critical evaluation

Mercy

At the beginning of this module we had a very different script and project to complete called “Gods Among Us” and even though that we had originally agreed to film that project, the scriptwriter retracted the script and project for his own reasons; that did put us behind schedule to not only make a new concept to also film it within a smaller time frame than originally thought. Once we got the green light for Mercy we sprung into action as soon as we could. I as the sound operator experimented with the grips and styles of the microphones support; seeing if I could personally improve my recording experience. I personally during the beginning of this project had suffered issues with my ankle and supporting myself up unassisted but never the less I made sure to be on time and found ways to set up in the more efficient way possible.

I personally tried to give the cinematographer as much room as he needed so I could work around him while still trying to get the best audio possible. I also had to take into consideration the shadow that not only I cast but the shadow that my boom pole and microphones make. With some of the locations we filmed at however I think I could have improved the work I produced by having more control over the environments. For example most of the interior shots have some sort of subtle background noise; if I had more preparation and more control to alter the environments I could have eliminated these sounds at their sources; however because of these locations not being recce’d I couldn’t have changed anything major. There was a shoot that I could not turn up to as I had already been booked out that day for the project I was also working on named “The Cell”. I went and showed my director how to record and what to turn to make sure the levels were right and what ended up happening was the audio recorded from that shoot turned out to be very quiet and as the sound mixer I had to turn it up just to catch up with the other sound clips that go along with it. It is my fault as I didn’t have time to test the room and set the levels; I left it to our director because I was pressed for time.

As a sound operator in demand for the multiple projects going on throughout the year I made a system that could easily be followed and stands on the principal of, early bird catches the worm. Making sure that whomever comes to me first and asks me to shoot on certain days and times they then have priority.

With Mercy I had more of challenge because not only was I the sound engineer for the whole project but I was also the sound mixer at the end of the process and since I am also and editor I thought it’d come naturally but I quickly discovered that I had new things to learn and I would make sure that I couldn’t let my crew down. The issues I had with this project in particular were little to none however the double booking of equipment was annoying because the equipment we expected to receive was already taken out and we got the scraps. The only other thing that could be considered as a problem with this project would probably have to do with the last minute shoots that I felt needed to be accepted.

The editor did a great job of editing on the go, so as we finish filming she starts editing that very same day so when it came to doing the Sound mixing I didn’t have to wait a week or so to get a rough cut of the edit to work with. The producer/director and writer did an amazing job considering the time crunch we were under as well as the locations that dropped out last minute and he was able to keep the film date but just find a new location. The cinematographer did an amazing job as well, not only communicating well with myself but accepting the communication I gave him in return about both of our roles and movements/positions during each shot.

If I personally would do anything different I’d most possibly make sure that there were recces and that I could tag along to have scoped out the locations and prepared more than I did. I would also personally have put more effort into not only just making  Y mic setup but also design and build a setup for an X setup for the microphones; I just think the option of either would have been nicer than just one. Through this project I have learned many important attributes to do with the role of Sound operator and mixer, I have learned how to confidently use Pro Tools as well as discovering new and better ways to capture audio. Which in turn also challenged me to learn a new editing program I had never experienced before as well as learning new positions and statures while boom operating.

            I think that Mercy as a whole is a success not only as a film but as an experience, it helped us all become more professional and more understanding of each others roles other than our own. It as a whole is a good film with a solid plot, story and visual presence; not to mention the audio to match. It helped me get more acquainted with the etiquette behind meeting and greeting actors as well as having the patience to find something that you could in fact do as you may be waiting for someone else to appear.

            For this film I wanted to take heavy inspiration from Hannibal, the television show as it has this auditory feeling of always being watched and uncertainty about it that I think it was  a perfect fit for Mercy.

The Cell

The cell was a simple film visually and location based however when it came to sound it was much more complex then I first imagined because of the sheer quantity of perpetration and planning that is needed to get every sound that is needed. I jumped at the chance to be apart of this crew because I knew I could spread my wings in the experimentation area of sound design and collection. Just thinking of the possibilities made me hooked onto the projects premise and as the script grew and evolved so did my understanding of the overall feeling the film was wanting to give out which I had to portray in an auditory sense.

