Day 4: Sound

 Hello!!! Long time no see (or read, in this case). In the time I haven't posted, we've learned about sound and how it impacts the viewing of a piece. We learned that sound adds dimension, emotional impact, makes the visuals more realistic and so much more. We learned about synchronous sound which like its name, is synchronized with movements, for example, opening and closing doors. There is also asynchronous sound, which does not match up with what we see on screen. We learned about voice-overs, ways of addressing the audience and much more. 

Something interesting is that sound effects are usually artificially created, using a foley stage. Foley is the term created by Jack Foley, and is the technique in which objects are used to create sounds, made by humans. When a piece is shot, only the dialogue is picked up, so the foley artists have to create every single sound on/off screen.  A foley stage is usually a large room or warehouse that are super quiet, have very sensitive mics and a plethora of props to create all of the sound necessary. The props can include anything from screws and hammers, to even vegetables. All these, to create sounds that match up with what we see on screen. When filming the sound effects, the artists start with the footsteps of the main characters, or whoever we see on screen, the background footsteps, then add all the other sounds with a prop pass. When foley artists create the sound effects, they put in as much energy into it as they are trying to convey in the scene.  

During this lesson, we had 2 projects. I'll call the first, "SP #1", and the second, "SP #2", which is short for "Sound Project #_". 

SP #1:

For SP #1, we worked with a partner to create a soundscape, which represents all the sounds in a scene. We had to brainstorm our own scene, and use only sound to create the scene. We also had to have at least 4 sounds that we create using foley. One of the challenges was that we could only use up to 7 words. The goal was really to not use words unless necessary, and to use the sounds of the environment as the way to tell our story. 

Here was our process: 

1. We started by choosing a scene that we wanted to create a soundscape for. My partner and I chose a scene where a woman rushes to get into an elevator, and it ends up breaking down. I'll leave the ending for you to listen to.
2. We then created an outline for all of the sounds we were going to use. It had the scene broken down into 3+ parts, and had a list of all the sounds we would use in that portion. This helped us organize the sounds so that we don't have something listed at the beginning which should really be at the end of the project.
3. Now onto editing. Instead of Adobe Express, which only allows you to stack 2 sounds, we used Microsoft 365's editing platform, ClipChamp. We also used Pixabay, which has a billion and one free sound effects, for a majority of the sounds that weren't foley.

I think I did a good job with utilizing the foley sounds. We recorded the banging on the door, clicking the elevator buttons, creaking of the floor, and a metal bar dropping. One thing I think I can improve on is possibly editing the sounds themselves. I think our project turned out well, but I don't feel like it tells the story as full as I wanted it to. During the breaking of the elevator, I think I could've added more sounds such as more gasps, heavier breathing, and the most important thing we forgot to add: AC. 

This is the link to the project if you want to check it out and leave your advice below!!

AydulunPerez_soundscape_per4 1.m4a

If you were curious, our timeline also looked like this:

SP #2:

Finally we're moving on to SP #2! Remember the One Word Film Project from Day 3? Well, it's back. For the OWF, we weren't able to use any sound, since we hadn't learned it. Now, we've learned sound, and this project was to add all of the necessary sounds into the project. For this, we could use any sound effects, use the necessary foley (no required amount), any words, etc. Really, anything to make the piece come alive. We worked with our previous partner to create the outline and any foley.

Here was my process:

1. Join with my partner for the OWF, to create our outline. Just like SP #1, we split the scene into different parts to help with the organization of our project. We had a school setting, so our outline mainly had footsteps, background chatter, unzipping backpacks, and of course, the bell ringing. 
2. After we had the outline completed, we started to do the foley. To start, just like the professionals do, we recorded all of the footsteps, and we added the voices.
3. Then, we started to add all of the sounds in, starting with the AC. My teacher said things like AC or wind sounds are environmental sounds that you kind of brush past if you don't think about it. 
4. Again, we used ClipChamp to edit and Pixabay for the other sound effects.

One thing I think I did well was the layering of sounds at the beginning of the scene, where the bell has just rung, that made it sound real. Something to improve on is definitely matching up the sounds to the actions. In some parts, the footsteps don't completely match the actor on screen and small things like that. Other than that, it wasn't horrible, but I know I can improve on the next project.

This is the finished project:

OWF Sound

I hope you enjoyed today's blog post, and I hope to see you next time!! 🫰🫰🫰