Video & Sound Production: Project 1
MODULE VSP60104: Video & Sound-Production
Tristan Vaughan Sleep - 0365120
Video & Sound-Production / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Video & Sound-Production Project II: TikTok/ Instagram Videos
MODULE INSTRUCTIONS:
“SEPT 2024 - JAN 2025: GCD 61104 / ANIM. FUNDAMENTALS MODULE INFORMATION BOOKLET”
Project I: Audio Re-Dubbing - Dialogue & Sound FX (Weighted 15%)
Visual Sounds & Sound Shaping: Students of the cohort are provided with a short scenario from a modern film and are expected to produce and import the necessary sound effects, dialogue, music etc. to create a usable soundscape. Using the program Adobe Premiere Pro, students will need to record their own dialogue for all characters, either record or download Sound effects for the scene and, record or download the background music. From here, students will need to edit the audio to match up with the scene, applying pitch correction, filters etc. to make the soundscape match the film presented as well as balancing the audio levels. With their work completed, students will then need to post their work, findings and developments to their e-portfolios.
PARTICIPATED LECTURES:
WEEK III: Storyboarding & Pre-Production
Basics: Before students could advance in the later works and projects, the lecturer believes it important for students to look into a series of sources which demonstrate how certain angles/shots can imply a specific concept. This could also be done to ensure that the students are well aware of cinematic techniques as it cannot be said for certain that all students have studied film in some capacity. Furthermore, students are expected to learn more about some ‘off-the-screen’ developments which are required to shoot/direct a scene or film: looking into resources such as storyboards, stage dressing, script-writing etc.
WEEK IV: Stages & Roles of Film Production
Production Stages: producing a film can be a long process which sees different groups working on the film at different times before release, to make this complex system more manageable, filmmaking as a practice has been broken down into three main phases: Pre-Production, Production, and Post production. In a general sense, pre-production handles the majority of the film’s design, needing to look at the film's structure, visual design & soundscape etc. before filming can start. Production therefore, is when filming begins; the actors meet with the director and all the scenes needed are shot to be edited later. Finally, film production ends with Post-Production which is when all the footage is edited and assembled into the final product; ready to be distributed.
Pre-Production: The planning stage of Filmmaking: during this phase, film crews perform the necessary preparations needed before filming could begin. This mainly includes tasks such as writing the script and storyboard, casting of actors, designing the sets and costumes for said actors and hiring any additional crew members needed.
Production: The developing stage of Filmmaking: During this phase, the production team will work alongside all the other departments in order to film the footage needed for the end product, using the plans and preparations during pre-production as a rough guide; it's traditionally followed however, it is possible for scenes to be altered. This stage can be physically and logistically challenging; working to coordinate an entire production team, whether it would be managing schedules or placement of materials.
Post-Production: The editing stage of Filmmaking: During this phase, the film goes through its final check before distribution with editing teams arranging the film in the correct order while cleaning up the visuals and audio.
Production Crew: The production crew refers to the team of professionals who need to work together in order to create a film or video. Each member of the crew has a very specific role which comes with its own responsibilities; essential to the production.
Director: The Director is one of the most important roles; responsible for overseeing the entire of the production and they must ensure that the creative vision is properly realised. In addition, the director works closely with the rest of the crew and are needed to block out scenes, direct the actors' performances, and make creative decisions about the look and feel of the film.
Producer: The producer is responsible for the back-end part of film production; being responsible for the logistical and financial aspects of the production. In essence, the producer is responsible for securing the funding for the film, vetting the hiring of both the crew and actors, coordinating the schedule and locations, and ensuring that the project is completed on time and within budget.
Cinematographer: The cinematographer, sometimes referred to the directors of Photography, is the member responsible for the visual aesthetic of the film. As mentioned previously, the cinematographer has to work closely with the director, needing to choose the right camera, lenses, and lighting in order to achieve the scene requested by said director.
Sound Designer: The Sound designer is the specialist responsible for the audio of the film; needed for recording and editing the dialogue, sound effects, music etc. Once again, the Sound Designer needs to work closely with the Director as well as the editor to ensure that the sound and picture are seamlessly integrated.