I think I could have done so much better with this project in particular if I had went out more and collected more foley sound even though I had already collected a good amount of clips I still feel like if I had gotten more it would have given the editor more to work with in the long run. As a whole I think The Cell is a great film and will stand as one of my proudest contributions towards my career; it is still of course not the best masterpiece in the world because everything can be improved, especially a film with such depth in it as ours. Knowing when to leave it be and allow the film to stand by itself is a hard move that we must all make and even with it’s little imperfections here and there; I still believe it’s a beautiful film, mistakes and all.

I believe I have responded well in accordance to the input I’ve had from external sources, some of which questioned why I personally preferred a certain number of microphones or their stand counterparts. I gave my honest answer of “it’s better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it” but with this project in particular I had to revisit some techniques and equipment I had not used or seen in a long time; using the radio mics was great for when I couldn’t quite get the right angle to get the best sound.

            I was inspired by the Cube and it’s sequel hyper cube for the sound gathering of The cell because both films showcase a sense of solitude and separation with just their ambience and sound effect; that is what I wanted to replicate with some of the Foley sounds I collected for The Cell.

            I personally think I’ve met each and every brief outcome specified throughout its handbook, I have learned and improved my communication skills with members of the crew and with actors whom are non specialists. I saw the challenges that this project presented and not only did I elaborately decipher them but I was also critical about each problem that not only I solved but ones that I also created. The issues I encountered with this project specifically was mainly with others communications as I knew I wanted to be on recce’s to check the areas out but I was not informed of them till the week after they had happened. My only other issue would have to be with the planning behind each shoot, some were in fact marvellously organised but some were so poorly organised that I had no idea that I was filming on certain days till I asked.

In conclusion this entire module has moulded me into a much more mature professional and I feel like I’m ready to walk into the industry world where I’ll be ready for anything they through at me. My communication skills have certainly improved with that of experts and other members whom may not be that well educated on Film and its process. This module helped me discover more and more about the different areas of a films production team, which in turn will help others learn from it as a whole. I worked on a few other shoots that I wasn’t apart of only because I knew they needed the help and I’d rather a project have the sound op it needs in a time of need than no sound op, helping out with The Last Ones was an interesting experience I must admit but I cannot pass judgement as I was only there for one shoot.

filming with the cell

There was this fantastic manor where we filmed the office and garden scenes and it just took my breath away, only issue was the road just next to it was audible but with some tweaking I'm sure it wouldn't even be noticeable. The garden scenes gave me great opportunities for ambient sound as well as the chance to capture up close birds singing to each other.

The interior of the manor was breath taking as well as it being pretty soundproof to most other things, it just had this beautiful feeling to it that I hope I was able to capture through my sound recordings. Even though it was perfect and very sound proof in certain areas of the manor, the office wasn't the most secure as in a few recordings you can hear the traffic in the background?

The entire experience was amazing not only the location but the people that I filmed with and the actors that blessed the ground in front of our cameras. The actors were very polite and well spoken very willing to participate in our ideas of how this scene will be shot.

The studio shoots we were apart of went very smoothly and kept itself as organised as we could keep it under the time pressures we were under. The issues I had personally as a sound op with shooting in  the studio is that I could hear very clearly anyone outside of the door and everyone moving above me. The way I got around this was having several mics set up so that way if there's a loud noise I couldn't prevent then one mic will catch it at a high volume but the other would catch it in a quieter depth where the editor can edit more accurately.

This was just when there were 2 walls up and we were doing tests with our equipment just to get a feel for the cubism. 

I do believe the orange jumpsuit was going to be the original uniform for our main character but after our tests we in fact realised that it was a terrible idea to wear reflective garments in a cube with light pointed inward.

The design for the poster was one of my behind the scenes photos which I think was a beautiful yet happy accident, it perfectly symbolizes the film in it's entirety. The fact that he has so many questions, just looking curiously around, even with the sound equipment and such in shot it just symbolises the fact that he's not a person who's been in prisoned without reason, the 4 walls he knows is just a fabrication for a test, a test that he himself has seen and been through many times; it both takes you out of the films realism yet also still clings to you allowing you think, maybe. 

filming with Mercy

These are the screengrabs from 2 shoots in particular, one being the interrogation scene where I was unable to attend because I was already booked out that day with The Cell but I was able to run there and set up a basic 2 mic stationary stand.with the second image that is from the therapy scenes where we got closeups and over the shoulders of each shot, getting the sound for that days shoot was much easier because the frame wasn't as wide as before, allowing my closer access

This is from the crime scene shoot we did where we filmed a continousn shot of our actor pouting and then discovering a shirt and running off, the problems I had with this shoot in particular were the shadows I was casting but I soon came to the solution of stay behind the camera op at all times unless it is facing away from the sun. Getting the Foley for this scene was actually much easier than most others I've had to gather because not only was the actor directly there with the same raw passion but also he was suggesting sounds I had not considered.

