unit 5

Investigating Audio Production Task List

Use your Wix:
make a sub-section for Unit 5 Investigating Audio Production: include the following:
Task 1.1
Write a blog about the parameters and constraints of the project. Follow the questions.
Task 1.2 and 2.1
Create a portfolio to show planning and research. Follow the guide sheet.
Task 2.2 Create the soundtrack for The Maker.
3.1 Evaluation and use of peer critiques on your soundtrack

Little Diary - Introduction to the unit

For the first lesson today, we have been introduced our unit 5 (investigating audio production and technology) by our new media teacher. After the introduction, we watched videos about how the sounds are made by using different objects.

Second lesson, we were given a list of sounds that we had to create by using various objects such as paper , plastic bags, wood etc. So we sent outside in little groups to record the sounds.

Third lesson, when we had to put them sounds together on premier pro. however, we faced an issue that was not very easy to solve. Some of the sound records were not saved on the sound recorder. The ones that were saved were not very good. Also the computer did not connect the sound recorder so we couldn't download the recordings on the computer. However, Liam trying to help us solve the problem deal with this problem. After the problem is solved, he will send the sound recordings to our email.

At the last lesson the teacher gave more information about the assignment brief which made us understand more about the project that we will be doing.

TASK 1.1

Answering The Questions :

Q1. Describe the animated short film "The Maker" What is the narrative?

We have watched the animated short film "the maker' on YouTube as a class. It was a good piece of work that has a weird storyline. Basically, the narrative is about a rabbit looking creature being alone and deciding to create a female friend for him. He created this female friend using fabrics, fake eyes, and nylon cotton. After he created the female, got vanished and the female that he created was left alone on her own. It was a successful piece of work with it's right to sound effects and angles.

Q2. What techniques have been used in making the film?

There are many techniques have been used in the making of this short film. From the costumes of the doll's to camera techniques, everything has been done correctly by using the right techniques. The making of this short animation film is actually much harder than it looks like it needs to be done very carefully. The sound effects that they have used in the film are very good and also on the right. It is very obvious that they've used many different types of equipment to create those sound effects for this short film.I'm guessing that they've might have used equipment like papers, instruments, wooden equipment etc. The camera techniques are also very good as they show what's going on int he scene from different direction and perspectives which is really good to fully understand what's going on. Additionally, to be able to create these rabbit looking characters for the film, I think they've have drawn it first and then had some fabric and wooden work included in order to create the characters.

Q3.Who do you think the film is aimed at? Give reasons:

I'm not very sure who or what the film is aimed at, to be honest. The film might be aiming at love, music, friendship, creation etc. If I had to make a decision out of these ideas, I would say that the film is aiming at love between two characters. A forbidden love may be.

Q4.How long does the film last? How long will the soundtrack need to last?

The whole video on YouTube lasts exactly 5 minutes and 31 seconds. However, the actual film the video lasts 4 minutes and 23 seconds. This means I will need to create sound effects for everything that's happening in the video until 4 minutes and 23 seconds, after that time I will put a soundtrack that I find of my own which then will help me to complete the video. I'm not expecting this unit to be hard like the other units that I', working on at the moment. However, there might be some hard bits that I might struggle to get it done, for example; when it comes to planning it can be very hard for me to think about how I'm going to create the sounds that I need to create, by saying this I mean the equipment that I will need to create the sounds.

Q5.If you wish to add music, how can you approach this in terms of copyright?

Q6.How will you plan the project? (mind-maps, storyboards)

I will plan my project by using mind-maps first. Then I might make a research about how to create sound using different pieces of equipment or objects. The planning is the hardest part for me when it comes to working on a project because it kind of determines how my project will look or sound like. Therefore, when it comes to planning I take quite a bit of time to help me to make the right choices. When I'm planning this project I will also have a look at to guidelines that the tutor has provided which can help me out when planning.

