Just a catch up with our tutor David. We discussed what was happening with the film. He then told us that he has organised a masterclass with Jack Shelbourne about the relationship between a camera man and the sound team. So we signed up for that as it would be beneficial to attend. Not just for ‘Cognition’ but for future projects and post graduation as this is an area of work I want to do in.
We each then told him where we were with research and then the session came to a close. Not much to report, but these sessions are important as they keep us on track.
This process has taught me a lot about the production of sound for film. It has been a great way for me to experiment with location sound and post-production. From the beginning of this process, I clearly stated what I wanted to achieve when the process was over and I believe I have done so. By setting my individual learning outcomes, I then went on to research the roles that I would be undertaking during this project, allowing me to utilise my professionalism when they came into practice.
How did I achieve my group learning outcomes?
As a group we all had one goal when it came to location sound. That is to capture the cleanest dialogue as possible, which would then make it easier in post-production. We all researched what is required when it comes to location sound. I read extensively into ‘The Location Sound Bible’ to be able to know what the professionals do on film and tv sets. I researched a range microphones and the techniques used:
Boom microphones and boom positions
LAV microphones and LAV positions
Plant Microphones and Plant positions
By doing this research, I was able to transfer this to onset practice that would then produce clear dialogue.
For the sound team to achieve a complex sound design, we each took on a role as it would make it easier to spread the work out. I took on foley production so I needed in depth knowledge of the process that goes behind it. Dan took on SFX and Ambience editing and mixing, and Sam took on Dialogue editing and mixing. Throughout post-production we kept each other up to date on what we were doing and helped each other out where we could. This allowed us to share creative ideas, making the sound design a collaborative experience and not just an individual one.
How did I achieve my individual learning outcomes?
Further knowledge in location sound- From my research section, you can see the amount of research done by using the book ‘The Location Sound Bible’ by Rick Viers. This book has been an incredible insight to the world of location sound and I have been also using it for my career as I want to be a location sound recordist when I graduate. By doing extra curricular activities such as the ‘BioBlitz’ event, I was able to use my research and put it into practice before ‘Cognition’, helping me experiment with what works and what doesn’t. I used Rick Viers as an example I wanted to follow when I did the location sound for ‘Cognition’ as he has worked in the industry for a long time.
Use varied microphone techniques on set: Plant microphone techniques and Booming techniques- My research allowed me to record with plant microphones and boom microphones as I knew the techniques behind them to get the best possible sound. You can see pictures of these techniques in the ‘Filming Process’ category.
Develop personal skills to achieve a high standard of set etiquette- To show this, we each gave a feedback sheet to the producer and director. Click the word documents below to read the reports:
Research and utilise foley recording, mixing and editing techniques- I set a task for myself to be more confident with foley and I believe that’s what I have done. Using ‘The Foley Grail’ has allowed me to excel in foley production. The book is a compilation of foley artist, giving their tips and tricks in the professional world of foley. Reading this book gave me the confidence to be creative and experimental and with the clips that I gave in the post-production category, I believe I have shown this.
What would I do differently?
I believe I was experimental with foley in the timeframe that we had, but if we had extra time, I would re-evaluate some of the clips recorded and maybe change them slightly. One of the footsteps I believed didn’t sound as good as it should’ve done, so an improvement there would have been with my mixing skills and skills as a foley artist. The time frame we have, stretched us for time so I believe with a bigger timeframe, we would’ve been able to execute some of this potential problems such as the levels of the final mix. We received the picture lock on the 5th of December, so we have had only 10 days to do the post-production and I am happy and proud of what we have achieve within those days.
How successful was the whole process?
Working in a team comes easy to me as I have been doing this for many years. But every time I still learn something new. This time it was working not just as a sound team, but as a film production group. In the pre-production of the film we met up at least once a week, discussing research and catching up with what was happening with ‘Cognition’. The sound team researched sound and film team researched film. By sticking to targets and deadlines, this allowed our meetings to be productive and full of content that would then allow us to push forward to the next stages of the film.
The location sound process was a familiar territory for me and I felt confident within each roles that I undertook;
Production Mixer
Boom Operator
Sound Assistant
By using my research of location sound on set, it allowed me to use varied techniques which I could then experiment with to discover what worked and what didn’t. Furthering my knowledge allowed me to be able know when there was a problem and how to fix it. Frequency drop outs from LAV microphones, exterior noises, boom handling, camera perspective, clothing noises and handling noises are all areas that could go wrong on location, so I needed to be aware of how to fix these problems.
The post-production process was a whole new challenge to the location sound becuase to meet our learning outcome, we needed to produce a complex sound design to complement the picture. I wanted to take on the foley stages of the production and I believe I did just that. I utilised my research well and expressed my crreativitive skills and judgment.
I am very proud of what we all have accomplished with ‘Cognition’ and I have enjoyed the process thoroughly.
It was our last meeting for this project and it was all about how to get the best marks on our blogs. David told us how to structure our blog, what to include and how to pick up marks. It was great as at this point we had finished the film and was cracking on with our blogs. It was nice to see David before breaking off for Christmas and I thanked him for all the useful tips and tricks he gave us along the way of this process. It was a great reflective tutorial.
To meet my personal learning outcomes and the group learning outcomes, my primary role in the post-production of cognition was tackling a large proportion of the foley. I personal wanted to improve my skills as a foley artist, mixer and editor. I wanted to improve my decision making and creative look onto the screen. Knowing what non-diegetic and diegetic sounds works and what doesn’t. Instead of placing a microphone in front of an object and recording it, I wanted to explore new techniques in tracking foley and editing foley.
