VIDEO AND SOUND PRODUCTION - PROJECT 2
VIDEO AND SOUND PRODUCTION - PROJECT 2
14TH SEPTEMBER - 12TH OCTOBER (WEEK 5 - WEEK 9)
NG VEYHAN (0349223) / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
VIDEO AND SOUND PRODUCTION
PROJECT 2
Practical
Before beginning any sort of conceptualization for the Project, we were advised to go look for some inspiration, with Zach King being one of the recommended figures to be used for reference. After some quick browsing, I found this video particularly intriguing due to the use of perspective to create illusions.
(Fig 01, Zach King's "These Rooms are Actually Optical Illusions", 10/10/2020)
When deciding the theme for the project, I happened to stumble upon a video by Zach King where he had cloned himself. (Unfortunately I was unable to source the video as it was part of a compilation which name I had forgotten). I thought that this concept of duality was rather interesting and therefore settled with using this cloning effect for the Project.
When creating the storyboard for the video, I found it easier to create a storyboard and visualize how I envisioned the outcome of the video by in an animated format. There was no need for much details at this stage, I had just used a perspective grid instead of drawing out any detailed props.
(Fig 02, First Storyboard Drawing, 14/9/2021)
I was considering the limitations of my current level of skill when framing the shots. When masking different parts of the shot to create a clone of myself, I did not know how to mask a detailed moving subject, therefore I needed to make sure that the 2 subjects in a frame must not overlap.
(Fig 03, Cloned Scene Draft, 14/9/2021)
Using the program Clip Studio Paint, it had a built in animation feature that only supports up to 24 frames for drawing. However, this was more than enough for the purpose of creating a simple draft for the video. The shots were less referenced from existing works, and more of imagining how to use certain props that I had currently in my environment.
(Fig 04, Storyboard Animatic, 14/9/2021)
To get used to the editing style that I would use for this video, I quickly shot some footage to be used for some preliminary editing. As the storyboard was already based on a certain part of my house, a lot less experimenting was required to find a suitable angle to achieve a similar composition to the storyboard.
(Fig 05, Video Files, 16/9/2021)
I wanted to settle the hardest type of effect that I would use in this video, which was the masking for one video over another. In this case, I was using the masking to create an outfit that could be "dropped" to reveal another outfit. I had used a blanket to server as the medium for the other shot to be superimposed on.
(Fig 06, Importing Clips for Masking, 15/9/2021)
Conveniently, Premiere Pro has custom mask shapes which can be controlled by various joints which also support "paths" like Illustrator. Going frame by frame, I adjusted the mask so that it was aligned with the edges of the blanket. Even though it looked largely accurate when going frame by frame, the preview did indicate it wasn't perfect and had some parts I failed to mask properly.
(Fig 07, Masking Blanket, 15/9/2021)
For other scenes, the masking was a lot more simpler due to them being more static shots with the "clones" being situated apart on different parts of the composition. It was just a simple matter of creating a polygonal mask to insert the 2nd shot without colliding with the 1st shot. Add some feathering to the edge of the mask to blend any minor inconsistencies in the lighting and its all good to go.
(Fig 08, Simple Scene Masking, 16/9/2021)
For one of the transitions, I wanted to show the direction that I was looking at. To achieve that, I would use a whip pan effect to direct the view to the chair (which I was looking at). This was a little trickier as the shot was not meant to be scaled up and provide more leeway to the sides to create a pan movement. I created another adjustment layer that would duplicate the image below and repeat it to the sides when panning. A strong blur effect was enough to cover up the odd look of the repeating image.
(Fig 09, Whip Pan Transition, 20/9/2021)
After the visuals were completed, it was time to focus on the audio of the video. Most of the sound effects that were used were taken from Freesound, but I had to be careful when filtering out the results as many of the sounds posted there had poor recording environment/equipment, with background noise being a particular concern.
Arranging the audio clips was similar in process to arranging the video clips.
(Fig 10, Importing Audio, 21/9/2021)
At this point, the audio in the video was terribly mixed. The different sounds had volumes with no respect to the spatial coordination of the scene. This process had no rule set in stone, so most of the level control is more guesswork and seeing which level sounds accurate to the scene.
(Fig 11, Audio Level Control, 22/9/2021)
Completed Video:
Feedback
WEEK 5: The concept itself is quite interesting, but it could be difficult to execute well. Since I had already created a storyboard animatic, Dr. Martin gave me the go-ahead to start filming.
WEEK 7: The masking for the blanket drop was still quite rough. Some scenes could also be cut shorter to put the video near the 30 second mark. The sound design was pretty well done, though.
WEEK 8: No feedback for this week as it was Independent Learning Week.
WEEK 9: I was unable to get feedback for this week as my internet was down.
Reflection
WEEK 5: While exploring the concepts that I could use for my video, I've come to realize that many of the special effects used by indie creators like Zach King is actually quite simple in practice, but the application of the effects itself was really well thought out.
WEEK 7: Shooting the video was a lot more work than I had initially anticipated. I had to change my clothes back and forth very often. Another inconvenience of filming alone is the lack of a swiveling display on my camera makes it extremely difficult to know what is being filmed.
WEEK 8: The first pass at editing the video was actually fairly easy. The only part that was more difficult to execute was the masking of the blanket that would drop down. The fast moving subject makes it hard to track accurately, which is made worse by the fact that the blanket is constantly shifting its shape as it dropped.
WEEK 9: Touching up the video was a lot more based on instinct. There is no definite advice when it came to colour correction, as it is based on the theme of the video. Hopefully I would've did it correctly, though the masking could still use some touching up before working on the lighting here.
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