The feedback given was to add more atmospheric audio to the product, and to add the whistling fall sound effect when the character Fred gets punched by Mr Grooper. These two suggestions will make the product more successful, since the audios narrative will become more clear, and the created world will seem more believable through the use of an atmospheric background sound.
The two sounds I decided to source for this task was:
A sound which represents wind - connoted ideas about space, since space is considered to be cold, and makes the scene more atmospheric as long as the wind's audio doesn't sound too intense and over power the dialogue. The link to this windy audio can be found here on the royalty free sound website Freesound.org:
https://freesound.org/people/InspectorJ/sounds/376415/
The sound that represent Fred being punched into out of space, in the form of a sound of a whistle. The link can be found here again on Fresound.org: https://freesound.org/people/Augdog/sounds/210205/
Both the of the audios were added on audition, the screen shot of their addition to the product can be found below:
My Final product was shown to a focus group through the format of a video with a still image of the two main characters. The feedback was positive to begin with, stating that the narrative was funny and interesting.
The main criticisms was firstly, I whistling sound should have been used when the character Doopy was punched by Mr Grooper. This would have increased the comedic value of the product. Another criticism was that the product should have incorporated more atmospheric sounds, ones linked to ideas of space in order to fit more into the genre of the product.
The product shown to the audience can be watched here:
To make the dialogue sound more like the recording of a believable event, the recorded dialogue was then taken into Adobe Audition, which is professional sound editing software which is used by professional business to edit their sound products.
During this process, I found a group of sound effects on the website Freesound.org, which allows me to download required sound effects which are royalty free, therefore using those sound effects will not land me in any copyright issues with my final product.
The sound effects used are listed below:
Willard by Gengis Attenborough - a guitar song I used to create the impression that the two characters were watching the end credits of a film, the song also gave the product more comedic value I believe to the obscure jazzy nature of the song.
Door-creeking-open-hinge-rusty by Stiffman - a sound of a door opening which is placed before Mr Grooper speaking in order for it to be clear to the audience that he has just entered the room.
Punch-remake by Ekokubza123 - a song which sounds like a comical slapstick punch, to be used when Mr Grooper punches Fred out into space for insulting his TV.
The final visual edit of the sound product can be seen below:
All the audio was arranged in a way which prioritised the narratives timings, in order to increase the comedic value of the final product.
Adobe Audition also allowed me to lower the volume of certain tracks, in order to keep the sound more balanced, this was used in the second section of the soundtrack, where the music is turned down in order for Freddy and Doopys dialogue to be heard more clearly. The music however is completely cut off when Mr Grooper enters the room, in order to signify the sense of a authority in the narrative (since Mr Grooper is Freddy and Doopy's boss). A screen shot of me lowering the volume of that specific track can be seen below:
The audio I recorded of my own voice was first recorded using Garage Band, a free service supplied by apple on their own iMacs. The recording studio used a high quality microphone which allowed me to easily manipulate the sensitivity of the of the microphone, in order for different voices to sound more optimised, for example the character Mr Grooper uses a more shouty tone than the other two characters, which meant that the sensitivity was lowered in order for his voice not to sound overly distorted.
The screen shot of the original recorded file can be seen below:
This process only took 30 minutes to complete, since all the separate voices were created by myself, and the audio product has a very short narrative.
The legal and ethical issues I needed to consider, are the OFCOM BROADCASTING CODES, which are defined by Ofcom, a company that regularities broadcasted media such as the radio.
This includes ensuring that my audio product does not use any copyrighted materials. To ensure this I acquired all the extra sound effects that I didn't record myself, on Freesound.org, a website which contains a huge array of royalty free sound effects, which people have uploaded with the full knowledge that they are going to be used for free online by many people.
My audio product also doesn't contain any bad language, or anything that could be considered offensive to any type of audience. A possible issue I could have, is using the style of Buttheads voice from Beavis and butthead, which could be considered intellectual property of the people that make Beavis and Butthead (MTV).
Ben Burtt is a sign designer, who designed the entire of the sound design for the Animation WallE, which was created with the intension of creating a sense of an entire new world for audiences to appreciate. The film WallE truly submerges audience into a world dominated by robots. Ben Burtt was the guy who designed the soundtrack for the first Star Wars films, and he is considered to be the father of sound design for science-fiction films.
He created foley sounds through the use of a slinky, that when stretched a part and then struck, creates the sound of a laser gun that we are all familiar with today. He also liked to record sounds from the real world, for example the flight/landing of a plane, which sounds like a spaceship from Star Wars.
Ben Burtt believed that creating sounds for animations should have a musical quality, since it fits with animated styles, because the fun audio matches the fun visuals. Musical sounds which are used for sound effects fit into the criteria of an animation, because it fits into the music timings of sounds, since sound design is just as much about when the sound is played as well as what particular sound is played. This is because animation relies on timing, in order for the comedy/charm of the feature to work better.
Foley Design is the process of sound design where real life sounds you are familiar with are mimicked in a more controlled environment. When Disney were creating their original style of animation, devices were built to mimic the sounds of draw bridges, and their chains, which consisted of three cylinders each surrounded by a hoop of chains, which was then turned slowly mimicking the noise imagined when a castle lowers its bridge across a mote.
Another technique of foley design which is famous, is the sound the penguin makes in the wrong trousers, when it pulls his chicken hat back with his flipper, the noise was mimicked simply through the use of a a balloon.
Microphones with a high sensitivity are always used in order to pick up the sound in as crisp a quality as possible, since the majority of these films were intended to be seen on the cinema, which would have a high quality sound system.
