Video & Sound Production: Final Project

29.03.2021 -  04.07.2021 (Week #1 - Week #14)

Seerat Tayyab Mukhtar Qureshi - 0345576 (BDCM)

Video & Sound Production

Project #3

---

Instructions:

Module Information Booklet

Final Project:

We had to pick a stop motion video we like as a reference to our project #3

Fig 1.0: Stop motion video I picked

We have to choose between which medium and what theme we want to focus on this subject. I want to use clay and focus on an environmental issue. My idea is to create something around the subject of deforestation and overdevelopment as it's a prevailing issue in Malaysia.

We had to compile a proposal and story board next.

Fig 1.1: Proposal #1

Mr Martin said everything else was fine but my story was a bit confusing so I need to work on it a bit more.

I came up with a new story;

A family of trees live happily in the forest, the youngest tree is very happy he gets to surrounded by his family and friends all the time. Suddenly he wakes up to a loud noise and sees all the other trees around him have been cut by humans and only the stumps remain. He’s sad and lonely and slowly everything around him starts to be replaced with grey blocks and dirt. He has no friends left and starts to wither away in the city environment and eventually dies.

Fig 1.2: Storyboard [1/2]

Fig 1.3: Storyboard [2/2]

Inspiration for buildings:

Fig 1.4: Timelapse example

I did a small trial shoot first to test out the app I was using.

Fig 1.5: Testing

Next I tried with my storyline.

Fig 1.6: Progress #2

After some feedback I improved my set and reshot.

Fig 1.7: Progress #3

I exported it from my phone and opened the footage in Premiere Pro. I added an adjustment layer and adjusted the colour settings. I also added ambience sounds and background music.

Fig 1.8: In Premiere Pro

I also added some titles and end credits and then exported the footage.

Fig 1.9: Progress #4

Mr Martin gave me some honest feedback and said that it was okay but it could be better if I reshot it or edited some areas a bit more.

Unfortunately I was not able to reshoot because they were 6 cases in my complex and we were all advised to stay inside, so getting supplies was not possible. I edited it a bit more and changed the sounds a bit according to Mr Martin's feedback.

Fig 2.0: Final Submission

Feedback:

Week #9: Mr Martin gave me feedback on my proposal. He said my mood board and everything else was fine, but my story was very confusing to understand. He said that in stop motions, we should create an explicit worse case scenario that is impactful and easy for the audience to understand. The tears at the end were confusing and the connection wasn't clear.

Week #10: I sent my improved storyline and storyboard to Mr Martin over Whatsapp. He said it was good and it made more sense than the one before.

Week #12: Mr Martin said that my progress looked a bit more like trial shoot than a proper version. He said that the cutting mat at the bottom was not good and needed to be replaced. He also said that the buildings should follow the timelaspse format and it would make more sense and visually look better.

Week #13: I sent Mr Martin my work over Whatsapp once again and he stated that it meets the brief but in terms of grading it would be about a B-. I can improve it a little bit by editing some areas of it that need work such as the iPad being visible and adding construction noises. If however I want to do better reshooting may be the best way to go.

Reflection:

Week #9: After Mr Martin's feedback, I did actually see the confusing part of my story and how I was not really conveying a real proper message. I need to work on making my story a lot more clearer. It makes me a bit nervous too because it seems like shooting a stop motion at home is a bit of a hard thing especially with not being able to go out freely for supplies because of the pandemic.

Week #10: I'm glad Mr Marin approved my new idea. I think it is a lot more clearer too. I can start working on my shooting and editing now.

Week #12: This project is definitely not easy especially with all the reshooting involved. It is quite frustrating having to start from scratch every time. Nevertheless, it is still a cool learning experience and I can work on making my set better to improve the quality of my video.

Week #13: I am a bit bummed out after Mr Martin's feedback but I really appreciate his honesty on my work and telling me what level I am at. I am going to edit it first to see if I can make it any better. Reshooting might be a bit hard for me because I don't have the supplies for it and I live in a Red Zone area so it is not advised to go out and online shipping would take too long. Hopefully I can make it work through editing and improve the quality. 

Week #14/ Final Reflection: Mr Martin's feedback has been very valuable to me and I am a bit upset that I could not do a better job. But I have learnt important lessons in this project and they will help me throughout my design journey. Mr Martin has been a great teacher and I am grateful for all the extra time he has taken out to help me with my projects. Since I am doing Graphic Design, I won't have classes with him again. From DPI in semester #1 to VSP, I have learnt a lot. In this module I learnt about the basics of movie making, shot sizes, post production editing, sound mixing and editing sound. I had fun as well during this entire process despite being at home for the entirety of the module. Thank you, Mr Martin!