Editor: The Editor is one the most important roles; being responsible for assembling the footage into a coherent order as well as adding additional elements needed to meet the creative vision. They need to work closely with the Director and sound Designer, using both of their materials to shape the pacing, tone and the structure of the film.
WEEK III & IV: Quizzes and Results
Storyboarding in Filmmaking (9/10): This week’s Quiz focuses on storyboarding and how it is to be used to make a visual sequence of a film used in pre-production. Storyboards are used to aid in planning scenes + shots, narrative flow and communicating ideas in a visual medium. A majority of the questions look into the purpose of storyboards; being used to direct the actors' performances and blocking out scenes, mitigating continuity errors, and providing a clear plan for how scenes should be assembled.
While I was confident with all of my questions, I had made some unfortunate, simple mistakes which could’ve been easily avoided. In my case, the question I had got wrong was: “What is NOT commonly included in a storyboard;” choosing the answer of Costume designs. The correct answer was “Dialogue.” In my personal opinion, a majority of films do not bring too much attention to what the actor is wearing, if only for a few shots which is why I chose ‘costume design’ and I believed that ‘dialogue’ would be paired with storyboard as shots often have to show who is speaking etc.
Production Crews (5/5): This week’s Quiz focuses on the Production Crew and how this team of film professionals have to work together to create a film of video. All members in this crew have a specific role and a series of responsibilities, which are essential to the overall success of the production. A majority of the questions are designed to confirm the importance of each role and to see if the students understand the importance of said roles: asking about responsibilities and expectations.
MODULE PROJECT I - AUDIO DUBBING:
Audio Dubbing Pt. I: Pre-Production
Original Material: For this project, students of the cohort have been provided with a short, thirty second clip sourced from the film, “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once;” Directed by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert (2022.) In the chosen scene; the main character, Michelle Yeoh, has been dragged into a general store closet by an alternate version of Ke Huy Quan who tries to explain her importance in his plans. Before he can fully explain, the pair are interrupted by Jamie Lee Curtis punching her way through the door. Furthermore, Michelle Yeoh also becomes distracted by Her version of her husband who she believes to be messing up the audit. Michelle Yeoh is then brought back into the alternate world with Jamie Lee Curtis Snapping Ke Huy Quan’s neck and then striking Michelle Yeoh with a pipe.
With this background detail, students should be able to breakdown the scene and can determine what audio is needed for this scene; creating a short list where all the audio can be arranged for the final video.
Scene Breakdown/ Audio Spreadsheet: In order to effectively break down this scene, students are recommended to arrange the scenes by shot and note down elements of the audio such as Sound effects, ambience and dialogue. Furthermore, with the breakdown of shots: students are then able to determine what audio samples are needed for each shot which simplifies the editing process. To do this in the most efficient manner, I decided to organise the scene into a spreadsheet (linked below); using it not only to see what audio should appear in each shot but also what channel the audio should appear in.
“Spreadsheet used to organise the sound effects for the video”
With the spreadsheet, I now have an overview of the project and can see what audio samples I would need to produce myself as well as what samples would need to be collected online. For the most part, I wanted to record a majority of the audio myself however, certain actions such as the door being broken in and the ambience would need to be sampled.
Audio Dubbing Pt. II: Voice Overs
Voice Recordings: When recording voice lines, it was important for me to consider the location I chose to record as the acoustics can alter how clear the audio sounds. In order to get the best acoustics; I recommend placing some sound absorbing material such as duvets or blankets around you to make the less likely to bounce back; making the editing a little easier. In addition, placing the microphone closer allows it to pick a full range of sound which will be useful when doing the editing later.
As this project features three characters, it was also important for me to try talking with more distinct tones to help separate the characters from one another. While pitch changes would also be useful, tone will also help in creating a more distinct sound. For the audio pitching, all the characters speak in a higher tone than my voice which means I would need to up pitch all voices in a unique way. For the male character, I would pitch that audio up by around two semitones with ten cents between each tone. For Michelle Yeoh’s character, I needed to pitch my voice up by 4 semitones with a cents of 46 which hopefully made it sound a bit more feminine. Jamie Lee Curtis’s character proved a bit difficult as her voice is naturally somewhat low, meaning I had to only raise it by 1 semitone but keep the additional cents (42 cents) which made it somewhat unique compared to the male voice.
