Digidoss Experiences and being the Sound Designer (24th/3)

During the preparation of week 3-4 about sound, I thought about ‘what is sound?’. Not what is mentioned about speech, music and noise but what did I know about sound from before and what sound skills needed to be developed and explored?

After the Editing Media experience ‘analysing noise in one day’ and linking the activity to what Paul was talking about noise and sound effect, made me focus a lot on the noises, levels and amplitude. The activity was meant to record what we heard in one day from waking up to going to bed. Bresson’s reading, together with digidoss touched on this; ‘being capabe to of seeing and hearing it entire'.

‘Chopper’ and ‘Spongebob’ use of sounds had both a fluent level of sounds and noises. From ‘background hum’, outside sound effects to ‘mouth smacks’ and the sense of heavy breathing being close. After stepping out of the visual level, the meaning of the audio used in both these films shows a creative way of using, recording and playing around with sounds and noises. This informs and raises awareness for my learning key points;

• Differentiate the use of the sound and the use of the action in the movie (in the movie’s spaces, I must be careful mixing the audio and the action effect in order to not duplicate the visual with the hearing).

• Where to get sounds from (besides the shot)? Internet, RMIT ‘sAudio Visual Library and self-recording.

• Planning ‘the shot’: when ‘protagonist’ does this, sound designer does that.

• Be aware of the sound levels in editing for the cause of the ear.

• The detailing items used for the shot: what time are we in? What type of phone to use in a ‘phone shoot’ ?

• The rule of ‘the ear within’ and ‘the eye the outer’.
  
  
• Making sound and image go hand in hand.
  
  
• Make post-production plan and brainstorm what sound issues to face

In ‘Chopper’ noises from everyday life is used and I kept in mind ‘how is the sound woman recording ‘heavy breath’ while the character is in the shot?’ in a separate shot or with a high definition external microphone? After playing wit the audio recorder in the tute, I searched after what Ayers mentioned. Keeping the head phones on, my ear was being selective with sounds and its source and I adjusted the levels to see what the recorder recorded and what my ear sought to hear.

The placement of the microphone was highly important and so is the location. Ayers article for my learning process works as a guidance to get the best sound recording, as it goes in detail of why and how to understand and use dynamic range, equalization and the headphones.

Lastly, as for being a Sound Designer, Carlins 10 points is a crucial MUST to remember and when layering sound, this must be selectively performed to communicate the particular emotion, mood and feeling by;

• Using identifiable sources.
• Room acoustics and room adjustment.
• Listen sensitively for sounds.

Following these key points, the sound designer has created and ‘represented the overall styling of the sonic fabric in an audio production’. Mixing this with speech, music and sound effects, the entire story is signified trough narration, dialogue, harmony, rhythm, style and silence, together adding more power to the story.