Looking back

So looking back on what I proposed to do; did I achieve what I set out and what could I have done better?

Be the sound engineer on two productions by the end of the year
While technically I was only a full sound engineer on one of the productions being the horror (by “full” I mean on set every shoot, capturing audio and mixing and editing the final product), I was on set for 90% of the production of the crime thriller film (some more recent shoots I was unable to attend due to work) and the editor wanted to mix the sound (although I helped) so I was only on set for that. For the noir film I was only on set for 2 shoots (again unable to attend due to work) but I completely mixed and edited the audio for the final product. So 1 plus a half plus a half = 2! Although if there was enough time for me to be on set for all 3 of the productions, I would’ve done my best in helping the productions go smoothly.

In the production stage
So like I mentioned, I was on set for the entirety of the production of the horror film. I was able to capture audio in two locations, in a dressing room in Belfast Met’s E3, where the first and last scenes were shot, then in the writer/producer’s house, where the majority of the audio was captured. As I had my own equipment, I was able to obviously bring it along to every shoot day and not have to worry about borrowing equipment off the technician at Belfast Met. I had my own microphone and recorder, so all I borrowed was an XLR cable, a windshield and a shotgun holder. In saying that, I think that something happened midway through the production stage and my recorder started making a static noise that was present in all of the recordings, and it would’ve made more sense to borrow the already tried and tested equipment from the technician at Belfast Met than wing it and go with this new equipment. 

For the crime film, as it had dialogue (neither the horror nor the noir film had dialogue) it was essential that I was on set to capture the audio. The first shoot day went without a hitch, although it took a few rehearsals and changes of positioning to get the audio to be captured as best as possible. We were in a bar, so there was a consistent hum from the fridge that I was unable to get turned off (because who likes warm beer). The next few days of shooting again were okay for capturing the audio as every noise that was being made was either a part of the scene or I was able to get it turned off. We had to reshoot a scene because the camera’s battery was dead (and we had no charger) but both times the audio was good. As there were night scenes being shot, due to working the next morning I was unable to stay for the shoot, so I gave the director my sound equipment and he had someone else shoot the audio. 

The biggest challenge for me was the noir film. As the majority of it was at night in the “rain” (I say “rain” because it was actually the warmest day of the year so far and we had to wait until night to shoot a raining scene…), it was hard to capture the footsteps/effects needed in the scene with all the rain going off. There was a person holding a hose high above us and I was getting soaked (luckily I had a windshield on to protect the inside of my microphone) but the lights were not so lucky and got blasted with water which called off the shoot. This meant a rescheduling to a day I was unable to attend (like many days on the production I couldn’t attend due to schedule differences) so this meant I needed to use the audio from the first shoot day, then for the rest of the film either use sound effects or use ADR for parts of the film.

In the post-production stage
As I mentioned in the post before, I had to edit EVERY SINGLE FILE that was affected by the static that my recorder was producing. So on top of what I was already going to do for the film, I had to edit the files before I got anywhere near a timeline. 

For the horror, as I captured 95% of the audio on location (certain things like stairs creaking and distant footsteps were added in later as I needed to help with lights for multiple shots), I was able to use the audio from the location shoot and just paste it under the video. There were a few files that were unusable due to the static overpowering the audio/ the audio not being loud enough when actually recording it (like the light switches and the footsteps in the first scene) so I used my recorder to record that separately as ADR and add it in afterwards. The problem that I had was trying to understand the jump scares that the director intended on having in, for example the light switch going off and the footsteps in the hall while the girl is in the bathroom. I didn’t realise that the director wanted these effects to be very loud and make the audience jump, so if I could go back and do it again I’d make sure I knew what the director during the production stage, so I could prepare effectively. For the music in this film, we couldn’t find a track suitable for the start (the editor added one in later that was perfect) so we decided on an eerie, creepy one for every time the ghost is seen. I chopped the start as it had two sections that could be split on their own and used them for the first two times that the ghost is seen, then when she is seen in the hallway have the music kick in and finish on the climax. Overall even with the problems of the static noise I feel I added to the final product by creating a spooky atmosphere that will scare the audience.

