VIDEO AND SOUND PRODUCTION (PROJECT 2 / SHOOTING PRACTISE & EDITING)
April 21,2025
ZHOU BOYING / 0369087
Video and Sound Production / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
LIST
1. Lectures
2. Instructions
3.Project 2
4. Feedback
5. Reflections
Lectures
Notes
Main Concept:
During lockdown, M finds no food at home. He becomes frustrated but eventually discovers a magazine. From it, he magically pulls out real fruits and makes juice, ending his day happily.
Breakdown of the Task:
Select a visual effect shot (with tutorial support).
Build a story based on that visual effect (featuring 1 character and 1 continuous event).
Divide the story into plot segments.
Match each plot segment with an appropriate scene description and shot size, such as:
W.S (Wide Shot): M wakes up and yawns.
C.U (Close-Up): TV shows lockdown news.
M.S (Medium Shot): M opens an empty cabinet and gets frustrated.
C.U: Fruits are thrown into a glass and magically turn into juice.
Key Story Beats:
M wakes up.
Watches lockdown news on TV.
Finds empty pizza box, fridge, and kitchen cabinet.
Discovers a magazine and smiles.
Pulls real fruits out from the magazine.
Fruits fly into a glass and turn into juice.
M drinks the juice.
Final Task:
Students are required to complete a storyboard (physically or digitally):
Physical: Draw with pencil or pen.
Digital: Use devices like Wacom or iPad, or take photos with a phone.
A storyboard template is provided via link: https://rb.gy/a9u9fz
Notes
1. Colour Correction: The Foundation for Visual Consistency
Colour correction is a technical process that ensures all video clips maintain a consistent visual appearance. It involves adjusting parameters like exposure, white balance, temperature, and tint so that whites appear truly white, blacks are accurately black, and the overall color balance is neutral. Using tools like RGB Parade, Waveform, and Vectorscope in the Lumetri panel, editors analyze and correct brightness levels across highlights, midtones, and shadows. The "Comparison View" function allows a direct before-and-after comparison to refine adjustments. This step ensures visual consistency and prepares the footage for more stylistic enhancements during grading.
2. Colour Grading: Enhancing Storytelling Through Visual Style
Colour grading takes the corrected footage one step further by adding artistic and emotional depth. Through adjustments in contrast, saturation, and tonal color shifts, editors craft a specific mood or atmosphere to support the narrative. Popular grading styles include bluish (cold), greenish (cold), brownish (warm), black-and-white high contrast, and desaturation. The teal and orange look is especially favored in cinematic productions for its ability to separate warm skin tones from cool backgrounds, enhancing visual impact. Colour grading is essential for guiding audience emotion and reinforcing the story’s tone.
✅Week 6 Quiz finish.
Instructions
Project 2
This week, Mr. Martin took us to the studio for a hands-on filming session, where he personally demonstrated how to shoot videos and operate the equipment. I served as the Assistant Director in our team, helping the director manage the shooting process and coordinate with the actors and locations. This practical experience gave me a clearer understanding of the importance of teamwork and also strengthened my communication and organizational skills.
After class, I created a shooting schedule for next week and did a simple analysis for each scene.
This week, we followed Mr. Martin's instructions and worked with our group members to complete the video shoot in the studio. We planned and filmed a total of seven different shots. Throughout the process, we collaborated on camera angles, lighting setups, and actor coordination. After completing all the scenes, I realized how important teamwork and time management are in a studio setting. I also learned how to adjust the camera framing to match the shot list and how to communicate effectively on set. This experience gave me a deeper understanding of the production workflow and helped improve my confidence in directing and assisting roles.
After the filming session, my task was to work on the post-production process. I downloaded the raw footage and the audio files provided by our producer. Then, I started editing the video by creating a rough cut and syncing the dialogue using automatic audio alignment. This helped ensure that the speech matched the actors’ mouth movements naturally. Through this editing process, I gained a better understanding of how audio and video work together to create a seamless narrative, and how important it is to organize files clearly when working in Premiere Pro or other editing software.
I then worked on the color grading based on the slides provided by Mr. Martin, after editing the entire trailer to make it more engaging.
- Teal & Orange,
- Bluish (cold),
- Greenish (cold),
- Brownish (warm),
- Desaturation, 50%-70%,
- B & W, High Contrast.
I selected and applied the following colour grading styles throughout different parts of the video:
Teal & Orange – used in the opening sequence to create high contrast between character and background, enhancing dramatic impact.
Bluish (cold) – used in the solo shot of the male character to express emotional distance and calmness.
Desaturation (50–70%) – applied in the fighting scene to emphasize rawness and realism.
