Video and Sound Production - Exercises

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Name: Liong Xenyi (0383125)
Module: Video and Sound Production (VSP60104)
Date: 25/9/2025 -  (Week 1 - Week 3)
Degree: Bachelor of Design (Honors) in Creative Media 
University: Taylor's University

Table of Contents

Lecture
Camera Shot Size Overview
A composed series of frames that are shot uninterrupted from the moment the camera starts rolling until it stops. Camera shots are an essential aspect of filmmaking and video production, as combining different types of shots, angles and camera movements, the filmmakers are able to emphasise specific emotions, ideas and movement for sense.
Fig 1.1 Camera shot
  • Extreme Wide Shot (ELS): subject appear small against location 
  • Long Shot (LS) / Wide Shot (WS): closer than ELS, whole subject body in view
  • Full Shot (FS): full subject body
  • Medium Long Shot (MLS) / Medium Wide Shot (MWS): knees up
  • Cowboy Shot: mid-thighs up
  • Medium Shot (MS): waist up and through the torso
  • Medium Close Up (MCU): chest up
  • Close Up (CU): subject's face
  • Extreme Close Up (ECU): smaller objects get great detail
  • Establishing Shot: head of a scene that shows the location of the action


Types of Camera Shot Framing
The art and science of placing subjects in your shots. It is all about composition - rather than pointing the camera at the subject, you need to compose an image.

Working with subjects in the frame:
  • Single Shot
  • Two Shot
  • Three Shot
  • Over-the-Shoulder Shot (OTS)
  • Point-of-View Shot (POV)
Types of Camera Shot Focus
The viewer's point of attention
  • Rack Focus (aggressive)/ Focus Pull(passive): focus range is intentionally shifted from one subject to another
  • Shallow Focus: subject is in crisp focus while the foreground and background scenery is out of focus
  • Deep Focus: everything in your frame is in focus
  • Tilt-Shift: rotates perspective within the lens and emulates selective focus; parts of the image is in sharp focus or out of focus
  • Soft Focus: nothing in 100% sharp focus (flaw in the lens/special filters)
  • Split Diopter: two simultaneous focal lengths (shallow focus in the foreground AND background, middle ground remains out of focus)
Depth of Field
It is the size of the area in your image where objects appear acceptably sharp. The area is known as the field, and the size of that area is the depth of that field. 
The center most point is known as the point of focus. The imaginary two dimensional plane that extends from that point is the plane of focus. Any part of your image that falls directly on this plane is officially in focus.

Camera Shot Angle
It is used to specify the locations where the camera is placed to take a shot. The position of the camera in relation to the subjects can affect the way the viewer perceives the scene. Multiple camera angles can amplify the cinematic effect and the emotions.
  • Eye Level Shot: neutral perspective
  • Low Angle Shot: dominant perspective (emphasize power dynamics/superior character)
  • High Angle Shot: inferior perspective/feeling (looking down on your subject)
  • Hip Level Shot: roughly waist-high/hip level shot
  • Knee Level Shot: subject's knees (emphasize a character's superiority
  • Ground Level Shot: what's going on the ground your subject stands on
  • Shoulder Level Shot: more standard than eye level shot 
  • Dutch Angle/Dutch Tilt Shot: camera slanted to one side (create a sense of disorientation)
  • Bird's Eye View Shot/Overhead Shot: looking down on your subject and the scenery (sense of scale and movement)
  • Aerial Shot: taken from a helicopter/drone, shot up high (establish a large expanse of scenery) 


Types of Camera Movement
It is a powerful filmmaking tool employed to modify the relationship between the subject and the camera frame, with the goal of altering viewer's perspective of space and time for a more impactful and visceral visual storytelling.