In the crime film, like I said before, the editor wanted complete full control over the edit (visual, audio, whatever) he wanted to be in control (he was also the director so that’s probably why) so I had to give up control of the audio mix to him. He then came to me and asked me to show him how to mix the audio for a scene so he could go and complete it himself. I completed a scene and in doing this I think it gave the director a new sense of appreciation for the sound engineers on big budget productions, where their work is always of extremely high quality. I wanted to do the mix for it, but if the director feels he can get it correct himself, I’m not going to stop him because, like the first scene that was edited, he will come back to me looking for help.

The noir film was the most challenging, considering I hadn’t really had a chance to fully understand what the director wanted the audience to feel when watching his film. Visually the film looks unbelievable, so I had to match that in terms of audio quality. To start, I watched the entire thing without sound, then decided on a few things; there wouldn’t be very much audio to add in compared to other films I’ve mixed, and it is going to rely heavily on the sound track, so picking a great few songs was essential. Initially, I thought the intro didn’t need much work done to it, just some light music underneath to accompany the stunning visuals and the director agreed after watching it back. In the middle part, I felt the music was suitable, but since I didn’t know what the director was trying to achieve in that scene I think I’ve confused everybody watching – but also made them think about the scene. As there wasn’t much to be added, the director agreed that not much more needed to be done – a few volume changes here and there and that’s everything. I enjoyed working on this one but again I should’ve took more time to figure out what the director wanted to achieve.


In finishing off, if I had the chance to start again knowing these problems would occur, I would:

·         Ensure the equipment was fully working with no background noise (this was my fault and I take full responsibility)

·         Sit with the directors and ensure that I knew what they wanted to achieve from each scene

·         Take more time to refine and edit the audio so that it blended perfectly

·         Find much more royalty free music to choose from (I wish I had a composer to help me)

·         Set up sound effects beforehand so I don’t waste time finding some / recording them

Overall I had a ridiculous amount of fun doing these productions and I am happy to be a part of them and I think I have helped the film become a better film with my audio knowledge.

Post- Production Editing

So when filming the production stage, I had no problems but when I got home and listened back to the recordings, there was a noticeable static. So I was faced with the task of removing the static and keeping the quality of the dialogue intact.

Using Adobe Premiere Pro and Audacity, I used their effects of "DeNoiser" on Premiere and "Noise Removal" on Audacity to cut the static off and still keep the dialogue and sound effects there.

DeNoiser

 As 2 out of 3 of the editors for the films I'm in are using Adobe Premiere Pro to edit the films, I've used the DeNoiser to help them incase I am unable to edit the audio/ they want to change something while snychronising the video and audio.

DeNoiser is an effect on Premiere Pro that dampens any noise under a certain decibel range. To get rid of the static that was being produced I had to make a line where the static was and apply the effect. Here is a screenshot of the effect in action. I only used this if the audio wasn't clear enough when using the 'Noise Removal' effect on Audacity wasn't working or didn't have much effect.

Noise Removal

This is a screenshot of the Noise Removal effect used in order to get rid of the static that was caused. Using it took away all of the static but slightly reduced the quality. Since all of my recordings had this problem I had to use Audacity's "Export Multiple.." file feature, which let me apply the same effect onto as many channels as I wanted, but exported them as single files. So each recording that I got was removed of the static noise, and still organised by shot name and take.




Here are two screenshot of the timelines for the noir film (1st screenshot) and the noir film(2nd screenshot). As the film was already edited, I only needed to add the audio that was already captured for the horror film and then find music and sound effects for the noir film. Even though they're completely separate films with totally different storylines, I was able to use certain sound effects from one film in the other and vice versa.

For the noir film, as there was a lot of rain I copied and pasted a rain soundtrack that I found and put it everywhere it was needed. It actually sounded like it was being captured live as when the character went indoors, the rain was lowered and sounded further away. I had to go and find certain sounds, like footsteps on metal stairs and then on wood to show the character entering into different rooms. With the rain footsteps, in order to match the speed of the character walking, I needed to slow down/speed up the track to snychronise it correctly.

There are parts in the artist's bedroom, where he stretches and is using an eraser. I captured these effects using my own microphone, watching the video and timing the action correctly. I had to do this multiple times, but it was only during the artist's scene in his bedroom.

The music chosen had to be royalty free (obviously) but it was a pain in finding the perfect song to fit the atmosphere of the scenes. The first song (running for just under 4 minutes) was perfect for the intro, as it begins as the first shot fades in. It is very upbeat and calm, like the entirety of the first scene. The 2nd song was chosen as it gave the scenes a mysterious feel to them, showing us that the detective is just as confused as the audience. The 3rd song was used to give a weird, dramatic feeling to the last few scenes. It was broken up by a quick scene of the artist coming back from the bathroom for comedic effect. I feel each track chosen adds to the scenes they are under and makes the audience think about what they're seeing.

For the horror film, I used a mixture of on-location captured audio and additional sound effect I found/made at home. In the second shot, the girl walks into a dressing room. The floor in the room was a tile floor, so I went downstairs to my kitchen and recorded myself walking around. Since I couldn't watch the footage while I was doing this, I had to give a few seconds between each step to let the step reverberate around the room, then when editing the audio I'd cut it in sync with the footsteps of the girl. I used the same footsteps when she later runs up to the light and switches it on.

At the end, in order to make the announcers voice seem like it was in a distant hall, I used a LowPass filter effect to achieve the muffled outcome. I had a friend record a line, then put some crowd sound effects to the end so it seemed like the crowd were ready for the new girl coming out, then used the lowpass filter to make it seem distant.

With the light switch turning on and off, I grabbed my recorder and recorded myself turning on and off a switch at home. For the times it is used in the dressing room, I had to add a reverb effect to make it sound like it has bounced around the room. For the times it was used in the house I took it off and made it sharper as there wasn't a lot of room for the sound to bounce around.

Equipment

Here is the equipment I have used to capture audio on my films. I decided to bite the bullet and buy my own equipment, so I don't have to continuously borrow off some equipment

Tascam Dr-40

This recorder is an inexpensive tool valuable to all sound recorders. It has two XLR inputs, which lets you plug in an external microphone (which is the reason I bought it). It is powered by 2 AA batteries so it is very portable and lightweight for quick on the go recordings. Paired with an external microphone it is a viable option to use on film sets and in studios.

Audio Technica AT897 Line and Gradient Condenser Microphone

This microphone is an inexpensive way for new sound recorders to get into the business. Its lightweight durability and battery powered phantom power, combined with a recorder like the Tascam DR-40 this microphone is perfect for newcomers.

Audio Technica AT2020 USB Studio Microphone

 Way before I started this course, I had already purchased this microphone for the purpose of recording guitar and vocals for songs/ any voiceovers I wanted to do. This comes in handy for any ADR/sound effects that I miss out on that will need added in in the editing process

Update

Hey guys, being in the thick of production I've been super busy but I've got some free time to update you on what is happening.

1st film: Still in production, a few more film dates and then we'll be complete and onto post-production.

2nd Film: I never got around to telling you I'm doing the sound production on a horror film, which is currently in post-production and is where I'll be doing the sound mix on. I enjoyed the production stage as we were on time and were able to get 99% of shots completed.

3rd film: So while doing the sound mix for two films seems much, I've taken on a 3rd film and doing purely ADR for it, as I was unable to be on set for many of the shoot days. It is a noir film, with very beautiful visuals and an interesting storyline.

Crime Sound Design

Since the first end of year film's main genre is Crime, I will look at various other crime films in order to get inspiration for the sound mixing aspect of the film.

Sicario

As I've already mentioned before, one of my biggest inspirations when looking at the sound aspect of the film. The 2 audio Oscar nominations for Best Original Score and Best Sound Editing inspire me even further to make this end of year film into an audio masterpiece. With 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and 81% on Metacritic, others too have praised the film and rightly so. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VGSuAxdNXE (SPOILERS)

In this scene the audio is absolutely phenomenal. There are so many layers of audio in this one scene that it is a testament to Alan Robert Murray and how he managed to keep everything so clean and without anything getting muddled in the mix. From the beginning the music is very tense, holding high notes as Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro) approaches the family at dinner. Even when the camera is a good bit away from the family eating, we can still hear fork scraping on plates and them eating. The background noise of the surrounding area gives us an idea as to where we are - in a massive house in the middle of nowhere. As Alejandro and Fausto begin to talk, the music fades and now we can just here the kids frighteningly tap their forks off the table in fear. Even though the actors are speaking very softly, we hear them loud and clear because of how it was captured and how it was mixed. The sudden loud gunshots make us jump and add even more tension to a tense situation.

