Myself and Jordan have just spent all day in the Sound Production Suite, it got hotter and hotter all day long because we turned the noisy air conditioner off to record some sound, we couldn't turn it back on again.
Regardless of this fact we had a very productive and fun day, recording spot effects and creative problem solving. As for the former we had to pick up a couple of sounds we didn't think to record on set; envelopes rustling, door creaks, specific footsteps etc, nothing too major for the last day of editing.
As for the latter, we obviously expected to encounter some production issues and as such we were relatively prepared to do the pick-up spot sounds, as well as keeping in contact with each other regarding editing sequences that still needed sound; Alex edited together the green screen sequences in after-effects, whilst Jacob worked on the overall editing together of each sequence, whilst Jordan and I added the sound and equalised each track and Rob served as a go-between with each of us, transporting information, hard-drives, printing production documents off and generally being helpful.
Overall I am relatively happy with the work I have done within the group regarding editing the sound with Jordan; I believe we have pushed the envelope of what was expected of us by our peers, whom seemed to generally have the same amount or less work done than us, but were less concerned about their finished product; I even found that most valued getting the project done above getting the project done correctly, which I find ridiculous, a firm believer in the 'If something is worth doing, it's worth doing right" creed.
We have yet to export the project but we will all hopefully be in for 9ish tomorrow, which I doubt will actually come to fruition; possibly on my part, not being one for waking up in time for anything regardless of how important it may be to me. Turning off my alarm clock and my 6 alarms of my phone seems to have become more of a reflex than anything.
I digress, my point was that in order for me to stand a chance in getting up early to do more work, I must sleep excessively early. I bid you goodnight.
Friday, 11 May 2012
Tuesday, 8 May 2012
Editing and Effects
Recently I have been very busy editing together all of my Sound Design ( I have previously attempted to upload some rough drafts of my sound onto blogger, but it is a fussy mistress to say the least), overlayering each sound with other sounds, pitch-shifting them back and forth, altering the speed, changing parameters, EQing and numerous other sound bits.
I have been noticing the harsh but simple effect achieved by adding something so easy as a reverb or a delay onto a sound. By altering the reverb decay time of a sound you can achieve the illusion of the sound coming from within an enormous structure such as a church of by lowering it you might make a voice source come from a pipe.
The wonders of a simple Reverb never ceases to amaze me.
As well as this, adding a ping-pong or auto-filter delay upon a sound can be wonderous; the addition of a pan to this is powerful to say the least. Reminiscent of the Acid Folk of the late 1960s, bands like Comus, utilised these to great effect, then being on the cusp of new effectation, they astonished hippies ears yet hung on the brink of obscurity.
It's simple, yet effective manipulation of sound should be a lot more widely used to morph any kind of sound into a trippy mixture of panning and echoes.
I have been noticing the harsh but simple effect achieved by adding something so easy as a reverb or a delay onto a sound. By altering the reverb decay time of a sound you can achieve the illusion of the sound coming from within an enormous structure such as a church of by lowering it you might make a voice source come from a pipe.
The wonders of a simple Reverb never ceases to amaze me.
As well as this, adding a ping-pong or auto-filter delay upon a sound can be wonderous; the addition of a pan to this is powerful to say the least. Reminiscent of the Acid Folk of the late 1960s, bands like Comus, utilised these to great effect, then being on the cusp of new effectation, they astonished hippies ears yet hung on the brink of obscurity.
It's simple, yet effective manipulation of sound should be a lot more widely used to morph any kind of sound into a trippy mixture of panning and echoes.
Monday, 7 May 2012
Production Stills
What follows are some production still I have been taking, from various locations with a brief description of the frame.
This was the smoke machine test we conducted within the first and primary location for our shooting, the flat, it got so smokey we did set the smoke alarm off; luckily for us no-one said or did anything, good old student accommodation. We spent the majority of our time that day setting up for the next day, set dressing mainly accompanied by several props everyone had brought around that we thought we might tie into the story; i.e. the Tibetan Book of the Dead, colourful and patterned fabric, dream-catchers and so-on.
