Video and Sound Production: Project 1

VSP60104 Video and Sound Production 15.9.2021 -  14.11.2021 (Week 4 - Week 12)

Wendy Seto / 0348805
VSP60104 Video and Sound Production / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Project 1

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INSTRUCTIONS

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LECTURES

Week 4: This week, we started to work on our first project from this module. We learnt about the art of sound design in class. An audio setting is created by mixing different sound element together that supports the action. There are three main sound elements:

1. Speech
One of the most important tool for understanding the story of the film. 
• Dialogue: Conversation between characters in movie.
• Voice over: The voice of an unseen narrator speaking.
2. Sound Effects
• Ambience:
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.
3. Music
To enhance the dramatic narrative and the emotional impact. Other sound terms:
1. Dubbing or automated Dialog Replacement (ADR)
The process of re-recording dialogue after the filming process to improve audio quality or reflect dialogue changes.
2. Foley
A sound effect technique for synchronous or live effect. Fun fact, the foley technique are named after Jack Foley, a sound editor at Universal Studios.

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PROJECT 1

Exercise 1: Audio Dubbing

Our first exercise is to sync the required audios of a muted scene from Pixar's 'Soul' in Adobe Premiere Pro. Mr. Martin has provided the dialogues through Google Docs and instructed us to record all the speeches with our phone. 

fig 1.1 soul dialogues.pdf

He gave us some recommended URLs to find free sounds we might need for the exercise:
• https://freesound.org/

• https://99sounds.org/

I recorded the necessary dialogues shown in fig 1.1 using the voice memos app on iPhone. It took many tries to really get one that sync well with the characters movement. Also, I am trying to differentiate two different voices because there are two main characters in the scene. For the side character voice, I am just using my normal voice as it does not really hearable. I marked the ones I ended up using with 'voiceover 1' and 'voiceover 2' as shown in fig 1.2.

Moving on, I managed to find all the ambiences and sound effects I need on https://freesound.org/. Thank you Mr. Martin for letting me know of this website, it was really helpful. I used to download sound effects from YouTube but the options were not that wide, sometimes I am unable to find the exact sound I want which makes it hard to finish my project maximally. I renamed all the downloaded sound effects to help me work easier and created a particular folder so I will not be wasting my time figuring out where did the files go.

fig 1.2 sounds I am using for this exercise 21/9/21

fig 1.3 my project timeline sequence 21/9/21

fig 1.4 soul - audio dubbing with music.mp4 21/9/21

I just realized that Mr. Martin assigned us to add only the speeches and sound effects when I was about to turn in my work so I made another one without any music in and submitted both.

fig 1.5 soul - audio dubbing without music.mp4 21/9/21

Exercise 2: Audio Shaping

Mr. Martin provided us 2 audios to choose to shape these voices:
1. Voice through a phone call
2. Voice coming inside of a closet
3. Voice in a big stadium
4. Voice from a underground cave
5. Voice from a bathroom

I watched a video about a quick introduction to Adobe Audition beforehand to get familiar with the interface since this is my first time using this software and I used the knowledge that I got from the lectures to shape this audios.

1. Phone Call

fig 2.1 phone call audio shaping 14/11/21

2. Closet

fig 2.2 closet audio shaping 7/11/21

3. Big Stadium 

fig 2.3 big stadium audio shaping 7/11/21

4. Underground Cave

fig 2.4 underground cave audio shaping 7/11/21

5. Bathroom

fig 2.5 bathroom audio shaping 7/11/21

fig 2.6 Exercise 2.zip 7/11/21

Exercise 3: Sound Design

This is the last exercise for this project, we were assigned to design 3 of the following sounds:
1. Explosions
2. Triple punches (variation)

3. Monster/Alien voice

1. Explosions

fig 3.1 explosion sound designing 14/11/21

2. Triple punches

fig 3.2 triple punches sound designing 14/11/21

3. Alien voice

fig 3.3 monster/alien voice sound designing 14/11/21

fig 3.4 Exercise 3.zip 14/11/21

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FEEDBACK

Exercise 1:
I prefer the one without music for this exercise. Maybe replace the background noise with something less crowded.

Exercise 2:
Cave needs to be a bit echoey.

Exercise 3:
Very good. Explosion is different but good.

