The Final Clip

Apocalypse Now Scene Redub from SHU Film & Media Production on Vimeo.

Link to sequence - http://vimeo.com/114928684

18/12 Gathering my final thoughts

I am satisfied with the finished product and I am happy with how well received it was in my seminar presentation. Prior to the presentation, I had shown my video to a few of my peers to hear their thoughts on my piece.

My first group of peers who had never seen the original thought it was a psychological motive I was trying to communicate with the sounds I had used or that their deep meaning was hidden. The sound of the news report suggested that there was a war going on and the men on the boat were the survivors. The lack of closure provided to the clip piqued the curiosity of my peers, as they wanted to know what was being looked at towards the end. The unnatural sound of the spear and jacket being thrown down caused a comedic response as one of my peers laughed. When I asked they was unsure as to why the sound was there. The news report sound fades out too quickly and abruptly.

Taking this feedback into consideration, I extended the fades on the news report to be a little longer in comparison to the visual, so that the feeling wasn’t so abrupt, however I wanted to keep the sound for the items being thrown, because this is the spectator’s observation from a far distance. When hearing sound from a long distance only some frequencies can be heard and I want the audience the imagine why some things are clearer and more distinct than others.

The next viewing was to a singular peer who had also chosen this strand for the same module. His feedback would be critical in gauging how well received the piece will be, because he shares the same tasks as myself.

Watching my piece, he was really impressed with how it all tied in together with each other and he really liked the soundtrack used to exaggerate the atmosphere. One thing he thought needed changing was the sound of the items being thrown down and that the news voiceover should be longer. As I had already used the maximum duration of the clip I couldn’t add anymore time to the news report, however I could extend the fade of the clip to seem like it was longer, which I chose to do instead.

A more subtle inspiration for my work has to be the films of Michael Haneke. His films explore the unforeseen and unprecedented events of cinema. I really liked how he wanted to explore what was off-screen as well as onscreen.

The sessions held with in conjunction with cinematography were really good too, it provided experience on what possible scenarios sound recordists may be in when on set of a project. The unfortunate dark side of sound is that it always is required to be ready no matter the scenario and adherence is normally paid towards the visuals. As I continued through both sound projects I kind of felt the sad negligence of sound in projects, in animation projects I am sure sound is taken more seriously, but for real life projects it is very apparent that this isn’t so.

I am really happy with how confident I am now with Pro Tools, I do feel my skills can be even furthered and I may even look into composing on Pro Tools to make instrumentals or musical beats. I think musical beats can really influence a scene. I really want to work more with MIDI keyboards and become familiar with the KORG. After watching a few youtube videos I think they will be pretty useful for taking advantage of creating sound effects. The seminars that Darryl held for MIDI was good as I had minimal knowledge about MIDI and how to automate virtual instruments.

When first introduced to the first exercise, I wasn’t quite sure how to approach this exercise. This is because, it stated in the task to create a production report of the progress of my project, however I was concerned that I wouldn’t have enough in my project to discuss in my report and that I would be constantly repeating myself.

Something that needs to improve are the notes I take in sessions. I have lost a few pages from the notes I made, because my notebooks are very delicate and weak. The fact that I cycle a lot means my pads juggle in my bags quite often. I think the art of note taking is definitely something I could improve because, the notes I have for the end of the module do not currently reflect all the thoughts I had when being in the process of my production.

Getting the production started was probably one of the most difficult tasks to take on. This is because I had many ideas that I wanted to do, which I discuss in my production report, but once deciding on the idea. It takes a really big push to generate a direction and balancing this task alongside my others for other modules was definitely a great feat for myself.

My other task, which pushed me more to getting really involved with this project, required myself to sound design all sounds for a 5 – 10 minute film that I was working on with another group. In the end, a lot of sounds between both projects ended up being really useful and I am glad that my choices led to a project synergy. Without choosing these roles and strands, I think I would have been in a precarious situation between both modules as I would learning about to different positions, which wouldn’t allow myself to effectively apply what I have come to understand in the recent months.

