'First/Last' by London Film Entrepreneurs (LFE)

(London, UK) Second Edit

We finally decided on First/Last which resonated with me due to it's theme of the conflict between head and heart. I gathered a small team together including Georgina Haslam (producer/AD), Simon Neil (Music), Jonathan Linney (sound), found our lead actors Craig Scott Bolden and Claire Mason, and this is the result. We filmed the majority of it over two nights with a couple of establishing shots on a third using a Canon 550d. The budget, not including expenses, was about £40!.

Read 'First/Last' HERE

Second Cut Comments... have YOUR say!

Write a comment

Comments: 1
  • #1

    Paul Cracknell (Tuesday, 04 December 2012 16:28)

    So here's our second edit of First/Last.
    Changes made include:
    - Adding foley, mostly footsteps, kissing and general ambience.
    - The music is now lighter at the beginning and the "organ" sound removed.
    - It's been graded darker.
    - The effect has been toned down.
    - The end has been cut before the fall.

    Thanks for all the input everyone :)

'First/Last' by London Film Entrepreneurs (LFE)

(London, UK) First Edit

First cut: Producers notes for the filmmakers

  • Music is creepy and is odd juxtaposed with dancing in street.
  • Lack of foley kills atmosphere
  • Try grading darker as it feels over lit
  • As ever, see if you can trim shorter
Comments: 9 (Discussion closed)
  • #1

    Paul Cracknell (Friday, 02 November 2012 18:56)

    Thanks for the initial comments.
    Music - There are a lot of different moods to convey in such a short time but I'll have a word with Simon Neil the composer to see what he can come up with for the dancing shot.
    Foley - had actually planned some more footsteps and kissing sounds but had to make that deadline!
    Grading - I agree. After Effects and Final Cut appear much darker than the final rendered film so it makes it tricky to grade. I'll certainly bear that in mind for the final cut.
    Trimming shorter - might be tricky as there is SO much to convey in such a short time. I was even thinking the opening, establishing shots were maybe too quick. Might have to reshoot a couple of shots - the closing shot for example and maybe the one preceding it.

    My own concerns were with the effects as I think I might have gone a bit overboard. I think toning them down might be a good idea :)

  • #2

    Mark (Saturday, 03 November 2012 09:59)

    I liked this film and it held my attention throughout. The one thing I would be aware of is the master shot embrace and she has her lower half of her body pulled away The same way you might embrace a friend or relative. From my perspective I only watched once and not read the script so the whole thing was new to me One other slight niggle was the guy behind the wall seemed a bit set up so that could maybe/perhaps have a shorter edit. I couldn't really judge sound that well as my laptop speakers are not loud enough so can't really judge on that Just to say the scoring was great and helped so much in setting the mood and telling the story.

  • #3

    Adolf El Assal (Sunday, 04 November 2012 15:29)

    it simply works but work on your grading and music. beautiful short.

  • #4

    Paul Cracknell (Sunday, 04 November 2012 18:05)

    Thanks for your input Mark and Adolf, much appreciated :)

  • #5

    Evan (Monday, 05 November 2012 03:09)

    Good work. I feel the final shot can end before they drop down. The music is off. The strange organ chords as she turns reminds me of old school radio melodramas. Very distracting. I'd ask the composer to try a different approach altogether, possibly with futuristic undercurrents. Definitely could tighten up the edits without losing the impact.

  • #6

    Paul Cracknell (Monday, 05 November 2012 19:39)

    Thanks Evan, our composer has already seen the comments so we'll talk about what to do with the music.

    I've noticed we've been given a mark of 1 star by somebody. Not sure it these ratings mean anything but I hope it isn't trolling by our rivals!

  • #7

    Stephen Cooper (Tuesday, 06 November 2012 00:10)

    First/Last was my favourite script so have been looking forward to seeing the different versions. I think you've done a very good job. I would agree with needing the added foley but the music didn't bother me as much as others.

    Think you got some good strong performances and while the effect at the end was a little bit to much it told the story.

    Like Evan said, i think you can cut before the knee down at the end, but overal great job. Really enjoyed it.

  • #8

    Paul Cracknell (Tuesday, 06 November 2012 01:04)

    Thanks Stephen! Will think about cutting it before the kneeling down as a few others have mentioned that too. And I'm definitely going to tone the effect down. I'm new to After Effects and got a bit carried away :)

  • #9

    Paul Cracknell (Saturday, 01 December 2012 00:24)

    OK, I've made the old version private. The latest version is ready to view here:

    https://vimeo.com/54637574