Video and Sound Production: Final Project

VSP60104 Video and Sound Production 25.8.2021 - 5.12.2021 (Week 1 - Week 15)

Wendy Seto / 0348805
VSP60104 Video and Sound Production / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Final Project

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INSTRUCTIONS

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FINAL PROJECT

Week 1:

1. Netizen Tercinta by Aulion

fig 1.1 stop motion #1 25/8/21

Aulion is a famous Indonesian stop motion creator. He is a very creative and talented director who loves to use a lot of colours in his work. As you can see from the thumbnail of the video itself, he mainly use primary colours which represent emotions, energy and passion. This stop motion is referring to two types of Indonesian netizens which is really iconic. The graphical element he uses in most of his stop motion videos are drawings, paper craft and himself. 

2. Blank Space Barbie Stop Motion by Sam & Mickey ft. Georgia Merry

fig 1.2 stop motion #2 25/8/21

Barbie is my childhood and I still love to play with it sometimes now and then. I used to set up a whole scenario in my head and pretend like I am the doll and this is my world. Watching these stop motions makes me want to be a kid again. This stop motion is parody-ing Taylor Swift's music video 'Blank Space' but with barbie dolls. I really like the cinematography in this stop motion, it has an amazing control of the depth-of-field for every shots. The colours are really nice too, it kinda has that matte vintage vibe. I wonder how did the creator manage to collect all the properties though?

3. Harry Potter in 90 Seconds (LEGO Stop Motion)

fig 1.3 stop motion #3 25/8/21

Okay, this last one is on ANOTHER LEVEL. I cannot stop watching it, it is literally the definition of the word masterpiece. The cinematography, colours, transitions, sound, everything is just perfectly wrapped together. It is really entertaining and visually pleasing. It makes me want to collect Harry Potter LEGOs so badly!! And now I am binge watching these stop motions, after all this time? Always.

Week 9:

Below is my proposal for Final Project.

fig 2.1 final project proposal.pdf 20/10/21

Week 13:

I went to the beach early in the morning to avoid the crowd so I can shoot peacefully without many distractions and I took so many pictures like more than 500 approximately. However, I failed to take pictures of the dragon in the ocean because it happened to be not possible. The waves were very big and the pokemon toy that I was using almost being drifted away several times that I do not want to take any other risks. Due to this issue, I thought I will have to change the overall narrative but turns out it still work without the dragon part.

fig 3.1 RAW shots 15/11/21

I proceed to combining the pictures into a stop motion in the next day. The part that took the most time is selecting which shot to use because I happened to take so many similar and identical ones and the fact that I am very indecisive made it even harder. Believe it or not, it took me days to sort them and finalize.

I did all my post-production in Final Cut Pro. I ends up creating so many presets for this specific project because somehow all of my shots had different lighting. Some of them were over exposed while some were under exposed, the same preset will not work so well unless I am okay to leave it "unmatched" or "unblended", but I am not, and I am pretty sure that Mr. Martin will not too.

fig 3.2 created presets 17/11/21

It took me a while to find all the sound that I need from freesounds and YouTube. These are all that I downloaded.

fig 3.3 downloaded audios 22/11/21

fig 3.4 my final stop motion timeline in Final Cut Pro 24/11/21

fig 3.5 Final Project.mp4 4/12/21

Video and Sound Production: Project 2 - Visual Effects

VSP60104 Video and Sound Production 25.8.2021 -  17.10.2021 (Week 1 - Week 8)

Wendy Seto / 0348805
VSP60104 Video and Sound Production / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Project 2

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INSTRUCTIONS

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PROJECT 2

Week 1:

fig 1.1 project 2 week 1 task 25/8/21

I am a huge fan of Zach King so I have some of my favourite "magic" of his saved on Instagram but since Mr. Martin assigned us to choose the videos from YouTube so lets find some there. I actually do not really understand what does it mean by choosing 3 effect videos, because on YouTube mostly he posted about behind the scenes and compilations or such videos with longer duration. So I will just list my top three videos from Zach Kings YouTube channel here.

1. The Magical Mischief of Zach King

fig 1.2 Zach King video #1 25/8/21

This is my ALL TIME FAVOURITE video of his, no doubt. I am a hard-core potterhead so this video content and editing is like a dreammmmm.  I wanted to go to the Wizarding World so bad, it is on top of my travel bucket list! Zach King does belonng to this world, he is a real life wizard.

2. Furniture Optical Illusions

fig 1.3 Zach King video #2 25/8/21

This video is like he revealing his magic secrets but we still do not understand how he does it. Dont we all agree that he should make the behind the scene of these behind the scenes? 

3. Magic Tricks Shots for Dads

fig 1.4 Zach King video #3 25/8/21

I have watched this one multiple times and it still feel very entertaining. Imagine having him as a dad, how much fun it would be? I really like when he applies magic in daily activities because it makes everything seems possible. If you have not watched this one yet, please do and thank me later!

