Editing is probably the most important part of previs. Strong shots with a poor edit aren’t going to work, being able to think of your shots in the context of an edit will help you to work and think like a director. This page is a collection of several edits, showing how the film changed over the course of the year and how it slowly came together.
Edit v001
Edit v003
Edit number one and three, very early days. The initial edits were more about populating the edit, simply putting each shot in order I was able to make them in Maya.
Edit v008
Edit v010
Big improvements here, Nico has a face, once she was updated the edit felt so much more real. As a follow up I did a pass on the environment, which again really lifted the edit, it started to feel like what I had in my head when writing the script. It’s good to see these, it’s all about iteration, the first version is never going to be good enough but v008 might be. Well, it wasn’t but it was a huge step up.
Edit v011
This edit added the crowds, albeit a first sim from Houdini but it gave those shots the complexity I was after. The introduction of the flare into the sky idea started here, it would be several versions before I ultimately went for a handheld signal flare.
Edit v014
Edit v015
The edit is getting fleshed out here, the cave sequence especially. I started to explore using Megascan assets directly in Maya, I have to say, it’s an excellent resource for visy work.
Edit v017
Probably the first cut that felt like a film. I introduced lots of extra shots here. I felt the film was lacking pacing, so used the shots where Nico looks around for the Bug as a well to give the film breathing room before the next punch to the face. I started to get more comfortable with DaVinci here and added notes, timers and other visual goodies to help me remember things to change or tweak. Looked much more professional when I was sending it to friends for feedback.
Edit v019
The new ending. Nico falling to her knees was always a temp ending. I wanted the film to end with Nico facing that fucking Bug again, it just doesn’t die. This is when I started to allegorise the film and it felt like the VFX industry in the summer of 2023, constantly up against almost insurmountable problems. Maybe all that helped me the edit…
Edit v020
Finally ported the film into Unreal 5.2. The look of the film changed from here onwards. Nico looked more realistic and grounded in her world, the way the light reacted with the environment. It’s really a testament to how important Unreal is becoming in the workflow and why directors react so positively when they are presented with renders from engine.
Edit v021
Edit v022
These edits were all about highlighting issues. I used picture-in-picture to visually mark shots that needed updates. I found laying in the Maya grey scale shots to be a good way of checking my Unreal shot matched and also highlights the sheer improvement Unreal makes to the fidelity of the film’s aesthetics.
Edit v023
The last edit before my final run. Everything was there, the film needed work to lighting and to acquire a Houdini Indie license to output the crowds for Unreal. I enjoyed chopping, trimming and refining the film at this stage. A good editor is indeed a great storyteller in their own right.