Meaning Through Motion
  • Static / Fixed Shot: no movement, emphasize the appearance and movement of the subject
  • Dolly Shot: a camera is affixed to a mechanism called the dolly, which is a specialised push-cart built to handle heavy cinema cameras; it has an attached seats for the camera operator
  • Zoom Shot: camera shots that change focal length of the lens, camera rarely changes position
  • Dolly Zoom Shot / Vertigo Shot: camera position and focal length of the lens are simultaneously altered to create a warping effect
  • Pan Shot: rotates the camera side to side on a horizontal axis, revealing something to the viewer or to follow an action
  • Tilt Shot: move the camera up and down on a vertical axis, like pan shot, but vertical
  • Whip / Swish Pan Shot: pan the camera from one shot to another, creating a motion blur
  • Whip / Swish Tilt Shot: same as a whip pan, only vertical
  • Tracking Shot: moves with the subject, following behind or beside them on a dolly, Steadicam or a gimbal
  • Crab Shot: dolly shot that moves horizontally like a crab
  • Arc Shot: camera moves around the subject in an arc pattern so as to show more of the surroundings
Type of Camera Mechanisms
Understanding Gear Requirements
  • Sticks / Tripod: used for static shots and simple pans/tilts
  • Slider Shot: a slider 'slides' a camera on a vertical or horizontal axis, like a dolly mounted on a tripod that creates smooth, sweeping camera moves; it can mimic a jib shot, but the weight must be balanced
  • Handheld Shot: held and moved by a camera operator; not stabilised and often shaky, adding a gritty feel to the shot
  • Steadicam Shot: uses a camera stablising device that is attached to the camera operator; it uses a counterbalance system for smooth and stable camera moves
  • Gimbal Shot: another camera stabilising device that use motorised gyroscopes to reduce friction; it is more compact than a Steadicam and completely handheld, allowing it to fit through tight spaces
  • Crane Shot: often sweeps up and over a scene; it is a great way to create a first or final shot 
  • Jib Shot: a crane device that sweeps the camera up and over a setting; similar to a crane but with more limited range and movement, being compact and utilising counter-weights
  • Drone Shot: attach to a drone to fly over or alongside the subject; often used for aerial shots or shooting an exciting car chase scene; drones are cheaper than helicopters and can operate in more spaces
  • Wire Shot: camera moves on a cable or wire for deliberate, smooth moves; often used in live concerts and sporting events
Rules of Shot Composition in Film
  • Rule of Thirds: 3x3, keep the image on the intersecting lines; different camera framing will tell a different story; it is a comfortable shot
  • Balance and Symmetry: breaking the rule of thirds, this puts the subject at the center, which can create tension or garner more emotion
  • Leading Lines: lines (actual or imaginary) that lead the eye to key elements in a scene
  • Eye-level Framing: positions the audience at eye-level with the characters, planting the idea that the they are equal with the character
  • Depth of Field: the size of the area in your image where objects appear sharp (area - field, size of the area - depth)
  • Deep Space Composition: significant elements in a scene are positioned both near and far from the camera; they do not need to be in focus
  • Deep Focus: the elements both near and far from the camera are in focus


Module Information Booklet


Instructions and Process


Week 1 in Class Editing Exercise
Reminder:
  1. Finish “mints” and “Doritos” editing exercise and post it in blog under “Exercises”
  2. Study Week 1 Asynchronous material and Do the Quiz to prepare for week 2 shooting.
  3. Watch Zach King’s videos/ Animation short (Animation stream students)
  4. Watch 2022 film Everything Everywhere All at Once
This was a simple editing task, where we have to combine the short clips to form the whole advertisement. This was to understand and to get used to using Adobe Premiere Pro. I have this used this before, so it is a fairly easy task. I learned about what 'Mark In' and 'Mark Out' is, to define the length and duration of my video and what I am editing. I edited the Mint and Doritos advertistment.
Fig 2.1 Mint Ad

Fig 2.2 Doritos Ad


Week 2 - Framing Shooting Exercise 1
  • Shoot wide shot with wide angle.
  • The rest ZOOM IN to get soft background.
  • Refer to the examples provided or google references for GOOD composition.
  • Avoid overexposed or underexposed (too bright or too dark).
  • Do the shooting during day time.
  • Shoot landscape format video, 5 seconds per shot.
  • Edit with CAPTION (Mention the shot size), export video for submission.

Reminder:
1. Exercise: Shooting practice, shoot & editing (add caption:Adobe Premiere Pro CC - Basic Titles for Beginners), post it in your blog under Exercises section.

2. Exercise: Editing Practise 1(Lalin)
Last page of week 2 slides:
VSP Framing & Storyboard.pptx
Download the footage:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LGt1c2xPYia6gzLQGG_IuLnXgLvQnJvu?usp=sharing
View the Original video:
https://youtu.be/dSvEKiRB8EY
Watch the Editing tutorial video:
https://youtu.be/mmQHkApEREM
  • We were to practice filming different camera angles with a partner. These are the shots we took:
  • Low angle wide shot
  • Frontal MCU
  • Frontal MS
  • Extreme Close up shot
  • Side angle MS
  • 3/4 angling MCU shot
  • Close up shot
  • Eye level medium wide shot
Fig 2.3 Compilation of Framing shooting exercise 1


Week 3 -  Framing Shooting Exercise 2

Similar to the previous week, we had to film different camera shots.
Fig 2.4 Shooting Exercise 2



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