Week 3:

Mr. Martin instructed us to find 3 tutorials on YouTube to use as reference.

fig 2.1 tutorial video reference #1 11/9/21

fig 2.2 tutorial video reference #2 11/9/21

fig 2.3 tutorial video reference #3 11/9/21

Below is my proposal for Project 2:

fig 2.4 Project 2 Proposal.pdf 11/9/21

Week 4:

I took all the scenes I need with my very wrecked Canon G7x Mark ii, most of the screws are missing that I have to stick the parts of the camera all together with tapes hahahah. Also, I decided to cut out my third visual effect plot because I did not have any strawberries at home.

fig 3.1 RAW footages 27/9/21

I proceed to combine and edit the clips in the next day, starting by masking the necessary in Adobe Premiere Pro.

fig 3.2 masking #1 28/9/21

fig 3.3 masking #2 28/9/21

And then I finalize the overall in Final Cut Pro since I am more familiar with this software.

fig 3.4 colour grading & adding sound effects 28/9/21

I also made some improvements later on because I still have 2 weeks of time before the submission. I tried to fix up the second masking to make it less obvious but this is by far the best that I can get.

fig 3.5 Project 2.mp4 17/10/21

Video and Sound Production: Exercises

VSP60104 Video and Sound Production 25.8.2021 - 12.9.2021 (Week 1 - Week 3)
Wendy Seto / 0348805
VSP60104 Video and Sound Production / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Exercises

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INSTRUCTIONS

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LECTURES

Week 1: Altough I have seen his name around on another modules Google Classroom last semester, this is my first class with Mr. Martin himself. As usual, we always received a module briefing in the first week of class. First thing first, Mr. Martin introduced us to the 3 main stages of video production which are:

1. Pre-Production (Preparation)

• Idea Development
• Story
• Storyboard
• Visual References
• Location/Props

2. Production (Shooting)

• Lighting
• Costume
• Principal Shooting

3. Post-Production (Editing)

• Offline Editing
• Online Editing
• Audio Editing

I studied in a film school previously so I know quite a bit about film production. My favourite part is post-production but I have not got the chance to learn any about it yet since I decided to drop my course and transfer here to pursue design instead. That is why I am so happy to be able to take the Video and Sound Production module this semester!

Mr. Martin also inform us what are the softwares and essential equipments we are going to need for our future projects as long with some of his own recommendations.

The highlight of todays class is that I realized my lecturer has such a great taste in music! I was wondering what are the songs he has been playing in the background during the class break, and I noticed one of my classmate, Dorcas, recognized it too. So I ask her and she introduced me to this musical group called ?te. Now, I cannot stop streaming their songs on Spotify. I am still listening to them while writing this blog post, somehow it helps me to focus and it just feel like I am having Mr. Martin's class right at this hour.

Week 2: This week, Mr. Martin explained a bit about earliest cinema and cinematography. Then we learnt about framing and shooting angles.

1. Shot Sizes:

• Extreme Wide Shot
• Wide Shot 
• Medium Wide Shot
• Medium Shot
• Medium Close-Up Shot
• Close-Up Shot
• Extreme Close-Up Shot

2. Shooting Angles:

• Frontal
• 3/4 Angling
• Side View
• Eye Level
• High Angle
• Low Angle

3. Screen Directions:

• Dynamic
• Static

Furthermore, Mr. Martin also talked about composition, rule of thirds and 180 degree rule. I learnt about this topic previously but the words that were used are slightly different so I am feeling like learning everything all over again. 

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PRACTICAL

Week 1:

For the first two exercises, we are going to use Adobe Premiere Pro. Mr. Martin asked us to install the software during class because we are doing an in-class editing exercise. I am having a job in this field so video editing is not a new thing to me, but Premiere Pro is. I tried to use Premiere Pro once but I gave up because I was just as confused as I am today with all the overwhelming interface the software has. I am pretty familiar with iMovie and Final Cut Pro though, but I remember briefly how hard it was when I first started using Final Cut Pro after years of using iMovie. So, I guess it is just all about getting used to something, isn't it?

