University Assignment - Sound for TV, Film and Games
23/04/21
This module was based around creating soundtracks, sound effects and narrating over videos given to us.
This assignment took place during a lockdown, and so was definitely a challenge to complete! From basic equipment, to having to organise vocal sessions online with friends for voice actors, it certainly tested my skills!
The first video of these was a short videoof the video game "The Movies". The premise of the story was a detective, hunting down a criminal. The 8 minutes had a variety of locations, such as a bedroom, empty streets, a busy subway and a diner. Throughout these scenes, multiple unique sounds were evident from on screen action.
This video was the largest of the two projects in terms of pure sound effects. I had to organise voice sessions with friends online. Sound effects that I had previously recorded whilst out and about in the city were utilised to the maximum for this, which came in handy! For example, after being stumped about the subway trains engines, I realised I had captured a bus in one of the general sound recordings I did of the city, which suited the noisy subway train as it stuttered away.
Obviously, a glaring issue that stands out the most is the varying quality of the voice-overs. This was due to the lockdown, and so in order to flesh out the characters a bit more I enlisted the help of my friends online. This created several issues, most of all the variety of microphones used throughout. Clipping, muffled takes, sibilance in speech, and intermittent internet issues all created barriers to completing this.
The second video was a chase scene, showing a student being followed by a spy for unknown reasons, eventually building up to the reveal of an explosive device on the student at the end, with the spy saving her just in time.
The sound effects were mostly recorded by me, with the only royalty-free sound effects being the explosion and the hand-dryer (due to the inability to record sounds to create these). The music was made using Ableton.
This project was a lot of fun, including the soundtrack creation and the foley. I really liked delving into the details for this, trying to sell the soundscape as best I could. I feel as though the awkward and muffled sounds of newspaper crunching and ambience in the beginning create a sense of unease which is definitely a positive for the tension building.
There were a few issues with this project, however. The explosion at the end threw a big spanner in the works, and with limited time and pressure mounting, I had to use a free sound database. Looking back, and with the experience of actually trying to create explosive sound effects since then(without an actual explosion!), this project was a good stepping stone into discovering the work that goes on behind the scenes to capture tonality.
