This was video week and I was very nervous because I have no experience editing videos, so this week was all about learning and trying to figure out how everything works so that my edited video would come out right especially with making sure the narration was over the correct scenes. More information on my video editing experience can be found on my post called Looking into Cyberpunk Edgerunners
For this Daily Create I was supposed to take a famous landmark and place it somewhere it shouldn’t be. For mine I decided to bring the East coast to the West coast by taking the Statue of Liberty and placing it next to the famous Hollywood sign using Canva.
People Watching
For this Daily Create I was supposed to create a backstory for why a plate of bananas appear on a Beeston street once a month. For mine I chose to write an explanation based on the idea that animals now enjoy people watching similar to how people enjoy bird watching so that’s why they’re leaving a plate of bananas out to lure in humans.
Cyberpunk Edgerunners is a wonderful playground for cinematography. There’s so many amazing scenes I could go into deep detail for, but the one that I couldn’t resist choosing was Maine’s death scene from episode 6 called Girl on Fire. The episode shows how Maine is struggling with Cyberpsychosis, but him and his crew must continue the mission as he gets worse and starts losing control after his girlfriend was killed. Once Maine accepts that its the end for him, he sacrifices himself while the main character David tries to help. Here in my video, I go in a deeper dive into the cinematics of this unforgettable scene.
Video Process
Editing a video for the first time was more complicated than I originally thought. I had to find the exact scene from Cyberpunk Edgerunners I wanted in a good enough length then I had to learn how to use iMovie to edit in the narration of my voice before uploading it to Vimeo. When I was doing my analysis of the scene I originally had a long descriptive script to voice over it, but I couldn’t keep up with the exact shots I wanted to talk about, so instead I chose to say the main points that drove each scene like the fear in certain expressions or how certain shots portrayed foreshadowing that an intense fight scene was approaching. I wanted to keep the original audio alongside my voice with it, but I thought it might be too distracting so instead I kept only my narration for the scene.
Cyberpunk Edgerunner Cinematography Overview:
Lighting: Most of the grim scenes use dark lighting with harsh colors like red lining on faces and bodies to set the tone. In the gentle scenes where Maine feels at peace, it is sunny in an open field without the use of any dark color schemes.
Angles: The shots chosen are taken from very specific angles depending on the emotion used like David’s fear always being full face or the focus being on his trembling hands while holding a gun. Also in most scenes they are capable of making Maine look overpowered from his cyberpyschosis by using low angles where he’s towering above.
Expressions: Throughout the entire scene emotion is used very well from eyes widening and trembling from fear and shock, or Maine’s eyes softening as he understands this is the end for him. Shots showing sweat, tears, and even the shot of David’s pained scream at seeing Maine die tells how the characters are feeling even without the audio to hear their dialogue.
Camera Shots: They use various shots to build up suspense like showing how MaxTac is on their way with shots of the aircraft landing or the soldiers heading in. I also think the use of switching between Maine’s hallucination perspective of him being peacefully in a field while David sees the grim reality of their situation helps the viewers understand that Maine is accepting death. Lastly, I wanna add that the final shots being in slow motion makes the viewers feel the impact of everything happening before the shot of his death.
WARNING: Huge Spoilers ahead!