Q7.What research will you complete to support the project? (primary audience research, secondary research, watching audition tutorials)

I will make primary and a secondary research to give me an idea of how to shape my project. I will get the sound recording of my own and make people listen to it so that they can make comments on my work. I will get ideas from them telling me what I should do to improve my work. After primary research, I will also make a secondary research which includes listening and watching videos/tutorials about how to create sounds and take write notes down to keep the ideas that I have learned.

Q8.What are the pros and cons of each type of research?

Pros of primary research is that you can get the latest information from the marketplace. It can also assess the mind and the psychology of the people that participate in the survey, in this way we will be able to understand how people feel about a particular subject depending on what we are asking about. Con of primary research is that it can be expensive in some cases if we are working on wide groups of people. There is also a risk of the questionnaire or the interviewer being bias. Pros od secondary research is that we can obtain information without a much of cost. We can also get a good overview of the market. Cons of secondary research are that data may not be updated regularly which means that we might get wrong information and sometimes it can be expensive to buy on different marketplaces.

Q9. What equipments will you use in recording and editing audio?

I will be using many different types of equipment like books, pens, plastic bottles and so on. These pieces of equipment will help me to create the sounds that I need to put in the video "the Maker" I'm hoping to do as best as I can.

Q10. What problems might you have in recording and editing the sounds for the video?

The problems that I might face could be things like, I might not be able to find the right types of equipment o create the right sounds, I think I will overcome this problem easily if I face it at ay point. With the editing, I usually have problems with rending my video as I add a new sound effect which can cause my video being all over the place. However, if I can remember to press enter everytime I add something new to the video, then I would not face this problem.

Task 1.2 / 2.1 : Create a portfolio to show planning and research. Follow the guide sheet.

Research into existing sound in 2 animations:
Alice by Jan Svankmajer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rri69wKUUQ
and The Pearce Sisters by Aardman Animation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6hM-U9R1ng
List title and director of each animation

1. Alice by Jan Svankmajer : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rri69wKUUQ

- What is the story about? What style of animation is used?

When I watch this animation mixed real-life video, It really confuses me. It kind of has a connection with the film called "Alice in Wonderland". Some scenes are similar, for example; the secne where the little blonde girl in the video drinks the potion and take the form of a little doll is very similar to the scene where Alice in"Alice in Wonderland" drinks a potion and gets very small. I have watched the whole video but, it's very confusing and I couldn't really understand anything from it. It's just about a little girl following a rabbit doing all sorts of funny annoying things to be honest, which didn't interest me at all.

The kind of animation that has been used in the video is like real life mixed with a cartoon. I'm guessing that the cartoon characters have been made by professional craft makers. However, even though the video does not interest me at all, I think it was a successful one which even has been turned into a film later on.

Describe several interesting uses of sound in each film, explaining what the sound tells us: it might tell us what material is being torn, or how big a room is due to echo effect. Add images.

It is obvious that many types of equipment have been used to create the sounds which I think the outcome is very successful. for example; when the rabbit was trying to wear the gloves, I think they might have used some kind of fabric just moving around, or a fabric being played by a hand to create the sound of the rabbit wearing the gloves. I mean If I was trying to create a sound like that, I would probably just use a piece of fabric.

When the rabbit was playing around with the scissors, I think they might have used two knives just rubbing each other to create the sound of scissors being opened and closed. If I was the one that did the sound I would probably use knives or rea scissors which I think would give me a successful outcome.

2. The Pearce Sisters by Aardman Animation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6hM-U9R1ng

- What is the story about? What style of animation is used?

The story is about two spinsters living in a shack by the sea find a man washed up on the shore. In fact, the sisters in the film seem to be psychopaths or have mental issues as they find dead men, burn it and put them on their table to serve them tea even tho they can't drink it. They live on their of so they might be doing such things out of boredom. the style of animation that has been used is a cartoon. The characters and everything else we see in the film has been drawn by a professional cartoon artist. It's very successful and I really enjoyed watching this animation because it's better than the other animation I've watched "Alice".