As an experienced editor, automation and keypoints are the norm for myself. I coherently forget that this is actually a technique that can make the workflow of a project much more consistent and worthy of mention. My first basic understanding of automation derived from using non-linear editing software such as: Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro. This most commonly was slowing fading in the audio or visual using keypoints. Doing both of these sound projects this semester has shown me that a massive difference can be made with duration of these fades. This is something I didn’t really appreciate. Even little sounds that may not be heard for long, add to the overall effect and sometimes are required to fade out unnoticeably. One example is in my Apocalypse Now piece, I recorded a sound for the burning house and panned it to the right to create a naturalism of the house burning, however the slow fade I use before and after the house is shown leads the audience to expect something. The sound isn’t significantly loud, but adds to the overall atmosphere. The least thing I wanted to do was make it obvious that the burning house sound is now gone, because this would trigger an undesired affect on my audience.

In our practice sessions, Darryl has already recommended that we record in the correct format, because this will save us from having any problems in the future. No matter the sound recorder is, always have the correct sample rate and microphone sensitivity set. I prefer the Marrantz in comparison to the Zoom recorders, because the Marrantz have a neck grip, which allows for the Marrantz to worn around the neck when operational. The Zoom however is a lot smaller in size and with the right size pocket, can be placed in the pocket.

When it came to recording atmos, I preferred to use the internal microphones on the recorder in comparison to any mono shotgun microphone. Personally it felt more natural to hear my immediate surroundings in stereo in comparison to that of a mono recording, which led me to that decision. I am quite interested in the stereo shotgun microphones, because I think they will be very great for capturing room tone in, however they are the opposite for dialogue.

To be more specific, the Audio Technica shotgun microphone captured slightly more frequencies than the Sennheiser shotgun microphone. This in result made the recordings made with Audio Technica sound more open than those made with the Sennheiser, however the sound was more isolated on the recordings made with the Sennheiser.

I also didn’t find favour in recording in dual mono. Maybe it was the scenarios that I was in, but I couldn’t comprehend the useful or effectiveness of recording in dual mono. Mono recordings are singular, which meant that if a duplicate was required this could easily be done in post. Why it was needed as a feature on the recording hardware I am still unsure.

Another technique that was really useful for doing both sound projects is the planning of sound design. Looking at a script and recognise how the sounds will compliment and communicate the narrative. Leading back to what I previously said about sound being underappreciated, I still believe this so, however the usefulness of planning can give way to new and complete sound ideas. I think experimenting is definitely very useful as well.

Though there was a workshop where I got the chance to experience being both in front and behind the camera. The short film I was working allowed me to gain firsthand experience with working with actors outside of university. This meant constructing myself in a professional manner and having to get takes redone to capture the correct dialogue for the scene. One of my rising concerns was as the crew were paying for one of the actors, when properly reviewed the dialogue was incorrect or didn’t match. I would need the actor to come in to ADR his bit, however I did not have this problem at all.

In all I think made some wises choices choosing to do strands that compliment each other this semester and I hope to participate in more sound projects outside of university.

Illustrated Production Report

This module gave me my first experience with Pro Tools. It is software I have heard much about for recording and manipulating vocals, however I have never actually used the software to edit the soundtrack of any videos.

The main task for this module is to redub the sound from a scene from film with aims to give the sequence a similar or intended meaning. I have applied myself to the module by researching into different mediums of media for inspirations for sound designing and experimenting with methods of recording to achieve different sounds.

I started off with researching into different forms of the medium, this ranged from film, short films, animations and TV series. Some titles that I paid particular attention too are: Apocalypse Now, City of God, Kiseijuu: Sei No Kakuritsu, Detective Conan, Sammy the explorer, Ferguson Speaks: A Communique From Ferguson, Playground, Manhunt, Game of thrones, Trinity Seven and Majin Bone

On the 30th Sep, I had my induction into Pro Tools and started with learning some of the core basics of a workflow on this software. As I am quite adept and familiar with Soundtrack Pro, this was quite the hurdle to cross, as a long of the keyboard shortcuts are different. We were provided sheets that had keyboard shortcuts on them, but I used my initiative and noted the most common keyboard shortcuts I thought I would personally used.

In this session, I was also advised to use a specific format, which was recommended by my lecturer for sound editing in Pro Tools, it is “AVID DNxHD Codec”. My lecturer gave direction on how to import video and audio clips into Pro Tools, but before learning to import, project settings came first. Sound settings remain the same as they are in Soundtrack Pro with the default standard sample rate being 48kHz, 44.1kHZ is only used for audio discs and singles. Now that the project was ready, the seminar group began importing audio and video clips into Pro Tools.

