Video & Sound Production - Exercises
30.3.21 - (Week 1 - Week )
Sajiya Mir (0340836)
Video & Sound Production
Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Exercises
Lecture
Week 1: Introduction
Tuesday, 30 March 2021
For our first class, we have reunited with Mr. Martin again. To start, we took our attendance, and then Mr. Martin went over the MIB. He then explained the time-based project where the step was preproduction, production, and Postproduction. In preproduction, we had to come up with a narrative, developed ideas with the storyboards, and come up with prop and location details. In the production step, we had to think about the lighting, direction of the shots, perspective, and even costume. Lastly, in Postproduction, all the editing of the clips and sounds is involved.
After we were familiar with the production steps, Mr. Martin went over each project in detail and even shared some of the senior's work as examples. This gave us a better understanding of what to expect.
Once the briefing was done, Mr. Martin did a tutorial on assembling clips using premiere pro, and we followed along.
After we were familiar with the production steps, Mr. Martin went over each project in detail and even shared some of the senior's work as examples. This gave us a better understanding of what to expect.
Once the briefing was done, Mr. Martin did a tutorial on assembling clips using premiere pro, and we followed along.
Week 2: Framing and storyboard
Tuesday, 6 April 2021
Today's a bit late because Mr. Martin had something to take care of. While he was away we watched the short film called 'Lalin' and watch the exercise video Mr. Martin had made. Then we had a lecture on Framing and the storyboard:
Earlier filmmakers soon realized that objects seen on the screen were flat, so they broke up the actions into shots and sequences to solve that problem. Cinema is all about the manipulation of shots and sequences and the order we see them in.
- Shots are a continuous view shot by one camera without any interruptions.
- A sequence is a series of scenes or shots.
- Scenes define the setting where the action is taking place.
- Wide shot (WS): includes the entire subject and the objects in the immediate surrounding.
- Medium shot (MS): Show the subject that is important to understanding a person's gestures and expressions. It's usually a waist-up shot of a person.
- Medium close-up shot (MCU): shows a subject character from midway between waist and shoulders above the head.
- Over the shoulder shot (OS): the over shoulder shot shows the subject from behind another person's shoulder. This shows their perspective.
- Extreme wide shot (EWS): shows a broad view of the surrounding around the character to convey scale and distance. Can show the geographical local and the landscape.
- Medium wide shot (MWS): show a character usually cut off across the legs above or below the knees. It shows the physical setting and has a balance of figure and surroundings.
- Close-up shot (CU): isolates the most important part of the subject. It could be a close-up of the head or small objects. It emphasizes details.
- Extreme close-up shot (ECU): this singles out a portion of the face and magnifies details. The camera focuses on the important details to increases the drama or impact on a situation.
The camera angle composition should follow this, where the frame is divided into thirds both horizontally and vertically. This is to achieve more aesthetically shots.
- When taking a shot of a subject, it's best to frame them at a 45-degree angle.
The height of the camera is also important when trying to achieve an artistic or dramatic look.
- Eye-level: cameral films from the eye level of an observer.
- Low-angle: is any shot in which the camera is tilted upwards to view the subject. Makes the character look bigger, stronger, or nobler.
- High-angle: is where the camera is tilted downward to view the subject. Makes the subject look smaller, younger, or weaker.
Week 3: Storytelling and Sound in Film
Tuesday, 13 April 2021
The first lecture we had was on storytelling in films:
The narrative is identified its events by linking causality (cause and effect), time, and space.
- The story sets all the events in a narrative. It is the who and why. It consists of presumed/inferred events and explicitly presented events.
- The plot is everything that is visible and audible presented in the film. It is what happens, how the event takes place, also when and where. This consists of explicitly presented events and nondiegetic materials, things that the characters cannot see and hear. For example background music, the characters cant hear it but its purpose is to set the mood for the audience.
- The audience takes these arrangements of material and the clue from the plot to make up the story.
