Assignment 38.2| Evaluation of the sound production workshops.
Over the course of the last four months my Media class
has been doing different workshops on a weekly basis in order to learn the
techniques that are a crucial part of this section of the Media Industry.
Learning these techniques will also allows us to have the ability to do
phenomenally well in the follow up assignment, requiring us to use each of the
skills that we have learnt.
The final projects for each workshop can be found in a
shared file, which is located on the Art/Media drive.
Workshop |1| : Adding basic voiceover to scenes
In this workshop on the 29th and the 30th of November
the class was instructed to work on creating a voiceover for a scene that did
not currently have a voiceover. There were various types of effects that voice
overs were used for and at the beginning of the lesson we discussed this as a
class. Voice overs can be used to show the characters thoughts or opinions,
track back to a memory where something similar might have happened, and as a
use of exposition in a form similar to that of a narrator.
I edited two scenes and implemented a voiceover into
both of them. Throughout this process I used GarageBand to edit and my
headphone microphone to record the sound. For a professional video I would need
to use better quality equipment and software, however for an experiment it was
appropriate. The first scene is from the film absolutely anything and the
voiceover I have created, envisions the opinions of the character played by
Simon Pegg as he begins to learn how to use his special ability. When creating
this I noticed that there was a minor technical issue which is in the final
version below. The main issue was the background noise, as this was a class
activity most students were trying to record at the same time and so the room
was quite loud. I managed to counter this for the most part however, as I used
the inbuilt tools in GarageBand to remove some parts of the sound wave which
clearly was not my speech. I could also counter this by recording in a quieter
room.
My
second Voice over was splint into two segments. Both are in the same scene from
Pirates of the Caribbean. The first is an opinion from a specific character
about her own choices. The second is a added voice of the Kraken, which I
thought would be a little fun to end off. Both sections went well in my
opinion. The only opinion that was present was the background noise again.
Workshop |2| : Dubbing dialogue
In the workshop between the 6th and 7th of December
the class was instructed to take a scene from a pre-made selection, mute the
dialogue of the scene, recreate the audio through recording the exact
conversation and then finally lip sync the video and the audio together,
through editing.
Together with my partner Kieran, we chose a scene from
the original Matrix film. The scene included a lengthy conversation between
Morpheus and Neo, where the character Morpheus begins to introduce Neo to the
Matrix.
We began this process with gathering all the necessary
components for the recording. This included having the initial scene video, the
transcript for the scene and the recording software open on a laptop. Having
these components open on a laptop allowed us to move to a quieter location in
order to record the best audio as possible. We recording our audio while
watching the scene from the film and reading from the transcript that we had
prepared earlier. The recording was done using a microphone connected to a pair
of headphones. To increase the quality of the audio we could have substituted
in a better and higher quality microphone. The recording software that we used
was GarageBand.
As shown by the screen shot to the right, we began by
recording each of the characters as separate audio tracks in order to make the lip-syncing
easier. However in the editing process we decided to use one of our tracks that
had both of our speech in it, and simple cut it to match the video.
The editing process was
completed in Camtasia Studios 8. This is an editing software that I am very
experienced and familiar with and had used for several occasions in the past
couple of years. This software was available at my house and so I exported the
audio into a mp3 format and sent it hope to begin editing with. The reason I
chose to do this, rather than using GarageBand was because I already knew how
to do what I needed to do with Camtasia Studios and I was not familiar at all
with GarageBand. This meant that rather than spending time getting to grips
with the new software I chose to spend the time editing the project. My partner
however completed his editing in GarageBand and both edits were very similar.
We also both had edited the audio and the video together by the end of
the day that we had started.
When editing in Camtasia Studios, I tried best to sync
the new audio with the audio from the video as this gave an idea of when the
character began speaking. I would also watch how the character speaks to
predict where the next speech would come from. The screen shot below shows
this. For example Morpheus speaks in highly educated sentences that are
almost like riddles and so has several breaks between lines to make the scene
more intense.