We did some green screen tests in the same location and they turned out to be so perfect in terms of framing that we decided to use them in our final edit, partly because we got the suit after we got the performance studio booked and to get both at the same time would be to have your cake and eat it. Jacob sourced it from the firestation museum he has worked at for the past few years, it worked spectacularly well as a replacement for the last suit we used...
This was in the Warehouse location that myself and Rob discovered one day whilst location scouting and generally exploring near his apartment. It looked highly dis-used besides graffitti and even had some genuinely good graffitti on the way in, an old Phlegm piece as well. The floor was dirty to say the least and the walls were crumbling away around us so we had to be careful to put it mildly, let alone with all our heavy equipment. You can clearly see in this shot Jordan using his Home-made Fig-Rig, which proved to be utterly indispensable when panning around a room and made every shot we used it for notable more stable.
Recording and views on Sound Design.
Whilst on location it struck me how much sound is actually recorded and used on set; near none.
It is far easier and of infinitely better quality to record seperately for each scene both the atmos track of each location and the dialogue for each character. This allows me the chance to change anything I think might cause a problem, including external noises like traffic, any Plosive or Fricative words ( words which contain specific syllables like Pass, Funk, Punk etc ) that peak the Master Mix that would otherwise have to be compressed in order for it to be useable.
Sadly though sometimes this rule might have to be bent in order to allow for time constraints.
I have also been taking the advice of Mark Watson, who suggested that to get a better range of recordings, you should record the same sound, from different perspectives around the area; much like changing the light settings within photography in order to find the optimal mix. It is methods like this that I look forward to finding out and actively ask of my peers what and how they have been recording; although few have remained as enthusiastic regarding quality towards the latter portion of the project, most just wanting to record the sound let alone think about equalisation and mastering.
This is where I feel I can really contribute to the overall production quality of projects; by fine-tuning every aspect of the sound I can think of, pitch adjustment, reverb time and decay rate, background noise, crew noise and equalisation especially isn't given just time and thought. Altering the parameters of someones voice can be incredibly effective. Specifically when their voice is the defining characteristic, when done correctly though can be monumentally meaningful. If someone asked you to do a quick impression of Darth Vader, you wouldn't don a black cape, enormous mask and black gloves; more likely you would imitate his voice, the deep respiration patterns of an old Scuba diving mask.
This re-enforces the fact that if done correctly, the sound a character makes can be the defining characteristic of the person. But it's that fact that annoys me, 'If done correctly'. This means that for the majority of cases within film, for the most part these are not achieved correctly; it should be the other way around.
Sound within film should not be 'This film has a great sound track' or 'He sounds so cool', it should be every film that achieves this, not just a particular few that stand out as having good sound effects, we should be creating fantastical and memorable sounds for every aspect of film. Before Star Wars for example, the sound of a light-saber wasn't even plausable, now however, just by making a crude swooshing noise with your mouth you can instantly associate that sound with that object. And maybe this means that fiction has an edge over social realism in the mind-set of sound design; that you can't just create brand new sounds for everyday objects, wrong; you can transform anything you want into something incredible, go ahead, try it.
Well that's my view anyway, that sound can be an incredibly powerful medium, but only if people let it.
It is far easier and of infinitely better quality to record seperately for each scene both the atmos track of each location and the dialogue for each character. This allows me the chance to change anything I think might cause a problem, including external noises like traffic, any Plosive or Fricative words ( words which contain specific syllables like Pass, Funk, Punk etc ) that peak the Master Mix that would otherwise have to be compressed in order for it to be useable.
Sadly though sometimes this rule might have to be bent in order to allow for time constraints.
I have also been taking the advice of Mark Watson, who suggested that to get a better range of recordings, you should record the same sound, from different perspectives around the area; much like changing the light settings within photography in order to find the optimal mix. It is methods like this that I look forward to finding out and actively ask of my peers what and how they have been recording; although few have remained as enthusiastic regarding quality towards the latter portion of the project, most just wanting to record the sound let alone think about equalisation and mastering.
This is where I feel I can really contribute to the overall production quality of projects; by fine-tuning every aspect of the sound I can think of, pitch adjustment, reverb time and decay rate, background noise, crew noise and equalisation especially isn't given just time and thought. Altering the parameters of someones voice can be incredibly effective. Specifically when their voice is the defining characteristic, when done correctly though can be monumentally meaningful. If someone asked you to do a quick impression of Darth Vader, you wouldn't don a black cape, enormous mask and black gloves; more likely you would imitate his voice, the deep respiration patterns of an old Scuba diving mask.
