Video & Sound Production - Exercises
25/9/2025-20/11/2025 / Week1-Week9
Tan Tzu Yu / 0374460
Video & Sound Production / Bachelor of Design (Honors) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Exercises
LECTURES
Week 1Week 2 - Framing & Storyboard
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Extreme wide shot (E.W.S) : It shows a broad view of the
surroundings around the character and conveys scale, distance and
geographical location.
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Fig 1.0 : Examples of Extreme Wide Shot |
- Wide shot (W.S) : It includes the entire subject and important objects in the immediate surroundings. If it's used at the beginning of a scene it's often called an "establishing shot”.
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Fig 1.1 : Examples of Wide Shot |
- Medium wide shot (M.W.S) : It shows a character usually cut off across the legs above or below the knees.
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Fig 1.2 : Examples of Medium Wide Shot |
- Medium shot (M.S) : It shows the subject that are important to understanding - Gesture and expression, from the person waist up, letting hands and the lower half of his body fall outside the frame.
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| Fig 1.3 : Examples of Medium Shot |
- Medium close-up shot (M.C.U) : It films subject character from approximately midway between waist and shoulders to above the head.
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| Fig 1.4 : Examples of Medium Close-Up Shot |
- Close-up shot (C.U) : It is used to isolate the most important part of the subject. For a speaker, this is generally the head, or small object.It emphasizes facial expression, details of an object.
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- Over the shoulder shot (O.S) : It shows the subject from behind the shoulder of another person.
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Extreme close-up shot : It singles out a portion of the face magnifies a detail. The object is
to focus on important detail either to increase the drama or impact on a
situation or to allow the viewer to see necessary picture information
more clearly.
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Fig 1.7 : Examples of Extreme close-up Shot |
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Composition Techniques:
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Rule of Thirds: Divides the frame into thirds, providing aesthetically pleasing spots for placing subjects or perspective lines.
Fig 1.8 : Examples of Rule of Thirds -
Subject Angle: Best facial modeling occurs when the subject is turned 45º to the camera, enhancing the roundness of the face and visibility of the eyes.
Fig 1.9 : Examples of Subject Angles
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Camera Height and Angle:
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Eye-Level Angle: Films from the average observer's eye level, creating a neutral perspective.
Fig 1.10 : Examples of Eye Level Angles -
Low Angle Shot: Tilts the camera upward, making characters appear larger and more powerful.
Fig 1.11 : Examples of Low Angle Shot -
High Angle Shot: Tilts the camera downward, making characters seem smaller or weaker.
Fig 1.12 : Examples of High Angle Shot
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Dynamic Screen Direction: Consistent movement in one direction across a series of shots helps depict progression, such as a person walking or a car driving.
Fig 1.13 : Dynamic Screen Direction -
Static Screen Direction: When planning shots with two characters, the 180º rule is crucial. It ensures the camera remains on one side of the "Line of Action," preventing disorientation for the viewer.
Fig 1.14 : Static Screen Direction
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180º Degree Rule:
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Correct Usage: Keeping the camera on one side of the line maintains viewer orientation.
Fig 1.15 : Correct usage of 180 Degree Rule -
Incorrect Usage: Crossing the line can confuse the audience, disrupting the narrative flow.
Fig 1.16 : Incorrect usage of 180 Degree Rule
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Week 3
The mixing of sound elements below creates an audio setting that supports the action and engages the spectators.
- Speech/ Dialogue
- Sound effects
- Music
- Hard Sound effects: Specific sounds that are added to a film to enhance a particular action or event, such as a door creaking, glass breaking, or a gunshot.
- Ambient effects: Background noise in a film, such as traffic, wind, or crowd noise, that helps to create a sense of environment and atmosphere.
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Colour correction aligns every clip to a consistent technical standard: whites look white, blacks look black, and midtones are balanced so all shots match in color temperature and luminance.
Edit the clips on the timeline and open the Color panel (e.g., Lumetri in Premiere).
Enable Lumetri Scopes: RGB Parade, Waveform, Vectorscope.
Decide a reference (luminosity) value — pick a well‑exposed clip to act as the reference for others.
Adopt a “be colour blind” approach: evaluate only Highlights, Midtones, Shadows (ignore hue initially).
In Basic Correction adjust Exposure, Highlights, Shadows. Use the Eyedropper for white balance when appropriate, then fine‑tune Temperature and Tint.
Right‑click → Display Mode → Comparison View to compare Before & After while adjusting.
Use the Waveform for luminance balance, the RGB Parade for channel clipping and channel balance, and the Vectorscope for hue/saturation checks.
- Use the first adjusted clip as the visual reference and match subsequent clips to it.