These shots audio wise I did struggle with because of course I wasn't there and I had no idea about the levels, gain or peaks during any of it till I got to hear it for myself and I can't blame the director whom was in charge of it whilst I was gone because he is not a sound operator and it would be unfair to blame someone who wasn't prepared for a certain role. With the sound editing I can just boost the gain on the clips themselves but that itself has an issue, doing that makes the clips louder but it also makes them sound grainy, so I'd need to find the right balance between grain and intensity of volume.

These scenes in particular were a mixture of fun challenges and unexpected boosts of volume. Trying to balance 3 actors vocals cords when 1 is a live performer and the other 2 are singers is slightly more difficult then I first expected especially when George becomes louder and louder to the point of peaking. getting multiple takes and timing the dial turn when George was to yell was the main solution I found but obviously if we had more crew members it could have been easier.

The over the shoulder shots for the interrogation scenes were great visually but that left me with an issue because I didn't record this I couldn't have changed the dial settings before a loud noise. I can do that in post while sound mixing it just would have been nice to have the control over the sound that I normally have. Being able to edit and change the volume of certain clips is easy; the hard part is when you try that on a piece of audio that goes from whispering to bellowing screams within an instant.

The interior house scenes were fantastic to film with, there were some issues where I could hear the dolly going across the wooden floor and some phone vibrations here and there but once we got that all sorted it just worked like a breeze.

The main issue with the house scenes is a similar issue I had with the therapy scenes which is background noise, usually a server or faint buzzing that throws off the whole atmosphere.

The outdoor shots were fantastic to capture especially when the days we went were such beautiful days, we found a beautiful scenic spot which had a river and tweeting birds, which inly made the ambience and wildtracks even more precious to me. There was quite the issue with wind interference but I did expect there to be a catch when the beautiful location was experiencing such a beautiful and melodic day. It was all easily fixable and was more than just having fun while working, it helped me get a deeper feeling for my role.

These were the photos taken when we were filming the news reporter the first time, unfortunately no one took photos for when we re-filmed it with a different actor. We tried to keep the green screen as smooth and well light as possible to make it easier for the editor in the long run and during the tests she was running at the time.

We had issues with the actor here not because of his talent but because of the presence he had, we all felt like he seemed to immature and young to be the news reporter on a television broadcast telling the nation about a murderer.

For the replacement actor we got an older actor who even though he was on a tight schedule was able to spare 30 minutes to read through the lines and get it spot on for the editor to use in the final cut of the film.

The forest was a beautifully tranquil place to film, we had the babbling Brooke just to our left and birds singing all around and overhead. The only issues we had here were the odd dog walker or occasional plane going past but apart from that it was absolutely splendid considering I could shield my microphones from the harsh wind.

I threw together a concept for the Mercy poster because I liked the way that each of my screenshots looked separately so having them together was more of a visual test that turned out really well. Plus I thought sticking with the darker colours would not only make the Red pop more but also give it that gritty feel that I know the director was going for in the film. 

Helping with the last ones

I lent a last minute hand to the last ones because their sound operator was at the time busy; so I accepted to help them as I'd rather them have good sound than sound in the hands of a non sound op.

The night was simple, just set up and film a few medium close up shots and a long shot. Nothing I hadn't done before and it was by far something I had indeed faced before.

the issues I faced with this one off shoot was that it was at such last minute I didn't have time to read the script to know what was going on, I only had a rough idea about what happens story wise and the fact that the director seemed to not really know what shot or what time each shot should start which is especially concerning considering I needed to know if I should use a mic stand for a static shot or keep the mic on boom for the moving shots.

module

link to the handbook

everything I need to know

Evaluation

This project was a chance for me to explore and expand my experience with the sound equipment I was already acquainted with but also helping to broaden my knowledge of the art of sound effects. My minor project consisted of researching the historical background of sound effects as a concept as well as collecting a Foley database of sound effects and implementing those sounds and effects into Stevens’s minor project. I used the in-depth research I collected on the water-phone to shape and inspire my creative choices when it came to choosing and creating certain noises based on household objects and items.