In both of these tasks I practised adding my own sound design to visuals with no sound. It helped me progress adding certain sounds timed in certain places in order for the visuals to fit the audio as smoothly as possible.
I used garage band to create the musical score for Beverly Hills Cop, and then added the audio on Adobe Premiere. I then added sections of Donkey's Dialogue from Shrek Forever After to fit with some of the gestures of characters.
Adding a voice over to documentary footage of a squirrel:
I used a voice recorder to record my own dialogue, and then added the dialogue through Adobe Premiere, I also added a beginning soundtrack which I sourced from Freesound.org
The Short Audio Narrative would focus on two Yorkshire farmers talking to each other outside about their lack of understandings of technology and social media. The characters will talk about the obvious social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter and how they don't see the point in them.
The Foley track for the stop-frame animation would be produced by using different materials to create sounds which can be played along side stop motion footage in order to make the animation seem more realistic. For example filling a baloon with gravel could create the sound of a character walking, and can be recorded in controlled conditions indoors.
For this project I will create the voices for a 2D animation, this will mean that I will need to act out the voices for 6 separate characters. The setting for the animation will be on an unknown run down alien planet, where the fuel station GALEXACO resides.
Characters:
Fred: Fred is a small angry alien who works at GALEXACO. He is hard working and dedicated to his job, yet gets frustrated with his other work colleague Doopy who is very lazy. For his voice I will use a high pitched sqeeaky voice which sounds frail, and will also use a southern accent. His voice should sound very similiar 2D's voice (when he isn't singing) from the virtual band Gorillaz.
Doopy: Doopy is another person who works at GALEXACO. Unlike Fred Doopy is lazy, unenthusiastic and very dumb. Instead of working he would much rather be playing video games or watching TV. For his voice I will use a low pitched voice which sounds bored and uninterested, in a similiar way to Beavis's voice from Beavis and butthead.
Mr Grooper: For this character I will create a very loud and angry personality, who has a deep and heavily American sounding tone for comedic effect.
Japanese music
Flying car
Advert for moving to off world colony
electronic sounds
constant rain
Japanese market
American man talking to Japanese man asking for noodles
Japanese man mentions blade runner (scifi)
Computer noises when inside space ship
Synth soundtrack to represent flight around the dystopian future
voice speaking through microphone
Saving Private Ryan:
What can be heard:
sea
wind
waves crashing
metal clanking
someone puking
soldier shouting with American accent
boat engine sound
rain
whistle
gun shot
explosions
muffled under water sound
water splashing
silence
fire muffled
In this scene you can see that the score is used to build up the exciting nature of the entire film. This is important because the scene denotes a group of people, who are visiting the island for the first time. The audience isn't certain about what the island contains, apart from the fact that it is related to dinosaurs. Because the main protagonist is a scientist who's research is predominantly in dinosaurs, it makes sense that character is going to be very excited about what the island contains. The second part of what makes the scene so exciting, is the fact that they are flying in a helicopter. For people that have never been on a helicopter, (which will be the majority of the audience) they are going to assume that the helicopter ride will be both exciting and terrifying, which is shown when the ride becomes quite bumpy towards the landing, where the tensions in the music are played more. Finally, the main score which Jurassic Park is mainly known for is used in the revelation that the island contains real life dinosaurs. The music is both slow, graceful, beautiful and powerful, matching the nature of the dinosaur which is being observed. It passes by slowly and powerful, while the characters admire it's beauty. Now because of this use of sound, audiences who hear John Williams score immediately link the sound to visuals of dinosaurs.
Here is a scene from Nick Park's The Wrong Trousers:
In this scene the music is used to create a huge amount of tension, which is very admirable considering the incredibly playful nature of the context (a penguin who hijacks a pair of electronic trousers to top a bank while a man sleeps in the trousers). The music sounds like a theme tune for a villain while Gromit enters the museum, because the audience is aware that it is actually the penguin who is controlling the trousers with the controls. However the audience still cares for the protagonist, Gromit, and they are aware that he would be the one who would get the blame. This is when the scene's music becomes really intense. Once Gromit is inside the audience becomes aware that the penguin's plan is to steal the diamond. The music's tension is timed well when grommet's helmet (with the mechanical arm) almost drops the diamond on the laser, which would trigger an alarm. The lack of music is used well when the scene only played the buzzing sound of the laser, making the audience aware of the potential danger the lasers provide for the protagonist. The tension is built up further in a more delicate nature, when the scene displays the villain (the penguin) sweating.
Here is the first scene from Ridley Scott's Blade Runner:
In this scene the music is very important to match the visuals. The music starts delicate and eerie, giving the audience hints of the more subtle and delicate themes within the film, like what it means to be human, throughout these delicate tones however are loud sounds of drums, reminding the audience that this film is a tense thriller. Once the film displays the prologue, the soundtrack takes a darker and more machine like tone. This informs the audience that the film is a dystopian future, this is because it contains futuristic electric sounds, with very dark and depressed under tones, matching the attitudes and life style of most of the characters, since the majorities of the characters don't like their lives (especially the replicants). This music also matches the haunting story the prologue tells, preparing the audience for the profound story that is blade runner. After the prologue the music takes a very dramatic turn. With the sound of a dramatic drum roll, and the electronically generated piano, the film suddenly throws the audience into a flight which takes you into Los Angeles 2019. The music has an electric grunge like feel, matching the grim visuals of the hellish future Scott creates. The music contains the the sounds of injustice, and the corruption of the world which blade runner is based in. It is also created with a surreal dreamlike feel (in a similar nature to the way Scorsese makes Taxi Driver feel very dream like).
