16/6/2025 - 27/7/2025 Week 9- Week 14
Christopher Jayson Tan /0378500
Video & Sound Production / Bachelors of Design (Hons) in Creative Media /
Taylor's University
Final Project
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INSTRUCTIONS
2. LECTURES
3. TASK
4. REFLECTION
Description:
- Produce Visual Effects video by a given theme.
- Voice over, sound effects and music can be used, to tell a compelling story.
- Confine to NO more than 2 character/ locations.
- Only 1 event in less than 15 shots.
Requirements:
- Storyboard must be presented and get approval before the principle shoot.
- Final video is to be submitted in digital format:
- Screen Resolution: 1080p (Full HD), 16:9 (Wide Screen)
- Frame Rate: 24/25fps
- Field Option: Progressive Scan
- Audio Quality: 48kHZ, 16-bits stereo
- Compression: H.264
Submission:
- Upload the final video to YouTube/ Google Drive, share the link in e-portfolio with reflection.
LECTURES
Week 9 (18/6/2025):
Mr. Martin taught us how to do visual effects in Adobe Effects
using basic tools.
Week 10 (25/6/2025):
Mr.Martin instructed us to shoot our visual effects with our
partner and to edit them in Adobe Effect following the
tutorial we found in youtube.
Week 11 (2/7/2025):
Mr. Martin gave feedback on our proposal.
TASK
In Week 10, After getting the Hangman Card, Me and Chika worked on the proposal together. We decide the plot, shot sizes, and Chika drew
the storyboard. We decided that I would be the editor as well as the actor, and Chika would be
the cameraman. After receiving feedback from Mr. Martin, he told us
that a newspaper for the first scene is too old school and not modern so we
decided to change that afterwards.
Proposal
Fig 3.1 Proposal Slides, Week 10
Storyboard
This is our first draft of the storyboard. In the final version, some
scenes don’t look exactly like the storyboard because during filming, we
realized that some alternative shots looked better.
Fig 3.2 Storyboard 1, Week 10
Fig 3.3 Storyboard 2, Week 10
Fig 3.4 Storyboard 1, Week
10
Shooting Process
In week 11, before the shooting, we ordered some props for our short film
in Shopee, and some in the supermarket where we had to buy three instant
noodles and ate them:
- 3 Instant noodle cup
- Wig
- Item Frame
- Tissue
In Week 12, we started filming in my apartment. The video below is from our
first filming session. As you can see from the draft, since we filmed in a
dark room, there was a lot of noise. A few days later, we had to re-film some
of the shots that were too noisy. Just a note— for the scene where we
filmed the visual effect, we couldn’t use dark lighting because the green
screen wouldn’t be detected properly. As a result, the color grading looks a
bit off during editing. We tried our best, followed multiple tutorials on
YouTube, and re edited it countless times, but it still didn’t look the same
because the lighting was already different from the start.
Fig 3.5 Behind The Scene, Week 12
There were three places where we shot our scenes:
1. Bedroom Scene
2. Kitchen scene (VFX)
3. Bathroom Scene
During the shooting:
-
We used a tripod that was recomended from Mr.Martin for
stable framing.
-
Filmed and re took multiple shots.
-
Made sure the composition was good.
-
Used cinematic and HD mode on our phone to make it more
clean.
-
Set up all the props in the table, and made sure there were no
continuity errors during filming.
-
Both of us have different opinions on which composition looks
better, so some shots we took differently and decide which looks
better.
Behind The Scenes Notes
When filming as the cameraman, it was quite easy at first because we had
already planned out the shots. However, once I saw some of them through
the camera, they didn’t look as good as expected, so I suggested
alternative angles. I also gave directions to my partner, who was the
actor, asking them to move closer, or shift left or right to better fit
the frame. The most challenging part for me was setting up the tripod—some
scenes needed higher or lower angles, and because my room is small, it was
difficult to position the tripod properly in certain spots, which made
adjusting it more complicated.
Editing
For the editing part, my partner Jayson will be explaining, since he was
the main editor. However, I also contributed by helping with color
grading, finding the sound effects and ambience, and giving feedback
throughout the process. We worked together and supported each other, but
Jayson handled most of the editing while I offered suggestions to improve
the final result.
Arranging the clips
Arranging the clips was fairly simple because there was nothing out of the ordinary. All of the clips were trimmed down and then arranged in order. The only thing that is missing is the floating pan scene.
Fig 3.6 Arranging the clips, Week 13
VFX Process
For the VFX process, we did it in Adobe After Effect. The VFX that we used is quite odd because we didn't fully follow a tutorial, instead, we use the tutorial as a base technique and we tried to elevate it further. It started with us planning the shot to be a single take, using a body sized green paper because we wanted to make the pan float and then fall. The idea is that the main character will look to the left, and the camera will look to the left also as well as the camera panning back to the main character.
Fig 3.7 BTS of the floating pan shot, Week 13
Next, after we shoot the scene, we moved on to Adobe After Effects. First I trimmed the video down, added a keylight effect to remove the greenscreen, and then rotoscope it.
