The Marilyn Manor - Documentary

Concept

When I first heard that we were going to create a documentary in entertainment video, I was a little bit skeptical. However, Aidan described to us a paranormal experience his dad had around ten years ago and it sounded quite interesting. He explained that we could build the "b-roll" around this story. And so became our idea. We didn't outline any parts until AFTER the interview, so the audio could line up with the storytelling.

Process

Pre-production: We mainly waited until the day where we interviewed Robert, Aidan's dad. From there, we outlined certain moments in time during the story that required b-roll and eerie shots. It took a lot of work to perfectly time out the shots.

Production: Although I wasn't able to be there, Aidan, Juan, and Thomas filmed at Brett's grandparent's place (which seems to be the location for a lot of film shoots) for the majority of the scenes. Juan gained permission to film the exterior of an old-looking home in his neighborhood. As far as I heard, production went well and all the shots obviously looked good.

Post-production: This is where I come in. Aidan handed me the clips Friday night before the Monday deadline. I wasn't able to edit until Saturday night. For an easier illustration, here was my editing schedule (and it wasn't because I'm a slow editor either. We painfully manipulated each and every scene to be just right).

Saturday: 5-11p

Sunday: 7-11a, 1-6p with Aidan, 8-11p

Yes, it was a lot. My eyeballs were burned. I had heard Robert's voice a million times. But I'd say it was worth it.

Role

As I just described, I was the editor for this documentary. It wasn't originally planned out that way, but nothing ever happens the way it's supposed to. It proved to be the most amount of work, but I learned a ton. The main thing that really kept me excited was the opening title sequence and the credits. I tried to re-create the sequence from "Se7en" with glitchy letters. I hand-wrote all the titles and credits, and then put them into premiere and colored them to create that creepy style. It turned out amazing! Technically, I learned a ton more about premiere and used my previous skills (i.e. sick dad scene, wavy effect) to enhance the project.

5 Guarantees

Technical Skills: Premiere. 15 hours on premiere does something to a person. I learned how to paste my handwritten letters on the screen and inserted previously known effects into this film.

Communication: It took a lot of communication to make this project come to fruition. I spent a few hours at Aidan's house detailing the shots, and he came over for five hours to help edit.

Leadership: We were all leaders here. I was the leader of the edit, Thomas was the leader of the camera, Juan lighting, and Aidan directing. Without one of those, we could have never made this.

Collaboration: Essentially the same. Our group gelled well together, having previously worked on the PSA together.

Project Management: We worked tirelessly to turn the project in on time!

Different/Same

There is truly not much I would change about this project, other than possibly using a boom mic for Robert's audio. It was very unnoticeable, but, as an editor, I could tell that the audio wasn't as pristine as normal. As for same... everything. I am proud of this project and what we as juniors have accomplished together.

Experiences/Conclusions

I had the experience of working with premiere for 15 hours. So I learned a thing or two. I also will definitely implement the handwritten titles/credits into future projects! All in all, this was an amazing result. I keep telling the rest of my group, "We've made people be happy (Stand by Me), sad (PSA), and scared (The Marilyn Manor). Our next step is funny." And that's what we plan to do. Wheeler, coming out this summer, is an eMagine winner.