Describe several interesting uses of sound in each film, explaining what the sound tells us: it might tell us what material is being torn, or how big a room is due to echo effect. Add images.

the first thing that I wonder about is that how they have managed to create the sound of the wind, the sea, and the seagulls? If I was the one who was creating the sound, I would probably choose a very windy day, go to a seaside and record all the sounds there to give a real sound effect to the animation. However, because it's an animation, the sounds don't really have to be realistic. In fact, they can sound very cartoonish. So, therefore, I think they've used real sea and wind sounds.

the part where the little sister put the pieces of wood into that little shelter to burn the body was interesting. To create th sound of the pieces of wood being thrown on the floor, they might have used some pencils just falling onto a wooden table because that's kind of how it sounds like to my ears, as the little girl throws the wooden sticks on the floor. they might have used different equipment to create the sound, but if I was the one creating the sound I would probably do it like how I said.

Research foley using one of the videos below; write down 4 interesting points from the video. Explain why they are interesting to you, and add images.

The video that I'm using is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2uIfonxsgE

I will be listing the 4 things that I find interesting about this video:

1. Creating thunder sound effect with the big thick transparent plastic (1.12-1.17). I found this part very interesting because I would have never thought of the thunder or crash sound effects are made up of a very basic equipment like this. I thought you might need to wait for it to rain and record the sound of thunder to catch the effect. However, I have learned a very easy way to do it with one piece of equipment. I find this very useful and very clever.

2. The second interesting this that I found with this video is the fact that how easy it is to create the sound (1.57-2.04) of a train. I would have never thought that very basic pieces of equipment were being used to create such important sounds. The way that they create the train sound effect is to use dry macaroni cheese and a type of wood (like a whistle) that creates the train whistle sound effects. They shake the dry macaroni cheese as they blow into the wodden whistle which exactly creates a train sound effect.

3. The third interesting this that I found with this video is the fact that they can create little fire sound effects (2.18-2.23) by just using a baby book/toy that kind of has a sizzling texture which helps to create sizzling fire sound effect. This is very interesting and easy way to create important sounds in animation and cartoons.

4. The fourth interesting thing that I found with this video is how they create the wind sound effect (3.35-3.42). The company has specifically created a machine that creates the perfect wind sound which amazed me the most. The reason why I have found this amazing is that just like the other ones, I would have never thought that's how they create the wind sound effect. I thought it's more of an effort to create such sound effects like that. This video has shown me very interesting and useful things that I can take into account when I get to create my sound effects for "The Maker".

A planning grid, explaining the sounds you want to make for each part of the film, and how you will make them.
You should keep a library of original recorded sounds.
Draw a mindmap of your initial idea for sounds to use.
A questionnaire to collect feedback on your ideas for sound so far.

ROUGH PLANNING

Pouring of the sand: We can have caster sugar being poured from the paper bag to a bowl.

Turning of the pages: Real pages can be used to turn the pages

Rolling of the dough: Real rolling pin could be used to create this sound. We can take the rolling pin and roll it on a wooden table which can create this sound. However, we can also use a thick stick and roll it on a wooden tablet which can also help us to create the sound that we need.

Cutting of the fabric: To create this sound, we can use the sound of a zipper. For example I can use the zipper on my coat which can help me create this sound. I can pull my zipper up like 1 second which can sound like cutting a fabric.

The opening of the drawer: I will be using a real drawer to create this sound

Turning of the camera generator: I can use roll a little pencil or a a tiny sisha liquid bottle on a table to create this sound

Opening of the eyes: miracle sound that I can create with metal bamboo sticks

MIND MAP- INITIAL IDEAS

MIND MAP ANALYSIS

I'm happy with the mind-map that I've created. I have selected all the scenes that I will put sound effect on. The scenes that I've chosen are good scenes and I think that my video is going to be more than 1 minute as the scenes which I selected are a bit too much. However I'm very happy with my mind-map.