In the final version of the project, there were a few
issues with the lip-syncing, which would have been fixed with more time being
available for the editing. As I only had one evening to make use of the
software, the overall project was not as efficient as it could have been but in
my opinion it was a good attempt.
Another issue we had was that we spoke to quickly for
the characters. As mentioned Earlier Morpheus speaks slowly and so the quick
speech from Kieran meant that the editing was tedious as his speech needed to
be cut, separated and replaced later in the video to properly sync the audio.
If Kieran and I were to do a project like this again,
I would personally spent more time on the editing section in order to rule out
any lip sync issues that were previously mentioned. As a whole however I
believe that we did a reasonably good job for such a short amount of
time.
Workshop |3|: Interviews
On the 13th and the 14th of December my class was
instructed to conduct an interview. We first discussed what was included within
an interview and this included that we should have use a variety of topics and
locations in order to make the recording as realistic as possible.
Together with my partner Kieran, we
started by drafting up topic ideas that we could use for the interview. We
chose topics that easily came to mind and topics, which we could talk freely
about. Our list of topics and our final questions for each other are indicated
by the image on the left.
We then played around with how the
questions sounded in order to make them more suitable and professional.
Following that we began recording. We recorded in several locations, which
included the canteen, a balcony between floors and classroom. The final copies
that are shown in the shared file were recorded from the first floor
balcony at the sixth form college. We recorded using the inbuilt app in my
partners phone whilst reading the script from my phone. When recording in the
canteen there was more background noise than the other locations and as a
result rendered the interview hard to understand. The second location we
recorded at was the balcony; this was where the sound quality was the best.
This was because the area was empty with students being in lesson and so the
best interviews were produced. However this does not mean that the recordings
were imperfect as the audio does still have some minor background noises. The
third location we recorded at was the classroom and this had the most
background noise, due to the students producing and discussing similar work. As
a result of this interference, the audio was also rendered hard to understand.
The audio recorder as mentioned was an app
on a phone and so in order to gain better audio we could have used a better
quality microphone. All editing and exporting was done using GarageBand.
The choice of recording in
different locations, made the interviews more realistic. We chose to record
each other but had we chosen to record passers by then the interviews would
have been more realistic.
After recording my partner sent the clips
over email which I then downloaded and begun editing any parts of the audio
that needed editing.
The final interviews are shown in the
shared file on the Arts/Media drive.
Workshop |4|: Adding music to a scene
On the 10th and the 11th of January 2018, the class began working on a new workshop. The lesson started with a discussion on what music does to scene lead my my teacher. The discussion used information that we had all learnt from the start of the year and the so the reason for this introduction was to remind everyone on the main reasons for using music and what main effects music can simulate within a scene. Shortly after the discussion we began searching for film clips without music and appropriate music that would be used with the scene.
The first scene I chose was a car and
train chase from "The French Connection (1971)." This scene appealed
to me right away as the scene by default had no music, which made the task of
adding music easier, the scene was also interesting to me as it was action
based in a no typical way. A car chasing a train is not nearly as common as a
generic car chase and so would easily stood out and for me personally I knew it
would be more fun to edit music into. The music does not start in the scene
until 2 minutes and 55 seconds into the clip and continues until the end.
The music that I implemented into the
intense chase scene emphasized the scene by furthering the intensity. The music
was taken from YouTube. The song was called "Epic detective
instrumental" The songs length was perfect for the middle of the scene and
added to the theme of a police officer chasing the train. This extract also
provided detail for the .
All editing was done in GarageBand and
through the process I played around with the duration of the scene and the
music.
While editing I used for
the a technique known as envelopes for the first time. This technique allowed
me to fade out and fade in music. This allowed me to created a dramatic pause
when the car is almost crashed, and then using a fade in the music continues a
moment after when the driver has recovered. A screen shot of this is shown on
the left.
The scene I chose next was used for both
the adding music to my second and third project.
