Evaluation - Wall-e Clip

I chose to create the sound for a one minute clip of Wall-e. This clip was taken from the beginning of the film where Wall-e is finding different objects from Earth and compressing them into a rubbish site.

I found this clip hard to recreate because I chose to not listen to the original clip before I added my sounds. The character Wall-e was also hard to recreate because Wall-e doesn't actually talk so I had to use robotic sounds from Garageband that represent Wall-e. This was hard because it was like creating the Wall-e character from scratch.

I mostly used sounds from Garageband because I needed such a wide variety of sounds, it was easier to use a mixture of the sounds I had in front of me. I used my own ADR sounds too, this gives me the freedom to create Wall-e more effectively. Wall-e needed a wide range of robotic noises; from engine noises to Wall-e's "speech" so by using objects such as springs, squeaking chairs, cups etc, I could recreate Wall-e in my view.

I found this clip to be a good choice because it made me think outside the box. When thinking about what ADR to use and how I wanted to represent Wall-e I had to think what program would be best suited for me. I decided to use Garageband because I was most confident with the software and it had the appropriate sounds I needed to use. I enjoyed this clip because it was a challenge and pushed me to think of new ways to create the sounds I needed for ADR.

To conclude, I think I did really well and created a clip to a professional standard. I am happy with the way I represented Wall-e as a character because it's how I imagined him to be. I wanted to represent him as a child friendly character because the film is a family film so I made sure Wall-e was amusing and funny.

Treatment - Wall-e Clip

Name of Production: Wall-e

What feel or mood are you hoping to achieve with the sound for this clip (i.e. how do you want the audience to feel and at which points in the scene?  Does the sound have a narrative role?) 

I want to create quite a light, relaxed atmosphere as it is a family film. I will add robotic noises to make the Wall-e character come to life, however it will be funny comical noises so the audience are relaxed.

Describe the music are you going to add to the clip  (pace, tone, style, pitch) and what response you hope to illicit in a listener.  Where will you get your music from? (pre-recorded music; public domain, licensed, own)

I will use music using GarageBand, this will give me the flexibility to enhance the light mood I have chosen. Because my clip doesn't use natural sounds as it is a made up world, The music bed i choose will also distract from the fact that there are not many background sounds.

What foley sounds are you going to record in the studio and add to this clip and what will they add to the scene:

The foley sounds will be hard to create as it is a made up word however I will use foley for the dropping of box's and throwing objects into a box.

Do you need to record any sounds out on location, if so which?

I wont need to film on location. If i do decide to film on location, i will film the part of the scene where Wall-e is crushing the rubbish into a box. For this I will use a washing machine. If this was an extended project, I could make the robotic noises by using electrical equipment from around the house such as drills, blenders, radio static etc.

 Who will be in your recording crew to help you get your sounds and what are their individual roles and responsibilities?

I will use Garageband as a sound bank for most of my sounds however I will ask Kelly to assist me when recording my foley sounds as I will need someone to hold the mic. This ensures I have clear sounds.

Assignment Task 4 - Merit/ Destinction Work

18th March Deadline!

• Write up notes
• Grammar and spelling correct
• Analyses 'Cage Scene' from Jaws
• 500 Words Minimum
• Use technical terminology (see sheet)
• Analise every point you make
• Include your thoughts and opinions
• Explain your points. Use examples
• Back up points with evidence.

1.  Amplitude - Volume of the sound
2. Melody - Tune (notes make a tune for the scene)
3. Light Motif - Entrance song to a character
4. Score - The music (written by a composer) in a scene. Like a soundtrack.
5. Instrumental - Instruments used in the melody/ light motif.
6. Parallel - when the music moves along with the images you see.
7. Dissonance - Minor or major sounds that don't go well together. Uneasy feeling.
8. Entice the Imagination - Using the use of silence to keep people on their feet. Cliff hangers also do this.
9. Digetic - Things you can hear in the scene. Things the characters can hear as well as the audeince.
10. Non Digetic - Sound/ music the audience can hear but the characters can't. Mood music.
11. Fight or Flight - You stay and fight or you run away. (Look whats happening or don't look)