This re-enforces the fact that if done correctly, the sound a character makes can be the defining characteristic of the person. But it's that fact that annoys me, 'If done correctly'. This means that for the majority of cases within film, for the most part these are not achieved correctly; it should be the other way around.
Sound within film should not be 'This film has a great sound track' or 'He sounds so cool', it should be every film that achieves this, not just a particular few that stand out as having good sound effects, we should be creating fantastical and memorable sounds for every aspect of film. Before Star Wars for example, the sound of a light-saber wasn't even plausable, now however, just by making a crude swooshing noise with your mouth you can instantly associate that sound with that object. And maybe this means that fiction has an edge over social realism in the mind-set of sound design; that you can't just create brand new sounds for everyday objects, wrong; you can transform anything you want into something incredible, go ahead, try it.
Well that's my view anyway, that sound can be an incredibly powerful medium, but only if people let it.
Sunday, 6 May 2012
Inspiration
I have been feeling slightly confused recently. I feel like I have been suffereing from what can best be described as a sound barrier between my thoughts and my actions. for the past week I have been unable to produce and sounds that might be of worth to anyone; whilst I have tried upon numerous occasions, I felt like I could never find the certain tone I was looking for, or the right settings or effects to use. I felt as thought my music had become quite ubiquitous and expected, making music had become a routine, too much so. As if my head had become clouded from over-use, like I had been waiting for something without realising it.
However, a day and a night spent in the woods with good friends and plenty to do has left me feeling refreshed as if the flood gates for the creative centre of my mind had been lifted. I felt thoughts and feelings articulate themselves coherantly and flow freely from my finger tips with no convolution. I felt no revelation or moment of inspiration, although it was more akin to a tap on the underside of a full barrel being slowly loosened and the demiurgic nectar realeased. I felt the urge to transmit these fresh feelings into sounds earlier today and operated my instruments with ease and maximum effiency for nearly 3 hours, writing and recording over an hour and a half of publishable material.
I have been watching and listening to some pretty interesting stuff recently so I might assume that this had something to do with that.
However, a day and a night spent in the woods with good friends and plenty to do has left me feeling refreshed as if the flood gates for the creative centre of my mind had been lifted. I felt thoughts and feelings articulate themselves coherantly and flow freely from my finger tips with no convolution. I felt no revelation or moment of inspiration, although it was more akin to a tap on the underside of a full barrel being slowly loosened and the demiurgic nectar realeased. I felt the urge to transmit these fresh feelings into sounds earlier today and operated my instruments with ease and maximum effiency for nearly 3 hours, writing and recording over an hour and a half of publishable material.
I have been watching and listening to some pretty interesting stuff recently so I might assume that this had something to do with that.
Saturday, 7 April 2012
Avant-Grade Inspiration
A favorite electronic composer of mine, Dan Deacon, has selected several of his favorite experimental tracks as part as of WQXR.com's 'Maverick Mix tapes' column, arranging them in a mix tape, it's pretty interesting stuff; sounds I would expect to hear in such a 'Bicycle Day' situation, as well as some otherworldly guitar sounds that I will definitely be trying to replicate.
Playlist
Lois V Vierk - Go Guitars
Meredith Monk - View 1
Harry Partch - Time Of Fun Together
Edward Larry Gordon - Meditation #2
George Crumb - Black Angels: I. Departure
Tristan Perich - Momentary Expanse
La Monte Young - Dream house, 1973
James Tenney - Spectral Canon For Conlon Nancarrow
Pauline Oliveros - River Of Folk Dance / Rios Folkloricos
John Berndt - Grace
Harrison, Lou - Suite no. 1 (1976)
Charles Dodge - A Man Sitting In the Cafeteria
Conlon Nancarrow - Study for Player Piano no. 1
Meredith Monk - View 1
Harry Partch - Time Of Fun Together
Edward Larry Gordon - Meditation #2
George Crumb - Black Angels: I. Departure
Tristan Perich - Momentary Expanse
La Monte Young - Dream house, 1973
James Tenney - Spectral Canon For Conlon Nancarrow
Pauline Oliveros - River Of Folk Dance / Rios Folkloricos
John Berndt - Grace
Harrison, Lou - Suite no. 1 (1976)
Charles Dodge - A Man Sitting In the Cafeteria
Conlon Nancarrow - Study for Player Piano no. 1
Friday, 6 April 2012
Drama Brief Response
After the Documentary project I was extremely excited to get back to sound production; so I nearly exploded with demiurgic nectar after I read the section that stated that a strong element of sound design was needed.