[Advanced Correction (Colour Wheels & Secondary)]
Use Colour Wheels to adjust Shadows, Midtones, and Highlights independently (push shadows slightly toward a desired hue without affecting highlights).
Apply secondary corrections (masks/qualifiers) to isolate and fix specific hues or skin tones.
[ Colour Grading ]
Colour grading is an aesthetic step after correction: manipulate colors to create a mood or narrative tone. Main objectives:
Increase contrast & saturation
Introduce a new color tinge (overall look)
Direct viewer attention through color contrast
[How to do colour grading?]
Add an Adjustment Layer on Video Track 2 and grade globally, then refine per shot.
Apply an S‑curve in the curves panel to increase contrast (lift highlights, deepen shadows).
Adjust Temperature, Tint, and Saturation to shape the look (keep primary correction intact).
- Use color wheels to push Shadows, Midtones, and Highlights toward chosen hues.
[ Practical tips for grading ]
Work from general → specific: global adjustment on adjustment layer, then clip‑level refinements and secondaries.
Use masks and hue/saturation qualifiers to protect skin tones when pushing extreme tints.
Use the first corrected clip as your baseline and periodically compare with original via Comparison View.
- Subtlety often reads better on different displays — avoid extreme saturation unless stylistic choice demands it.
Week 8
This week, we learned about audio editing using Adobe Audition. It was my first time using this software, so I was honestly a bit confused at the start. But after some explanation and hands-on practice, I slowly began to understand how sound works and how different tools affect a voice recording.
[Understanding Frequencies]
We first learned about frequency, which is measured in Hertz (Hz).
Humans can hear roughly 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. Inside this range, there are smaller categories like sub-bass, bass, midrange, treble, etc. Each part affects how “deep,” “warm,” “clear,” or “bright” a sound feels.
We also talked about decibels (dB), which measure loudness. 0 dB is the softest we can hear, and around 130 dB is already painful.
- Dynamic range : difference between the quietest and loudest parts of a sound. This can be controlled using tools like EQ, compression, and proper gain settings.
[Mono vs Stereo]
Mono = one audio channel.
Good for single voices (like phone sound or dialogue meant to feel centered).Stereo = two channels (left + right).
Good for ambience, music, and creating a sense of space.
[Setting Up Adobe Audition]
We created a Multitrack session, loaded practice audio, and used the Effect Rack to apply things like EQ and reverb.
Parametric EQ became our main tool for shaping sound.
[Basic EQ Controls]
EQ has three main things:
Frequency – which part of the sound you’re adjusting
Gain – how much you boost or reduce that part
Q – how wide or narrow the adjustment is
A narrow Q is like a sharp knife (precise cuts), while a wide Q is like a paintbrush (broad shaping).
We also learned:
It’s usually better to cut bad frequencies first before boosting anything.
Even small boosts (1–3dB) can make a noticeable difference.
[Phone Call Voice]
To make a voice sound like a phone:
Remove the deep bass and high treble
Boost the mids (about 500 Hz – 2 kHz)
Limit the frequency range so it feels “low quality”
[Muffled / Inside Closet Voice]
For the muffled “behind a door” effect:
Keep the bass
Cut the high frequencies
Boost some midrange to make it boxy
[Bathroom / Toilet Voice]
Bathroom voices are very reflective:
Add a bright reverb with short/medium decay
Boost some higher frequencies to make the voice sound like it’s bouncing off tiles
[Underground Cave]
A cave sound has long, dark echoes:
Use long reverb decay
Add a bit more low-end to make it feel deep
Reduce the high frequencies so it feels more “underground”
[ Alien / Orc Voice]
For this one we played with:
Pitch shifting (lower pitch for orc, weird modulation for alien)
Boosting low-mids for a heavy voice
Adding slight distortion for a rough or unnatural texture
[Reverb Basics (Easy Version)]
We also learned what reverb settings actually mean:
Decay = how long the echo lasts
Pre-delay = how soon the echo starts
Dry = original voice
Wet = echoed voice
For subtle space: high dry, low wet
For dramatic effects: higher wet + longer decay
Weekly Asynchronous Class Quiz
Quiz 2 : Based on each of the movies,
1. Which part is act 1, act 2, act 3 respectively? Describe each act with ONE paragraph only.
- Lalin :
[Act 1]
The movie starts by showing Lalin’s quiet and lonely life. On the outside, everything seems normal, but you can feel that she’s hiding a lot of pain inside. She looks like she’s just going through her daily routine, trying to hold herself together. Things change when something unexpected happens — maybe a tragic event or a strange encounter — that shakes her up completely. It’s the moment that pushes her to face the emotions she’s been trying to avoid.