- Plot segmentation is when each scene is described briefly in a separate line. This helps reveal the film's overall structure and its smallest details. It is not a synopsis of the film. Plot segmentation should have:
- major changes within the narrative.
- short and succinct key points.
Then we had to watch a short animation film called Royal madness and make up the plot segmentation. We were provided an example of the plot segmentation on the toy story movie to use as a reference.
The next lecture was on Sound in the film:
- Speech is one of the most important tools for understanding the story of the film.
- Dialogue: Conversation between characters in the movie.
- Voice over: The voice of an unseen narrator speaking.
- Sound effects:
- Ambiance: Audio refers to the background noise present at a given scene or a location.
- Hard or "cut" effects: Almost every sound we hear at the movies that isn't dialogue or music is a sound effect. Train sliding door open and close, footsteps, train moving on tracks, etc.
- Music in movie is to enhance the dramatic narrative and the emotional impact.
- Dubbing: Or automated Dialog Replacement (ADR), is the process of re-recording dialogue after the filming process to improve audio quality or reflect dialogue changes.
Foley: A sound effects technique for synchronous effects or live effects. Creating sound and synchronizing with the picture.
Week 4: Three Act Story
Tuesday, 20 April 2021
Today's lecture was on the three-act structure while we discussed the movie Munich and saw how the movie applied to the three-act story.
- Beginning: the story setup, it introduces the main characters and the setting. Its to establish the situation that leads to an incident.
- Middle: It develops obstacles/ complications and leads to the climax of the story.
- End: Resolution of the problem, ending of the climax where all the obstacles and problems are answered.
After a short break, we were briefed on project 2 and shooting exercise 2 where we learned more about lenses.
Week 5: Intro to Premiere Pro
Tuesday, 27 April 2021
Today's lecture was on the introduction to premier pro where we got to learn various of the tool available on premiere pro.
- Frame size: 1920x1080
- Aspect ratio: 16:9
- Display format: 25 fps
- Channel Format: Stereo
- Audio: 48000 Hz
We also got to learn how to add title and end credits, also how to use the ripple tool to adjust the lengths of the clips.
Week 6: Introduction to Audio and Color Grading
Tuesday, 4 May 2021
The first lecture today was on introduction to audio:
The frequency range is the number of cycles of a periodic waveform that occurs over a set duration. The low frequency of sound is called bass and the high frequency is called treble. Human hearing frequency ranges from 20Hz to 20000 Hz.
- Dynamic range is the difference between the loudest and the quietest part of a sine wave. The threshold of human hearing is measured as 0dB (decibels) and the threshold of pain is 130dB.
- Mono sound is recorded using a single audio channel, while stereo uses two audio channels.
- Localization: The originating direction of a sound in space. Spaciousness: Sense of space in the recording.
The second lecture was on Colour correction where we learned how to adjust highlights and shadows also how to use the color wheel.
Week 7: Introduction to Audio and Color Grading
Tuesday, 11 May 2021
Today's class was a bit different where from 2-4 we had a consultation for our storyboard and other projects. Then 4-6 we had exercises that were pre-recorded.
Week 8: Individual learning week
Tuesday, 18 May 2021
This week was Individual Learning week so there was no class.
Week 9: Audio grading
Tuesday, 25 May 2021
Today's class was on audio grading it was a recorded lecture that we had to watch and do before the class started.
- Human hearing frequency range from 20Hz to 20,000Hz.
- Mono sounds are recorded using the single audio channel, while stereo sounds are recorded using two audio channels
- For phone call sound effect: Bring down BASS, TREBLE, raise MID RANGE between 500Hz to 2kHz.
- Muffled sound effect: BASS remain, TREBLE to the bottom, raise MID RANGE to top.
- To add echo to sound: Apply REVERB.
During class, we had another lecture on the importance of storyboarding and then we got feedback on our project 2. Finally, we were briefed on the final project and explained how to come up with a proposal.
