EXERCISES
21/04/2025 - 12/05/2025 Week 1 - Week 4
Christopher Jayson Tan / 0378500
Video & Sound Production / Bachelors of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Exercises
TABLE OF CONTENT
1.INSTRUCTION
2.LECTURE
3.EXERCISES
4.REFLECTION
INSTRUCTION
LECTURE
Week 1 :
Camera Angles
Eye-Level Shot shows people the way we’d naturally see them in real life, it feels neutral and straightforward.
High Angle Shot looks down on someone, which can make them seem weaker, smaller, or less powerful.
Low Angle Shot looks up at the subject, often making them seem more powerful, confident, or even intimidating.
Shoulder-Level Shot puts the camera around the height of someone’s shoulders. It’s slightly lower than eye-level and gives a casual, realistic feel.
Hip-Level Shot means the camera is placed around waist height, it’s often used when the focus shifts lower on the body.
Knee-Level Shot drops the camera closer to knee height, giving an interesting and unusual perspective.
Ground-Level Shot puts the camera right on or just above the ground, which can make the scene feel dramatic or intense.
Bird’s Eye View (Overhead Shot) is taken directly from above, giving a straight-down view that can make people or objects look small or arranged in a pattern.
Aerial Shot is like a Bird’s Eye View but covers a much wider area usually shot from a drone or helicopter to show a full landscape or setting.
Dutch Angle (Tilted Shot) tilts the camera sideways, which can make things look uneasy, disorienting, or tense.
Shot Size
Extreme Wide Shot (EWS) shows a person as very small in the frame, with the background or environment taking up most of the space, great for showing isolation or vast settings.
Wide Shot (WS) or Long Shot (LS) shows the whole person from head to toe but still includes a lot of background.
Full Shot (FS) fills the frame with the subject’s full body but still lets us see some of the surroundings.
Medium Wide Shot (MWS) or Medium Long Shot (MLS) usually frames a person from the knees up, it’s a balance between full body and closer shots.
Cowboy Shot frames from about mid-thigh upwards this style is famously used in Western movies to show guns at the hips.
Medium Shot (MS) it frames the subject from the waist up, giving a clear view of both body language and facial expression.
Medium Close-Up (MCU) shows the person from the chest up, pulling the focus in closer but not too close.
Close-Up (CU) zooms in on a specific part of the subject, usually the face, to highlight emotion or detail.
Extreme Close-Up (ECU) goes in even tighter often showing just an eye, mouth, or tiny detail to emphasize something important.
Establishing Shot is typically used at the start of a scene to show where everything is happening, giving the audience context.
Framing
Single Shot focuses on one person in the frame. If someone else’s shoulder or head is slightly visible
Two Shot puts two characters in the same frame, useful in conversations or moments between pairs.
Three Shot fits three characters into the frame, which is common in group scenes or adventures.
Over-the-Shoulder Shot (OTS) shows the back of one person’s shoulder while focusing on another person, great for dialogue scenes.
Over-the-Hip Shot (OTH) puts the camera behind someone’s hip instead of their shoulder, offering a lower angle but still framing the other person.
Point of View Shot (POV) shows exactly what a character is seeing, which helps the audience experience things from their perspective.
Composition Techniques
Rule of Thirds splits the frame into a 3x3 grid and places key elements where the lines cross. It makes the shot feel balanced and nice to look at.
Balance and Symmetry means the frame is even or mirrored on both sides. It can make a scene feel calm, controlled, or formal.
Leading Lines are lines (real or suggested) that guide your eyes toward something important in the shot, like roads, fences, or even light patterns.
Eye-Level Framing places the camera at the same height as the character’s eyes, which makes us feel like we’re on the same level as them.
Depth of Field controls how much of the image is sharp and in focus. It can make the background blur to highlight the subject or keep everything clear for more detail.
Deep Space Composition uses distance from the foreground to the background to create a sense of depth, even if some areas aren’t perfectly in focus, it makes the scene feel bigger and fuller.
Week 2 :
Three Act Structure
The Three Act Structure is a popular storytelling method that divides a narrative into three clear sections. It’s widely used in screenwriting to organize the flow of a story.
Act 1: The first quarter of the film introduces the main characters, setting, and the basic situation. This part gives the foundation for everything that follows.
Act 2: Covering about half of the story, this section explores the central conflict and tracks the protagonist’s efforts to deal with the challenges that arise.
Act 3: The last quarter wraps everything up by resolving the story’s main conflict and finishing the characters’ journeys.
