Sound and production design: thanks to Alyssa.

Over the past two weeks I have researched sound design and thought about what techniques we could use within our film called 'Ticket'. Our film is about a girl (Lisa) who seems to sit at a bus stop/bench for a long period of time day after day. Then one day a boy (Sam) starts talking to her and she seems to know a lot about this boy. So, overall we have decided that Lisa's character is quite shy, quirky but intelligent and Sam's character is quite popular and out going. The main ambience we want to create for the audience is romance, however we want to make sure it keeps the viewers interested throughout. An idea I have for this is flash-backs of her or his past which shows why they have opposite personalities or even flash-backs to how Lisa knows so much about Sam.

As I am the sound designer, I have been looking into what sounds would suit the type of mood we want to create. Sound is ideal, as it is an important factor to create the atmosphere. Since romance is our focus point, I have looked at music from other films used to set the mood.


I would also like to create synchronous sound effects such as, the sound of opening a fizzy drink I.E. recorded the sound separately and overlay onto the film. Another idea is, Lisa or Sam might have earphones in their ears listening to music. Therefore the music could be edited onto the film so the audience can hear what he or she is listening to. It could then possibly flip to the other person talking, which means you would hear the music only slightly and hear the other person speaking. These are all synchronous effects. Asynchronous sound effects could be used when Lisa is sat on the bench I.E. traffic noises, as though it would be coming from where the camera is filming.

I have been assigned to write a sound treatment for my role as the sound designer. I have many ideas for the sound, however when we plan the scenes out clearly I will be able to write a description on the sound techniques scene by scene, as it depends on the location. In our group discussion on Friday (21stJan), we will plan out a detailed plan of each scene and give every member of the group a copy, which then means I can get started on practicing recording sounds and using the equipment.

 

I have researched my role as a sound designer for our short film. I used filmsound.org to research and learn my own understanding of sound. They are mainly broken down into three main areas these are:

sound effects, music and dialog.   

Sounds Effects

Synchronous and asynchronous sounds are used within sound effects.

Synchronous means sounds are synchronized to what is happening within the film. Its basically a combination of visual and sound working together on screen. For example, sounds might be recorded separately for parts of a scene and then edited to increase or decrease the pitch of the sound. I.E. door creak, to create the mood of the film and keep the audience interested. A door creak may make the audience feel anxious and fearful to what might happen next.

Asynchronous means more or less the opposite to synchronous. Sound effects would be used that do not match what is on screen. It makes the audience visualise what might be happening in the background of the film (which is not on screen). For example, a couple might be talking in a kitchen in the house and throughout, sound might be used such as an ambience sound that is coming from outside on the street, but the focus is on the characters reaction in the 'kitchen'.

So, I think synchronous and asynchronous would work nicely within our work and I will look further into them both before filming. They would work well braking down the awkward parts during the film, as we have planned to make the connection between the two characters quite uncomfortable. Camera techniques could also be used to grab the audiences attention.  

Music

Music is used to set the mood of the scene to keep the audience interested, link to different scenes and to make the audience feel emotional.

Certain short sounds and music can be recognised that relates to a certain action or film. For example, when we here 'durdum durdum' (If you get the gist) we automatically think of sharks swimming in the water I.E. The film, Jaws. Another example would be Randy Newman who sings 'You've got a friend in me', everyone who here's this song would most likely think of the animated film Toy Story, as it is the theme song. This is also popular in the public eye, which makes the music familiar.

This is something to think about when making sound for our film. Even little effects like the 'durdum durdum' makes the audience feel the mood you are trying to create because they can relate to the sounds.

Dialog

Voices can be heard throughout a a film using many different techniques.

One technique is called voice over, usually abbreviated VO in scripts. Voice over is a narrative commentary or concept used over visuals in a film or advert. This means you cannot see the person speaking, you can only hear them. A good example of this is commercials

I.E.   http://www.e4.com/video/W3fec1rCXEERjWqtZ9U3eg/play.e4 

(Peter Dickson - Voice Over for channel E4 adverts)

Dialog is not always used whilst filming on set. Some dialog is recorded off location and put onto the film when editing. When film making, they sometimes shoot silent, MOS (Motion Omit Sound) which means the crew can film without being perfectly quite. It might also be used in case of background noises on location. Therefore the dialog would be recorded in a studio/booth. Although a highly directional microphone can be used to control the sound on location.

Sometimes when dialog editing, it is common that the editor might use a word in the dialog to complete another, if it was distorted in anyway. 

Dialog in film is important to make sure it is clear throughout any film. I think this will be the most difficult part of sound and I will need to practice with the equipment before filming. Yet, it is recommended to record dialog when filming on a external location.