Black & White with High Contrast – used in the final scene to bring closure and focus to the character’s monologue, adding a timeless emotional weight.
All grading work was done in Adobe Premiere Pro, using Lumetri Color settings and manual adjustment of curves, contrast, and saturation.
This project helped me better understand how colour is not just visual—it’s emotional, narrative, and deeply psychological. I learned how to match grading to character emotion and how to balance stylization with clarity.
Mr. Martin instructed us to perform color correction and color grading on a previously edited video clip. Based on what we learned in class, I first carried out basic color correction for each shot, mainly adjusting the exposure, contrast, and white balance. This ensured that the overall tone and brightness remained consistent throughout the footage, effectively eliminating color discrepancies caused by varying lighting conditions during the shoot.
Final Outcome
Feedback
Week 5
Specific Feedback:
Mr. Martin reviewed our storyboard breakdowns and emphasized the importance of accurately matching each shot with its correct scene and camera angle. He reminded us that clarity in shot type (e.g., W.S, M.S, C.U) is essential for effective visual storytelling. He also checked our initial story structures and gave suggestions on simplifying complex actions to fit within the given shot duration.
General Feedback:
This week’s session was especially valuable as Mr. Martin guided us through a practical shoot in the photography studio. He explained the responsibilities of each production role, such as director, D.O.P, assistant director, lighting crew, and sound team. This hands-on learning helped me understand how every team member contributes to the production process. I now feel more confident about planning and organizing a shoot with clear direction and collaboration.
Week 6
Specific Feedback:
This week, we carried out our scheduled studio shoot based on Mr. Martin’s guidelines. I worked closely with my group to plan and film seven different shots. I participated in adjusting camera positions, managing the lighting, and coordinating actor movements. Each scene was executed according to our shot list, and we ensured that all technical setups matched the intended visual mood. After the shoot, I downloaded the footage and audio files provided by our producer and began the post-production process, which included rough cutting and automatic audio syncing to align the dialogue. This hands-on practice helped me understand the workflow of real studio production.
General Feedback:
This week's project taught me the importance of preparation, communication, and adaptability during both shooting and editing. Working in the studio made me realize how essential it is to follow a detailed plan, but also how to stay flexible when unexpected issues arise. The editing phase especially deepened my appreciation for how audio and visuals need to sync perfectly to convey meaning. I feel more confident using editing tools and more aware of the collaborative nature of film production.
Week 7
Specific Feedback:
This week, the focus shifted to practical applications of colour correction and colour grading. Following Mr. Martin’s instructions, I revisited the Lalin video and performed colour correction on each shot, adjusting exposure, contrast, and white balance to ensure visual consistency across the entire sequence. Once the basic correction was completed, I applied colour grading using an adjustment layer on Video Track 3. I experimented with multiple grading styles including Teal & Orange, Brownish (warm), and High Contrast Black & White to explore their emotional and aesthetic impact. Additionally, I started working on the production shoot trailer, applying selected grading styles to reflect its intended atmosphere. After finalizing the edits, I uploaded both videos to YouTube and prepared the Google Slides submission before the deadline.
General Feedback:
This week’s tasks reinforced my understanding of how colour choices influence narrative tone and visual engagement. By working hands-on with colour correction and grading tools in Adobe Premiere Pro, I developed a stronger sense of how to balance technical adjustments with creative expression. The grading process taught me how subtle shifts in hue or contrast can dramatically change the audience's emotional response to a scene. Completing the submission process also helped me build better project management habits. I now feel more confident in my ability to enhance video quality and storytelling through deliberate colour design choices.
Reflections
Over the course of Week 5 to Week 7, I gained a comprehensive and practical understanding of the entire video production process—from conceptual planning to post-production refinement. In Week 5, Mr. Martin emphasized the importance of clarity in shot planning, which helped me grasp how essential it is to align camera angles, shot types, and scene breakdowns for effective storytelling. This understanding laid the foundation for the hands-on studio shoot we conducted in Week 6, where I participated in coordinating camera setups, adjusting lighting, and managing actor movement. The experience taught me how crucial teamwork and technical precision are in a production setting. Transitioning into post-production, I began to see how rough cuts and audio syncing shape the structure and rhythm of a narrative. By Week 7, the focus moved toward color correction and grading, allowing me to explore how visual tone directly affects audience perception. Through experimenting with various grading styles such as Teal & Orange and Black & White High Contrast, I realized how subtle adjustments in color can dramatically change the emotional atmosphere of a scene. These three weeks have not only strengthened my technical skills in Adobe Premiere Pro but also deepened my appreciation for visual storytelling. I now feel more confident managing a production workflow from start to finish, with a better balance of organization, collaboration, and creative vision.
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