The aspect of the 'Journey/Trip' immdeiately triggered a response within me in the form of a headache with pictures, a memory of a story a friend had told me. My friend (who shall remain un-named) had told me about a 'trip' he went on nearly 1 year ago; specifically the 19th of April last year. It was this day in particular he spoke to me about; Bicycle day. Bicycle Day marks the invention of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (commonly known as LSD) by Albert Hofmann in April of 1943. My friend told me the story of how it came to pass.
On November 16 1938, the strain LSD-25 was first synthesised but remained unused for 5 years, when on April 16th the psychedelic properties were discovered when after getting home after a hard days synthesizing unknown chemicals he began to feel more relaxed than usual and found his thoughts were racing around and he found the world around him seemingly different as well; but not anything definitive, nothing he could measure.
Three days later on the 19th, Hofmann comes back to his lab and creates what he thought was a Threshold dose, which is the lowest does wherein the effects of a drug become apparent; a Threshold dose of a standard hit of LSD is around 20 micrograms. Albert Hofmann synthesized and ate 250 Micrograms of LSD. So, you can begin to understand how he felt after about half an hour. After about an hour his condition hadn't got any better so his co-workers decided to take him home; although due to some form of curfew they weren't allowed to ride vehicles after a certain time and so Hofmann hitched a lift on the back of his friends bicycle; the world changed forever that day. Without whom we certainly wouldn't recognise the world that we currently live in, what he did defined and entire decade, a generation of people all over the world suddenly became aware of something that hasn't and won't disappear.
When the two eventually got back to Hofmann's home, a doctor was waiting but after nearly 24 hours, when Hofmann was relatively lucid again, all the doctor could find wrong with him was a pair of severely dilated pupils.
This is the basis for our project, an incredible story, and certainly a 'trip' worth making a film around the theme of.
The aspect of the 'Journey/Trip' immdeiately triggered a response within me in the form of a headache with pictures, a memory of a story a friend had told me. My friend (who shall remain un-named) had told me about a 'trip' he went on nearly 1 year ago; specifically the 19th of April last year. It was this day in particular he spoke to me about; Bicycle day. Bicycle Day marks the invention of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (commonly known as LSD) by Albert Hofmann in April of 1943. My friend told me the story of how it came to pass.
On November 16 1938, the strain LSD-25 was first synthesised but remained unused for 5 years, when on April 16th the psychedelic properties were discovered when after getting home after a hard days synthesizing unknown chemicals he began to feel more relaxed than usual and found his thoughts were racing around and he found the world around him seemingly different as well; but not anything definitive, nothing he could measure.
Three days later on the 19th, Hofmann comes back to his lab and creates what he thought was a Threshold dose, which is the lowest does wherein the effects of a drug become apparent; a Threshold dose of a standard hit of LSD is around 20 micrograms. Albert Hofmann synthesized and ate 250 Micrograms of LSD. So, you can begin to understand how he felt after about half an hour. After about an hour his condition hadn't got any better so his co-workers decided to take him home; although due to some form of curfew they weren't allowed to ride vehicles after a certain time and so Hofmann hitched a lift on the back of his friends bicycle; the world changed forever that day. Without whom we certainly wouldn't recognise the world that we currently live in, what he did defined and entire decade, a generation of people all over the world suddenly became aware of something that hasn't and won't disappear.
When the two eventually got back to Hofmann's home, a doctor was waiting but after nearly 24 hours, when Hofmann was relatively lucid again, all the doctor could find wrong with him was a pair of severely dilated pupils.
This is the basis for our project, an incredible story, and certainly a 'trip' worth making a film around the theme of.
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