THE ACTUAL SOUND EFFECTS THAT I'M GOING TOP CREATE

I tried to upload the sound effects that I've recorded, but I don'y know how to upload these sound effects that I've recorded on my Wix page

MY PRIMARY RESEARCH/SURVEY

I have done a primary research about my sound effects that I've recorded so far in order to get feedback from few people. I have asked 5 open questions in my survey in total and in total 5 people have given feedback on my survey. In my questionnaire, have asked questions about my work and how I could improve. People have given good answers and I will be analysing he answers that I have received for the questions I've asked in my questionnaire.

My first question on my questionnaire was 'What do you think about my sound effects so far?

In total I have 5 answers from 5 different people. Most people have said that my sound effects so far are good. Here how they put it in their answers 'I think they are very good so far', 'they're good', 'you sound effects are good', 'very good', 'so far your sound effects are good'. In fact, I was waiting for people to say that it's not very good so far but, surprisingly most of these people think that my sound recording are actually which made me quite happy.

My second question on my questionnaire was 'Do you think I should add more sound effects? If yes then why?'

In total 5 people have answered this question. As we can see in the screenshot at the left hand side of the page, when we look at the answers, most people have said that I have enough sound effects. To be honest, when I've prepared my questionnaire I was expecting people to say that I haven't got enough sound effects. Also, thought that we had make sound effects for the whole video which was over 5 minutes. However, later on I've heard that we can just make few sound records for specific parts of the video and just create our video like that which is what I did).

My third question on my questionnaire was 'Do you think my sound effects are good quality? and how?'

I have received 5 answers in total for this question. The answers are 'yes,very', yes they sound very good', 'yes they have good quality very successful', 'your sound effects are very good and have good quality', 'yes they are very good quality'. When we summarise these answers, we get to the point where most people agree that my sounds are good quality. I'm happy about the answers given for this question. However, I feel like people are not being honest as most of the answers are good.

My fourth question on my questionnaire was 'Did I choose good scenes to make the sound records and why?'

All of the 5 answers that I've received for this question are basically saying all positive stuff about my work. It seems that most people didn't even answer the question properly because, I've asked them to give reasons why they think like that, but not man y of them give the reasons why for their answers. Here are their answers 'I don't know the scenes but your sound effects are good', 'yes because you can create good sound effects for the scenes that you have chosen', 'yes you have because they're good', 'I'm not too sure, you probably have', 'yes and I don't know the reason why'. As we see in the answers, only 2 people have given reasons for their answers.

My fifth and the last question on my questionnaire was 'Are there anymore sound effects that you would make? What are they?'

I have received 5 answers for this question. The answers are; 'my sounds effects are less than yours', 'no I wouldn't do it more', 'I wouldn't do it more as we don't have to do it for the whole video', 'I've got enough', 'no'. Most people in their answers have suggested that I shouldn't do more sound effects, because the sound effects that I have are enough.

PRIMARY RESEARCH REFLECTION

I have finished analysing my primary research. I've made up a short questionnaire on Google forms in order to receive feedback from people about my work so far. I must say that I'm happy about the fact that most people have made positive comments about my work However, I'm not very about he fact tat my questions are not fully answered. Most people have not given reasons for their answers even though I've asked them to give reasons which is fair enough. The Affect that this primary research is going to have on my work is quite ab it obvious. I don't think I will listen to the people that have answered my questions in the questionnaire. The reason for this is because I personally don't think that my sound effects are enough for the maker. I'm planning to prepare sound effects for roughly 2 mins or 1 minute and 30 seconds of the video. Therefore, I think I might need more sound effects or I can create the video using the sound effects that I already have which might be enough.

The video that I placed at the left hand side of the page is a very useful video. It gives information and ideas about how the sounds for animation are created. For example; in the video they're showing how to make thunder sounds, wavy sea sounds etc. It's a very interesting video that gives a lot of idea of how to create sound effects professionally which I found very helpful. Even though my video does not include any kind of wavy sea sounds, it was still useful to have a quick look at this video as it has given inspirations about creating different types of sound effects using basic equipment.

I have found a website which tells about how to create different kind of sound effects at home which I've found very useful.

http://www.videomaker.com/article/c9/3186-homemade-sound-effects-with-big-budget-impact

The two of the screenshots above are the piece of examples that I have taken from the website that I have found. As you see it in the screenshot, it gives a lot of information about how to create certain sound effects using basic equipment which most people can get in their house. I'm happy to find out about this website as it has given inspiration and helped me to reflect the information I gathered on my work.

STORY BOARD

SECONDARY RESEARCH

For my secondary research I will be looking at few sources whether they're videos, paragraphs or pictures. I will start off with a video from Youtube. Here is the link of the video;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO3N_PRIgX0

SECONDARY RESEARCH REFLECTION

The secondary research that have done is going to help me with my work as I gathered enough information to use in my own work. I have else watched some other videos as well about creating sound effects but, I did not put them on my Wix page because I didn't want my Wix page to be surrounded by ton of videos. Well, even though I didn't put them on my Wix page, I still have learnt something that will will help me out.

MY FINAL VIDEO

MY FINAL VIDEO ANALYSIS

I've finished editing the sounds in the video. I must admit that I'm quite happy with the outcome. I did expected it to be much better but, I think it's not as bad as I thought it would be. When I was creating the soundtracks for the video, I really enjoyed the fact that it was for an animation movie which gave me the chance to be as creative as I can. Plus it didn't have to sound very realistic as it's an animation movie. I have uploaded ,my video on Youtube so that people cans watch it. At the right hand-side of the page you can seethe video that I uploaded.

PEER CRITIQUES X2

EVALUATION

•How effectively have you used planning for making your sounds?

My planning for making the sounds were quite good in my opinion. This is because, I was prepared for what was coming up. I watched the video 'The Maker' on Youtube and analysed what kind of sounds were used for moving the objects etc. This has given me an idea of how effectively I can use my planning for creating the sounds. I also watched few videos and read few paragraphs about how to create sounds for specific moments for animation movies.

•Explain the techniques you used in planning the project: this should include either storyboarding with drawings/screenshots, or mind-mapping, or a planning grid.

The techniques that I have used for planning for this project are mind-maps, planning grids, primary and secondary researches. These techniques helped me a while creating this project. I have created a mind-map for soundtracks that I'm going to create first so that i can remember what parts of the movie I should use for the soundtracks that I will create. I have chosen the parts where there were sounds for example; the bits where the character moves objects etc. I then put those into a planning grid and explain dhow I will create these soundtracks. I then done my primary an secondary research which helped me a lot as well.

Planning the techniques for making foley

•locations you aimed to use with an explanation of suitability

The location that I aimed to use in the video were the parts where the monster was moving objects around like, cutting fabrics, opening the drawer, spinning the camera etc. These parts of the movie were good parts to use as I had to chance to create sound for them. The parts that I have chosen to use in my project were; turning the sand watch upside down, falling of the sands, putting the book on the table, turning of the pages, moving the book away from the table, taking the dough, opening the dough on the table with the rolling pin, throwing the stuff in the jar on the table, dabbing on the forehead, moving the monster from the table to cook it in the oven, cutting the fabric, filling the fabric with cotton, sewing the fabric, putting the hot cooked monster in cold water, opening the drawer and spinning the camera. These parts were really useful and I have tried to create sounds in the best way possible (I know it's not perfect).