End of Year Film #1

Hey guys, sorry about the long-time-no-update, been very busy over the last month and a bit!

So I've got some good news - I will be the sound recordist on not one, not two, but THREE of my classmates' productions! Hopefully everything works out okay in the sense that nothing overlaps and I am conflicted between two of the productions.

So here is a treatment for the first film, with a working title of 'The Hitman'.

Final Year film – Treatment

Working Title

 The Hitman (Subject to change)

Length

 5-10 minutes

Synopsis

The Hitman for hire industry is a dark and shady one, the act of trading money for the life of another is something that you can only imagine that heartless monsters would do. However in “The Hitman” we see one of these so called monsters, one who has been in this underground industry for quite a while.

He has many reasons for doing so; he has been in the game for years for starters and he never really intended it to be a permanent career, and he’s getting tried of having to lie to his friends and family about what he does. However his main reason for wanting to quit is that he has messed up a job and now his employer wants to kill him.

However the focus will be on his relationship with his girlfriend, he is worried for her safety, he has made a lot of enemies over the years and while so far he has managed to keep himself safe; his girlfriend who knows nothing of what he does for a living would be a prime target for retaliation.

However getting out of the business is hard to do, especially when you’re already established as a Hitman. Even the very act of getting out could potentially put his girlfriend in danger too, he faces the dilemma of continuing to work in a dirty business or trying to get out and either option can have extremely dire consequences.

The story is a tragedy, and we plan to tug on the viewer’s heartstrings by having his efforts be for naught and his girlfriend dying at the end of the film despite his efforts to protect her and get out of the business.

The film will have a gritty neo-noir atheistic to it in both terms of storytelling tropes and the visual design of the film. Heavy use of shadows and coloured neon lights would set a strong visual style that would be sure to suck the viewer in.

Musically the films score will be reminiscing of 80s synthized music as that fits the neo-noir theme quiet well, however it will have more classical music for the more emotional moments, and because it’s a “timeless” type of music that plays homage to neo-noirs “Noir” roots.

Themes Addressed

The primary theme of the movie will be the fear of losing something precious to you, and one of tragedy. The Hitman and his Girlfriend live in totally different worlds, so highlighting the contrast between the two would be ideal. Showcasing how the Hitman essentially lives a double life would be great too, and how he tries to live with himself despite how abhorrent his job is.

Pre Production and Production Methods

For preproduction we’re going to get:

• Script written for the story and for the actors to learn their lines
• Storyboard  so the director (me) can decide on how things should be shot and composed
• Shot list so we can check off what shots we need to film
• Prop list for what props we’ll be needing
• Costume list for what the actors should wear
• Moodboard so we can help decide on our inspirations for the film, and for references on its style
• Permission release forms for locations and for the actors
• Shooting Schedule
• Our production methods will be:
• Arranging the locations to film
• Telling the actors when and where they’re needed
•  Shooting the scenes with the Shotlist and storyboard
• Filming the footage onto an SD card
• Lighting our locations appropriately
• Editing the final film together in Premiere

Setting/Location

We’ll have lots of urban environments such as allyways, outside city environments and other gritty locations. Though we’ll also have cosy interior scenes at the hitmans home to showcase just how different his work life is compared to his private life. These sorts of locations will best serve the scenes with him and his girlfriend.

Intended Audience

The Intended audience of this film will be the adult market, basically it’ll be suitable for anyone over the age of 18 and it’ll be most enjoyed by those who enjoy thrillers.

Research

Genres to research:

• Crime
• Neo-noir
• Action
• Romance

Movies to research: 

• pulp fiction
• Seven
• Heat
• Goodfellas
• Gone girl
•  Fight club
• No country for old men
• Bourne movies
• Eternal sunshine of a spotless mind
• Casablanca
• Chasing amy
• Blue valantine
• The Departed, Carlitios way

Budget

• N/A

Equipment

•  DSLR
•  Shotgun Microphone
•  Zoom recorder
•  Portable lighting kit
•  Clapperboard
•  Tripod
•  Dolly tracks

Crew

Stuart Ackerman – Cinematography/Script

Conor McCormick – Director/Editor

Caoímhín Cullen-O'Neill – Sound /Production

What I propose to do

Hey guys, feeling under the weather at the minute but you all still need to be updated so I've written a piece as to what I want to do, why and who/what influenced me to do it.

