PRELIMNARIES AND PRELIMNARY WORK

September 09, 2025

PRELIMNARIES AND PRELIMNARY WORK

PRELIMNARIES

PRELIMNARY 1

The Preliminary, in the spirit of Come As You Are by Nirvana, is aimed at the gritty and unrefined visuals to achieve authenticity. It traces the path of a girl who becomes more and more frustrated in the course of playing and this is her struggle and her weakness. She becomes injured as the tension grows, which can be interpreted as physical and emotional damage. Here she gets a text that her band is coming back together, which becomes a turning point and she has to contend with unresolved emotions. This puts her in a predicament and she is not sure whether she actually desires to rejoin which is a sign of her internal struggle.

This Second Prelimnary is supported by the song Popular by The Weekend, and relies on a girl who was my sister that I recast as she prepares, puts on her makeup and goes into the car with confidence to go out on a drive. The point of view shots in the film focus on the specifics of her everyday life and then open up to large shots of the open road and landscape, putting accent on her independence and freedom. The sequence, which is created through the visuals and the music, express the empowerment, self-expression, and the liberating sense of control over her personal world.

EDITING THE FIRST PRELIMNARY:

I initially planned all the sequences in the order, selected the appropriate clips to use in each shot, and then copied them to my laptop.

I then proceeded to edit my music video with CapCut Pro since I have previous experience with editing having made edits of my favorite celebrities. I found the work to be fun but a little bit complicated.

Then, having everything added to the timeline, I turned the sound on all of the clips off so that it did not slow the video down and accelerated the ones that were unnecessarily dragging. I then inserted a rock filter, which fitted perfectly with the song to make the Preliminary look more realistic, and removed anything that was not necessary on the audio.

I adjusted the resolution to redefine the color space to Rec. 709 SDR, which would give it a more natural and professional appearance. Frame rate was also changed to 30.00 fps to play a better sequence. Such environments were useful in maintaining consistency and in making the Preliminary look polished.

After that, I downloaded the Guitar cover of the song from YouTube and changed it to MP3. Initially, I wished that the guitar was a little slower, and I reduced the tempo, but on that occasion. I included fade-out and fade-ins in each cut so that the music would not shift up abruptly but rather stream through. Lastly, I overlapped between the fast and slow ones to create a smooth transition.

I then speed up some of the clips to maintain the dynamic pace and add sound effects to make the mood better. As an illustration, I employed a shock sound effect to emphasize the tension in the scene and a girl cut sound to make the sequence more interesting and dramatic.

Upon completion of the sound effects, I used speed curve to make the scene fast-paced a few times and slow the next to produce the effect of a sudden zoom of the phone. I then put a metal filter which was similar to the video and re-synchronized every clip. This was a smooth transition to the last scene that dissolves and closes the Preliminary.

EDITING OF SECOND PRELIMNARY:

The second preliminary was one that I edited on my phone since it was a little more convenient to me. I started by filtering out all the files and then opened them in CapCut and dropped them into the timeline to start constructing the sequence.

I was adding the song that was to be played in the preliminary, and I was sure that it should be fitting the overall tone of clips. Then I fitted all my clips in the timeline in a way that the sequence would be completed and a natural flow. Cropping and editing of some of the clips were done to eliminate the needless sections and maintain the tempo. The final edit was made to feel better through this process and more cohesive.

I then provided some effects like fade in and fade out to provide a fluent flow between clips. The effects contributed to making the sequence look more professional. They improved the flow of the video as well and did not distract the main information.

Having completed the sequence, I inserted my name at the end of the sequence and attributed it to the original owner of the song. I accomplished this in CapCut by putting the text on a plain black screen. This rendered the conclusion clear and easy to read. It also provided the preliminary with a befitting ending.

I decided to take a resolution that will not be so heavy yet one that will retain good quality. Then I changed the frame rate so that the video was smooth to play and eliminated the watermark. After completion of the settings, I exported the project and was ready to save it. At last, I downloaded the video, ensuring that it will be ready to watch and share.

PRELIMNARY 1 BTS:

This is the BTS that you can see where I am seen grasping the camera and capturing various shots on my sister, and the lighting is the way to create the mood.

this is me retaking my sister and saying to her to look more tense, as she was getting irritated lol.

I took some shots on the bed and emphasized on the right angle and mood. I wished to emphasize the feeling in the scene and thus I was keen on framing and lighting. It was a significant event which contributed to the creation of the mood of our Preliminary.

This was me adjusting the lighting just in case the scene was not clear and it was not appropriate to the mood we were setting up. It was necessary to ensure that the balance was correct to make the correct atmosphere of the shot.

I was about to shoot a dolly-in, but my sister dropped her pick at the of the time, and the shot was ruined, which made me pissed.

PRELIMNARY 2 BTS:

This is the BTS of the second preliminary

I took the lift shot here to depict my sister going in and out of the lift to give an illusion of movement. We did this by lifting the same and shooting her in various poses and intertwined the shots. This use of technique also provided a variety and gave the sequence a more dynamic and interesting feel.

This was me when I was photographing my sister when she was applying a lip gloss as part of the music video. I needed to have some small details of her getting ready, as such moments contribute to the establishment of the mood and adhesion to the idea of confidence and style. These shots were used to make the appearance more diverse and the preparation more individual and natural.

During the shooting, my sister was sweeping the table area so that it appeared sweet and professional to the camera. This minute detail actually assisted in enhancing the images and general presentation. It was also a demonstration of our commitment to the shoot and the work of my sister despite the fact that she was not directly involved to my work.

BLOOPERS OF PRELIMNARIES: