Monday 6 June 2016
A&D P.2 - Editing (10) Snap sound
I used pencil condenser microphones to record and only the software REAPER to edit. The snap sound came from a nail filer breaking into half. The sound was not as loud and strong as I wanted so I used REAPER to make it louder and more vibrant.
FINAL PIECE
https://soundcloud.com/yara_a/snap
FINAL PIECE
https://soundcloud.com/yara_a/snap
A&D P.2 - Editing (9) Backpack hitting body
I used pencil condenser microphones to record and only the software REAPER to edit. This did not take me as much time as i thought it would. The original sound for this one came from a glasses case. It took me around 5 hours to finish it all and get the final results with the help of sound fx on REAPER such reverb. While editing I had to remove so many bits that were heard in the recording that were not meant to be there and also choose between four sounds (image 2) that would have worked well after editing.
(Image 2)
A&D P.2 - Editing (8) Clock ticking
I used pencil condenser microphones to record and only the software REAPER to edit. I used the small metal on the top of the clock to make the sounds of the clock ticking. I moved it with my fingers slowly left to right and again and agin . After I was done recording it I started to edit it. I thought that this sound effect wouldn't take me so much time to do because I thought it was simple. But it took me around 3 days (everyday for about 4 to 5 hours) working on it to get the sound I wanted and the consistency of the sound.
A&D P.2 - Editing (7) Footsteps
I used pencil condenser microphones to record and only the software REAPER to edit. The footsteps where hard to record in the first place, because I tried to use many different techniques from the videos I watched on how to record foley sounds but the problem was the surface I was walking on. To make the sound effect of a footstep really be heard and make a difference is to have a good surface to walk on so that the sound would show. Unfortunately I did not have any surface that I could walk on for me to be able to make the footsteps sound effect better I just used my shoe on the floor of the recording studio. I rocked the shoe back and forth to give it the sense of walking I also walked in the shoes and recored that as well. What I used in my final piece was a sound of both tricks I used.
The recording was 3 minutes long and It took me time deciding which sound I want to work with further almost 5 hours later I found the solution. I kept on editing and cutting parts from here to there.
FINAL PIECE
A&D P.2 - Editing (6) Door opening and closing
I used pencil condenser microphones to record and only the software REAPER to edit. The sounds for this sound effect was not rd to record but to set up the microphones outside in the studio was a bit of a challenge. This piece took me longer to rearrange than to add sound effects into.
This piece took me around 4 hours.
This piece took me around 4 hours.
FINAL PIECE
A&D P.2 - Editing (5) Cards
I used pencil condenser microphones to record and only the software REAPER to edit. This sound effect was not hard recoding but it was a bit difficult to get the final results I wanted but after 3 hours I got the sound I wanted.
I cut an A4 paper to 4 pieces and moved them around so they sound like cards. I also tired to make the sound playing cards make when a person puts down the card.
This sound effect took about 6 hours in total to edit.
FINAL PIECE
A&D P.2 - Editing (4) Typing on keyboard
This piece took me the least amount of time to edit as the sound I recorded in the beginning was actually me typing on the keyboard. I also only used REAPER to cut some parts and rearrange the way track was in the first place. I decided not to use random patterns while recording this but use some sentences that the actor was supposed to type n the film to give it more of a meaning.
FINAL PIECE
A&D P.2 - Editing (3) Knocking on doors
I used pencil condenser microphones to record and only the software REAPER to edit. With this piece I had to record actual knocking on surfaces so that it sounds properly like a knock.
I knocked on wood metal and a wood door. I tried to experiment with the sound and the outcome as well. After I had the final sounds I only used REAPER to edit. I did not use sound fx as much. I rearranged the order of the knocks and out of 13 different ones I chose 3 only.
FINAL PIECE
A&D P.2 - Editing (2) Heartbeat
While editing the first recording I made using a
Zoom on Cecilia5 using the Module: Dynamic: Wave Shaper (Image 1) I started to
hear it more like a heartbeat, so from there I kept on editing it and playing
with the Filter Freq and Filter Q (image 2) until I got the sound I wanted. It took me around 5 hours everyday for 4 days to get the final result.
(Image 1)
(Image 2)
After that I bounced the file to my desktop and then opened REAPER (image 3) and tried to edit the sound so it sounds more like a heartbeat and also I wanted to make it sound like the beating is increasing.