On the 21st Oct, in today’s seminar session we handled basic diegetic sound editing. In the clip the seminar group was given, a scene features a radio being turned on. For our seminar exercise, the group was asked to fade in a sample radio broadcast to function as a reaction to the action of the radio being turned on. This gave me insight into how to fade and was useful for getting me used to cutting audio clips. Now that the fade was fairly accurate I needed the radio broadcast to sound like it was coming from a radio. Our lecturer introduced the seminar group to equalising and shows us how to manipulate the effects of an equaliser in Pro Tools. I know when listening to a radio, I know that not all frequencies are heard, so to create this effect, I cut off a lot of low and high frequencies off using the low-pass filter and high-pass filter.

Later on in the session, the group went onto automation and Darryl showed the group how to automate sound parameters such as volume and pan.

The session also included what our assignment requirements were and Darryl covered what needed to be done. As my lecturer was a fan and recommended Ben Burt, I checked out some of his work such as: Super 8 (2011) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005). There was a selection of clips the group were given to be used for task two, but the alternative was proposed that students could source their own clips as long as Darryl accepts it. I decided to source out my own clips, because I already some titles in mind, which I believed to be really good. I was unclear as to what Darryl would deem unacceptable, so I selected films I believed a lot of action and ambiguity to be present. One of my first selections was City of God (2002), because it was a personal favourite.

Darryl replied on my birthday stating the clip contained too much dialogue, but there was specific criteria except the clip needed to be a duration of 3 minutes.

There was another film I had in mind, which was Apocalypse Now (1979). One scene was the scene where ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ plays and the helicopter invasion begins. Another scene was the scene where Tyrone dies and Captain Benjamin sales past the burning house. As these scenes had minimal or no dialogue I thought they were good options.

Before going onto my Pro Tools project on the 2nd Dec, I had been experimenting on Soundtrack Pro with different parameters and effects on sounds to see what would sound good and what would oppose my intended theme. I managed to create some eerie sound sequences by duplicating the track of myself heavy breathing and clipping it to come into at set times. With the clipped duplicates I panned to them there left and right in different varieties and placed a delay and reverb over the original to blend the sound in. I had created a basic structural sequence on Soundtrack Pro, so that when I did come to my Pro Tools edit I would have an idea of what I intend to do.

On the 2nd Dec

My lecturer was name dropping a few titles to watch that would be good for this module, some are; Solarsis (2002), True Detective (2014) and Stalker (2014).

I had begun my sound edit on Pro Tools, one issue I had was bringing the clip into Pro Tools. After transcoding to the codec AVID DNxHD, the video would refuse to import into Pro Tools, which led to several attempts of transcoding on MPEG Streamclip. In the end I applied my knowledge of standard sound editing and imported a silent video in standard definition and followed with the audio afterwards.

I had found a sound that really worked before and wanted to use it again. My only concerned was that the pitch of the sound was too high, so I turned the pitch down and EQ’d the sound to give it a more dark presence. In comparison to original, I think this has made a humongous change.

The wind sound I used contributes to the dark theme and gives the piece a horror feel. I lowered the pitch of the wind sound when I reused it in the skeleton scene to indicate a change in time. Reusing the wind sound as it was would have been detrimental to the effect.

As Tyrone goes underwater, I wanted a sharp sound to suggest his impeding doom, so I recorded the sound of my fire alarm, because it produces a pretty sharp sound. The only issue was the recording wasn’t long enough so I changed the elastic properties of the clip after enabling elastic audio on it. The sound is monophonic, so the time stretch didn’t adjust the sound of it, however the filter gate I used create a wobble in the mono sound giving it more spatial volume.

At this stage, I needed to piece together the unrealistic sounds that I implemented into my sound piece, so I imported tracks that I planned to use as atmos and EQ’d it to sound clearer.

I needed a sound to bring a new element to the piece, because it was now coming together with the atmos and the distorted sound that cannot be completely understood, however I needed a sound that people could recognise and to suggest horror. I recorded the sound of my heartbeat with the hydrophone and connected the contact end to capture the sound of my heartbeat more effectively.

The sound of my fire alarm is sharp and effective, however needed a slight tweaking to fade out to create my desire effect.

As I continued to edit, I realised that my project had taken a turn from a realistic undead theme to surrealist undead. The sound that occurs when the jacket and spear are thrown resonates to connote deep thought. This is intended to lead audiences to question why they don’t hear the sound that they expect. The next sound I introduce is the sound of Tyrone in the water and slowly sinking. What I do with this sound is loop specific segments to create the effect of eventually submerging. The sound is too short to remain its original form so this was a solution I found effective.