Week 10: Stop Motion
Tuesday, 1 June 2021
Today's class was on our final project Stop Motion. Mr. Martin explained about the pre-production and also how we should of about filming the stop motion. Next, we did an exercise to see how we can convert our images to a stop motion. Finally, we got feedback for our final project proposal.
Week 11: Mise en Scene
Tuesday, 8 June 2021
This weeks lecture was on Mise en Scene which in french means putting on stage. It refers to what we see onscreen; its visuals; meaning, all of the elements that appear on camera and their arrangement. These include the set design, composition, lighting, costume props and depth of space.
- Composition is the deliberate selection of frames and camera angles that make up a shot. Manipulating composition can accentuate the emotional themes of the story.
- Set design refers to everything the audience sees within a particular scene.
- Lighting is often the tool that conveys mood most clearly.
- Costume is one of the most useful tools in communicating a character’s thoughts and journey.
- Props is an object with a function serves to drive the narrative or become a motif to underscore the themes of the film.
- Depth is determined by the distances between objects, people, and scenery, influenced by their placement along with camera location and lens choice.
Week 12: Sound exercise 3
Tuesday, 15 June 2021
In today's class we learned about the four important sound editing techniques,
- Time stretching/ compression: Time Stretching/ compression changes the length of audio without altering its pitch.
- Pitch Shifting: adjusting the pitch of an audio signal upwards or downwards
- Reversing: The end of the audio will be heard first and the beginning last.
- Layering: Arranging several separate sounds together, in such a way the overall effect is of a single complete sound.
Instructions
Exercise 1: Clip Editing
The first task was quite straightforward; we downloaded the footage provided by Mr.Martin and imported them into Premiere Pro. Then in the timeline, we simply arranged them into a proper sequence and lastly imported them.
Fig.1.0 Premier pro editing
Exercise 1: Clip Editing
The first task was quite straightforward; we downloaded the footage provided by Mr.Martin and imported them into Premiere Pro. Then in the timeline, we simply arranged them into a proper sequence and lastly imported them.
Fig.1.0 Premier pro editing
Fig.1.1 Exercise 1 Mind Ad
As homework, we had to do the same exercise but with different footage. This time the footage was of Doritos add, and these clips were imported randomly. So the first thing I had to do was find the correct order then I simply arranged them in the timeline. Once it was done, I exported the video.
Fig.1.2 Premier pro editing
Fig.1.4 Exercise 2 Doritos Ad
This week was another clip editing exercise, but this week, we added another trimming step. First, we watched a short video called Lalin. Then it was time for us to assemble the clips. We got a storyboard made by our seniors that we had to follow when arranging.
Fig.1.5 Storyboard
Then in Premier pro, we downloaded and imported all the files. Then we had to change the mode from Assemble to editing mode. We had to watch each clip individually and using the I and O in the keyboard, we had to mark where to start the trim and where it ends. Then we simply transferred the clip into the timeline. These steps were repeated for all the other clips.
Fig.1.6 Premier pro editing
Once all the clips were trimmed and arranged, we had to add video transitions. At the beginning and end of the video, we had to add the effect ' Dip to black'. Another effect we had to add was the 'cross dissolve' in the scene where the main actor disappeared from the table. I played around and decided to add more effects to the clip just for the experiment's sake. Lastly, the clip was exported.
Fig.1.7 Lalin editing exercise
Exercise 3: Shooting
For this exercise, we had to film three-second clips of nine different shots. The shots we had to do were:
- Wide shot
- Frontal MCU
- Frontal MS
- Extreme Close-Up shot
- Close-Up Shot
- Profile MS
- ¾ angling MCU shot
- Over-The-Shoulder MCU shot
- Eye-Level Medium-Wide shot
I first came up with simple sketches, so I knew how to do the shots' compositions. This was to make the filming process much quicker. Then using my sister as the model, I filmed all nine shots on my camera.
Fig.1.8 shooting exercise
We had to watch the short animation film 'Royal Madness' and make a plot segmentation.
