Editing - 'The Woods' Re-Edit

Re-Edit of Horror Trailer 'The Woods'

We were tasked with re-editing another student made horror trailer to improve it. The trailer was 2 minutes and 30 seconds, meaning they were unable to maintain consistent quality throughout and we had to cut it down to the recommended time of 1 minute. Here is the original trailer:

 

 

First, we attempted to cut all the individual shots in the trailer into separate clips in Final Cut Pro. We then extracted the audio from the clip and disabled it in case we needed it, however we planned to use our own audio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then removed the clips we felt weren't necessary to the trailer in order to cut down the time. The parts with the couple walking round the forest were mostly deleted, as they didn't contribute to the horror of the trailer and were mainly time fillers.

 

As we liked the music seen in the original trailer, we decided to try and find the same music. It's a piece called 'Twisted Nerve' by Bernard Herrmann, and has been used in Kill Bill and American Horror Story.

 

 

As this music can't be used for the more suspenseful parts on its own, we also found a couple of sound effects to layer over it.

 

 

 

We then began to rearrange some of the clips. We put some of the shorter, more shocking shots in between the tranquil ones to contrast each other and played a short part of the glitch sound effect over the music whenever we did.

 

 

When the images of the mutations became more frequent and intense, we added in the dramatic horror music. As the music began to fade out we added a black screen to imply how the more peaceful part is ending.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We added in the glitch sound effect coupled with the horror music in the background, while having the music playing quietly underneath. As the title screen came up, the music played on it's own again, contrapuntal to the events of the trailer. The final clip is of the man who appears to be a still image before he turns to the camera, with a glitch sound effect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our final trailer can be seen below. We are happy with the outcome despite it not being perfect, and we think limiting it to one minute has allowed for more consistent quality throughout.