The sound of the boat going along the sea is made by me recording my toothbrush and EQ’ing it. I had to loop the recording to maintain the consistent sound of the boat as the boat plays a major segment of the clip and automate the volume and pan to suggest position and movement within the clip.

Some of the finishing touches I wanted to add to piece to conclude it was the reintroduction of the atmos heard at the beginning of the piece. This is to suggest that the crew has now arrived at their destination which is still apart of the forest they are in and to assist the visuals in transitioning.

In conclusion, I am satisfied with the end product and would possibly record more sounds if to do this project again.

12/12 & 13/12 Editing - Sound Design Short Film Experience

So from the previous two editing sessions, considering no sound design had been properly scheduled I believe I have done quite the considerable job. I have managed to structure the sound from the beginning of the rough cut to the fighting scene. Some scenes like the fighting scene are going to take a considerable amount more time to edit as there are different sounds expected or can affect the consumption of the film. I do not believe a completely finished edit will be done, so I hope that a piece is completed that is at least near completion.

A concern that I had from the beginning of the film has come to fruition and that is the under appreciation and inadequate approach to the organisation of sound. As sound relies heavily on the visual image, I could not begin sound editing without at least a rough cut and I certainly will not be taking responsibility for lack of time provided for sound. In saying that, the progress of the sound has been great and I look forward to seeing what occurs of the next couple days.

According to tutorial I had with Chris and some members of the group, I should be expecting a revised rough cut tomorrow. It will be interesting to know why this cut isn't received if this happens, however I am confident that my fellow group members won't let me down.

6/12 Editing (short overview)

Today I completed sound editing for my sound project. I used this exercise to improve my confidence for the sound edit I have to do for my drama piece.

My initial idea was to create a piece that was inspired by the theme of the undead, similar to The Evil Dead (which I watched here https://screenhits.tv/Viewers/Player.aspx?mediaID=9DBF0414-6DE1-437D-BB64-34AD5BAFA2A4). My workflow consist of grabbing and manipulating sounds to sound more eerie and dark.

The impression I get from my finished piece is that there is a spectator in the woods watching the events of the black man being left in the water unfold. The spectator bears some sort of relationship with the black man, which is why the rate of their breathing increases and he continues to spectate the boat through its journey. The black man is a victim of Ebola, which is suggestive from the radio broadcast heard when a man is seen opening letters and the crew are en-route to a destination away from the disease. As the dark song slowly fades in, it emphasises the lack of remorse these militant men hold for the black man, however it could represent the feelings the men harbour inside. The clip ends with the man looking through into binoculars, leaving the audience to remain curious about what the man sees.

The song I used is a remix of the temple of time song composed by Koji Kondo and is a part of the soundtrack album The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

2/12 Editing

So today I had a session on Pro Tools, I was able to start putting my project together on Pro Tools. I am still not familiar with the keyboard shortcuts but I have a standard workflow I can now adhere to. I have already begun sampling and experimenting with different effects and sounds on Soundtrack Pro for this piece, however the biggest issue is always going to be porting over a project from Soundtrack Pro to Pro Tools. There are options to save the tracks as OMFs or AAFs, but these are not as compatible as project files.

I always knew this was a potentiality, so I never went too overboard with structure on Soundtrack Pro, however I had this idea to duplicate the track of the heavy breathing recording by myself and for each of the duplicates. To extreme and soft pan left and pan to create an eerie atmosphere of different levels of heavy breathing. This will contribute towards the final theme of the undead receiving the dead.

The edit is slowly progressing in the right direction, but from my tutor feedback today, I need to make the piece string together a little more clearer. Even though my piece will be more art house and experimental, I want the structure to be understood without reducing the creative quality of the piece. As I edit, this will be one of the main objectives within this piece.

28/11 experimenting

So over the weekend, I booked out a hydrophone with a contact adaptor, marrantz and audio technica shotgun microphone to start experimenting with sounds. I captured some good sounds that I am really impressed with, experimenting led me to putting the hydrophone in the sink, connecting to different surfaces and scratching, rubbing, hitting different surfaces.

The interesting thing about the hydrophone is that the sounds reverberate very well and differently for each surface. Different sounds are achieved depending on the surface area and the distance between the microphone. I am hoping to cycle and record to see what kind of interesting sounds that would make.