Sound

Introduction

This section of my blog will be used to present all research, pre-production and the finished pieces for this module.

For this module I have been given a selection of muted clips, each a scene from a different film and have been asked to select one to which i will completely design a new sound track for.
The sound track itself can be composed from a number of contributing factors, including -

• Dialogue.
• Voice over.
• Sync sound/ Non-sync sound.
• Atmos/Ambient recordings.
• Depth of field/Distances/Perspective.
• Point of view (P.O.V) sound.
• Wild tracks.
• Music/Composition.
• Motifs/Themes/ Sound signatures.
• Foley and sound effects.


The clip i have chosen to to edit is taken from 'The Road', my reason for this is that i enjoyed the scope of the visuals, the scene consists of huge amounts of space, with very little leeway when its comes to diegetic sounds, relying on what is happening off screen to set the mood, the landscape is barren and empty and i have chosen to try and convey this ominous feeling of loneliness through the use of a musical backing soundtrack/ atmos piece.

The film it self has a post-apocalyptic setting, which i hope to reflect in my own, unique version.
The original scene comprises diegetic sound effects, emotional orchestral music (piano, strings etc) and a voice over to powerful effect.
In my take on the piece i want to remove the voice over, negating one of the few hints of humanity and instead amplify the feelings of being cold, alone and hopeless.
I plan on using piano combined with droning sounds to achieve this however i also want to introduce sounds that do hint at a glimmer of hope, uncertainty and an untainted curiosity in the over all vibe of the piece, for this im thinking of using wind chimes as i believe it is a sound often associated with happiness and calm.
For several reasons i am planning on removing diegetic sound from the piece almost all together, when watching the piece for the first time i toyed with playing various pieces of music over it and i found it extremely powerful with a soundtrack alone,i found it emphasised the space and emotional factors of each shot, be them depicting vast landscapes or minute details.
The only sounds im going to include are the falling tree, the rustling of a plastic bag, the wheels of the trolley in some shots and the slamming of a lid.


For inspiration for this piece i looked in to various soundtracks from films with similar traits, dystopian worlds, collapsed civilisations, global outbreaks etc.

An obvious choice for me was Brian Eno - An Ending, as it is used in '28 Days Later'.




The soundtrack to the film 'Contagion' by Cliff Martinez is in my opinion a fantastic representation of what it is to set the scene using sound.
When watching the film it blends perfectly, creating tension, a sense of fear, anticipation and despair but still manages to hint at hope, keeping the pace fast with electronic beats, evidently influenced by techno.











Evaluation


Evaluative report of ‘The Road’ – Sound design project

For this module we were asked to completely reconstruct the entire soundtrack to a short clip/scene from a handful of films, with the intention of showing our understanding of just how important sound can be, setting the tone of a piece in a way that visuals alone just cant, be it creeping, atmospheric tension in a horror film or a thumping beat amidst explosions, during a high octane action flick.
The methods we had to do this varied, we could use sync and non sync sounds we captured ourselves, compose music, use atmospheric recordings, voice overs etc.
We could combine all of the above as we saw fit, as long as the outcome showcased that from a technical and theoretical point of view, we could create something fitting of the genre we had chosen to cover and cause the viewer/listener to be fully immersed in the sense we wanted to achieve, be it for example – suspense, fright, anger, sadness etc.

I chose to work on a scene from the film ‘The Road’ by John Hillcoat (2009) a post-apocalyptic film about a man and his son doing everything they can to survive.
It goes with out saying the film is very bleak, depressing and has a Icey tone.
I felt that compared to the other choices, which had so much going on, this would be an interesting choice, the majority of the shots are vast, incorporating huge amounts of space, depicting a grey, barren wasteland, with the minor details all being quite grim, a crashing dead tree, the clinking old trolley that the pair struggle to push around, the rustling of a bag.
These are only small details, but in shots where the space is so obvious and open, they matter so much more.
As does the music and atmos of this piece, nothing can really set the scene in such a sequence of clips other then the soundtrack, my goal was to really elaborate on the sense of doom and gloom the visuals already conjured, to achieve this I wanted to compose a piece of music and atmos in real time along side the clip in ableton.
I felt by composing the piece along side the visuals I would be able to create a harmony between image and sound, almost montage like in the way it will over ride the majority of diegetic sound.
Once happy with that I planned to open the file in sound track pro and add the remaining effects.
Another deciding factor in me choosing this particular clip was the fact that im doing this module as referral work, having lost all previous work and unable to make it to Sheffield to hire out recording equipment, my only option was to compose music and use the stock sounds provided with soundtrack pro, or those I found online on royalty free websites.

Here is a step-by-step explanation of how I made the track and why -

The first step was to drag the video file on to an audio clip inside Ableton live 8, set at 120bpm this enabled me to watch the footage in real time whilst composing, this helped me pinpoint where I should introduce aspects of the track to relate to what would be happening on screen, creating a rhythm of sorts to captivate viewers.

Using Abletons built in sampler, I detuned a handful of piano chords.