Act 1
Hook: The opening scene is designed to grab the audience’s attention and spark curiosity about what’s going to happen.
Inciting Incident: Around 12% into the film, an event takes place that kicks off the main problem and pushes the protagonist toward action.
First Plot Point: At roughly the 25% mark, the character makes a decisive choice that sets the story in motion and launches Act 2.
First Pinch Point: Near 37%, the stakes get higher as a major obstacle or threat reminds the audience of the dangers involved.
Act 2
Midpoint: Right in the middle of the movie, something big happens either a discovery or a bold move that changes the direction of the story and raises the tension.
Second Pinch Point: Around 62%, another serious challenge appears, deepening the conflict and building toward the climax.
Third Plot Point: Close to the 75% mark, the protagonist faces a seeming success or failure that sets up their toughest test ahead.
Act 3
Climax: This is where the most intense part of the story happens — the main showdown or turning point that determines how things end for the protagonist.
Resolution: After the climax, we see how the characters have changed and how loose ends are tied up to give closure to the story.
Week 3 :
Storyboard is basically a visual outline of a film scene, breaking it down shot by shot into separate panels.
You can use rough drawings, doodles, reference pictures, or photos to show what each frame looks like.
Each panel should have a short description, noting things like what's going on, any lines spoken, or how the scene is framed. Technical details like the type of shot (close-up, wide shot, etc.), lens info, or how many people are in the shot should be included too.
Arrows are often used to show where the camera moves or how characters shift positions , also to show how one shot leads into the next.
Traditional storyboards are usually simple pencil sketches that still manage to show important details like character placement, props, and camera movement.
Some versions are super minimal, just thumbnails without any text or notes.
In animation, storyboards and animatics are really important early steps. They help not just with fine-tuning movement and timing, but also with building the story rhythm and shaping how the characters act and react.
How to make a storyboard:
- Pick out the most important moments from the script (you have to know the main message of your story first).
- Lay out these key scenes in order.
- Add pictures or sketches that represent what’s happening.
- Write a short explanation under each frame that tells what’s going on.
Week 4 :
The 5 stages of film development :
1. Development:
This is the first stage, where everything starts with just an idea. At this point, the producer begins putting together the "package," which includes all the creative pieces that will be part of the project, like the script, potential actors, or even a director. This is also when they look into how the project will be funded. They might get money through early sales, private investors, or by taking out loans to cover the budget.
2. Pre-Production:
This stage is all about getting ready to shoot the film. It involves planning things like the budget, hiring the right crew members, and figuring out how scenes will look. Tools like storyboards and shot lists are created to help the team visualize the scenes before the actual filming starts.
3. Production:
Here’s where the filming actually happens. A daily schedule, known as a call sheet, is handed out to let everyone know what scenes are being shot and who’s needed on set. This is also when the crew sets up equipment like cameras and lights. At the same time, the makeup and wardrobe departments get the actors ready for their scenes. Once everything’s in place, the cameras roll and the scenes are filmed.
4. Post-Production:
Once filming is done, all the video clips are brought together and edited. This phase includes cutting the footage, adjusting the sound, and adding any extra visuals like CGI or visual effects if needed. Editors work to make everything look and sound smooth so the final product feels polished.
5. Distribution:
After the film is fully completed, it needs to be shared with an audience. This step involves promoting and releasing the movie. Big studios usually work with distribution companies, but independent filmmakers often try to get their movies noticed at film festivals or look for other ways to share their work publicly.
EXERCISES
Week 1
We were tasked to rearrange the clips from a Doritos and Mints ad. For the first one we worked on the Mints ad during class.
Exercise 1: Mints and Doritos
I started by downloading the file from teams and then importing the clips to adobe illustrator and after that i put all of the clips into the timeline and start rearranging them base on the video presented as well as audio.
Final outcome of Mints ad
Doritos
I did the same thing as well with the Doritos video and that is by downloading it, importing it to adobe Premiere, and rearranging the clips
Final outcome of Doritos ad
Week 2
Exercise 1: Shooting Practice & Editing
We were tasked on watching a Youtube video tutorial how to add task in Adobe Premiere Pro and we were also instructed to shoot 8 framing shots which is
Final Outcome
REFLECTION
I was already quite familiar with Adobe Premiere, so this exercise is very simple because it's very basic, but this exercise did give me an insight into what we will be tackling in this VSP module, so that's really intriguing. The thing that is new to me though is about how shots are taken, framing and etc, it is very intriguing as we get to analyze movies and such to get a reference as well as to further understand the lessons. Overall, i am very happy with this module because i am into sound design and film production.
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