I used the first 20 seconds of the recording only then duplicated it to make a repetitive sounds. After trying to make the sound increase in a realistic sound and time I changed the playback rate to 1.2 which made it sound like it's increasing naturally.
I used the first 20 seconds of the recording only then duplicated it to make a repetitive sounds. After trying to make the sound increase in a realistic sound and time I changed the playback rate to 1.2 which made it sound like it's increasing naturally.
(Image 3)
FINALPIECE
A&D P.2 - Research and Videos
These were the videos that helped me the most with understanding foley, the art of foley, how it started, how to record it and how it is made and added to films.
e
This video helped understand the software and the way you use it. Also I learnt some tricks that I used in my editing as well.
This video explained the art of foley and the process of it. It also talks about how foley is what fills the gaps between the dialogue between characters and the music in the scenes. Also the foley artists mention how you have to feel the character you're walking as so you can convey their personality and the way they are feeling with their footsteps. Because if someone is angry they walk in a different way than a happy person would walk in They as well mention how you start to analyse and listen to so many things in the real life and you start to notice sounds you haven't noticed before.
This video shows more than it tells. Basically it shows the moving image we see in the film and the video of how the sounds are actually recorded behind the scenes and in the studio. It shows the real sounds behind those heard in the actual film.
In this video they talk about the making of the sounds in cartoon or animated films. The sound effects bring the pictures to life. "While you're doing a cartoon sound you have no sound to start with so you have the entire sound track to play with and create from scratch". Sound can gives music a sense of character. After the animation is in place, the sound effects and foley artists start to add the sounds to the moving picture.
This video was the most helpful regarding the props and surfaces used in a foley studio and on a foley stage. The foley artist mentions the surfaces they have to walk on and how the surfaces actually extend to a couple of meters under the ground to give it more of a natural sound while recording.
He also says that in most foley studios there has to be more than 10,000 prop for the foley artist to have more options with the sounds they can record and the sounds that they can make using many different props.
The priority on the day of the shoot is to get the dialogue between the actors rather than the sounds. In most high budget films now a days around 80% to 90% of the sounds are recreated, completely. "Sound is a very persuasive tool" With some sound effects foley artists use more than one prop then layer it over each other to give the final effect.
Gigniks (2013) Foley artists. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHAIgJsMoXw (Accessed: 26 April 2016)
Dino Kid (2015) Tutorial: Working with Cecilia and audio. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g56COygk8ZA (Accessed: 26 April 2016).
NAPE (2011) Toy story foley.wmv. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVUgsMRvOeI (Accessed: 2 May 2016).
Newstalk (2013) Emmy nominated Foley artist Caoimhe Doyle demonstrates movie sound effects. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrbgY6ajTgo (Accessed: 26 April 2016).
Tracy (2012) Hot nerd girl - ‘ask a Foley artist’ interview. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxFyyQVGEpg (Accessed: 22 April 2016).
Full Sail University (2012) Behind the scenes fundamentals of film: Foley sound effects. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-WhK6qQppY (Accessed: 25 April 2016).
SoundIdeasCanada (2011) What is Foley sound by sound ideas. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OONaPcZ4EAs (Accessed: 24 April 2016).
A&D P.2 - Recording
I used these microphones (Condenser mics) to record some props so later on I can edit them into the sound effects I am aiming for.
These are the props I used.
I recorded the sound of typing on the keyboard using this apple keyboard. At first I started doing different patterns with my hands and typing on different keys. Then to add a little meaning into it I typed relevant words and sentences to the film I am adding into.
I used this clock to record the sound effect of the clock ticking. I did not use the sound of the clock ticking though, I used the little metal that makes the alarm sound and moved it slowly so that the sound kind of sounds like a ticking clock. I will be editing it and making the sound more in sync.
I used this glasses case and hit it on the floor from different distances above the ground. I will be editing this into the "Bag hitting body" sound effect.
I used these small marker lids and tried to break them in half to make a breaking sound or a snap sound but they did not break and only got bent so I had to use a different prop for the sound effect.
I used this small nail foiler and broke it in half to make a breaking sound or a snap sound and it worked very well.
I cut an A4 paper into 4 pieces and moved them around so they sound like cards moving against each other. I will be editing this as well to make it sound more like cards being shuffled or put on the table.
