Video and Sound Production - Exercises

25/8/2021 - 16/11/2021 / Week 1 - Week 13

Lui Hsiao Hui (Tressa) / 0342003
Video and Sound Production / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media

Exercises

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EXERCISES

WEEK 1

Arranging video clips in Adobe Premiere Pro

In week 1, we had a basic introduction to Adobe Premiere Pro. Our exercise was to arrange the video clips provided in the right order.

Fig. 1.1 "Mints" video clips

Fig. 1.2 "Doritos" video clips

The first set of video clips are of a Mints commercial and they are numbered accordingly so we just had to arrange them in sequence. While the second set of video clips are from a Doritos commercial, but they aren't numbered in order, so we have to watch the clips to find out the sequence.

Fig. 1.3 Arranging video clips from the Mints commercial, Week 1 (25/8/2021)

Fig. 1.4 "Mints" - final edited video, Week 1 (25/8/2021)

Fig. 1.5 "Doritos" - final edited video, Week 1 (25/8/2021)

WEEK 2

1. Shooting exercise - Composition

In week 2, we learned about framing with different size shots. Our task was to shoot 8 different size shots which are:

1. Low angle wide shot
2. Frontal medium close-up
3. Frontal medium shot
4. Extreme close-up shot
5. Side angle (profile) medium shot 
6. ¾ angling medium close-up shot
7. Close-up shot   
8. Eye-level medium wide shot

Each shot is to be 5 seconds and we need to add captions indicating the shot sizes.

 

Fig. 2.1 Final shooting exercise, Week 2 (2/9/2021)

I wanted to have some fun when doing this exercise, so I used coloured lighting and edited the shots to fit the song I liked. For the extreme close-up shot, I purposely made it blurry because I like the bokeh and how it looks mysterious. Shots were composed with the guide of the rule of thirds.

Camera: Canon EOS 700D

Lenses used:

- Wide shots: Kit lens (18-55mm)

- Close-up shots: Portrait lens (50mm 1.4)

- Extreme close-up: Macro lens (60mm 2.8)

Tripod was used for all shots. Clips range from 4 to 7 seconds (or more) but were cut to fit the tempo of the music. For the lighting, I used a yellow light and my room lamp (white light) for the contrasting colours.

Some struggles I faced with was the pain of filming in a tiny room, not liking how I look in the shots and also getting the camera to focus properly. It took a few tries and manual focus helps. I could've filmed outside but no way, not in the Malaysian heat and the staring neighbours, not to mention I want my coloured light. 

Fig. 2.2 Blood, Sweat & Tears by BTS (Japanese Ver)

The low angle wide shot composition at 0:26 of my final video was inspired by Fig. 2.2 above. 

Fig. 2.3 Lumetri colour curves, Week 2 (1/9/2021)

This is just my little exploration of Premiere Pro. I wanted to change the colours of my video so I used curves under "Lumetri Colour". There's no specific way of how I adjust the curves, I just tweak them until I like what I see.

Fig. 2.4 Keyframes, Week 2 (1/9/2021)

I wanted to make a few of the shots moving, to lessen the stillness and make the shots more dynamic. For that I just changed the scale and rotation using keyframes, just like in After Effects.

2. Editing exercise - Lalin

Our second exercise is an editing exercise. We were given the shots in this Google Drive (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LGt1c2xPYia6gzLQGG_IuLnXgLvQnJvu) and our task is to assemble them in order (based on the storyboard), trim the clips and apply simple transitions. These shots are based on a short film called My Name is "LALIN".

Fig. 2.5 Final editing exercise, Week 2 (3/9/2021)

Fig. 2.6 Effects

In the tutorial video, we were instructed to use the effects "cross dissolve" for the guy disappearing and "dip to black" at the beginning and end of the video.

WEEK 3

1. Practical - Plot segmentation

Fig. 3.1 Plot segmentation - Burrow, Week 3 (8/9/2021)

In-class exercise - based on the short film Burrow we were tasked to write plot segmentation.

Plot segmentation:

- Major changes within the narrative (changes in action, time & space)

- Short and succinct with key points only

2. Shooting exercise - Dance video

Our week 3 exercise is similar to our week 2 shooting exercise, but this time we are put into groups of 3 and we are to chose a dance choreography to dance to and film.

Video length: 30 seconds

Shot sizes:

1. Wide shot - high angle (solo)

2. 3 single full-body shots - eye level (members at the side)

3. Medium shot - eye-level (solo)

4. Medium close-up shot - eye-level (solo)

5. Close-up shot - eye-level (you)

6. Extreme close-up shot - eye-level (solo)

7. Wide shot - low angle (solo)

Fig. 3.2 Final dance video - "PRETTY SAVAGE", Week 3 (11/9/2021)

This 'exercise' literally meant exercise lol-

Group members: Athirah, Jia Sheng and me

Song and dance: "Pretty Savage" by BLACKPINK (chosen by me)

Camera: Canon EOS 700D

Lenses used:

- Wide shots: Kit lens (18-55mm)

- Close-up and extreme close-up shots: Portrait lens (50mm 1.4)

Tripod was used for all shots. A table lamp was used for the 'shadowy' shots.

While the edit is satisfying, the process of filming was a pain. Once again I struggled with space and location. Especially when it came to the wide shots because there's not enough distance due to space limitation. Not only that but it took around 20 takes for the group shot because dance is not easy even if I have a background in it.

Fig. 3.3 Guides, Week 3 (10/9/2021)

The group shots are split equally with the help of the guides.

Fig. 3.4 Lumetri colour vignette and adjustment layers, Week 3 (10/9/2021)

For the colour edits, I used an adjustment layer so it would be faster to edit all shots and keep all edits the same. I used 2 adjustment layers, one for the red filter and the other for the black and white filter.

WEEK 12

Colour Correction

In week 12, we learned colour grading/correction and was tasked with the following:

1st wide shot: Teal and orange

3x single shot: Bluish (cold), greenish (cold), brownish (warm)

Medium shot: Neutral (post white balance, balance RGB)

Medium close-up: Neutral (Desaturation, 50%-70%)

Close-up and extreme close-up: B&W, high contrast

End wide shot: Neutral (Increase saturation 120%)

Fig. 4.1 Colour correction with lumetri colour, Week 12 (10/11/2021)

Fig. 4.2 Colour corrected vs original, Week 12 (10/11/2021)

Fig. 4.3 Colour corrected sample video, Week 12 (10/11/2021)

Fig. 4.4 Colour correcting previous exercise video, Week 13 (16/11/2021)

Colour grading the different clips based on the tasked colours. Using 'curves' and 'colour wheels and match'.

Fig. 4.5 Colour corrected previous exercise video, Week 13 (16/11/2021)