I watched this video before doing the exercises and it was really helpful. I like the way the creator explains everything, he makes the information easy to digest for beginners. So, if you are reading this and you are struggling with Premiere Pro as well, just click on the video down below! You are welcome~

fig 1.1 Premiere Pro Basics by Vince Opra

Exercise 1 - Editing

fig 1.2 exercise 1 instructions 25/8/21

fig 1.3 creating new project in Premiere Pro 25/8/21

fig 1.4 importing footages 25/8/21

fig 1.5 arrange shots on timeline 25/8/21

fig 1.6 exporting video 28/8/21


fig 1.7 mints.mp4 28/8/21

For exercise 1, Mr. Martin already provided us all the footages in the correct order so there is not much to do actually. We are just learning on how to create a new project, import footages and export it as a video in Adobe Premiere Pro. I hate this first exercise though. Loud motorcycles exhaust sound is like my biggest pet peeve and I kept hearing it on repeat on this video..

Exercise 2 - Editing

fig 1.8 exercise 2 instructions 25/8/21

fig 1.9 renaming the footages after arranging them in a correct order 28/8/21

fig 1.10 final exercise 2 timeline preview 28/8/21

fig 1.11 exporting video 28/8/21

fig 1.12 doritos.mp4 28/8/21

This one took me longer to finish because we have to arrange all the clips in a correct order. So far, I do not enjoy using Premiere Pro, it is so difficult to rearrange the clip directly from the timeline. Well, maybe there is a way to do it better but I just have to figure out how. 

Week 2:

Exercise 3 - Shooting Practice

fig 2.1 exercise 3 instructions 1/9/21

fig 2.2 exercise 3 instructions 1/9/21

fig 2.2 shooting exercise with storyline.mp4 3/9/21


fig 2.3 shooting exercise without storyline.mp4 3/9/21

This is our first shooting exercise, it was pretty fun. I made two videos both with and without storyline. I had a misunderstanding on what does 3/4 angling mean, I thought it is something like 'over the shoulder shot' where we only show 3/4 of the focused subject. After seeing my classmates work in the next class, I realized how dumb I was for not understanding what '3/4 angling' is. The word itself is already very obvious, how can I not notice that? Besides, I am not that happy with my low angle wide shot, I am fully aware that is was not 'wide' enough hahahah. Overall,  I wish that I could done the exercise during the daylight so I can have nicer lighting and shooting outcome with better depth of field and slightly sharper video resolution.

Exercise 4 - Editing

fig 2.4 exercise 4 instructions 1/9/21

fig 2.5 lalin.mp4 5/9/21

Another exercise we got this week is to combine and trim footages of a remade Lalin's scene. We were instructed to watch the original video first and then do the editing as directed in the storyboard.

Week 3:

Exercise 5 - Shooting Practice

The next exercise is kinda different. We were given another chance to practice shooting and framing. However, this time we have to shoot our own dancing video while still paying attention to the framing set-up. We need at least 7 of these shots in the video:

1. Wide Shot - high angle (You, Solo)
2. 3 single full body shots - eye level (You at the middle)
3. Medium Shot - Eye level (You)
4. Medium Close-up Shot - Eye level (You)
5. Close-up Shot - Eye level (You)
6. Extreme Close-up Shot - Eye level (You)
7. Wide Shot - Low angle (You, Solo)

For the second shot requirement, we are encouraged to form a group consisted of 3-4 members and select a song to dance with together. My groupmates are Dorcas, Janice and Se Win. In the first discussion, we all agreed to use So Bang Cha - Last Night Story from an iconic scene of the most phenomenal korean drama 'Reply 1988'. 

fig 3.1 reply 1988 ep.3 - last night story performance.mp4

We use this video below as our reference:

fig 3.2 the dance video we refer to.mp4

Since I am not a dancer, it took me one whole day to learn about the choreography. Luckily, me and my groupmates had some discussions on modifying the harder movement. Even if we are only using around 30 seconds of it, it is still out of our comfort zone. Practicing the dance feels like a workout, I did not expect dancing to be this energy draining.

I did the shooting in the next few days, it took me hours to get it done. Our group agreed to wear matching hoodies and sunglasses, the funny thing is that we all ended up wearing black hoodies unintentionally. I was wearing a t-shirt underneath when shooting the video and there was no air conditioning at the moment. This shooting exercise got me sweating more than I do in a week.

I combined all the clips together in Final Cut Pro and did some colour grading to match with my groupmmates' clips. Turns out it is not that hard to sync our movement together since the timing are all pretty accurate already. I love working with these people as they are all very responsible and on time on submitting their parts. Also, they are always open for discussions so we can all finish our work in the same direction. Lastly, I still do not understand why do we design students have to dance though. My mom started to question what major am I taking exactly, I do not even know the answer myself!

fig 3.3 last night story - so bang cha.mp4 12/9/21