Year
2025
Industry
Media Arts
Space of work
Mixed Media & Cinematography
Timeline
4 weeks
Introduction
Defining the edit as a tool for poetic storytelling.
This final project for IAT 344 is a cinematic adaptation of Angela May’s poem, "Single Mother on Hastings". As the lead editor, the goal was to weave a narrative following Gohan, an otherworldly being, as he traverses Vancouver in search of the woman behind the prose. By removing the boundaries between live action and animation, the edit allows the spoken word to occupy a space that is both grounded and dreamlike. Post production is an act of trust. It trusts the viewer to follow a character through moving and panning shots where the world is constantly shifting. In this space, the film says more through the precision of its cuts than through excess. Every brand element, from the character's size to the timing of a stanza, becomes more than visual. It becomes symbolic of the search for human connection.
Challanges
Harmonizing multiple media streams into a unified narrative.
The primary challenge for the editor was the seamless integration of footage from multiple cameras, external audio recordings, and hand drawn animations. Utilizing Premiere Pro, the role required high precision to ensure specific cuts matched the rhythm and stanzas of the poem exactly. - Manual Scale keyframing: For most scenes, the character's size and positioning had to be manually adjusted frame by frame to match camera pans, ensuring the otherworldly being remained a consistent part of the environment. - Frame by Frame Masking: To create depth, the character was masked to appear behind physical objects like trees, wooden posts, and hands, requiring tedious frame by frame precision to remain seamless. - Audio Mastering: Using Adobe Audition, external voice overs were mastered to ensure clarity while improvising for environmental wind noise by overwriting the track with clear, mastered audio to maintain the professional touch.
Process & Execution
Focus on Seamless Integration
The seamless integration of the animated protagonist into the streets of Vancouver was achieved through rigorous frame-by-frame masking and scale adjustments. By manually tracking the character against real-world elements like urban foliage and physical architecture, I ensured the "imagined space" felt physically grounded, allowing the technical complexity of the rotoscoping to remain invisible to the viewer. The sonic identity was equally intentional. I balanced studio-quality voiceovers with carefully layered environmental foley—improvising with "fake winds" to replace unusable location audio. This deliberate layering of sound and sight was essential in maintaining the signature identity of Long Nights on Hastings, ensuring that every technical choice served the project’s quiet, reflective core.
Final Thoughts
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