LOGO-TYPE & GRAPHIC DESIGNING THE FILM TITLE

I chose this style because the bold font is big, attention-getting, simple, and also the entire text has a low leading value, which results in the letters being tighter together, metaphorically reflecting a very tight claustrophobic problem. In the end credits on the final frames when I reveal the name of the movie, I do not fade the title in at the end credits, it just appears, no motion, no fancy tricks or effects because there is no need to "decorate the truth" so to speak.

THE FILM ONE SHEET

THE POST PRODUCTION PROCESS

My job as the editor came, later on as I was approached about the project after they had completed principal photography. At the time I was in the middle of editing Ali Mango's film Ring of Life which had indeed taken up much of my time due to the scale of post-production know how and troubleshooting in the editing suite.

After I took a look at the footage that Khiry had obtained (including audio) I had made the decision to be on board on this project. What drew me was the story, and I find myself repeatedly saying this, but I am glad that I was able to be apart of a project that just was not the standard Columbia style films. This one had a strong story and was shot in a way that made the editing almost seamless.

Khiry had intended that the first part of the film be a montage, edited to a non-existent beat. All we had was the last few seconds of the main character paying the roll off of the drum, or in this case the upside-down bucket. So I analyzed that small segment of audio and determined the best way to edit was under the 135-145 beats per minute (BPM). I didn't have, at all any references but to be honest, it didn't need any. I edited the entirety of the film up until submission to the music composer without a reference track. This allowed me to feel through the footage and figure out the natural flow of the clips. there is, innately woven with the directors' intention and presentation to the cast and crew and their work in relation to what the director says always finds a way to shine in the clip.

After I had picture locked and at least a single color pass done on the footage, I had decided to overlay a track within the range of 135-145BPM on the timeline and see how the result would fare. I was delighted. Takes which seemed long now had a sense of flow, almost all my cuts were miraculously on the beat, everything was just more lively with the music and the correlation between the rhythm of cuts and the beats per minute.

I remember the scene where the main character Jason comes to his room and throws his jacket on the bed and proceeds to tear at the wall of comics was initially a scene on its own. I suggested that we intercut with only three clips of the moment to which he tears at the wall since he tears three times. It looked good and then I added a slight push in via the use of post-production tools to add a sense of gravity to the words that Claire the lawyer was saying. It worked wonderfully. in later drafts Khiry asked me to play around with the narrative time in the intercut, so to keep the three intercuts but add more of the story, such as Jason throwing his jacket on the bed, then tearing the comics on the wall, and then writing on his laptop. this was clearly a natural evolution to the idea I had proposed and did much more than just stylize and emphasize the tearing of the comic book pages. The new set up in the timeline had the lawyer scene preceded the final scene and the in-between scene was dissected into an intercut sequence, cut based off of what the characters say and how they say it.

SOUND DESIGNING

This definitely was not my first run-in with sound designing a short film. Now, I am by no means a sound designer or sound engineer, but I do understand the necessities and basics of how vibration works and how our ears perceive certain frequencies. This knowledge was of course coupled with the amazing tools of Premiere Pro, Adobe Audition, and Pro Tools. I didn't use pro tools but I learned basics through pro tools tutorials since it is, rightly so, the industry standard in film music and sound mixing.

Thankfully there was nothing wrong with the tracks I received. I was very surprised to learn that I was working with Jacob Browns audio Track. Jacob is a young freelance audio engineer for TV and film, and he also was the sound recorder for my first legitimate short film, BARAKEH. We met on a set prior to both my film and Khirys film, in a small documentary production for a local school in the Chicagoland area. his work ethic and efficiency on a "run and gun shoot" was impeccable. When I hired him for my first legitimate short film BARAKEH he was a literal god sent. he came, asked for fifteen minutes with the camera and five with the actors and that was it, there were no problems on set with him or his gear, he was essentially invisible. And when on my film I was working with his footage in the post-production process I was absolutely ecstatic to see how much dynamic range I had at my disposal. I am pleased to say that I can attest to the same testimonial as I only edit this film by Khiry Lowry and scratch merely the surface of sound design.

One of the fun aspects of sound design is being able to create a sense of space. Not only that but key aspects of the story can be enhanced or reduced or even added from nothing, and every decision subconsciously shapes the viewer's perception of the film. One of the audio motifs I have chosen to focus on is the sound of birds which represent freedom and growth The scene in which Jason gets assaulted by the police I chose to not include sound effects of birds, as this is a moment in which the individual is being metaphorically caged by not only the physicality of two hostile policemen against one young man, but also his freedom granted by the use of money in order to travel has been taken away from him.