[Act 2 ]
As the story goes on, Lalin starts to deal with everything she’s been running from. She struggles with her emotions and memories, and you can really feel her confusion and sadness. It’s like she’s stuck between wanting to move on and not being ready to face her past. Around the middle of the movie, there’s a turning point where she realises she can’t keep pretending everything is fine — she has to face the truth, no matter how painful it is.
[Act 3]
In the final part, Lalin finally lets herself feel everything she’s been holding in. It’s emotional and heartbreaking, but it also feels freeing. She accepts what happened and starts to forgive — maybe others, maybe herself. The movie ends softly, with a sense of peace, as if she’s finally ready to move forward with her life.
- Everything, Everywhere All At Once :
[Act 1]
Evelyn's life is a mess. She’s trying to keep her laundromat running, deal with taxes, take care of her father, and handle her complicated relationship with her daughter, Joy. She’s exhausted and unhappy. Then, suddenly, her husband Waymond tells her he’s from another universe — and that she’s the only person who can save all of existence. From that moment, everything spins out of control, and her life changes completely.
[Act 2 ]
Evelyn gets thrown into the multiverse, where she jumps between different versions of herself — some successful, some strange, some sad. She starts to see all the different choices she could’ve made in life. At one point, she feels completely lost and starts to think nothing really matters anymore. But then she realises that even if life is chaotic and confusing, love and kindness still mean something. That’s when her perspective begins to change.
[Act 3]
In the final act, Evelyn stops fighting with anger and starts fighting with empathy. Instead of using violence, she chooses to be kind which is to understand and forgive. She makes peace with her husband and daughter, and learns to accept both herself and her life. The movie ends with her back in her ordinary world, but this time, she sees it differently and she finally appreciates the small, imperfect moments that make life meaningful.
2. What is the inciting incident in the movie?
- Lalin : The inciting incident in this movie is when unexpected things happened and breaks Lalin’s quiet life . For instance, the loss of someone she cares about, or a strange event that stirs up her emotions. This forces her to face her own feelings and memories that she’s been trying to hide, and it pushes the story into motion.
- Everything, Everywhere All At Once : The inciting incident in this movie is when Evelyn’s husband, Waymond, suddenly tells her that he is from another universe and that Evelyn is the only one who can save the multiverse.
3. What is the midpoint scene in the movie?
- Lalin : The midpoint scene in this movie is when Lalin began to realise that the pain she feels isn’t just from what happened around her, but from what’s inside her. This is when she starts facing her emotions instead of running away from them. It’s a big change in her character — she begins to understand herself more deeply.
- Everything, Everywhere All At Once : The midpoint scene of this movie is when Evelyn finally understands how big and chaotic the multiverse really is and it made her starts to think that nothing matters and almost gives up. But this moment makes her rethink everything, then she realises that even if life is meaningless, she can still choose to care and love.
4. What is the Climax scene in the movie?
- Lalin : The climax scene in this movie when Lalin finally confronts the truth she’s been avoiding, no matter it is the loss, guilt, or something she couldn’t forgive herself for. It’s a raw, powerful moment where she breaks down, but also starts to heal. This is where she finally finds some peace.
- Everything, Everywhere All At Once : The climax scene in this movie is when the big multiverse battle happens. Evelyn chooses kindness, she uses empathy to solve conflicts between her daughter and her, instead of fighting with anger. It is emotional and shows how love can overcome even the craziest chaos.
5.What is the theme of the movie?
- Lalin : The theme of this movie is about learning to heal ourselves by facing our emotions honestly. It shows that pain can be the first step to self-acceptance and that real strength comes from being open and vulnerable.
- Everything, Everywhere All At Once : The theme of this movie is to tell people love and kindness will always give our life a meaning even though when life is confusing. It reminds us that small, caring moments matter more than trying to be perfect or powerful.
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| Fig 2.0 : Eye Level Medium wide |
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| Fig 2.1: 3/4 angling Medium close-up |
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| Fig 2.2 : Side angle medium shot |
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| Fig 2.3 : Frontal Medium shot |
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| Fig 2.4 : Frontal Medium Close-up |
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| Fig 2.5 : Low angle Wide shot |
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| Fig 2.6 : Extreme Close-up |
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| Fig 2.7: Close-up |
After the shooting exercise, we moved on to the editing part using Adobe Premiere Pro. We watched a short film called “Lalin” and were given some footage filmed by our seniors, along with the storyboards. Our task was to edit the video, trim the clips, and arrange them according to the storyboard sequence. It wasn’t too hard since there was a tutorial video to guide us through the steps.
From this activity, I learned how to organize clips properly, follow a storyboard, and build a smooth flow in editing. It also made me realize how much impact simple cuts and transitions can have on the overall storytelling.
link to outcome video : https://youtu.be/fl0kjaqQJLA
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