I then triggered the chords in conjunction with the video clip, using the piano roll. I made each piano hit coincide with the majority of scene transitions. I added a light reverb to create space in the mix, also I added a slight delay on some the longer piano hits.
I felt this synchronised the sound and visuals, causing them to merge and increased the sense of immersion the viewer would feel, I didn’t want each note to play strictly when ever a cut was made as I felt this would take away from the nature of the piece and its aura of uncertainty.
The piano really added to the sense of depression and sadness of the piece, it makes you feel for the characters and stirs emotion, in my opinion it works well as a representation of how upset they must be, that this is the world they live in.

After that I edited the attack and release on an existing moog bass patch inside native instruments fm8. I recorded single low octave hits, and converted them into audio files from midi files. By doing this I could bring the pitch of the sound right down to create interesting drone effects surrounding the piano. I tried to only introduce the bass drones on really desolate scenes. I then introduced a plugin on top of the bass drone.
This really enhanced the sense of gloom and hopelessness in my opinion, a darker and more evil alternative to the emotive piano, contrasting well and inspiring fear.

After the bass drones and piano I added a field recording of wind chimes taken from a horror sound design sample pack called ‘blue zone exo sound’. I added slight delays and a lexicon reverb. I brought the volume up and down of one of the texture sections so it gradually came in and out between piano hits to distinguish it.
I felt this not only added suspense to the piece, but something about the lightness of the wind chimes also brought a glimmer of hope with it, as I mentioned in my research I wanted a small aspect of the soundtrack to represent a glimmer of hope, an innocent curiosity perhaps form the childs perspective, that whilst things appear to be glum and for the most part will more then likely continue to be so, there is no real way of knowing what the future will hold and I wanted that tiny inkling of positivity to be expressed, I feel the wind chimes play with this notion, an playful twinkle, unscathed by its dystopian surroundings.

It was at this point I began layering an assortment of other sounds including those of strange creatures, recordings of wind and rain helped create a natural atmosphere, something that was lacking so far in piece, I felt this would cause viewers to feel familiar with in the surroundings and hearing sounds they recognise would cause them to empathise more with what’s going on, to remind them is just.
I then added miscellaneous other sounds to further empower the atmos track, including the clanking of metal at times and deeper echoes as they walk through a tunnel.

For the few, specific diegetic sounds I included in the piece I used sound track pro.
I imported both the movie file and the atmosphere track in the programme, this enabled me to place each individual clip exactly where it needed to be in time with the visuals, as well adjust the volume levels, so that neither parties drowned each other out.

I then layered the various clips in corresponding places, altering the volume and panning depending on where the specific sound was going from in shot.
Its unfortunate I had to use stock sounds, as I didn’t get to show case my ability to record, but it couldn’t be helped for this occasion.
The sounds I used were that of a shopping trolley being pushed over bumpy pavement, a large tree falling down layered with that of heavy branches snapping, the rustling of a carrier bag and finally the lid of a large metal bin/dumpster being slammed shut.

After exporting the finished piece, I opened the project in final cut, here I faded the opacity at the end of the video out, so instead of it finishing abruptly, it flowed smoothly out to darkness along with the sound track, after this I exported and burnt to disc as usual.

Looking at the positive aspects of the piece I would like to start by noting how incredibly emotive the over all finished product is. I personally feel even though I have had to rely heavily on the musical composition to be the backbone of my piece, it has not taken away what so ever from the stunning visuals. If anything the lack of diegetic sound has strengthened the running themes, those being of a sense of despair, weariness, loneliness and that miniscule glimmer of hope. The composition itself blends well with the visuals, seemingly at one with the cuts and urging the viewer to keep their eyes peeled and ears open. A thick mist of tension and suspense surrounding the visuals keeps the listener glued to the edge of their seat, simultaneously the piano tugs at the heart strings of the viewer which forces them to empathise with the man and his son’s sorry existence. The drone instils an intense sense of dread and builds fear within the piece, simultaneously the atmospheric sounds bring a familiarity to the piece which is an integral key causing the viewers immersion to increase. This reminds them this could well be a real world situation at some point, which is something they could one day find themselves facing. The final inclusion of the diegetic sounds provides another vital stepping-stone to familiarising the viewer, reminding them once more this could be a realistic scenario and heightening the levels of emotional understanding.

Discussing the negative aspects of the piece I would have to note the major down fall would be the fact I didn’t mange to include any of my own field recordings or Foley, instead relying on those I found online using royalty free websites and the soundtrack pro archive. For these reasons there is no real evidence of me having any knowledge of technique when it comes to recording. This shows in the overall lack of diegetic sounds and the quality of those that are included, which are obviously completely out of my league, it would have been an extremely rare occasion I could record something with the same scope as that of an actual falling tree. This also eliminated much of tweaking I would usually have to spend time doing, as all clips were already perfectly equalized etc.
Again causing me unable to show off any skills I had picked up whilst studying.

Obviously due to this being a referral module I have already had the opportunity for a second chance at the project, it’s a shame that due to certain circumstances I was unable to carry on where I started and that in my current situation I couldn’t access any equipment. If I did get another chance at the module however (with access to all equipment, original time span etc.) I think it is quite evident I would dedicate the majority of my time to recordings, being as creative as possible with each one and spending a vast amount of time perfecting each one to slot in with the visuals.
Whilst by no means am I unhappy with what I have made, in fact I am over completely proud of it.
It has undoubtedly been more of showcase of my skill at making atmos using digital sounds and tweaking those plucked from the Internet. Where it should equally show my understanding of using physical equipment and the depths of soundtrack pro.