The scene I used was from "The Dark
Knight returns (2012)." The scene in question was off the initial fight
scene between Batman and bane. The scene stood out to me because the
protagonist of the film looses the fight, which sets him on a redemption path,
which shapes the majority of the film. The first music I chose for this was an
aery and depressing sound track, this worked well with the scene and the
feeling in the scene. The music I added to the scene begins about 30 seconds
into the clip, after the speech with Bane and Batman. This song also has
a musical element that could represent hope which is a theme heavily
foreshadowed before and after this scene works. The audio was taken from the
Men In Black Soundtrack. The editing began by aligning the sound with the
chosen video section. I aligned and edited the clips using GarageBand. Unlike
the first scene, In this example and the following example I did not use any
other tools in GarageBand other than the basic movement and alignment tools. To
further the detail in this scene and the following scene I could have used more
of the available tools.
The second version of this scene and the
third total scene I added music too was an experiment to see if changing the
type of music in the scene affects the general mood of the scene. The
music I added to the scene begins about 45 seconds into the clip, after the
speech with Bane and Batman and the fight begins. Unlike the scene
which is a struggle for Bruce Wayne and as a result the scene has the theme of
depression and struggle, the music I have chosen to attempt to change this was
Rise Of The Valkyries. This well known song was written by Richard Wagner and
is the pinnacle of classical music. As a result of two almost opposites
combining, the scene becomes a little confused. The song has a great
motivational chime to it, which would be great for a scene that starts off not
in the protagonists favour, but then the protagonist wins, however in this
scene the protagonist attempts and loses. Therefore the song used does not work
perfectly. As a workshop experiment this worked well as it was something to try
and no I know that it does not work, I do not have to use it any further.
Workshop | 4.5 | Adding original music to
a scene
On the 24th and the 25th of January 2018, my class began working on a new workshop where we were instructed to create our own scores of music in GarageBand for use in specific scenes of our choosing.
My first scene that I used in this
workshop was the scene that I had previously used from The Dark Knight Returns
(2012) where Batman was in a loosing battle between himself and Bane. I tried
to create a score that showed the depressing and realistic atmosphere of not
being able to overcome a struggle. This soundtrack begins after the fight is
initiated and Batman begins to loose. Around 1 min into the project.
In GarageBand there is almost an unlimited
supply of details and interesting instruments. As I had never used this
programme before for this purpose I first began by playing around with the
software and the instruments available. After a while of listening to the huge
range that the software had to offer I began to think what instruments suited
the scene. I tried using electronic modern instruments but decided against that
as the mood was gritty and realistic and the use of the Internet almost
countered the mood and feeling which in this attempt was not what I was aiming
for. The instruments I ended up using were as follows: the "Drum 'N Bass
Remix"- drum kit, The "Orchestra Oboe", "Extra Tuba
Staccato" and the " Basking glow." As the screen shot below
indicates, I recorded a score and then decided to copy the score a number off
our times in order to cover the entire of the scene I desired. The first three
instruments give the gritty and realistic feeling I required for the scene. The
fourth instrument only appears a few times but indicates or foreshadows that there is still a
level of hope for the protagonist and maybe foreshadows how he may make a come
back later in the film. The use of such gritty and realistic instruments gave me the opportunity to create a sound motif for the character of Batman the film took that turn. The idea could be that the gritty instruments are played when the character arrives on screen up until the point of his recovery and his journey to defeating Bane which happens later in the film.
My second scene I created original music
for was a scene taken from "Spiderman- Homecoming"(2017). The scene
In question originally had music with it however the version I used did not,
governing me the opportunity to create my own score to suit the montage of
moments when Peter Parker was getting ready for his Homecoming dance. As the
protagonist is quite a modern person I attempted to replicate a typical style
of music that his age group might listen too. This added quite a comical vibe
as the music that was in the scene originally was more formal and slow, we can
tell this by the dance that Peter and his aunt do in the scene.
The instruments I used for this scene are
as follows: The "laser shot"- electronic synthesizer 'popcorn',
"Old school Remix old wave" - drum kit and the "RnB remix"-
Drum Kit. The electronic style comes from the laser shot synth and is the
typical sound for the music I was trying to create.