So for our final end of year productions, I will hopefully be the sound engineer on two of the productions. Here I will outline what a sound engineer does and why they are important, who is a major influence on me and what techniques they use that can help me.

What is a “sound engineer”?

As prospects.ac.uk describes it, ‘Sound technicians are required to assemble, operate and maintain the technical equipment used to record, amplify, enhance, mix or reproduce sound.’ They would be in charge of anything that is heard during a scene or shot (expect for the soundtrack), whether that be a car in the background or people talking. Depending on the size of production, there can be one sound engineer for the whole duration of the production or there can be multiple, with various aspects having dedicated individuals to them, for example there can be sound assistants, sound recordists, sound supervisors¸ dialogue editors, dubbing mixers, production mixer, and even Foley artists, who would add in sound effects during post-production.

In the production stage:

Out of the roles listed above the assistants, recordists and supervisors would all be on set. The assistants would help get the equipment ready, setting up the recorders and mixers to the correct settings, repairing equipment if needs be, literally assisting the recordist in any way possible. The recordist would be in charge of the actual recording, going from the microphone to the recorder, ensuring that it is crisp and that the recordings are as good as possible. If a boom microphone is required, the assistant may help to hold the boom pole. They are also able to call a stop to the scene if there is something wrong with the audio. The supervisors will consult with the producers and the actors to determine the microphone type required and ensure the entire set is suitable for recording, getting people to turn off cars or generators if they are making unwanted noise for example.

In the post-production stage:

The dialogue editors, dubbing mixers, production mixers and Foley artists are all involved in the post-production stage, working with the video editor to sort any inconsistences in the edit. The dialogue editors would synchronise the footage with the audio, guaranteeing the audio is perfect and usable for the final edit. If not, they would use ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement) or dubbing to perfect the dialogue. The dubbing mixers are included in this process, helping the dialogue editor to synchronise the original footage with the new dubbed over dialogue. Production mixers would use the dialogue, wild track and any additional audio and combine in order to mix the audio to a sufficient standard to be used in the final edit, with the Foley artists adding any extra sound effects required.

The most influential sound engineer (to me) would be Ben Burtt, of Star Wars fame.

Ben Burtt – Stars Wars series, WALL-E (2008), Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013)

Ben Burtt is arguably one of the most famous sound engineers of the 20^th and 21^st centuries. He is the creator of many iconic characters, including Chewbacca, R2-D2, Darth Vader and WALL-E. The sound effects he has created are second to none, with over 2,600 files alone for WALL-E. When working on the Star Wars franchise, much of his best work came through a mix of different sounds. The character Chewbacca was vocally created through combining the roars of bears, lions, walruses, badgers and even sick animals to achieve this emotional animal that sounds realistic. The instantly-recognisable lightsaber sounds came accidently to him – he walked past a television set that was on with a live microphone and picked up a buzz, combining that with the motor of an old projector he was able to create initial hum from a lightsaber and when needed he would move the microphone about to recreate the movement of the lightsaber.

A film that has recently moved me through the use (and on occasion no use) of sound would be Sicario (2015).

Sicario (2015) – William Sarokin (Sound mixer) Alan Robert Murray (Sound editor), Jóhann Jóhannsson (Composer)

For each aspect of this film, it knocks it out of the park. The narrative, editing and cinematography (which Roger Deacon deservedly was given an Oscar nomination for) blew my mind throughout the film. But the aspect that keeps bringing me back to Sicario is the sound. The sound editing alongside a phenomenal sound track help the film create a gritty atmosphere in a chaotic world. Points of eerie silence timed perfectly alongside a dark minimalistic soundtrack definitely makes the film into a suspenseful thriller. There is a point in the film that embodies what I loved about it. Without spoiling anything, two main characters are having a conversation that becomes an argument, but not only does the crisp clear dialogue and delivery by the actors make it good, it’s the silence around them after each of their words (they are in the desert in the middle of the night) accompanied by a drilling score that almost makes what is happening seem real. With both Alan Robert Murray and Jóhann Jóhannsson getting nominated for Oscars this year in Best Sound Editing and Best Original Score respectively, I’m extremely pleased that I wasn’t the only person to recognise the work that the sound department put in.