Jaws Notes

• Light motif to signify the shark approaching. build up of sound- amplitude. Building up tension.
• Use of silence to emphasis the fear factor. Deep breathing- you know something's going to happen but you don't know what. uneasy feeling.
• Minor and Major sounds (Dissonant) when the shark appears. Fight or flight moment. 
• Fast paced music and loud sound during the scene. Get's the audience sitting on the edge of their seats.
• Enticing the imagination - will the shark come back? what will the shark do next? where is the shark going to come from?
• Light motif tells us that Jaw's is a bad character. His entrance suggests he is going to do something bad.
• Jaws theme (music) is made for the film - The score (all music in the scene)
• String instruments are used to create the dissonance sound. Cello's, Bass, violins etc.
• The score is parallel to the video (mirrors the action of the scene)

I have been looking at the "Hooper in the Cage - Jaws (8/10) Movie CLIP (1975) HD" scene on Youtube in the Jaws film. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW7Q7UySxRA I will be talking about the wide range of techniques such as the use of sound or lack of sound used in the clip.

In the Jaws clip, Jaws (the shark) is playing with Hooper who is cage diving. Jaws makes a very dramatic entrance and smashes into Hooper's cage. Hooper then looses his shark spear and attempts to recover it from the sea floor, as an audience we then know that Hooper isn't protected by the cage and the Jaws leitmotif tells us the shark is still around.

(19 seconds - 45 seconds) The Character's light motif is, in this context, used to signify the shark (aka Jaws) is approaching. The leitmotif tells us that Jaws is a bad character. His entrance suggests he is going to do something bad. This leitmotif consists of a build up in the volume of sound which is known as amplitude. As a composer, you want to build up tension in the scene so the audience knows what kind of character Jaws is, this is also especially useful because there is no dialogue in this scene. The lack of score is used to emphases the fear factor too. Silence is enticing the imagination. For example; will the shark come back? What will the shark do next? Where is the shark going to come from? The audience concentrates on Hooper's deep breathing, you know something's going to happen but you don't know what. This gives you an uneasy feeling.

(1.10 minutes - 1.20 minutes) Clashing minor and major sounds (dissonance) are used when the shark appears and together with an increase in amplitude, is a key component in this scene because it is used to give the audience a fight or flight feeling, it engages them into the scene. An example is when Jaws smashes into the cage, it makes the audience feel as if they are there. The use of fast paced music and loud sound during the scene is also another way to create a reaction from the audience. It gets them sitting on the edge of their seats. It engages them so they feel empathy towards a character. An example is when Hooper swims out the cage to retrieve his spear, we feel sympathy for him but also we are scared that he'll get attacked by Jaws.

The Jaws music soundtrack made for the film, is the score. For example, all the music is written by a composer. This means that from 1.31 - 1.38 minutes in the clip, the music has to express that the character has no control of the situation, the music has to be made to replace the lack of dialogue. The type of soundtrack in the scene is created by the use of string instruments as these create the dissonance sound. For example, cellos, Bass, violins etc. It is very important that the score is parallel to the video clip because the lack of sound mean the audience relies on the melody and sound effects to create the atmosphere and a sense of realism into the scene.

In my opinion, I think that the video clip wouldn't be very engaging to the audience if you only had production audio. Although you would have all the natural sounds of the sea and the shark attacking noise. You would be missing the dramatic effects and the sense of not knowing whats going to happen. The leitmotif and dissonant sounds completes the clip so the audience are emotionally linked with the characters. You wouldn't be able to achieve that effect without the mixture of sound techniques.

Soundtrack Quiz

Copy and Paste the Correct Term below into the Box on the right next to the description:

	Terms: Non Diegetic, Diegetic, Bridge, Contrapuntal, Parallel Sound.
Sound that goes hand in hand with the image on screen	Parallel Sound
Sounds that the characters in a film cannot hear (outside of story space)	Non Diegetic
Sound that contrasts / juxtaposes the image on screen	Contrapuntal sound
Sounds that the characters in a film can hear or sounds whose sound source is visible on screen or implied (inside the story space)	Diegetic
When music or sounds continue into the next scene. It creates smooth transitions from scene to scene.	Bridge

‘Parallel Sound in Jaws’

What Parallel sounds are present in this scene?

When the shark is approaching the man in the cage, the noise is indicating that the shark is a negative character. We know this by the contrast of high and low pitches as well as the volume increasing as the shark gets closer.

What are the Parallel sounds telling us about the scene?

They are emphasizing the danger and the tense atmosphere of the scene. It builds up the tension to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. 

Mood/narrative/nature of character (Jaws) / what is going to happen?

We get the impression the man will get eaten as he has dropped his spear and has no defense against a shark over triple his own body mass. The music also indicates this as the music has built up so much that the music starts to decrease and the tone is lowered to a deep bass noise.

