and various YouTube channels. I used an ambient church sound throughout the entire video, so that even in parts where there are no noticeable sound effects, there still feels like something going on.
On the left you can see the foley section of my premiere timeline. The way I typically edit is by iteratively nesting sequences so that I don't get overwhelmed with a bundle of elements. I start with an FMP_Cut which is simply the arrangement and cut of the video files, then bring that into a new sequence which ads the music and ambient sound. Then Foley section is responsible for all the sound effects and then a seperate section adds voices or dialogue.
In the case of this project, it was mainly Sylvanas breathing or the Goliath's roars. I created a separate sequence for the credits which then got combined in the final cut, where any global sound or colour work could be adjusted.
In the case of sound effects, I had to consider environmental sounds such as doors, fire, rafters, debris as well as character sounds. Sylvanas needed sounds for her footsteps, cape, quiver and bow whilst the Goliath needed hammer,
My approach to sound design is typically layering multiple sounds together until things feel rich. The video to the right is a demonstration of my layering process, and the tendency to use odd choices to achieve the desired effect. For the breaking of the arrow, I used the breaking of a fence, layered with another wood break and a crunch. Combined together they create a satisfying effect.
There were many instances of this across the film, and so whilst I hate sound editing, I feel like I eventually got to a point where I was happy.
voice acting
Despite their being no dialogue in my film, I still felt the need to gather some efforts for Sylvanas and the Goliath. Unfortunately, I didn't consider this until later in production and so I wasn't left with too many options in terms of purposefully recorded elements. For Sylvanas, I did opt to just source some female sound effects however I knew the roar of the Goliath was too important to be off-the-shelf elements. Therefore I enlisted the help of my brother.
My brother Kalum is an amateur voice actor and I was aware of some of his recent work that was similar to what I was looking for. I asked him if he could provide the grunts and roars for the Goliath and I sent him a version of the film with annotations as to the sorts of sounds I wanted him to produce.
At this stage in production, I knew I wasn't going to finish the entire film but I also hadn't planned on where to end it, and so I had him record audio for the entire film (despite knowing most of it wouldn't be used).
This worked out well though, as I was essentially given a library of sounds that I could then mix and move around to find the best fits.
On the left is his raw audio recording. In the final cut, I did some slight modulation to his performance, boosting the bass by 10db and adding a Chorus/Flanger. I also applied a click remover for areas where the levels peak.
Overall, I appreciated his contribution and thought he gave a good performance.
colour grade
The only real post production effects I did was colour grading (if that counts).
Shot_0020_RAW
Shot_0020_Graded
I essentially increased the contrast and black levels whilst reducing the temperature. This created a deeper blue look without washing out the blacks. The blue created a cold nightime feel that complimented the orange torches well.
Shot_0190_RAW
Shot_0190_Graded
Some shots only required minor adjustments, but I think it helped to make an appealing and consitent visual style.
cut changes
A big part of the editing stage, is bringing shots together for the first time to achieve a smooth cut. Many of my final shots matched my Previz closely, and therefore lined up nicely when it put together. I had also made sure to animate and render handles on all of my shots to give myself wiggle room when it came to the final edit.
Flowing Cut:
An instance where I changed a shot based on a weird cut comes from shot_0180. I had planned for the shot to use a static camera, but when viewing it in the edit, I felt like it killed the momentum of the action.
I animated a new camera with some subtle camera movement that continued from the previous shot. I think this minor change added a lot and made the cut flow a lot smoother.
Ending Change:
One of the biggest disappointments with the project, was the fact I wasn't able to complete all of the animation that I had planned. As time went on, it became increasingly clear that I was not going to complete all my animation, and needed to find a way to end the film early, in a way that was not too jarring.
In the original idea, the Goliath swipes at Sylvanas, but she backs away and retreats down the hallway. As I encroached on the deadline, I aimed to animate as much as I possibly could, but started to except that the swipe shot would likely be one of the last. Accepting my fate, I modified my plan and animated the shot so that Sylvanas gets knocked down by the punch before the film cuts to black.
Narratively this is unsatisfying, but I figure it would be even more unsatisfying if the film just ended suddenly. I tried to accommodate for this tonally, by rolling some funny credits music and playing it off as some subversion of genre where the hero is swiftly dispatched.
It wasn't ideal but given the situation, I think it was my best option.
Shot_0005
Something I had considered even since I was doing my Previz, was the possibility of more establishing shots at the beginning of the film. I didn't plan on any actual animation, just some additional shots of the environment, and so I didn't bother to plan these in anyway. I just figured that if I had the time at the end of production, I could film some additional shots within unreal and call it a day.
I created this new shot. Shot_0005. That I intended to slot in as the opening shot. However when I viewed it in the cut, it wasn't really feeling right.
I had also made things difficult for myself because at this stage, I had a lot of audio and music done, and so jamming this in at the beginning was going to through off the sync.
I decided to forget about the idea of additional establishing shots and focus on what I had actually planned.
credits
The final part of the edit was creating some credits. As part of the ending change, the film cuts to credits with the phrase 'The House wins again', implying that the Goliath has killed many an adventurer. Not really sure why I added this, but I wanted something to title my film and this was what sprung to mind.
Other than that, I didn't want to dwell on the credits for too long. Crediting the rigs used, music and sound effects as well as thanking my collaborators such as voice and reference actors. I also included a special thanks to my lecturers who helped throughout the project.