Soundscape (Blog #6) PRELIMINARY

The story being told solely through sound is about getting late-night snacks while trying to be as quiet as possible. It begins with a person going down the loud, creaky stairs from their room, entering the kitchen, turning on the light, opening the refrigerator to get a drink, and then getting chips from the cabinet. The audio portrays the anxiety of trying not to get caught by the people sleeping in the house while still getting the snack at such a late hour.

(Capcut)

I used a mixture of my own recordings and pre-recorded audio samples from CapCut, where I edited this project. Some of the sounds I recorded myself included the stairs creaking, the soda can opening, drinking soda, chewing chips, the light switch, and the cabinet opening and closing. For the stairs, I stomped while holding my phone close to my shoes, trying to balance being quiet (as one would at night) with making sure the mic picked up the creaks. The cabinet sound was the most challenging, since none of the cabinets in my house made enough noise. I ended up using a sliding drawer instead of a cabinet. For the chip-bag noise, I used my cat’s treat bag to recreate the sound of opening and using a chip bag without realizing and had to end up giving him a reward for my work. For most of the other sounds, I simply placed the microphone very close to capture the most accurate noise possible. I layered classical music in the background since I think of classical music it gives me anxiety and makes me think the characters in a rush or something big is gonna happen. It also builds anticipation, and I made sure to fade it out when the character signs since he believes he got away with getting these snacks and not being heard, but the shush comes in right where the music stops. I also layered a heartbeat really quietly in the background to build anxiety and anticipation which is connected with the effect the music is making.

One of the most difficult parts was making the sounds as realistic as possible. For example, when I recorded going up the stairs, it originally sounded more like wrestling in the woods. I had to redo it several times, even stomping on the stairs to create a more accurate effect. My favorite part of this project was experiencing firsthand how challenging audio work really is and how important it is to storytelling. From this project, I learned that audio alone can tell an entire story, and when used in film, it becomes a powerful extension of what is truly happening.

Behind the scenes of my 100th try of trying to get audio 

of going down the stairs and accidentally scaring my cat.

Extension Project: Promoting 30-Second Story (Blog #5) PRELIMINNARY

 

The poster conveys the mood of the video through an extreme close-up of the student rushing to complete the assignment, which creates a tense atmosphere. The proximity to the pencil adds to this tension, giving the audience a claustrophobic feeling providing a visual for the overall story. 

The tagline captures the conflict by asking the audience the dawning question the audience is asking themselves while watching the video. Will he finish the work? It gives the audience suspense of what might happen in the story.

The mise-en-scène in my video is echoed in the poster through showcasing two of the main props as well as the image being lit in the harsh school lighting to remind the audience of the 

setting. The mise-en-scène can improve for this video by making more intentional choices and small details that all connect to the story being told. While I thought the mise-en-scene in this project was not the strongest the story was being told around a school setting which is why some of the choices made did add onto the story such as the costumes being uniforms, giving the viewer the dead giveaway that the story is school related and the setting is in school with the props with schoolwork and a pencil as well as a backpack.

30-second video (Blog #4) PRELIMINARY

Our 30-second video filmed on September 10, 2025 is a video about a student realizing he forgot to do a homework assignment that was due that very same day, as a result he panicked and looked for someone near who may have the answers to copy. Another classmate of his finds him in the hallway cheating on an assignment. The other student goes to their teacher to inform her of the situation. Resulting in the teacher finding the student in the hallway cheating and going to confront him. 

The purpose of this assignment was to further develop and improve our skills on camera shots, angles and movement. 

Some of the shots I decided to use as cinematographer of the video were long, POV, close- up, medium close-up, over the shoulder and a low shot. I chose a long shot to establish where the subject was. I used a POV shot to emphasize the panic the character was facing due to not having completed the homework. The medium close-up with an over the shoulder along with a panning movement was used to show the character looking for another classmate and finding the person who can help in this situation. The use of a close-up shot was chosen to capture the details of the student writing as fast as possible to get the assignment over with. The low-shot was used to capture the character's panicked look with the empty spaces of the homework. 

Some of the challenges I faced during filming was trying to get my crew to understand my vision for certain scenes. As well as finding a teacher to be our actor in the film. What worked well in our video that I’m proud of was the camera angles. With the limited amount of time that we had I think the camera angles and the overall story being told came out matching the vision I originally had for the project. If I could redo the project I would change some of the actions done by the actors to show the overall panic and anxiety the main character is experiencing to give the audience the experience the character is feeling. 

This short practice will help with my bigger coursework project by helping me practice the techniques of cinematography and help develop my storytelling skills. Experimenting with shots and composition will help when it comes time to create my 2-minute opening by practicing with different shots I can use to deliver the meaning and message behind each shot and how it contributes to the film. 

Some skills I gain that connect to research, planning, or production in the Cambridge portfolio are different camera angles and camera movements.This exercise helps me understand the importance of technical elements in creating meaning by emphasizing the importance of how a camera movement, angle or shot can help the audience understand the context or meaning of the film or what is happening. It helped me understand the importance of even the smallest details such as editing, audio, camera movements and shots. What I learned from this project was the importance and significance of all the different types of elements that come into part of a simple video of just 3 seconds such as acting, editing, camera movements, camera angles and composition. This project has fortunately made me feel more prepared for the upcoming final Cambridge project.