Researching for this project was a combination of searching and discovering the history of sound effects as well as looking more deeply into an instrument that inspired my passion for this minor project called the Water Phone that creates eerie and atmospheric music that happily accompanies scenes of horror. While looking into that I discovered its inspiration, the Tibetan drum which make a very similar sound and pitch but has less control over the sounds it can create unlike the Water phone. I looked more closely into the art of Foley sound and the man who created the art and creation of the Foley collection of sound effects; Jack Foley. I found no issue with the researching area of this module as I pitched my own guidelines for this module and knowing I could research these topics freely.

During the first test I discovered the very importance of location in relation to background noise as well as the volume to some sounds through headphones in comparison to what is actually recorded. I tried experimenting with recording the sounds of a heart beat with the microphone pressed against my chest, I heard it through the headphones and believed it had recorded but when I checked the recording it had not picked up. On the subject of background noise I was filming within my kitchen and didn’t pick up on the humming the boiler was making till when I was revising my sound effects I had collected already.

With the second test I experimented more with different sounds in particular, more to do with combat and contact sounds as I know they are important effects that must sound realistic. I kept the microphone close enough to the action to capture its effect but far enough away so it wouldn’t have any negative effects on the recording. I chose the most soundproofed room to record in especially after the first tests issues, I chose to record ambience in that room specifically because it wasn’t just the quietest but it had a bit of subtle character to the silence that would help give a scene more than just ambience. I sat in the silent room and recorded each sound with precision and care, there are some sounds better than others but that is why I made sure to get multiple of each sound, with intensity, duration and different surface areas. If I had to improve anything about this particular test I would have made more exploration with more equipment as well as collecting more unique and interesting sounds.

With the experiences with Stevens’s project there wasn’t any large problems to do with the filming in particular, there were only minor issues but to each issue there were solutions round each corner. I had a particular issue with the ambiences either being tainted or having an interruption at some point in the timeline so I made duplicates of the small ambient pieces and made them fade into each other. I made sure to listen to peers during filming and recording as I was very open to new suggestions about different sounds and different ways to capture the better sounds. The entirety of the filming process was simple enough and felt professional yet also relaxed.

Editing the sound and its effects for Stevens film challenged me in certain way because I was not used to editing sound so I kept to Avid making sure that I was on a program I knew and trusted to explore and experiment with editing sound. The problems I came across during editing were non problematic and had simple solutions, such as an issue I had with the sound effects, I needed the sound of a bat swinging and hitting someone which was a sound I did not have, the solution was to use one sword swinging clip I had and combined it with the sound effect of the bat hitting a pumpkin then cut them in a certain way so it synced in.

In conclusion I would summarise the entirety of the project module as a pleasant success. I experimented exactly how I set out to and I learned the skills I had set out to acquire. I would however state that if I were to do anything differently relating to this project I would have thought more carefully about my first tests location so that way the second test could have been more about another area that was possible to explore. This was a successful module in my eyes because I met the aims and outcomes with gracious embracement. If I were to improve my work in any way, I would have organized my time and locations better as well as spreading my technical knowhow with more equipment.

I encouraged myself to preform experimentation and creativity with my work with audio and it’s many techniques. I was able to extend my critical and cultural awareness within the context of the creative process because I looked at the water phone as well as the Tibetan drums origins. I set out during this project and made sure my Foley work was independent to any other work I was helping with and I kept a pro-active, problem-solving mind-set when thinking of different sounds and if I couldn’t capture them what else I could capture that sounded like them. I developed new and creative methods of using sound in editing by using two completely separate sound clips to serve one sound purpose which was based upon my experimentation and practice of trailing through my own sounds trying to make new techniques and inspiring myself to make an original creative outcome.

Editing and film progress

I used the most of the ambiance to create a solid and equal transition between the scenes as well as an easier more tranquil state of film. I did not use all or even half of the sounds I recorded form my Foley work but is because there was not a lot of contact on Stevens film and when there was I had the perfect contact sound and swing for a baseball bat so really it was more perfectly than recording a baseball bat swinging

with the entirety of Stevens production taken into consideration, it was a good film and had good shoots, there were issues here and there but most shoots do have minor issues. Overall a good shoot and I would happily work with him again,.