Watching the edit so far

Yesterday I went to see how the edit is coming along so far. I'm very happy with what Dan and Jonathan have put together, and it was good to see the footage that the group got from Hussain's interview. Dan wanted some input in to his edit and how he could cut it down, here is what I came up with:

I felt that some of the cutaways and the establishing shots of Sheffield at the beginning went on for too long. As Dan pointed out, when I watched this the voiceover hadn't yet been added and the shots may fit in time with these. However, I do feel that some are still a little lengthy and so, if possible, should be cut down slightly.

During the opening of Hussain's interview, the camerawork is really wobbly and is going up and down past his face for a few seconds. I suggested that, if it was my edit, then I wouldn't include this shot just because the camerawork is so unsteady. However, we really could do with hearing Hussain introduce himself and so Harry suggested bringing in the sound of his voice whilst on the cutaways, then cut to Hussain as the camera steadies. I think that this would work fine and is probably the best option.

There is a shot of a computer screen which zooms in to a link. During the zoom, the camera goes in and out of focus. Therefore I suggested cutting out the longer shot of the screen and the zoom in, and beginning the shot from the still close up of the link.

A few seconds in to the interview with Tom Gatis, there are cutaways to a computer screen showing the website of Tom's new scheme. Although this fits with what Tom is saying, I feel like I want to see more of Tom before the use of any cutaways - we have only just been introduced to him and then he is taken away. Again, this is my personal opinion and I think both Harry and Dan thought that it was ok as it was.

I suggested cutting away a couple of the public interviews involving an elderly lady talking about how she remembers Sheffield when she was 5 years old - I wasn't sure that this was entirely relevant.

Again, despite these few personal views on points for improvement, I'm very pleased with the edit. I look forward to seeing how Dan has developed the edit today and will hopefully get to see it on Monday evening.