•Explain the sounds you aimed to make for specified actions in the film

Turning the sand watch upside down, falling of the sands, putting the book on the table, turning of the pages, moving the book away from the table, taking the dough, opening the dough on the table with the rolling pin, throwing the stuff in the jar on the table, dabbing on the forehead, moving the monster from the table to cook it in the oven, cutting the fabric, filling the fabric with cotton, sewing the fabric, putting the hot cooked monster in cold water, opening the drawer and spinning the camera. These were the sounds that I wanted to make for the video. Each and every single one of these sounds tracks were easy to make and I almost the similar kind of equipments to create these different sounds. However, there are few soundtracks where I had to use very different kind of equipment to create the sound. For example; to make the sizzling sound for the part where the monster takes the hot cooked thing from the oven and puts it in hot water, I had to heat up a pan on the oven and put cold water on it. This method had given me the sound that I wanted to make for this scene. |For other parts of the film I have used a tiny bottle, jar, dried beans, hair cone and duvet cover.

•How effectively does their soundtrack enhance the animation? What new elements does sit bring to the film’s interpretation?

My work is not perfect but I think I have given that realistic feel to this animation film. The background music that I have chosen really suits this video and I'm very happy that I have found a background music like that. Apart from few mistakes, the video and the soundtracks are okay.

•How precisely have you timed the use of foley in your edit?

The timings are very good. The sounds are in order. however, I think I have made some mistakes when editing the video, when you watch the video you can realise that when the monster is turning the pages of the book the sound effects still carries on for a second or two after the monster stops turing the pages of the book which is a minus.

•Have you used music? What does the music add to the film?

Yes, I have used a background music for this video. I think the background music that I have found for this video is very good and suits just perfectly for the video in my opinion. The background music that I've used for this video is from Vivaldi 'The four season'. I really like the music that Vivaldi has made and I wanted to use it in my video.

•How effectively did you use peer feedback? Give examples:

To be honest, I didn't really had the chance to use the feedback that I received from people. They were making really good comments even if my work wasn't good enough. Therefore, I will be honest and say that I didn't really take the feedback in consideration. Even though I knew it myself that there were some parts which were not good enough, people were still making good comments about my work and not giving me any suggestions on how I should improve my work. Therefore, I didn't really listen to anyone and done everything myself.

•What has worked well ?

This unit was one of the units that I really enjoyed doing. I think many things went well. aT the start I thought I will struggle with creating the soundtracks for the video as it seemed a bit hard because, I didn't know what kind of equipment to use to create the sounds for the video. However, I was quite wrong. I did not imagine that it would be that enjoyable and interesting. Therefore many things went well. The fact that I produced my original sound tracks in less than an hour at home which I thought would take longer than that. I was surprised that it only took me less than an hour to get it done. When I was creating sound tracks for the video at college, it took me much longer and I did not even use those sound tracks that I made in college in my final video because, they were not good enough. I decided that none of these soundtracks that I created are usable so I went home and created my very own ones. I think I work much better on my own when people are not around me. I get the chance to concentrate and focus on my work and be more creative. So, creating my final soundtracks went really well. Additionally, my planning was good as well. To be honest I think that my planning is not good enough as I think I could have done much better planning by being more descriptive and choose more scenes to put sound on. However, in my opinion my effort on this project is average. I could of done it much better.

•What is the weakest element?

The weakest element in this project in my opinion is, the planning and my primary soundtracks. The soundtracks that I've created at college were rubbish in my opinion. However, they helped me to sort out the do's and don't when it comes to creating my final soundtracks. This was the weakest part. When it comes to planning well, I could have been more descriptive and go in more detail when I was planning my mind-maps and planning grids. Additionally, I don't think I've done enough secondary research for this project which worries me a lot.

•What can you suggest that would improve the soundtrack?

In my opinion I think my final soundtracks are quite goo. However, they could have ben better if I made a bit more research on how to make sound effects using different basic equipments. Unfortunately, I did not do enough research on how to create sound effects for animation movies which is the reason why my work is not perfect. However, I don't think the soundtracks are rubbish as well, they're not as bad as I imagined. In the end, I really enjoyed this unit.