Fig.1.9 Royal Madness Short film
Fig.2.0 plot segmentation exercise
For our second shooting exercise, we had to do a short 30-second dance video with:
- Wide shot high angle
- Eye-level shot
- Medium shot eye-level
- Medium close up shot eye-level
- Close up shot (eye-level)
- Extreme closeup shot (eye-level)
- Wide shot low angle
We were separated into groups of seven and whit in our group we picked a dance routine we wanted to follow.
,
Fig.2.1 Shooting exercise 2 editing
Fig.2.2 Shooting Exercise 2 Dance
Exercise 6: 3 Act structure story
For this exercise, we had to watch two short videos and write a 3 act structure story using the template provided.
Fig.2.3 Guang short video
Fig.2.4 32*C fall in love video
Fig.2.5 Three act structure exercise
Exercise 7: Lalin Part 2
This week we once again edited our lalin video but this time we used the ripple edit tool to make the video 30 seconds long.
Fig.2.6 Lalin exercise editing
Fig.2.7 Lalin exercise 30 second video
Exercise 8: Colour grading
For this exercise we had to color correct our dancing video:
- 1st W.S: NEUTRAL (Post white balance, Balance RGB)
- 3x Single shot: Bluish (cold), Greenish (cold), Brownish (warm)
- M.S: Teal & Orange
- M.C.U: NEUTRAL, Desaturation
- C.U & E.C.U: B & W, High Contrast
- End shot W.S: NEUTRAL, Increase Saturation
To give the clip a bluish color I had to decrease the temperature. To get the greenish color I had to adjust the tint of the clip and for the brownish color, I had to increase the temperature. For the Teal & orange, I had to adjust the shadows to be teal and highlights to be orange in the color wheel section.
Fig.2.8 color grading
Fig.2.9 color grading exercise
Exercise 9: Audio editing with EQ
For this audio exercise, we were suppose to create five sound effects using the given audio sample.
1. Bathroom
2. Cave
3. Closet
4. Phone call
5. Stadium
Fig.3.0 Audio editing exercise
Audio Exercise Final
Exercise 10: Sound Design
For this exercise we had to use what we learned in class to design three different sounds:
- Monster/ Alien
- Punching sound
- Explosion sound
Fig.3.2 Audio editing exercise 3
Audio Exercise 3 Final
Feedback
Week 3 (Shooting Exercise): Very nice wide shot, for the frontal MCU you can go a bit closer, For all the frontal shots make sure the character is facing straight. The extreme close-up can be even closer to the fingertips. Close-up shot if it was a bit closer it would be better. The 3/4 angling and face are a bit more to the side. Zoom for the over-the-shoulder MCU.
Week 4 (Shooting exercise 2): the video is nice all the shots seem correct. Just in the split-screen try to match all the three videos to be of the same width.
Reflection
We got to see Mr. Martin again during the first week, which was nice. His classes had always been enjoyable, and we had learned a few cool tricks in digital photography last semester, so I was excited to see what we would learn in this class. The first activity we did was pretty straightforward. Even though it was a simple exercise with just a few steps to complete, I believe it helped us familiarize ourselves with the fundamentals and start with premiere pro.
Week 2:
This week, with the Lalin exercise, a few more steps were added to our exercise, but it was still fairly easy. Then we got to learn about framing in videography. Some frames I was familiar with were very new. Trying to create the nine shots was very educational. Trying it ourselves got me more familiar with the shot than just reading about it.
The dancing video for the shooting exercise was a fun idea but having to dance during Ramadan was definitely not fun. I tried to dance after breaking fas but that time was already late by then and Mr. Martin suggested we film in the morning. The split-screen editing was something new and I am glad I learned it. I think it will be very useful in the future.
Week 5:
This week's task was very simple and I was able to quickly get it done. We got a chance to familiarize ourselves with premier pro which will be helpful for future projects and exercises.
Week 6:
This week was another quick exercise where we learned color correcting. For this exercise, we had to use our intuition and understanding of highlights and shadows to correct our videos. The tools we learned I was familiar with because it was similar to the tools in photoshop.
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