Investigating audio production and technology
Sound is one of the most important aspects within a film or production as it sets the audience into the atmosphere of the films environment, tells the watchers what is going on and directs them to think and feel how the director wants them to. Every little sound or noise allows the audience to engage into what they are watching even if the audience do not pick up on every little detail. If the sound was not there then the audience would feel a sense of insecurity as they would not be able to connect to the visuals. This means that although the visuals are the most important aspect of film, without sound they do not engage or interest the audience.
The sound designers job is to not only create the noise, background music and sound effects but there job is to make the audience feel like they are lost within the world that the film is placed in. This has a big impact on the audience and cinemas as cinemas also contain the surround sound so that each individual watcher can feel safe and connected to the visuals within the story.
How are sounds recorded?
Sound effects and manipulated voices are key in animation. This is because every little detail makes the character and environment more natural. This can be shown within the film; Wall-e as the characters Wall-e and Eve have been created using human manipulated voices and sound effects from plenty different machinery and objects for different environments and actions. Sound effects can be created by using several different microphones such as a Contact microphone for picking up noises from plenty different services when the microphone is put onto the object, a Shotgun microphone is used for directional sound effects when pointed towards the direction of where the sound is coming from, lastly a studio microphone is a omnidirectional microphone that allows the person to speak into the microphone in order to distort and manipulate the voice for the animated character.
Most sound designers use there own recorded sound effects for different films and productions as each sound effect should be related to the specific character, animation and environment. These youtube videos below show the animated sound design that the sound producers, editors and director had created for the film Wall-e. Part one and Part two of this video really helped my understanding and development of sound production, as it tells you the exact pathway and journey you have to come across in order to build your characters, voices, sounds and noises to build the atmosphere of the scene. From these videos, I learn that every little detail and noise in the background is important as it sets the atmosphere of what the audience believe is real at the time.
The contact mic, boom mic and studio mic are the most common used to record different objects for sound effects and emphasis on the sound or voices of characters.
I have also learnt that productions are not free. Especially when you have a big crew and they get hungry or tired from being on set all day, this can get expensive and so can the equipment and sound effects. This is why it is very important that the director find the cheapest possible route for everything the crew does inside he production. For example, recording and creating your own sound effects for specific parts within a clip. You may do this by using a Shotgun mic outside and recording a particular object or everyday action.
One of the first and most important problem that may arise when making a audio based production is the lack of equipment. As I mentioned earlier, equipment is expensive and especially when creating noise, characters voices and sound effects. This could potentially be pricey which means that sound designers must always look for the best, easiest and cheapest equipment and way of working. Sound designers must also think about travelling as they must be able to get to the place of action or sound effect they want to record and must also work out how much this will all cost in total. This is why most sound designers use a shotgun microphone to find and record there own sounds instead of purchasing others.
Another problem that could possibly arise is the time consuming projects and deadlines. Some projects such as a film, animated characters and videos, short films, adverts, Dj tracks, podcasts, mixing and editing of music e.t.c, could possibly take a fair amount of time and effort to do, especially when having to create a project for a particular company or client. Things may get pricey, stressful and hard as such short deadlines may be hard to fulfil your full potential in the project. The only way to really resolve the issue is again to use the best and cheapest equipment and methods as possible, while at the same time being organised. If you fit everything in around the project and your free time then you will be sure to have the breaks you need while also having enough time to fit in everything else you need to do.
The hardest part about sound design is knowing exactly what sounds you must create for which part of the film while also considering what the animation and characters sound like incase each movement or noise does not fit the character or the scene. The sound designer not only thinks about the connections between each sound but also what the sound may imply. The means that the audience may imply a certain sound with a particular character or the future presence. Even though the audience may not know about the sounds or noise details, secretly inside the mind they are actually connecting the dots between each sound and movement and implying these sounds with what is happening in the film or will happen in the next few frames. This is why the sound designers job is so hard because the designer has to plan every little detail out in his head of what he believes the world and the characters to sound like before actually getting ideas onto paper. He has to know what sounds must be created in order to build the atmosphere, when the sounds or noise will take place and why because if a particular noise did not make sense in the storyline or the characters voices were not in sync with the visuals, then the audience will instantly pick up on these issues and will tune out of the film instantly.
