Do you hear that?

With the footage cut together it's time to move on to sound.  Sound is a more than just the record audio though.

Dialog is the first thing I focused on.  Making sure every line sounds like it belongs in the same scene.  Sometimes dialog is quiet and other times to loud, so finding the balance is key.

Sound Effects is the next.  I can't fill an office with people, so I take an office tone and lay it on top.  This tells the viewer there is more going on than they see.

However there is much more to sound effects. Doors closing, water running, alarm clocks, footsteps, and so much more all needs present to help tell the story.

The killer on this short was music.  I decided early that I didn't want it to fell like a Hallmark movie.
That is easier said than done.  It took me hours of searching before I found music that made it feel like a real production instead of an LDS film, but I did it.

B-roll and Context

So, after editing the footage into a rough cut I thought I was good to go.  I mean there where a few places where I needed to add some b-roll, but nothing big.

After showing the rough cut to my instructor though I learned I needed more than just a little b-roll.  He explained that the difference between huge studio films and indie films is the scale.

Meaning studios go and get b-roll of the places the movie takes place, where as indie movies keep it cheap and focus on the people mostly.

This made sense to me.  I want my Capstone to seem like more than a no budget film student project, so we set up more shots of Dan.

These shots where really just wider shots of the scenes we already had shot.  This would give the viewer more context of the world that the characters live in.