“Parametric Equaliser, Semitone editor, Reverb”
To make the voices more unique as well, I experimented with trying to sound similar to the actors' accent which shifted my voice around as well. Unfortunately for me however, I was sick during the week of recording which appears somewhat in the audio which is something I would try to remove later
Voice Syncing: To make the audio dubbing more believable, it was important for me to talk at the same speed of the actors; hopefully creating some lip sync. While I would like to believe I did a good job at this, I was not always spot on and would need to edit the audio to be slower or to speed up. While this solved the problem of the lip sync, it unfortunately meant the voice sounded either higher or lower which meant that I would tweak the pitch correctly. The audio ended up somewhat similar between each characters’ lines; this speed can still be heard in the “trust no one” dialogue. In future, it’s better to just re-film the audio if possible, however, it’s good to experiment incase of a time crunch.
Voice Balance: As previously mentioned, my recorded audio was not the greatest because of where I recorded but I was sure to record a full range of audio which meant I could experiment with parametric equaliser. That way I can alter the audio to pick up parts of the frequency to make it sound more balanced. For this, I included a High pass which cut off up to a frequency of 70-ish and raised the 1st balance to about a frequency of 100. From there I raised the low pass by 10 decibels to balance the scale. In addition, to add back some of the “echo” found in smaller rooms, I felt it necessary to add a Reverb which makes the audio sound more present in the scene. Finally because the shot changes during dialogue; I altered the audio by lowering decibels when the speaker is out-of-shot, making the camera feel more present in the shot.
Audio Dubbing Pt. III: Sound Effects
Hand-Made Audio: In my opinion, it can prove useful to record your own post-production audio as it gives you more control of what you want the final product to sound like. In addition, the audio is more likely to sync up as you can control how frequently/ long a sound is. On the other hand, hand-crafted audio can lead to you getting over-creative which can lead to sounds not sounding “how they should feel” and it should instead be sourced from online sources. For this project, I was able to record a majority of the sounds myself as it dealt with common items. All the door sounds from the punching to the door knob being turned, I was able to record in person which was also made better by me having hollow doors. Furthermore, I was able to recreate the sound effect such as Michelle Yeoh pulling the mop out of the janitor cart (using a bamboo rod and a bin), the air hiss of the pipe being removed from the wall (Gillette shaving cream), the body thumping on the floor (dropping a suitcase on the floor) etc. With the audio collected, I would begin to edit the audio similar to the way the dialogue was edited; adding settings such as reverb, minor pitch adjustment and volume to make the audio feel more present in the scene.
Online Sourced Audio & Music: As previously stated, there are some audio samples which I was unable to create on my own and instead needed to source some of them online. When looking for an audio sample online, the new difficulty comes in the form of finding usable files which ‘sound consistent’ with the video as well as finding one which is considered ‘fair use.’ For this project, I mainly sourced Sound Effects from the website ‘Free Sound’ as recommended by the lecturer as not only are the files free but they are also protected under fair use. For the project, I mainly sourced audio samples for sound effects such as the metal pipe (both striking FX and Breaking FX), the breaking of the door FX or, the transition sweep FX. In addition, I also used the website to obtain some ambience sound effects such as the office conversations during the audit shots, people worrying towards the end and, the build-up sound effect when Ke Huy Quan’s character’s neck is snapped.
“Main Audio Tracks: A1 - Voice, A2 & A3- Sound FX, A4 - Ambience”
Audio track Arrangement: To finalise the project, I needed to both balance the audio and arrange it effectively within Premiere Pro. for the balancing, it was important for me to lower the volume of the audio samples such that it doesn’t let peak audio which is unpleasant to hear. In addition to this, I also needed to balance the audio such that the dialogue is the most important, followed by the Sound Effects and then finally music. With simple tweaking, I felt that I was able to lower the volume as need be and the audible hierarchy can easily be established.
“Final Video - Project I: Audio Dubbing”
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