Sound in films first began in 1926 where the visuals had been accompanied by aural attention. There were not many sound designers back then as sound did not play a big part in film as the visuals were the main focus. As time passed by sound became more and more popular which meant that even silent films had been accompanied by instruments and orchestras to sync within the background tunes and actions. Disney was one of the first animated companies to create sound as his team had began developing several mechanical machines in order to give sound effects for actions within the films. He discovered that many everyday object sounds played a big part in film as it engages the audiences into the actions of the clips even if there is no dialogue. This short film shown below is one of Disney's earliest film productions named; The Worm Turns produced in 1937. I believe that this clip provides evidence of what film productions were like back in 1937 which has no comparison compared to modern film and audio productions now. Throughout the whole film, there is always a selection of instruments and orchestra which provides a happy environment for the watchers. The instruments and clashes also take place as sound effects in different parts of the actions as shown.
Inspirational quotes found by Sound designers which has provided me with evidence of how important sound may be required in audio and visual based productions:
"I didn't know anything about film when I first started - I was a painter - but I [always] felt that sound was as important as the picture. The sound, the picture and the ideas have to marry. If an idea carries with it a mood, sound is critical to making that mood" - David Lynch
This quote taught me that sound is one of the main ingredients into making the film work. Yes visuals are the most important aspect of a film because the audience need to be visually entertained but without sound, the audience would not be directing into where to look for which action is taking place.
"This movie is intense. It's got you on the edge of the seat. Sound just helps evaluate that, just helps support it all." - Unknown
This quote in ways is similar to the quote above. Both author's state that sound is very key in any film or production as it is what directs and makes the atmosphere which in ways brings the whole film and scene together as the audience can easily sit, relax and watch the world before them.
"Sound and sound design has always been very important to my approach to film, because it is a more subversive and allusive aspect of the medium." - Larry Fessenden
Again, this author is saying how much sound really puts everything together. There only so much props, actors, scenery and camera shots that a director can use to express the atmosphere in which the production is set in but sound and sound design is one of the most important jobs as it really allows the audience to connect with the characters and atmosphere within the film.
Pholie sound is sound recorded to make it sound like something it's not. Pholie sound is cheaper than digital sound and is an already made sound.
For example, the sound of a character being stabbed is not really the sound of someone being stabbed. It is a build up of layers and sound effects that makes the audience imply that, that action is taking place. Pholie sound is a crucial part in sound animation as it gives affect and implications to the audience into thinking what the director wants the viewers to think and feel by the build up of sound effects, layers, visuals and made up environment.
The visual attention is always accompanied by the aural attention. Dolby noise reduction is a 4 and 6 channel theatre sound which is only made for cinema. It is a surround sound in which feels 3D for the watchers to have a real-life experience of being placed in the films environment. Sound is what tells us what to look at, what things mean or imply, it tells us how we are supposed to feel by the ambient and backing music or sound effects. It makes us have questions.
Direct attention
Your eyes will look directly at whats moving until we are directed to the sound for example, when someone is talking or an action takes place, our attention is instantly drawn to what is going wron. It is important for films to study there sound as they do not want to mislead the audience into thinking or looking at something completely irrelevant. Sound dictates what the film maker wants us to think and feel, we connect with sound on a very emotional level. These are ways in which sound can change the feeling and tone of the scene:
Having a happy tone - everything is as it should be, sweet tone of voice, bright atmosphere, bright visuals and normal sound effect for example, birds, dogs, kids e.t.c suggesting nothing is abnormal.
The sound dictation is also one of the main points in having the mood change. If the sound dictation says the blood was red and scary then instantly the visuals look a whole lot more red and scary as that is what you have been told to see and that is what you are looking for. You can watch the same video clip 10 times with a different sound dictation and every time, nothing would change but you instantly think and feel differently as this is how you have been told to feel.
