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.