Pro Tool Kit [Group B] Sound Design

SOUND DESIGN

Recently my job role has changed from grip construction to sound designer. As the project we are working on gravitates around the area of creativity and restrictions it would only be right to explore and experiment with sounds that could really express the outlook of the scene. The main scenes are the the character getting thrown into the prison for being too creative, so I would like to capture sounds that could demonstrate this. These could consist of dripping water or empty atmosphere.

Here are a list of sound that could be used for the jail scene:

Environment sounds

• Prison Guard Whistling whilst patrolling cell blocks
• Prison doors slamming shut 
• Other inmates Groaning 
• Silent Humming sounds from T.V's on the other side ( once character discovers a way out)
• Rats scurrying around  

Character sounds

• Sniffling from fear 
• Dialog of his thoughts
• Heavy breathing  

Creative world

• Upbeat music 
• Possible commentary
•  Rays of light 

Maps & Journey (Extended Idea)

Visuals/Sound 


Recently I have come across the idea to use visual for my project as an alternative solution in developing my idea even further if necessary. I will still continue with my initial idea which is to produce a sound installation around laughter. The reason behind the additional visual imagery is so the that people experiencing this art form have more than one element to engage with creating an alternative outlook on the piece.

The idea is to capture as many different forms of laughter visually whilst collecting the sounds from the subject. Experimenting with the speed of the footage and using that to help convey to the audience the different types of facial expressions that exist through laughter.

Sound Installation

Once all the necessary sounds are collected the next process will be importing them into Pro tools, where I will then use effects that can alter the flow of sound. one area that I am having a problem deciding is weather to tell a story with the sound or possibly bring all the sounds together so they play off each other with a 30/40 second loop attached.

Certain Laughs that I want to stand out will be held in a separate room to get the best result i.e. Baby laughing or elderly person. Other sounds that I am going to collect will be used to create a back ground atmosphere which is going to be recorded in large groups.

Equipment Needed:  

• Zoom Recorder with boom mic 
• My personal DLSR or canon film camera 
• Tripod
• LED Light  

     

 

Pro Tool Kit [Group B] Job roles

Job roles and Requirements 

We have all assigned ourselves roles in which can benefit the group creatively. Although we all have individual job titles focus on any new ideas that can push the projects further will be accounted for. The currents job roles that are assigned individually to the group are; 

• Director - Laura 
• 1st assistant Director - Chloe 
• Cinematography - Charlie
• Lighting - Sahir/Tori
• Sound - Hannah
• Continuity - Leanna
• Production assistant - Katherine
• Camera - Josh 
• Grip - Myself/ Nick 

My role as operational gripper Consists of Number of roles that involve managing and building equipment from tripods, dollies, tracks, Jibs, cranes, and static rigs. This role is crucial in terms of maneuvering the camera to ensure the positioning of the shot is correct alongside the camera man. Maintaining a smooth image for the camera involves working not only closely alongside the  camera man but also with director and the cinematographer.  

Grip machinery with josh operating camera

        Responsibilities on the the day of the shoot will consist of;

• Arriving early to the set and gather gathering equipment 
• assembling any items that need to be put together 
• communicate with both director and d.o.p 
• Ensure equipment is tidy and not obstructing any other crew members on set     

Pro Tool Kit [Group B] Synopsis

Production Treatment 


Laura's Synopsis

Synopsis- We open in a prison cell type room resembling that of a mental asylum. There is a distinct lack of colour in the room everything being grey or the colour is toned down. The décor of the room hints at this being an unforgiving no creative place heavy. There is no sense of personality or flare around the furniture is basic with textbooks and a few old VHS tapes placed around the room. 
You hear a door being opened and the character being thrown into the cell and the door shuts behind them. The character is wearing a straightjacket. 
You hear a voice stating “you can't come out come out until you learn to be less creative”

Not liking the cell in the few seconds they have been in there the character brakes out of the straight jacket and begins to peel away at the wallpaper. As they do this they see a glimpse of light coming through the torn paper. 
They promotes them to break through the wall where they fall into room full of boxes which are displaying work from digital film and screen arts. The camera pans up and you see the whole thing is just a set to advertise the course

Target Audience - College students/Parents ages 16-19

Suggested elements:

* Camera movement- Zoom out, close ups.
* Editing- Split screen, transitions.
* Location- Cell block, futuristic room
* Props- Table, bed, books, tape, boxes
* Costume- straight jacket, white trousers

Rational- This is an interesting and unique way to show case the best of digital film and screen arts work and promote the course to potential students without creating a traditional show reel.

Personnel requirements-
* Cast- Male/female student
* Crew- Director, 1 ad, camera operator, boom holder, hair/make up, line/grip

Feasibility- Props brake- Have spare props
Faulty equipment- Check equipment before the start of filming.

Technical resources- camera, memory card, microphone, computer, final cut.

Lauras written Treatment 

Pro Tool Kit [Group B]

Professional Tool Kit Idea 

On this unit we were divided into two separate groups A/B mine is group B consisting of  10 people

• Charlie 
• Chloe 
• Laura
• Katherine
• Josh
• Leanna
• Hannah 
• Sahir 
• Tori 
• Diallo 

The task set was to create either a campaign or an advert. There was a long discussion about which approach to take and in the end we all thought it would be beneficial to merge to the two ideas together and develop a campaign\ promotional video but at the same time still showcasing the DFSA course itself.   

The only problem was that we needed to consider areas of the course that we wanted to represent within our own work without taking away the aim of the piece, which is to produce a piece of work that can be identified as a form of creativity instead of a straightforward campaign. So we considered a few points that we would like to include:

• Be informative about the types of areas we cover during our time on course such as Photography, Film, activity workshops, group projects among many other things.

