Sound choices | Blog post #20

What sound tracks will my video definitely need

The first soundtrack that would definitely be needed in my video is dialogue, of course. There isn't that much dialogue in my project. However, there is still dialogue so of course there is going to be a dialogue track.

With scenes that don’t have dialogue, there’s going to be a lot of sound effects instead of dialogue. After rethinking my project plan, sound effects became a very important part of my project. And most of the scenes rely on it to create the mood. As well as incidental music because I am aiming for a psychological horror film genre.

Ambient sound and sound drones are also present and really important in my project. And I think room tones are also needed because there are a lot of silences in my film and so to keep the cuts from one angle or one scene to another natural, room tones are a must. I’m not quite sure if I’m going to use a score but if I do then it will further assist to set the scene.

Hopefully, all of the diegetic and non-diegetic sounds that I’m using are going to create the intense tone and vibe that I'm going for.

What is the purpose of each of those sound tracks?

Dialogue to deliver the character's thoughts. Giving the characters interactions and allowing them to express their emotions in a different ways. Also giving the audience some information that they might not get from the other scenes that don’t have dialogue.

The sound effects are to make it much more realistic. It’s also a way that would help to set the scene and create the main tone and genre. The ambient sound and room tones are important to make the flow as natural as possible.

Sound drones to set the genre and maybe scores as well. Incidental music and other non-diegetic sounds too of course also create and to assist in the genre.

Where will I be getting those sound tracks?

I'll be getting them from many different online resources that have non-diegetic sounds for free. I found many sources and one of them is the YouTube music library or Thematic. I’ll also be looking through YouTube and maybe also use soundtracks from existing media products that I find fitting my concept.

I'm also going to record most of my sound effects as well as a dialogue of course. And I'm going to record the ambient and the room tones with my own tools as well.

My classmates' Whiplash scene compared to mine | Blog post #19

Things that other groups did well that I could focus on in my project

I really like one of the group's projects because it's really different from what I came up with.

They totally changed the genre and made it really fun. I really liked their use of colour grading. Which is something that I would want to focus on in my project as well.

Other groups have excellent choices of shots which is something that I want to focus on as well. Some groups did really well at overcoming the audio issues that all of us had due to the shooting at school. And it's something that I also need to focus on in my project.

Strong aspects of my project that they could have incorporated into theirs

I think some of the groups need better editing of the sound. I think I did a pretty good job they're still a bit some flaws, but the sound really saved the scene.

I remember one particular group that didn't have the greatest choices of the background soundtrack. They picked a track that didn't really fit with the vibe and tone of the scene which kind of ruined the moment of the scene. I think that I've picked a perfect track for mine unlike theirs.

Some groups also had these awkward silences in between cuts because they didn't use room tones. I had a room tone track in my project which is not that noticeable but it still helped with the audio. And I also had an ambient soundtrack which helped with the transitions which I think I did really well.

Poor shooting conditions | Blog post #18

What were the worst aspects of shooting your scene at school and how it directly affected your project

I can write a whole chapter about how filming at school directly affected the quality of my project.

First of all, one of the most noticeable aspects of the project is the audio. I was debating if I should record the audio separately but then due to the limited amount of time that I was given to film the scene, I did not end up doing that. The audio is fine but it could have been better. The location that I picked for the scene had a large effect on the final outcome. Due to the large space, the sound was very “echoey” but I couldn’t think of a better place to shoot the scene so I had to work with what I had. I tried to reduce the noise while editing but it still

The second aspect is the whole messy situation of my team. So I had to work alone because the person that I was going to work with wasn’t in school. So I had to get help from a classmate to film for me. I wasn’t fully satisfied with what I was able to film during the limited time that my classmate was available. So when my teammate came back, I suggested that I can work with them since I wanted to re-film my scenes anyways and they agreed and we started to work on a new project together. My ex-teammate was really specific with the blocking and location of the scene which made it much harder to film as it was during lessons time so there weren’t many places where we could film at. The deadline was approaching and I was done with the constant extension of the project. So I decided that I would edit the footage that I filmed myself and turn it in. I felt bad so I still worked with them, not making any creative decisions and only participating and acting as “Nicole”.

The last aspect I previously mentioned was the fact that I was given 20 minutes to film the whole thing. The classmate that I asked to help me was a bit busy so they gave me 20 minutes to film and I also had to bribe them with snacks. I planned everything out in one period. And since there was a limited time that I was given, I couldn't check every shot that I filmed and I couldn't really re-film anything so many of the shots didn't come out as I wanted them to.

How you plan to correct these aspects on for your portfolio project

Well, first of all, I would be working in a controlled environment, space/location where I have full control over the environment and I can set up how I want to. And there won't be any restrictions on time, I can film whenever I want to. I can control the sound.

I'm planning to and currently filming my project in my room. Most of my scenes take place in a bedroom scene so it's really convenient that I can have complete control over this. The convenience made it really fun to play around with all the setups and rearrangements of the props around the room.

I'm fixing the audio issue by borrowing a mic from school as well as filming in a space where there aren't as many sounds that would affect the outcome. I also pay attention to the time that I'm filming so that there won't be many sounds like the trucks outside or my neighbour's sounds or sounds from outside.

Thankfully I'm working on this project alone so I won't be affected by a teammate. I am asking for help from one person to help me film but other than that I'm doing this project all my own. It has pros and cons, but for the project, I'm filming, I feel it's better to do it all alone.