Video & Sound Production - Project 3
VIDEO & SOUND PRODUCTION
25/08/20 - / Week 10 - Week 14
Ibrahim Fazal Ahmad / 0337423
Video & Sound Production / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylors University / Project 3
LECTURES
Week 4: Storytelling in Film. This week we learned about the importance of storytelling in film and media. We also learned a few new terms in-depth, though we had all most likely heard these words being thrown around before.
- Narrative: Chain of events in a cause and effect relationship
- Story: What happened?
- Plot: Why did this happen and how?
Plot segmentation is an easy way to understand the plot of a film or piece of media. We were then asked to give a rough plot segmentation for our Project 2 idea (The Zach King video), However, due to complications revolving the Adobe Creative Jam, Project 2 is now considered Project 3 (Our Final)
WEEK 5: Storyboarding. This week we learned about the importance in storyboarding, a term originated from Disney in the 1930s. It is simply the visualisation of a scene, so the cameramen know exactly what the directors have in mind. It is sort of like a simple comic, just to depict what will happen in the scene.
The purpose of a storyboard is to:
- Show important actions
- Shot composition
- Indicate camera movement
WEEK 6: This week we learned about Adobe Premiere Pro in greater detail along with the details of colour grading. We learned a few things such as how to add a title into a scene along with colour correction which will help us when creating our Zach King video. We also have an exercise based on colour grading that we will shoot in the future.
WEEK 4: Today we've begun our climb towards Project 3. We have to make a 30-second video involving an editing effect like Zach King does. For my simple idea, I will be using this video as a reference and the time stamp of the specific video is 4:26. Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhtsvaS7g7g&t=68s&ab_channel=FunnyMagicVines
Script:
F is about to leave the house while drinking some water
F bumps into the wall and spills water all over his clothes
F asks his friend to throw him a shirt
Fs friend throws the shirt too hard at his chest
Fs shirt instantly changes
Fs friend: how did you do that? Throw something else at him!
F changes into something random
WEEK 5: After doing my rough script, I had to draw out a story with the planned angles in mind, so I would be able to film without wasting any time deciding on the angles. Here are my storyboarding processes:
Figure 1.01: Storyboard 2
Figure 1.02: Storyboard 3
WEEK 11: Due to the Adobe Creative Jam video we were supposed to make, this project has been changed from our second project to our Final Project which is why there is a large gap in between the weeks for this project.
I started where I had left off in the previous weeks which was to begin filming. I had a few issues which I resolved on my own. In this video, I tested out the effect I wanted to try and emulate. I wanted the shirt to change instantly and this was just a test shot of my video.
Figure 1.03: Test effect
Figure 1.04: Rough edit of my video
The way I did this effect is actually rather simple. Firstly, I got played out the scene normally, and just as my friend throws the shirt at me and it makes contact. I stay very still for a few seconds. After which I change my shirt and resume the same position. I then pretend to continue the motion from being hit so the cut will feel smoother.
These are my shots prior to the editing:
Figure 1.05: Video clip prior to editing
Figure 1.06: Video clip prior to editing
Figure 1.07: Scene 8, right before the jump cut
Figure 1.08: Scene 9, after the jump cut
WEEK 12: After completing all of the cuts, I had to do the colour correction, I just wanted to keep the video slightly warm, but consistent throughout. The first scene had a nice look to it, so I decided to use it as a base. Following the Lumetri Scopes, I changed all of the clips following to be similar. With the levels of red, green, and blue being as similar as I could get them.
Figure 1.09: Lumetri Scopes
Figure 1.1: Lumetri Scopes
WEEK 13: After doing this to all of my scenes, I had to add some sound effects. There were some sounds in the background I didn't really like and caused for some difficulty. What I ended up doing was using Audacity, to try and fix the audio clips on their own first.
Figure 1.11: Audacity
The top track is after I had fixed the audio, while the bottom one was the previous track. There was a loud noise when I had moved the camera in the video which I honestly could not figure out how to edit in Premiere without removing the clip as well, and since I already had experience in Audacity I opted for it. I just copied the sounds right before the loud noise and replaced the noise with that section instead.