Wednesday 1 June 2016
A&D P.2 - Book 4
French critic and composer Michel Chion argues that watching movies is more than just a visual exercise--it enacts a process of audio-viewing. The audiovisual makes use of a wealth of tropes, devices, techniques, and effects that convert multiple sensations into image and sound, therefore rendering, instead of reproducing, the world through cinema. The first half of Film, a Sound Art considers developments in technology, aesthetic trends, and individual artistic style that recast the history of film as the evolution of a truly audiovisual language. The second half explores the intersection of auditory and visual realms. With restless inventiveness, Chion develops a rhetoric that describes the effects of audio-visual combinations, forcing us to rethink sound film. He claims, for example, that the silent era (which he terms "deaf cinema") did not end with the advent of sound technology but continues to function underneath and within later films. Expanding our appreciation of cinematic experiences ranging from Dolby multitrack in action films and the eerie tricycle of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining to the way actors from different nations use their voices and words, Film, a Sound Art showcases the vast knowledge and innovative thinking of a major theorist.
Chion, M. (2009). Film, A Sound Art. New York: Colombia University Press.
Stevens, K. (2014) ‘Review of FILM: A SOUND ART for FILM
CRITICISM’, Review of FILM: FILM CRITICISM, 1.
A&D P.2 - Book 3
The text of Audio-Vision is in two
sections.
First, `The
audio-visual contract', lays the foundations for a theory of film sound
function based in introspective rationalization of the perceptions of the
filmgoer.
Second, the
discursive "beyond sounds and images", delineates an analytical
method for scholarly analysis of sound in film.
The first section is concerned with
elucidating how sound and image transform one another in the filmgoer's
perception. According to Chion, this transformation occurs not because of any
"natural harmony" between image and sound, but owing to the
"audio-visual contract", wherein, "the two perceptions mutually
influence each other...lending each other their respective properties by
contamination and projection." Chion's notion is that sound, for example,
music, "adds value" to the image. The nature of the synchronous sound
causes the filmgoer to construe the image differently, and hence the
relationship of sound and image in film should not be described simply as
"associationist", but as "synergetic"; they enter into a
"contract" in the filmgoer's perception.
Chion's work presents a regrettably
superficial discussion of how music specifically, as distinct from other
sources of sound in film, may impact upon perception of filmic meaning, and how
filmic context may impact upon perception and cognition of music. "Value
added by music" is characterised simply as generation of
"empathetic" or "anempathetic" effects. In this section,
Chion reverts to the traditional "associationist" folk-theoretic view
of the psychological function of music in film, wherein, "music can
directly express its participation in the feeling of the scene, by taking on
the scene's rhythm, tone, and phrasing; obviously such music
participates in cultural codes for things like sadness, happiness,
and movement."
Choin, M (1994). Audio
Vision Sounds on screen. New York: Colombia University Press.
University of Cambridge (no date) Available at:
http://www.mus.cam.ac.uk/ESCOM/E/NL9E/PhillipsE.html (Accessed: 5 May 2016).
A&D P.2 - Book 2
'The Sound Effects Bible' is a complete guide to recording
and editing sound effects.
The book covers topics such as microphone selection, field
recorders, the basics of digital audio, understanding digital audio
workstations, building your own Foley stage, and more.
Personally I feel like this book was the most helpful
because it covered all the information I needed to know about the equipment and
even the way of editing.
Viers, R. (2008). The Sound Effects Bible. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions.
A&D P.2 - Book 1
One of the greatest of contemporary composers has set down
in personal fashion his general ideas about music and some interpretations of
his own experience as a composer. Every concert-goer and lover of music will
take keen pleasure in his notes about the essential features of music, the
process of musical composition, inspiration, musical types, and musical
execution. Throughout the book there are comments on subjects such as
Wagnerism, the operas of Verdi, musical taste, musical snobbery, the influence
of political ideas on Russian music under the Soviets, musical improvisation as
opposed to musical construction, the nature of melody, and the function of the
critic of music. Musical people of every sort will welcome this first
presentation in English of an unusually interesting book.
A, G. (2016) Poetics
of music in the form of Six lessons — Igor Stravinsky. Available at:
http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674678569 (Accessed: 5 May
2016)
Tuesday 31 May 2016
A&D P.2 - Artist Research 2
Jack Foley; the creator of Foley
Jack raised his family in Bishop and went to work
in a local hardware store. Here Jack became interested in little theater and
wrote articles for the local newspaper. A rival newspaper in Lone Pine
reported one of Jack's theatrical endeavors, "'Stop Thief', a play, is
being put on by Jack Foley, the only non-henpecked Irish husband in America,
is a member of the cast.