Fig 3.8 keylight and rotoscoping the clip, Week 13
I also made it where the pan is already there even before the camera fully panned to the left so that it is realistic. I did it by making dragging the clip earlier so that the pan is already there and played with the positioning keyframe. I ensured that the pan stays in the same position throughout.
Fig 3.9 Positioning the pan, Week 13
To further enhance this, i added in a directional blur where the blur is horizontal. The reason for this is because, the pan object needs to be blurred as well so that it follows the background video.
Fig 3.10 Adding blur to the pan, Week 13
as a finishing touch, i made sure to match the color correct the pan so that it matches the background and added in some noise, as well as a gaussian blur. After this I placed the clip in Adobe Premiere.
Fig 3.11 Further enhancement to the effect, Week 13
Sound Production
We really tried to do the best we can in the sound production because we wanted the film to be effective and so there was a lot of time put into the sound production as well as the variety of sound effects.
Starting with the bedroom scene, I used a variety of sound effects for the dream sequence starting from an ambulance siren, a police radio, house burning sound effect and me screaming. After that i added in a studio reverb to the sound effects to make them sound echoey. I also added in a ringtone sound effect and made it distant during the dream and normal when the main character wakes up. I also removed most of the original audio, the only one that i kept was the panicked breathing sound and i also modify the audio as well. Another thing that i added was a beeping sound and set a preset to the effect so that it sounds like it is coming from outside
Fig 3.12 Bedroom sound/effects, Week 13
After the bedroom scene, i edited the part where the main character walks out from the bedroom to the kitchen. To start things off, i removed all of the original audio and added in a barefoot sound effect for every time the character takes a step. I made sure to play with the audio gain and parametric equalizer to make the sound as realistic as possible. I also added in an ambient sound in the background and a waterphone sound effect when the pan was revealed.
Fig 3.13 Walking to the kitchen sound/effects, Week 13
Next during the part where the protagonist turns off the pan I added in the same beeping noise that was present during the bedroom scene and then I added a voice of Chika whispering "Jayson", and modify the audio.
Fig 3.14 Electric stove beep and whisper sound/effects, Week 13
For the scene of the pan falling down, I added in a variety of sound effect starting from a metal falling, a "jumpscare" sound effect, a riser, a high pitch constant noise and then an original audio of me running and then hitting the door. All of these audios are modified accordingly to further enhance it but I didn't add anything that is too intense.
Fig 3.15 Floating pan scene sound/effects, Week 13
In the bathroom scene, the sound effects used are fairly limited. There is only a footstep sound effect, a background music and an original audio of the water running. However, for the flashback part, i decided to add in a studio reverb to the monologue audio so that it has an echoey effect.
Fig 3.16 Bathroom scene sound/effects, Week 13
For the final scene there wasn't much in terms of audio editing. I used the original audio for the wardrobe sound effect and to blend everything together, I placed in a slow background music.
Fig 3.17 Final scene sound/effects, Week 13
Sounds we used:
Fig 3.18 Sound/effects used, Week 13
Color Correction & Grading
For the main colors, we used 2 colors which are blue and orange. The process for the color correction and grading is fairly simple because we only used a bunch of lumetri colors. Some of the clips are very tricky though, specifically the videos that are shot in a bright lighting such as the floating pan part. That is the only clip that we really struggled in because of how different the original lighting is compared to the other videos and because of that the outcome is quite disappointing compared to the other ones.
Fig 3.19 Clip comparison, Week 13
Fig 3.20 Stacked lumetri color, Week 13
We played around with the exposure, brightness, highlights and contrast mainly because it affects the look massively where the outcome is more gloomy and dark. The temperature slider also played a big part in creating the gloomy effect.
Fig 3.21 Before and after color grading/correcting (cold scene), Week 13
We also used a lot of vignette on the clips that has bight lighting to create a shadowy/dark effect. It is quite effective to some extend but it feels quite artificial sometimes.
Fig 3.22 Usage of vignette, Week 13
For the scene where we used the warm color, there wasn't much color correcting as the natural lighting is already decent. I did a bit of color correcting by adjusting the exposure and contrast, and adding a bit of yellow/orange to add warmth.
Fig 3.23 Before and after color grading/correcting (warm scene), Week 13
REFLECTION
This final assignment really threw everything it had at us because we had to incorporate everything we have learned and combine them to try create a cohesive piece of media. There were some issues here and there, especially the part where we have to color correct the VFX scene but other then that, the assignment is pretty enjoyable. I've always liked the process of film creation and i sure did enjoy making my own even though it is still far from good.
At first i was quite bummed out that my lecturer didn't agree with the idea because it sound like an abomination on paper but then he told me to actually try and execute it. I really tried to do the best we can, because he is actually quite interested in us proving him wrong. This really motivated me to actually give everything i got and so it was a really great challenge. Overall, Mr. Martin did manage to teach me a lot of things, he tried to explain everything he could in a short period of time (14 weeks) and for that I very grateful.
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