Video & Sound Production - Project 2
Zhao Jie 0387076
Video and Sound Production/VSP60104
Project 2
Exercise 1: Lalin Editing
Week 2 Editing Exercise
Even with this preparation, the editing process still took a significant amount of time. However, through organising, trimming, and arranging the footage, I became much more familiar with Adobe Premiere Pro and improved my editing skills. Although it was challenging, I feel that the effort was worthwhile and helped me gain valuable experience with the software.
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| Process work- Label and number the video clips |
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| Process work- Arrange video clips |
Week 3 Trimming Exercise
In the scene where the male character sends a message and leaves, I applied a Cross Dissolve effect to gradually fade the character out until he disappeared. This created a smoother transition and helped visually reinforce the feeling of his departure, making the moment feel more emotional and reflective.
After that, I inserted all of the audio files and graphic elements into the timeline. I also applied Cross Dissolve effects to all of the message boxes so that they would gently fade out instead of disappearing abruptly. This made the transitions look more natural and helped maintain a consistent visual flow throughout the video.
In addition, I added fade-ins and fade-outs to black at the beginning and end of the video. The fade-in helps ease the audience into the story, while the fade-out provides a clean and professional ending. Together, these transitions create a more polished viewing experience and improve the overall presentation of the video.
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| Process work- Edit notification alert sounds |
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| Process work- Add cross dissolve |
Week 3 LaLin final work:
Week 8 Color Grading Exercise
This week, I was required to apply color correction and color grading to the Lalin video. Using Lumetri Color's Comparison View and Scopes, I adjusted the colours of each individual clip to make them more consistent. This helped ensure that no single shot looked out of place compared to the others and created a smoother visual flow throughout the video.
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| Process work- Adjust white balance |
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| Process work- Before-and-after colour grading comparison |
Exercise 2: Movie Trailer
This project required us to create an individual movie trailer using our group's video footage. The trailer had to be between 30 seconds and 1 minute long and include background music, sound effects, and text captions. We were also required to apply color correction, color grading, and trailer-style editing to produce a more engaging and cinematic result.Week 5 Preparation
Week 6 Filming
My role during this shoot was the Boom Operator. It was my first time using professional audio recording equipment, so it was a very new and interesting experience for me. I learned that when recording dialogue, the boom microphone should be positioned above and between the actors who are speaking. This helps reduce unwanted background noise while capturing the dialogue more clearly and focusing on the main characters' voices.
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| Process Work – Me Operating the Boom Microphone |
During the filming process, everything went smoothly. Our group worked together very well, and everyone cooperated efficiently. We were able to complete all of the planned shots while maintaining a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere, which made the filming experience both productive and fun.
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| Process Work – Behind the Scenes |
Week 7-9 Editing Process
Before starting the editing process, I organised all of the video and audio files that our group had uploaded to Google Drive. I referred to our storyboard and carefully reviewed the footage for each scene, selecting the best video and audio takes before importing them into the editing timeline. This preparation made the editing process more organised and efficient.
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| Process Work – Google Drive Files Before and After Organisation |
And then, I planned the storyline for my trailer by creating a simple outline of how I wanted the narrative to unfold. To make the story clearer and fill in the missing plot details, I recorded several voice-over narrations using my phone and a wired headset. These narrations helped connect the scenes and made the trailer more coherent and engaging.
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| Process Work – Voice-over Recording List |
After completing these preparations, I imported all of the video clips, audio files, and voice-over recordings into Adobe Premiere Pro and began the editing process. I first carried out a rough edit by trimming all of the footage and removing unnecessary parts, such as the clapperboard sound at the beginning and the crew saying "cut" at the end of each take.
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| Process Work – Rough Cut |
After that, I started enhancing my trailer. I watched many Premiere Pro tutorials to learn different effects and transitions, and finally decided to use two main effects.
The first was the VR Digital Glitch effect. I applied it to several clips and transitions to create a tense, eerie, and dangerous atmosphere that matched the mood I wanted for my trailer. To achieve this effect, I applied the VR Digital Glitch effect, adjusted the distortion and colour settings, and then fine-tuned the timing so that the glitches appeared at key moments in the trailer.
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| Process Work – Applying the VR Digital Glitch Effect |
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| Process Work – VR Digital Glitch Effect Settings |
The second effect was the Pupil Zoom Transition. I used this transition to smoothly guide the audience's attention from one scene to the next while adding more visual impact and making the trailer feel more dramatic and cinematic. To create this effect, I first added anchor points to the Scale and Position properties. Then I animated the scale to rapidly zoom into the character's eye and matched the movement with the next clip. Finally, I adjusted the timing and motion to make the transition smooth and natural.
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| Process Work – Adding Anchor Points for the Pupil Zoom Transition |
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| Process Work – Pupil Zoom Transition Settings |
In addition to these two main effects, I also applied several smaller editing techniques, such as fade-in and fade-out transitions, as well as video stabilisation, to make the trailer smoother and more polished. After completing the visual editing, I added subtitles, text graphics, sound effects, and background music. I was able to complete these steps more efficiently because I had already learned these techniques while working on the Lalin project.
For the colour grading, I mainly focused on enhancing the lighting and shadows to create stronger visual contrast and a more cinematic look. I adjusted the brightness, contrast, and highlights of different scenes to make the mood clearer and help guide the audience's attention. For scenes that were meant to feel more dangerous or intense, I shifted the colour grading towards a red tone to strengthen the emotional impact. In one particular shot, I wanted the colour to gradually become red as the character walked forward. To achieve this effect, I divided the clip into five separate sections and colour graded each section individually, creating a gradual transition from the original colours to deep red.
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| Process Work – Before and After Colour Grading |
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| Process Work – Gradual Red Colour Grading |
Finally, I added the end credits to give the trailer a complete and professional ending.Below is my final outcome.
Week 9 Movie trailer final work:
Reflection
Experience
This project helped me understand the complete video editing workflow much better. From organising the files and editing the footage to adding sound effects, colour grading, transitions, and subtitles, I completed the entire process independently. Although I spent a lot of time repeating some steps because I was still unfamiliar with Premiere Pro, I really enjoyed experimenting with different ideas and seeing them gradually become a complete trailer.
Findings
The biggest thing I learned from Project 2 was the basic workflow of Adobe Premiere Pro. I can now edit a complete video independently, and I have also learned how to use different visual effects to make my videos more interesting. In addition, I realised that organising all of the files and planning the storyline before editing makes the whole process much more efficient. Once everything was organised, I found it much easier to stay focused and stopped procrastinating as much.
Observations
One thing I noticed was that colour grading is much more important than I had imagined. It has a significant impact on how the audience understands the story and experiences its emotions. I also realised how important time management is. During a few weeks of this project, I did not manage my schedule very well, and the workload became so overwhelming that I felt quite stressed. Thankfully, after several late nights, I managed to complete all of the tasks and submit everything before the deadlines.
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