Treatment

Name of Production: Shaun of the Dead

What feel or mood are you hoping to achieve with the sound for this clip (i.e. how do you want the audience to feel and at which points in the scene?  Does the sound have a narrative role?) 

I want to add tension to the clip to give the impression the two main characters are under attack by the two zombies. To create this effect I will use the combination of ADR and music beds.

Describe the music are you going to add to the clip  (pace, tone, style, pitch) and what response you hope to illicit in a listener.  Where will you get your music from? (pre-recorded music; public domain, licensed, own)

I will make my own music using GarageBand, this will give me the flexibility to enhance the mood I have chosen.

What foley sounds are you going to record in the studio and add to this clip and what will they add to the scene:

Smashing plant pots and voice sounds such as growling and talking will be first on the list as they are the main sound in the clip. Other sounds such as when the zombie got hit in the head with the record will need a squelching noise, this will be hard to reenact however I may choose to use a build up of sounds to create this.

Do you need to record any sounds out on location, if so which?

I can produce all the sounds in the studio however if I chose do record background sound’s like birds or cars driving past I may record them from my back garden as it will be a more realistic sound.

 Who will be in your recording crew to help you get your sounds and what are their individual roles and responsibilities?

There will be Kelly and me in my team. Our rolls will be simple as Kelly will be doing the sounds and I will be recording them. This is easier as Kelly will make the noises with all the different objects such as cutlery, broken plates, hitting carpet etc. I will record the sounds as this will make sure the sounds are clear and we don’t hit the mic with any of the objects whilst recording.

Foley Recording Plan

1) Draw at least 3 individual technical diagrams on the attached sheet of how you will set up each of your Foley sounds on the Foley floor.

(See “Foley Spotting Sheet” for the diagram)

2) Whilst making your recordings, please take some photographs to show how you set up your Foley floor.

Me hitting a carpet to imitate a person getting hit

Kelly hitting a carpet to imitate a person getting hit

Me imitating someone throwing something using  a hanger

Me imitating the sound of someone throwing something

Kelly recording me shaking a broken plate. This gives the sound of a plate being smashed

This is all the equipment we used to create the Foley sounds.

Kelly recording me shaking a broken plate. This gives the sound of a plate being smashed.

3) Thinking back to what we covered in lesson (and looking back at the PowerPoint my Blog) when recording your sound effects how will you ensure that you get a good, clear recording? (Positioning for different environments (indoor, outdoor and studio) monitoring and controlling of recording levels via UV meters) fundamentals of decibels (dBs), handling)

I will make sure the recordings are done in a “sound proof” room, this means it will be recorded in a foam walled room. This means the clarity is as high as possible as we are blocking out all background noise and there will be no echo. I must also make sure the VU meter is below 0, ideally between -12 and 0 depending on the loudness of the sound. This is because if the signal goes into the red, the sound will be distorted. If you knock or handle the microphone badly, the mic will pick the sound up which is why we ideally use a wind muff and a shock mount. This will ensure the sounds we are recording are the only sounds in shot.

4) What type of microphone will you use and why is this an appropriate microphone to use?

I will use a shot-gun mic because this will ensure I wont have any surrounding sound in the shot, it will only be the sound that the mic is aimed at. I would also have a wind muff on the mic as this will make sure there are no wind noises in our recording.

5) When recording, what recording issues do you need to be aware of and how will you safeguard against these (i.e. background noise, acoustics)?

I will be in a room that has as little sound as possible or in a sound proofing room like the radio studio. This will ensure I have no background sound and it will also make sure the sound is not echoed. I must also make sure I use a shock mount or a mic stand so I don't accidentally drop, bash, hit or knock it whilst recording. 

Homework- 15-10-13

50 Words To Describe A Sound Track

1. deep
2. dark
3. sad
4. depressed
5. happy
6. upbeat
7. imaginative 
8. cultural
9. realistic
10. shallow
11. absurd
12. trivial
13. stupid
14. dull
15. strong
16. feeble
17. insane
18. loathsome
19. symbolic
20. active
21. elegant
22. clever
23. graceful
24. lively
25. imoral
26. faultless
27. pure
28. respectable
29. serious
30. strong
31. amazing
32. impulsive
33. empowering
34. tense
35. rebellious
36. proud
37. solemn
38. weak
39. graceless
40. feeble
41. frail
42. horrible
43. bizarre
44. clever
45. original
46. authentic
47. repetitive
48. boring
49. uninteresting
50. heartfelt