• The Freedom you have when set projects i.e. experimental projects managing your own time schedule.

• Allowing ourselves to being as creative as possible and listening and critiquing each others work for positive feedback. 

•  Developing the video so it is not like your average university showreel.

Eventually we came up with an idea to create a studio set that represented a prison cell where a DFSA students creativity was being constricted by the surrounding dull environment when they eventually decided that they are sick and tired of feel trapped and not understood. Which results in them breaking through the prison cell wall and into the amazing creative course called DFSA. We had an idea to use green screen when the student breaks out of the cell into the creative world but after discussing it as a group we were e all unsure about how to overcomes this problem as we all are not too confident in lighting and using the green screen, but still an area to consider if needed.

We also thought about the types of props we may need to use for the set;

• Mattress 
• Bedframe 
• Orange prison Jumpsuit
• Small desk
• Poles to create prison bars 

   

Map & Journeys #4

Maps & Journeys 

This idea first sparked after the group I was in made the decision to go our separate ways and develop our own ideas due to, not being able to produce a finalised workable idea. Whilst brainstorming for idea in the group the area of sound caught my interest when going on to develop my own idea. One of the workshops I attend this semester consisted of sound whilst learning different ways in which you could manipulate it. Which is how i came up with the idea to create a sound installation with the concept of laughter and emotion through different ages.

Laughter is universal meaning everyone can relate to it some how. It  is a regular part of life and has means in which it can collectively bring people together to share one and others experiences and memories. Laughter is not the sole purposes of the is idea overall I like to display areas of emotion that many different people experience bring bring together a collection of sounds that can heard. In other words almost imagine you can hear a range of the different voices and emotions all stored in your head being play at once.

Other idea that I had in mind were

• Spoken word using visual imagery and sound 
• Monolog explaining the power of laughter Using recorded sounds 
• Visual sound piece no dialog 

In terms of the collections of laughter that I intend to gather the aim is to try and collect laugher from all ages ( 0-2 year , 2-5 years, 6-12 years 13-18 years and upwards). 

Professional Toolkit Sound Workshop #1

Professional Toolkit is one, out of the three Workshops I will be attending this semester. We have been set a task to create different forms of sounds playing along side your choice of recorded audio text. Over the past few weeks we have explored various different areas of sound on top of gathering an understanding of the program Pro Tools.

The first lesson Consisted of giving us a brief understanding of the task on hand along with familiarising ourselves with Recording equipment we would be using. We where set a small task of going out and in small groups and collecting different sounds, much like what we did last year with the 'Experimental sound' project. Harry played us a radio recording from 1968 called 'War of the Worlds' which was aired to the public causing causing mass panic among the community. This is a clear demonstration of how important sound can be used to create a range of atmospheres.

My chosen dialog is a scene for the Batman The Dark knight where the Joka is explain how he got his scars.

The Joker: You wanna know how I got these scars? My father, was a drinker, and a fiend. And one night, he goes off crazier than usual. Mommy gets the kitchen knife to defend herself. He doesn't like that. Not. One. Bit. So, me watching, he takes the knife to her, laughing while he does it. He turns to me and says, "Why so serious?" Comes at me with the knife. "WHY SO SERIOUS?" He sticks the blade in my mouth... "Let's put a smile on that face." And...

[glancing at thug]

The Joker: WHY SO SERIOUS ?

[kills Gambol]

Different sounds where a gathered with the recorder to help create a scene for the diegetic sound. After talking to harry about the initials sounds that I had chosen to use did not complement the style of dialog i chose. As i explained earlier the dialog scene is about the character explain how he received his scars. Harry suggested that i explore sounds that would indicate an assault or dispute, for instants objects such as knives, pots and pans, chairs scraping, doors slamming, anything really that indicates signs of a dispute.

Map & Journeys (feedback) #3

Maps & Journeys  presentation feedback

Today we had our presentation feedback section with rosie and were given a some interesting criticise both positive and negative. It seemed that the idea was plausible but we kept on coming back to the same conversation about requiring the right tools and equipment and if we had the skills to build the structural installation itself. "Whats the reason behind the doors" is an area that was brought up, and after discussing feedback we understood why people questioned it. They were not to sure whether people from an outside perspective would understand the concept fully.

We brainstormed a few ideas after the presentation to see if we could develop the idea even further and mold it into a sold understandable concept. We was not able produce a solid confident idea but managed to come across a solution for replacing the doors with objects instead and collecting specific sound the are within its normal environment. We would use an object with some form of mean and the journey it has previously undertaken i.e. a pair of old running shoes worn by an olympic athlete.

Map & Journeys #1

Maps & journeys approach towards the passage of money 


This idea was presented to me by Dowan and captured my interest due to its slight similarity to an idea i had for the project which was going to be about, exploring the journey of change from previous persetions to new ones. I felt that the idea introduced to me had an interesting outlook on the main source that is passed around the most. The idea was explained to with a narrative/visual structure which would be walking the audience through the eye of the £10 note witnessing areas that money effects in both negative and positive ways.



The message of the film was to express to display a number of ways in which money can be interpreted alongside financial background difference. It was important for us to show just how far money travels and its ability to change people who have come in contact with its perception on what you are actually living for.

The Documentary in terms of the our visual outlook needs to consist of carefully thought out engaged visual to help the audience feel some form of emotion towards the note. Voice over would therefore give the note its own characteristics making it believable to understand what life style it live on a regular basis.

In all the we want you as an audience by the time the piece is over to be able to relate to the note as a real person who has gone through a life changing experience.