Jack soon convinced the town's
storekeepers that Bishop had much to gain by luring filmmakers to that area,
and he mounted a publicity campaign to attract the studios northward. He was
very successful, and became a location scout for numerous productions. The
area, bound by snow capped mountains, beautiful valleys, and a scarcity of
people, made it ideal for westerns.
Making the most of his
studio contacts, Jack became Benny's director. Now Jack revealed another
talent. He sold a number of scripts to Universal which were produced. When
not busy directing silent films, Jack kept himself busy directing inserts for
the studio. Inserts are the close-ups of movements, such as a hand picking up
a gun, which are not bothered with during normal shooting. Jack prepared the
sets, graphics, props, models, whatever was necessary, either doing it
himself or arranging for it to be done.
"The industry was not
so happy about the U camp jumping the gun, and all we could say was 'Hell, we
didn't know it was loaded!' or words to that effect."
Jack's article was
not so clear as to actual sequence of events, but evidently a composite music
and effects track was then added to the hitherto silent "Showboat".
The music and effects were added simultaneously and the first
"Foley" session was born. Jack describes it: "Then Stage 10
swayed to the rhythm of a 40-piece orchestra under the direction of Joe
Cherniavsky as he scored "Showboat" and the rest of us watched the
screen with him putting in the sound effects of the 'Showboat', 'Dat Ole'
Ribber' and the laughter and cheers as it jus' kept rolling along. And with
'Showboat' on it's way, other pictures on the silent stages came in for sound
shots." Jack illustrated his article with the accompanying drawing,
which also shows his talent as an artist. Jack had a regular (usually
illustrated) column in the Universal International Studio Club News.
As sound was added to
picture after picture, Jack was called upon to add the sound effects.
"Jack's technique was to record all the effects for a reel at one
time," explained George Pal, who used Jack's talent on some of his
pictures. "Jack added the footsteps, the movement, the sound of various
props-all in one track. He used a cane as an adjunct to his own footsteps.
With that cane, he could make the footsteps of two to three people. He kept a
large cloth in his pocket which could be used to simulate movement."
Fellow workers say
that the results of a Jack Foley session were as good as what young editors
get today cutting twenty tracks. Joe Sikorsky, who worked with Jack, recalls,
"Jack emphasized you have to act the scene... you have to be the actors
and get into the spirit of the story the same as the actors did, on the set.
It makes a big difference."
When there were too
many effects to handle, Jack enlisted the aid of the prop men who brought him
props. They evidently stayed around all day, and he put them to work. He
occasionally pressed his friend Walter Brennan into helping him. Jack told
Brennan to put a rock in his shoe. He did, and the limp that resulted became
Brennan's trademark.
The anecdotes surrounding Jack's
strange profession grew as Hollywood columnists discovered his
behind-the-scenes activities. The movie "Spartacus" showed scenes
of slaves walking in leg chains. The director was all set to return to Italy
and restage the scene to capture the sound effects. Jack stepped in and did
the whole sequence with footsteps and key chains.
The movie "Pink Submarine"
needed a comical motor sound. Jack is reputed to have reversed a burp and
looped it for the effect.
The director of a melodrama had
a step rigged to make a squeak when the leading lady descended a flight of
stairs. After many unsuccessful takes, Jack was called in. He explained how
to do it, "I won't add the creak until the film has been cut together
into a rough print. The I'll park myself in an old rocking chair in front of
a microphone-and when the lady's foot hits the fourth step, I'll just rock,
myself back slowly.
Jack, estimated that
he walked 5000 miles in the studio doing footsteps. He characterized the
footsteps of stars in this manner: "Rock Hudson is a solid stepper; Tony
Curtis has a brisk foot; Audie Murphy is springy; James Cagney is clipped;
Marlon Brando soft; John Saxon nervous."
Jack received a number of
awards, including the Golden Reel Award, voted by his fellow sound effect
practitioners, members of the Motion Picture Sound Editors. Jack passed away
in 1967. But his name lives on in practically every studio in the world.
Philip
(n.d) The art of Foley - Jack Foley.
Available at: http://www.marblehead.net/foley/jack.html (Accessed: 03 May
2016).
Film
Sound (n.d) The story of Jack Foley.
Available at: http://filmsound.org/foley/jackfoley.htm (Accessed: 03 May 2016).
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