TDO420

  CREATIVITY UNLOCKED: SOUNDSCAPE STORYTELLING IN POST PRODUCTION What I Did This week, I explored a creative exercise called “Soundscape Storytelling” , designed to push boundaries in post production by focusing entirely on audio. I found the activity through an incredible free resource called The Creativity Catapult , hosted by the Stanford d.school . You can find the exercise here: https://www.creativitycatapult.org/exercises/soundscape-storytelling/ The goal of the exercise is simple: create a short story told only through sound , without narration or dialogue. That includes ambient sounds, music, effects, rhythm, and silence — all the elements we use in post production to bring a scene to life beyond what the camera sees. How I Did It I started by imagining a simple scene: a teenager sneaking into an old arcade after hours. I collected sound effects online — creaky doors, buzzing neon lights, coins dropping into a machine, 8-bit game music, and even the distant sound of...

WHAT I LEARNED FROM PIXAR IN A BOX - STORYTELLING, LIGHTING, COLOR, CAMERAS AND PATTERNS Pixar in a Box is a deep dive into how Pixar creates meaningful stories and stunning visuals. I focused on five main topics: The Art of Storytelling, The Art of Lighting, Color Science, Virtual Cameras, and Patterns. These are ten key things I learned from those sections. 1. Story: Pixar stories revolve around characters who want something, face obstacles, and are changed by the end. This emotional journey is what makes the audience care. 2. "What if..." Questions Start It All: Many Pixar films begin with a simple "what if" question that sparks creativity. For example, "What if toys had feelings?" or "What if a rat wanted to cook?" These questions build the foundation of the entire story 3. Lighting Creates Emotion: Lighting is used to make us feel something, not just to see what's happening. Warm lighting can suggest safety and love, while cool or...

Unlocking Creativity in Post-Production: The "30 Circles Challenge" In our post-production class, we’re often focused on tools, techniques, and polish — but creativity is the real fuel behind good work. This week, I stepped out of my usual design comfort zone and tried a creativity exercise I found online called the 30 Circles Challenge . It completely shifted how I think about idea generation. Source of the Exercise: The 30 Circles Challenge is from IDEO's Design Thinking Toolkit. It’s also been shared on Stanford’s d.school site and featured in IDEO U's online courses. You can view a version of it here: 👉 https://www.ideou.com/blogs/inspiration/try-this-creative-warm-up-activity-with-your-team How the Exercise Works: You start with a sheet of paper that has 30 blank circles (you can quickly make this in Illustrator or draw it by hand). The challenge: in 3 minutes , turn as many circles as you can into recognizable objects. Don’t overthink — just go! Turn ...

  Pulp Fiction – How Cinematography Made This Movie Hit Different So, I watched Pulp Fiction and yeah, the story was wild, but what really made it stick with me was the way it was filmed. The cinematography felt like its own character in the movie. It didn’t feel like I was just watching something it felt like I was in the room with them. First thing I noticed was the camera angles. They used a lot of low shots, especially when Jules and Vincent were talking. There’s one scene where the camera looks up from inside the trunk, and it made them look like bosses. That kind of angle gave the characters more presence without them even needing to say anything. It just hits harder when the camera is doing the talking too. The lighting was also on point. Some scenes felt warm and relaxed, like in the diner with Jules and Pumpkin, and others were really dark and gritty, like in the apartment scene before the shootout. That shift in lighting helped build the mood without needing any music...

  5×5 Filmmaking Challenge – Telling a Story in Just 25 Seconds For my last creativity challenge this month , I wanted something fun, unique, and honestly a little difficult. I found the perfect one called the 5×5 Filmmaking Challenge from Adobe’s Education Exchange. The idea is simple but intense. You have to make a short video using exactly five clips , each clip lasting five seconds . That gives you just 25 seconds total to tell a full story. You can check out the original challenge here: https://edex.adobe.com/resource/3cfe34cb/ I picked the theme Nighttime Transformation. I wanted to show the shift from calm evening to full-on chaotic energy at night. Here’s how I broke it down. Clip one shows a sunset sky turning into darkness, just enough time to give that peaceful beginning Clip two is a close-up of a streetlight clicking on and glowing, starting the transition Clip three is a POV walking shot down a street with flickering neon signs and moody colors Clip four sh...

Title: Boosting My Creativity with Videomaker’s “5 Production Exercises to Bulk Up Your Creative Muscles” I recently dove into a creativity-building challenge from Videomaker called “5 Production Exercises to Bulk Up Your Creative Muscles”. These exercises are meant to push editors out of their comfort zones and force fresh problem-solving approaches in video creation. You can check out the full article here: Videomaker – 5 Production Exercises to Bulk Up Your Creative Muscles ( videomaker.com ) What I Did I focused on two of the challenges: 1. Time Crunch (72 hours total, 24 hours if ambitious) I gave myself a hard deadline: shoot, edit, and finalize a 1-minute video in just 24 hours. That meant planning quickly, shooting b-roll, and diving into editing without hesitation. 2. Mandatory Props I asked a friend to randomly list five props, then I had to build the video around them. The list included: a mirror, a stuffed animal, colored string, a teacup, and neon tape. The Video ...

Unlocking My Creative Brain: A Classroom Exercise That Actually Worked As someone who’s constantly designing, drawing, and dreaming, I thought I had a good grip on creativity. But this week’s assignment asked me to step outside my usual comfort zone and try a structured creativity exercise I’d never done before. So I went searching for something that wasn’t just about art, but about how I think and that’s when I found it: Exercise Used: “30 Circles” – from IDEO’s Design Thinking for Educators toolkit. Link: https://designthinkingforeducators.com/toolkit How It Works: You’re given a sheet of 30 blank circles. You have 3 minutes to turn as many of them as possible into recognizable objects  whatever comes to mind. The key is quantity over quality . It’s a test of how fast your brain can move past the obvious and dive into more original, weird, or unexpected ideas. What I Did: I printed out the template (though you could easily draw the circles yourself), and set a 3-minute...

Cut by Cut: How Editing Defined Saving Private Ryan ’s Success When I chose to watch Saving Private Ryan for the first time, I expected a war film but what I got was a brutal, emotionally raw experience sharpened by masterful editing techniques and timing that made it unforgettable. From the very first scene, it became clear that the film’s success isn’t just in its story or acting it’s in how those elements are cut together to create impact. The D-Day Sequence: Chaos, Precision, and Realism The film’s opening 20 minutes the Omaha Beach landing are some of the most intense minutes in cinema history. The editing here is fast, frantic, and disorienting, using quick cuts between shaky handheld camera angles to throw the viewer into the middle of battle. There’s almost no time to breathe between shots. This technique isn’t just for style it mimics what soldiers likely felt: confusion, fear, adrenaline. One moment, the camera focuses on Tom Hanks’s character Captain Miller frozen in sh...

“One Film to Rule Them All”: A (Mostly Serious) Tale About Storytelling in The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Edition) In an age before TikTok, before streaming scrolls of infinite distraction, there came a film a long one with hairy feet, cursed jewelry, and a wizard who could start a rave with his staff if he wanted to. I speak, of course, of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Edition). And yes, I watched the extended version because I am not some half-measure hobbit. Though I had journeyed through this film before, I returned to it anew not as a fan, but as a scholar, well, a scholar with snacks. And what I found is this: the story isn’t great because of its swords and scenery (though those help). It’s great because of its storytelling deep, layered, emotional storytelling that hits harder than a cave troll with bad aim. It Begins with Shadow and Flame (And Galadriel’s Voice) The opening monologue, told by Lady Galadriel herself, sets the tone like...