VSP - Lectures & Exercises

30.8.2023 - 1.11.2023 (Week 1 - Week 14)
Chong Hui Yi / 0363195
Video & Sound Production / BDCM
Lectures & Exercises

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INSTRUCTION

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LECTURES

Week 1:
This week, Mr. Martin gave us a brief on the project and asked us to work in pairs to complete the final stop-motion project (60 seconds). If one person completes it alone, they only need to create a 30-second stop-motion. Then, we did two simple editing exercises using Premiere Pro.

In Class Editing Exercise:

1. Download footage
2. Create NEW Premiere Pro Project
3. Import footage into Premiere Pro
4. Arrange shots on timeline with proper order
5. Export video

Fig. 1.0 Class editing exercise 1 - mp4

Fig. 1.1 Class editing exercise 2 - mp4

3 Favorite Stop Motion:

Fig. 1.2 "Negative Space" - stop motion 1

This stop motion story is very touching, especially when the main character says the last line, 'Look at all the wasted space.' The story mainly revolves around a suitcase, with the main character learning how to pack it from his father. The story ends with the suitcase being used for the main character's father's coffin. The scenes, characters, and objects are all beautifully crafted, and the main character's emotions are well portrayed. At times, it's hard to tell if it's a movie or a short film - the quality is exceptionally high. The scene where the main character is swept into the sea by the 'waves' is particularly creative, and the movements are so smooth that you can hardly tell it's stop motion. 

Fig. 1.3 "Under The Winter Sun" - stop motion 2

I was initially drawn in by the music in the video, only to discover that it was a sad yet beautiful story. Even though it's just a two-minute stop motion, the plot is remarkably complete. A lonely snowman builds himself a friend, but when the sun comes out, the friend sacrifices its hat to protect the snowman and melts away. Watching the snowman gaze at the puddle left by its friend melting, I felt really sad that the sun didn't give them more time together. There are no dialogues or sound effects throughout the story, yet I could sense the snowman's emotions, and the background music created a blend of joy and sorrow in the atmosphere. I really love this stop motion.

Fig. 1.4 "Fresh Guacamole" - stop motion 2

This stop motion is all about creatively using non-edible objects for cooking, and it's a delightful and fun experience. I love it because it's visually and audibly satisfying, making it quite soothing. The voiceovers are excellent, and the visuals are smooth, making it seem like everything is effortlessly sliced, even though I know it's not actually cutting through those items

Week 2: 

Shot Size

The shot size determines how large the area that’s visible within the frame. 

Extreme wide shot - E.W.S

• Broad view of surroundings
• Conveys scale, distance, and geographical location

Wide shot - W.S

• the entire subject & its surroundings
• Establishing Shot: used at the beginning of a scene

Medium wide shot - M.W.S

• legs ↑ / knees ↓ ~ head room
• Balances figure & surroundings
• Offers a view of the physical setting

Medium shot

• top half body + head room
• Shows important subject details, including gestures and expressions

Medium close-up shot - M.C.U

• shoulders ↓ ~ forehead

Close-up shot - C.U

• head / small object (isolate important part of the object)
• Emphasizes facial expressions & object details

Extreme close-up shot - E.C.U

• Single out a portion of the face

Over the shoulder shot - O.S

• Shows the subject from behind the shoulder of another person

Camera Angle (Composition)

• Rule of thirds (intersections point)
• subject is turned 45º (¾ angling) to the camera
• 3D, when 2 or more surfaces
• parallel lines diminish and converge preferably toward the right. 

• Eye-level shot
• low angle shot (make a character look bigger, stronger, or more noble)
• high angle shot (make a character look smaller, younger, weak, confused, or more childlike)

Screen Direction

• Dynamic Screen Direction
• motion in one direction only
• Static Screen Direction
• 180º Degree Rule (reverse angle shots)
• horizontal axis: “ Line of Action”

Fig. 2.0 Shot size video

Fig. 2.1 Lalin editing exercise

Week 3:

Story Structure (3 – ACT Structure)

• Beginning: Setup / introduction of a story
• To introduce the world.
• To introduce the main characters (motivation)
• To establish the dramatic situation.
• Leads to an incident that complicates the story (PLOT POINT 1)

• Middle: Confrontation of a problem
• Known as ‘Rising Action’.
• To develop obstacls / complications.
• Leads to climax of the story (PLOT POINT 2).

• End: Resolution of problems
• Ending of climax
• Answer to all obstacles / problems
• Tying the loose ends

Fig. 3.0 The three-act structure 

Fig. 3.1 3 act structure exercise

Sound Element:

• Speech
• Dialogue: Conversation between characters in movies.
• Voice over: The voice of an unseen narrator speaking.

• Sound effects
• Ambience: Audio refers to the background noise present at a given scene or a location.
• Hard or "cut" effects

• Music
• 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. 

Project 1 Notes:

• Effect Control: ambient sound -20, dialog -6 ~ -12
• Workspace (Effect) > audio effects (crossfade) for every single
• Semi-tones

Week 4:

Mise En Scène

• In French, it literally means: mise (putting) en (on) scène (stage) 
• It refers to what we see onscreen; its visuals; meaning, all of the elements that appear on camera and their arrangement.

Composition

Set Design 

Lighting 

• High-key lighting: musicals & romantic comedies (relies on hard light to minimize shadows.)
• Low-key lighting: horror movies

Costume and Props 

Depth of Space

Week 5:
~ shotting ~ (no lectures)

Week 6:

Color Correction (exposure & color)

balancing out your colors, making the whites actually appear white, and the blacks actually appear black

Adjusting Exposure:

1. Be colour blind.

2. See only highlight (70-100), midtone, shadow (0-10)

Fig. 4.0 highlight, midtone, shadow

1. Workspace: Color

2. Lumetri Scopes

Fig. 4.1 Lumetri Scopes

Week 7:

Frequency Range: Hertz(Hz)  (Human hearing:  20Hz - 20,000Hz)

Dynamic Range: Decibels (dB): The threshold of human hearing is measured as 

0dB SPL (sound pressure level) and the threshold of pain 130dB SPL.

Space: 

• Mono: recorded using single audio channel
• Stereo: recorded using two audio channels

Week 9:

Stop Motion

• Set camera on tripod.
• Use manual exposure & focus
• Shoot during the day, but use artificial lighting
• don’t shot RAW
• Resolution: 4K
• 16:9
• Separate sequences in different folders
• Premiere Pro: Creating new project, choose this setting (1920 x 1080 24/25 frame per second)

Fig. 5.0 Create stop motion in After Effects

Fig. 5.1 Create stop motion in Adobe Premium Pro 

Week 10:

This week, the four of us formed a group to shoot stop motion at a photo studio. We brought a lot of materials and molded characters out of clay; I found it very enjoyable. The theme of our story is Halloween.

Fig. 6.0 Shooting stop motion with a phone

Week 11:

Fig.7.0 Remove blue/green background

Fig.7.0 Final video - bump to wall

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REFLECTIONS

In this module, I've learned a lot about Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Audition. However, I find that what I learn in class is more straightforward. When I try to use the software on my own for projects, I face many challenges. This is why I believe self-learning is necessary in addition to what we learn in class. I enjoy the classroom exercises, and Mr. Martin consistently keeps track of our progress, ensuring we seldom fall behind. I also appreciate the content of the classes.

Up to this point, I've gained a deeper understanding and practical experience with Premiere Pro and After Effects. However, there are still many features I'm discovering, and I hope to further understand them in the future.