The screen shot below shows the way that I
layered the different instruments into the sound bed to create something that would suit the
scene. As a result of the music I created, the scene is left in a more laid
back and funny version of itself. This helps to make the audience more relaxed
when watching the scene and would also allow the audience to relate to the
characters more, especially if the audience members were born in the same
generation as when the style of electronic music took off.
Workshop | 5 | Adding sound effects to a
film scene
On the 31st of January and the 1st of February my class worked on the next and the final workshop. In this workshop we were to find a scene from a film that does not have any sound effects and then manually add the sound effects to the scene. The sound effects would be mainly found through online libraries, with a few being made ourselves in the form of foley sound effects.
My chosen scene was from the 2015 film
Everest and the scene is a section when the team are climbing across a
precariously placed ladder between two peaks of the mountain. At this point
there is an unfortunately timed avalanche, which lands a member of the group
stranded on the ladder and unable to get up. Following this member of the group
begins to rescue the first member by climbing onto the ladder. This scene had
the original dialogues from the film and any sound effects had been removed
allowing me to add my own feel to the scene.
I decided to emphasise the feeling and
theme in this scene, which was the danger that the men were in in. To do this I
recreated the sounds that you would expect to hear in this scene. This began
with finding an ambient sound for the environment. I experimented with the idea
of using the sound of the team shouting encouragement all the way through but
decided against it as the footage would never show a member of the team doing
so and as a result the cheering would only confuse the scene. I concluded this
decision by using a furious wind as the ambient sound for the scene. This gives
the expression to the viewer of how critical the situation that the group of
climbers are in. This can be seen in the section of the image below shown as
number one, the image below shows the whole project from a zoomed out
perspective.
The first main sound effect that I used
was the sound of the avalanche. This particular sound was taken from the online
sound library [Freesound.com] The use of this sound brought the whole project
to life in my opinion. Giving life to the environment. The sound I chose for
this section was quite realistic as I thought it had to be and it was also
quite chilling which is what the team would have through when the avalanche
crashing down around them. The avalanche sound can be seen in the highlighted
image below as the labelled section number four. The audio had to be repeated
several times in order to cover the section from the clip.
The second main sound effect that I added
to this scene was the sound of the ladder struggling with the new weight when
the man falls straight onto it. This effect also co-insides with the sound
effect that I added next. This being the pillars that were holding the ladder,
struggling with the new weight as well. The sound when the man falls onto the
ladder is a metallic 'bang'. This sound effect I created through the
Foley technique. I recorded myself hitting a large fan, which is placed next to
where I sit in the class. The microphone I used for this was from my headphone
set and I set the broadcast up so that it recorded straight into GarageBand as some Studio recordings have been done before. The other sound effect which followed the Foley sound effect up closely was the
sound used to explain that the pillars dug into the snow that were keeping the
ladder stable until the man collapsed onto of them forcing them to struggle
under the new weight. This sound effect was found on [Freesound.com]. These two
sound effects can also be seen in the image below as the labelled sections,
number two and three.
The fourth sound effect that I included
within this scene was the sound of footsteps as the second man walks across the
ladder and the snow in order to help his fellow adventurer up from the position
he was put in after the avalanche happened. This edit can be seen on the below
image as sound effect number five. In this instance I used a metal 'bang' for
the steps made on the ladder and a snow 'thud' for the steps made on the snowy
area. The sound effects were found on the online library [Freesound.com] and
each sound effect was repeated several times in order to get the right amount
of steps that sync with the video and where viewers would expect to hear the sounds.
To do this I imported the sound effects into GarageBand and slowly watched the
video, making notes where the sound should go and then adding them in after.
Similarly to the fourth sound
effect, the fifth and final sound effect was the sound of the ladder straining
under the weight of the two men as the first adventurer begins to stand up.
This sound was a metal 'bang' and came from [Freesound.com] This sound effect
appears at the end of the scene, giving the viewers relief that the stranded
member of the group is now safe. Like the other sound effects I added this to
GarageBand and watched the scene carefully to see where the effect best benefited
the scene. This can be seen in the image below as the labelled number six.
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This
image represents the sound effect workshop project zoomed out with each sound
effect labelled as a number mentioned in the text.
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