Fini

Our sound project is complete, and I am pretty happy with it. We checking that it sounded okay in Johnny's car speakers, which it did, so hopefully it will sound better in the actual assessment.

Overall, the whole production process went pretty smoothly. We thought a lot about our piece before we started recording so we had a good idea of what we wanted to achieve. I think a problem that we did have was in how to really express that our 'space' is a dystopian city on the brink. We played around with a few ideas but decided that we should try to get good recordings of sounds that would be in the city rather than descriptions or allusions to what was going on in the city. Though this may mean that it isn't immediately obvious that the city is based on a dystopian backdrop, I think the idea of a city and the respective rebellion that is taking place with in it, are pretty clear.

Edit

So far so good. The min bulk of the editing is complete and I'm happy with how it sounds. The frying onions work really well as rain, and as we begin with this it really sets the mood. Though I think it isn't that clear that it is set in a city that has just brought down a dystopian regime and is now in a bit of a mess, it certainly sounds like a city in ruins.. which I think is more or less the same thing..

Now all that is left to do is refine every aspect, ensuring that we have equal sounds on right and left speakers and they fade in and out appropriately, to effectively convey that our character is walking through streets.

Editing, without a script

Now putting together our three minute sound scape. Hoping that it will all sound okay and that we have enough for the three minutes..

We decided not to record a script in the end, simply because we couldn't come up with anything that we were happy with. We kept finding that it was too obvious, with sounds being described rather than implied. This being the case, we felt that having narration might actually take something away from our piece so I think that it is probably for the best....I am just hoping that what we have is good enough on its own.

Sound Log

1.     Tie Clip mics – Stereo city

2.     Rifle mic – Grace sings Jonah Man Jazz

3.     Rifle mic – Plastic bag ruffle

4.     Rifle mic – Paper bag ruffle

5.     Rifle mic – tapping mic – heartbeat

6.     Rifle mic – faster heartbeat

7.     Rifle mic – inhale

8.     Tie Clip mics – stereo crowd

9.     Rifle mic – crowd

10. Rifle mic – Lucy falls to the floor

11. Rifle mic – banging recycling bin lid

12. Rifle mic – Lucy and Grace argue it out

13. Rifle mic – “the end is nigh!”

14. Rifle mic – crowd

15. Rifle mic – frying onions

16. Rifle mic – outside Corp.

17. Rifle mic – kicking over cans and bottles

18. Rifle mic – road

19. Rifle mic – glass being smashed

20. Rifle mic – knocking over old TV

21. Rifle mic – factory making cutlery

22. Rifle mic – factory making cutlery, different angle

23. Rifle mic – police siren

24. Rifle mic - footsteps

Tutorial

Just had a second tutorial. The recordings that we have captured so far are good and clear, which is a good start as these are going to feature as a base line for our soundscape.  The main point that came out of the session was that for our character, which we have decided we are going to create a script for, we need to make sure that we are really careful about the script itself. We need to ensure that its pretty tight and doesn’t take anything away from the sounds we are doing. It can’ t be too obvious, with our character just saying out right everything that he sees and we create a sound for. 

More planning

Had another meeting about our soundscape, just to properly plan for our second round of recording. We have decided to go with a story line a bit like this…

Our character – Boy A – lives in a dystopian city with a regime that is slowly falling apart; the authorities are losing control over the ever-angered public. We are first introduced to Boy A as he wakes up, regaining consciousness after being knocked out during a bout of rioting. The piece beings with us hearing what he hears muffled sounds that slowly become clear as he regains consciousness and sounds slowly filter into his head. 

Boy A then walks through town, down streets that have remnants of the protesting and rioting left all over them. He describes to the listener some of the things that he sees.

There will be sounds of things left over from the destruction but also sounds of life still continuing such as factory noises, people walking past, general city sounds etc. 

Brainstorm no. 2

Thinking further about the idea of a dystopian city. Things that might be featured:
fights
food markets and stalls
car/spaceship repairs
homeless people
people protesting against the regime - Watchmen/1984/Brazil
drunks
rain
bottles smashing
cars/lorries/ships going past
plastic bags rustling
flyers blowing in the wind
foot steps
running

Underlying rumble, minor chords, surreal, dream like

Soundtrack

I love a good soundtrack. Its one of the best things to come out of the cinema and have the soundtrack playing through your head as you walk home, like the whole experience of the film is continuing and you are still there, in the fictional world of the movie.

A soundtrack that works is one that when you hear it, out of context of the film, you are immediately brought straight back into the feel and mood of the film and I think that is something really special.

I was recently lucky enough to see Planet Earth Live at the Barbican in London. First off, it was an incredible experience, just to be the wonderful environment of a theatre with a live orchestra, and with the people who made Planet Earth so incredible.

The premise of the evening was that George Fenton, who wrote the music for the series, would be conducting the BBC Concert Orchestra to specially cut montages from the Planet Earth series. I haven't seen a live orchestra before and I wasn't prepared for how much of a different experience it would be to have the same great music played live. It was definitely a lot more powerful and really did add something to the viewing experience.

What I took away from the evening was simply just how crucial the soundtrack to a film or television programme is. It takes you to other places, just as much as the footage in front of you. It informs your imagination, allows you to be transported completely; even if there had been no footage of Dolphins, with this music you can completely imagine them.

Tutorial

Feed back from first tutorial was good. We have a good idea but need to think about the character a bit more and be careful not to over complicate things.

Just had a second tutorial. The recordings that we have captured so far are good and clear, which is a good start as these are going to feature as a base line for our soundscape.  The main point that came out of the session was that for our character, which we have decided we are going to create a script for, we need to make sure that we are really careful about the script itself. We need to ensure that its pretty tight and doesn’t take anything away from the sounds we are doing. It can’ t be too obvious, with our character just saying out right everything that he sees and we create a sound for.