Editing + Post Production

After the production process, my group and I began to edit everything filmed. The first step into the editing process was reviewing all the footage. There were heaps of footage and it was important to identify which ones were important to use. After determining which clips were useful, we selected them and disregarded the rest. This was a difficult decision, as we loved a lot of the disregarded footage. For instance, there was supposed to be a whole segment of my mom's perspective during Susanas trips. However, when we were looking at the fluidity if this segment was inserted, it wouldn't have been as smooth. This is a choice I kind of regret, as I believe my mother's experience was just as important as my grandmothers.  

Shortly after, we began with the long work first. This was the creation of the captions. This was the most tedious portion of editing, as we had to transcribe first and then translate. The transcribe process consisted of taking the audio said and converting it into written material. This was done to every clip thoroughly to make sure there were no errors. For the translation, a similar approach was taken but we had to pay much more attention to how the words translated. In Spanish, many things said when translated to English become distorted or the meaning changes. Since my grandma is Cuban, her Spanish is different from the traditional translator Spanish. This doesn't mean it's improper, it just means some things said in a different strand of Spanish can mean something different than what is translated, since the translator uses traditional Spanish.

After the transcribing and translating, we moved on to more basic editing. This includes lighting and audio. For lighting the light kit did a lot of the work. The mixture of the camera's quality. and the light kit made the shots look so clear and visually pleasing. There were just a few tweaks we had to manipulate to balance the warm tones and exposure. My grandmother's house is very bright and has more white lights than yellow. However, this was not the kind of lighting we believed was best suited for the doc. Since her voice is soft and she explains the situation calmly, we believed a more yellow tone would match better. Also, the elements of her house and mise-en-scene of what she was wearing would look better layered with warmer lighting, Clearly, we did this to almost every clip to make the visuals consistent. Collectively, the visual work went pretty steadily. 

As for the audio, the microphones we were able to borrow were great help. The added so much clarity to the voice of the speakers. The auditory editing consisted of lots of editing tools on adobe premiere, mostly a heavy use of constant power since the audio was already pretty clear. This feature added smoother auditory transitions preventing harsh jumps from clip to clip. 

More about the audio, I was in charge of finding the formfitting music to layer the audio with. I searched for a WHILEEE before finding the perfect non-copyright music to use. It was difficult to find music that was balanced with a relaxed tone with a little bit of sadness. Most of them were either just relaxing or side. One or the other. But luckily, since I wanted the doc to be successful, sound, and look amazing, I would not stop looking until I found the one. Which I did :) At first Mya and I thought the addition of relaxing/sad music was all that was necessary, but we soon realized we should add some motivational music as well. This is due to the fact that there are many instances throughout the film where Susana says things that're very moving and inspirational, especially towards the end. She states that anyone with the chance of migrating from an impoverished country should and how much its impacted her being one of those people. Relaxed music wouldn't really match the drive and determination Susana represents. SOO, I decided to get back on YouTube and looked more for motivational music that didn't sound like it was part of a marvel film. This would've thrown off the film's dynamic auditorily. But I found the right music for this part of the film :)

At this point, our doc was looking pretty professional but there were still some things missing. My teammate Mya Wolf made a proposal which I believe was extremely clever and helpful for the audience. This was the addition of the map visually showing the distance of Susanas journey from Cuba to Hungary to Miami fl, US. I believe this animation allowed the audience to see how much of a life shift her expedition made, due to the distance. The map was only one of the many forms of b-rolls we included. As mentioned previously, we recorded features around Susanas house that could embody some symbolism or link with the context. In the editing process, we had to review the video and its audio multiple times, to find the correct places to import the b-roll without hindering the videos visually. We also had to find the perfect time to import the b-roll, according to the things being said. For example, it is obvious we would use b-roll of her home to introduce the setting. 

The map

I believe in films not only is the title what intrigues me, but it also tells me what the film will be about. This meant we had to have a meaningful/suitable title. I tried to think of the perfect title. Some of them included:

• The life of an immigrant (WAYYY too broad)

• How I Changed My Life (just sounded iffy to me)

• The Turning Point (I liked this one, but it still wasn't right)

As someone in my group who had a bit of a connection to this topic, Miguel decided he would take this into his own hands. I'm so thankful he did because I absolutely loved the title. 

There are many compounds that go into a title. The font, the font color, capitalization, and most importantly, what is being said. The font of this title is extremely bold, which is visually luring for the audience. When paired with the white writing over black, the title pops out. This is also a method to grab the attention of viewers. Moreover, the fact that the title is all capitalized, shows that there's meaning and importance within the film. Words are usually capitalized when there is something important or powerful to say. Lastly, "encontrando un futuro", means finding a future in Spanish. This is the perfect simplification of the documentaries purpose. To take the viewers through my grandmother's process of finding her future. 

When all 4 components combined, they convey a strong title for an even stronger documentary!