My three main roles were:
Foley Artist
Foley Mixer
Foley Editor
Foley Artist
Throughout the process of this project, I did extensive research into the foley process so I could then utilise in post-production. As foley artist, you are the one creating the sounds. I split the foley into three sections:
Footsteps
Props
Cloth
We started on the footsteps first. When recording footsteps, the ‘Foley Grail’ outlines three main aspects to a good footstep sound; The surface you are on, the shoes you are wearing and how you mimic the talents actions onscreen. So I took this on board and started experimenting with the sound. Footsteps are incredibly important as they can add different characteristics to characters. Baring this in mind, I evaluated the character’s movement and motive in each scene, creatively deciding if to walk light footed, or heavy footed. The shoes I used for the character Susan was a soft heeled boot on multiple surfaces. In the hallway scene, I recreated the surface by experimenting on walking on carpet to then having carpet on different surface. After a few tries with different surfaces, the end product was two pieces of carpet on a concrete slab. I believe this created a light sound whilst maintaining a heavy footed characteristic the Susan. The surface for the attic was a concrete slab as it gave both a subtle sound and a hard sound. Mimicking Susan was an interesting role to take on as there are a few ways to how she walks adding to the state of mind her character is in. An interesting scene to record her footsteps to was when she was walking up to the Character jack, just before she killed him with a hammer. For this I had to maintain light subtle sounding footsteps, to portray her sneaking up to the victim Jack.
Props were a fantastic way to show my creativity when it came to recording foley and recreating the sounds on screen. We were provided the props that were onset which was incredibly useful as I was able to bring the scene even more to life with the presence of the sound of the props seen. The ‘Foley Grail’ suggest having a variety of sounds to choose from, as you can capture different characteristics for each individual clips. ‘It’s not always the tool, its how you use it’ (117). An example is the type of paper used in the folder that Jack is turning over in the audio clip below. We used a mixture of different types of paper and a different quantity of paper, to come up with the perfect sound for the folder. Also in the clip is a the recording of chains and hand cuffs, following Jacks hand movements.
You can use fruit and vegetables to recreate body impacts and flesh sounds. I went to the supermarket and bought celery (for the bones breaking), a head of lettuce (for the body impact) and an orange (for the flesh sounds). For the hammer hit, I layered up the celery being snapped which have a bone/skull fracturing sound and then I hit the head of lettuce with both of my hand for the impact of the hit. Below is the final product.
For the scalpel sound effect I experimented with what could represent a skull would sound like being carved into. I started off carving a knife into a plane which gave a nice effect but felt to artificial. So I decided to see if carving into a piece of celery would do the trick; and it did. The fleshy blood sounds was recorded by me touching the inside of an orange, giving wet and squidgy samples. Listen to recording below.
Being a foley was a great way to explore my creativity within sound which is what a set out to do in my personal learning outcomes.
Foley Mixer
As a foley mixer, I needed to be critical and what sound fitted where and whether it fitted the visual. I was require to have creative input on the positioning of microphones and wether to use multiple microphones or just one. Some mixers like very little room reflection, to get a dry recording so they can manipulate in post production (P151). To record footsteps I decided to use two microphones, a condenser (AKG 414) set to cardioid to capture the space of the room and a shotgun microphone (Sennheiser MKH416) to grab a dry recording. To record props I only ever used one microphone but used different microphones to record with. I switched in between each microphone depending on the space of the scene we were recording for. If the props on screen were far away, I used a condenser to capture the space and the distance of the room, creating realism within the scene. If the props were very close, I used a shotgun to grab a dry and fuller recording of the prop. Using this technique would allow me to balance and mix these recordings together.
Foley Editor
To meet my personal aims and objectives, it was my role to edit the foley. I was situated in Sound Theatre B. I Switched between headphone mixing and monitor mixing so I could get a better idea of an isolated mix with headphones and an opened space mix in sound theatre B, allowing me to compare and contrast.
I started off by organising the session into three sections. A section for footsteps, a section for props and a section for cloth. The ‘Foley Grail’ criticises first time foley editors for going straight into cutting and changing the clip without listening to the full clip. It says that by listening to the full clip, you can outline wether it adds anything to the image or wether certain parts need to be trimmed or got rid of completely. So I kept this in mind throughout the session.
I started with the footsteps. I listened to each clip individually along with the picture and made executive decisions to either trim them or cut them out. From my research, you need to know when the footsteps might covert he dialogue, therefore needs to be low in the mix or cut out. When recording the foley, we realised that the room itself was rather noisy. This was due to the building that the foley studio is situated in. We were picking up electrical hums, bathroom noises and air conditioning. To get rid of this, I used the audio suite feature in pro tools and ran them through a plug in called De-Noise by Izoptope. This learns the clips that you want to process and evaluates the background noise. You can then just the reduction and thresh hold from the background noise and the recording you want. However you have to be careful not to disrupt the wanted signal. Listen to the examples below to see the difference that de-noise can make.
I would recommend using monitors or headphones to really notice the difference.
Original recording
Edited Clip
I applied the same process to the prop and cloth section. This allowed the clips to run smoothly together, eliminating pops from one track to another.
By taking on the role of the foley artist, foley mixer and foley editor, it has expanded my skills and knowledge of the area. By utilising my research well I have met my personal objectives in creating unique and interesting sounds as a foley artist, mixed competently as a foley mixer and edited foley to the picture making creative decisions in what works well for the film.