Figure 1.12: Sound Effects, Subtitles and Colour Corrected
After fixing the original audio, I added some simple sound effects. Such as a "whoosh" sound when the camera turned quickly or when the shirt was thrown. I also added some light footsteps and a sound effect when the shirt had changed as it had felt very empty without it.
Here is the unedited version, without colour correction, sound effects or subtitles:
Figure 1.13: Unedited video
Figure 1.14: Fully edited FINAL VIDEO
REFLECTIONS:
WEEK 4: This week we learned about plot segmentation in media. The simplicity of plot segmentation and how it can allow us to work with a plot without too much extra thought and unnecessary details. It was an interesting lecture, though coming up with a plot on the spot was definitely a little tough. However, being able to recreate someone who I used to watch while growing up (Zach King) is really cool! I remember when Vine was super popular and his videos were always going viral for how simple but impressive the effects were. An observation I made is not all stories follow the basic story structure. One finding I made is that in the 3 act structure, sometimes there may not be a proper resolution leaving a cliffhanger.
WEEK 5: This week we learned about storyboarding. I already had some experience in this as I used to animate in my free time. Before I would animate I would always draw out a rough storyboard of what I wanted to happen in each scene and describe below the action I wanted to animate. One observation I made was that the Psycho movie followed the storyboard very closely and in comparison to the movies from today was very underwhelming, however, it was a marvel in its time. One finding I made was that storyboarding was originally started by Disney.
WEEK 6: This week we learned about Adobe Premiere Pro in more detail. Along with a few effects such as adding text on videos and colour grading our video. It was a lot to digest to be honest, and I will probably forget a lot of this until I actually try and do it in Premiere. One observation I made was that colour grading can change the tone of a video very easily. One finding I made was that cool tones can make a video more sad and melancholy while warmer tones make a video more bright and cheerful.
WEEK 11: I have now begun my filming for the final project, being the Zach King video. I had some complications with the filming as I had to change locations suddenly. However, i sorted it out on my own and now am ready to start the filming for my video. Filming went really smooth, I had no speedbumps and my test shot worked out well. There were no major setbacks other than me laughing in the middle of a shot or my friend missing the T-shirt when she threw it at me. One observation I made was that saying "action!" and "cut!" are really helpful when cutting the video together. A finding I made was that lighting is very crucial, but there can be too much at times.
WEEK 12: Colour correction is now also done, however, I need to add sound effects to finish it completely. I have been really busy in general, especially with Advanced Typography so it's been hard juggling everything simultaneously. I am managing, not with much sleep but that's just university life. But colour correcting went well, it was relatively simple. My friend's mother let me borrow her studio light (she's a photographer) so I had really nice lighting in all my shots. But some shots were too bright, but colour correcting fixed all of them. One observation I made was that the effect shots had to be nearly the exact same in colour otherwise it looked very obvious. One finding I made was that colour correction is really difficult, but also the Lumetri Scopes show the exact movement of your video on its display.
WEEK 13: I've added in the sound effects, it is now really done! It feels much better and more interesting with the sound effects added in. I also used software of my own for the audio as I had a lot of issues trying to deal with it in Premiere Pro. The sound effects were all from online except the subtle sound of my friend grabbing my shirt, which I used my own sound. One observation was that sound really does complete the video, it feels much more realistic and fun with the sound effects. One finding I made was that some sounds can be used in place of others. The sound I used for my shirts magically changing was actually labelled as a "throwing" sound on YouTube.
WEEK 14: I am now officially done! It feels a little weird being done with VSP, I really enjoyed this subject. Mr Martin was a really great lecturer and I'm glad to have been taught by him for two semesters now. I learned a lot in terms of editing, sound and photography as well. Many techniques I now use in my digital art was all from Mr Martins classes in semester 1. Now when I watch videos, I always think about the sound and framing. What type of shot, what could have been used to make this sound? It's all really interesting and I have a different perspective on videography and sound design now.
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