Work in progress

Annotated Bibliography 

Annotated Bibliography for W.I.P, Viva and Final year project.

Nahmani, D. (2009) Logic Pro 9 and Logic Express 9. 1st ed. San Francisco: Peachpit Press.

Extensive tutorial and insight into logic is provided with this book. The Book is very capable of highlighting the applications within logic which will help provide a more faster,  functional & professional editing processes.

Attwood, D. (2002) Sound Design: classic audio & Hi-Fi Design. 1^st ed. Great Britain: Octopus Publishing Group LTD.

Attwood researches how Audio recording has evolved since the end of the Second World War.

Crich, T. (2002) Recording Tips for Engineers: For cleaner, Brighter Tracks. 2^nd ed. Oxford: Elsevier.

Recording Tips for engineers is a fantastic book for planning the up and coming Experimental Recording sessions. Crich offers a wide variety of microphone setup techniques, i.e. Decca Tree, for the usual four pieces band Instruments. Though the main focus is on the studio instruments explanations into why they are being used and type of capture are beneficial in the postproduction domain. Illustrations are vast in this book allowing for easy imitations to be implemented. Though a vast amount of recording knowledge is given only a mere 9 pages are dedicated to Mixing.

Eargle, J. (2004) The Microphone Book. 2^nd ed. Oxford: Focal Press.

Eargler’s book provides an extensive look into microphone design and properties. Eargler’s Microphone Book is the essential guide for making an informed decision for sound capture. Though Crich’s “Recording Tips for Engineers” focuses on four piece bands Eargler focuses on a much wider scope of instruments i.e. trumpets, saxophone, violins and small & Large ensembles.  The Book also emplains a SAM & SPL array Micking technique. This would be good to implements in the studio for the Music and sound effects.

Rose, J. (2002) Audio Post-production for Digital Video. 1^st ed. San Francisco: CMP Books.

Jay Rose’s Audio Post-production covers next to all aspect of digital audio for video. The Book concentrates on all four aspects of post-production. The Book has assertive advise on how to use stereo beyond stereo tracks.

The chapter dedicated to ADR looks upon the acoustical environments, which are best for recording. Illustrations and diagrams provide a visual representation with well in-depth explanations.

Apart from its description on how dialogue is said, emphasizes and inflicted are Rose offers a 22-page chapter on how to edit dialogue.  The depth that Rose goes into dialog editing is complex and vital for when ones own edits are being assessed. Voltage jumps from transients, frame rates and listening perception are all covered with clarity. ADR replacement and voice are also discussed in length.

This book gives a fantastic look at the editing proccesses that take place in all aspects of Post-production.

Ament, V (2009) The Foley Grail: The Art of performing sound for Film, Game and Animation. Elsevier: Oxford.

 

The Foley Grail has consistent examples throughout so that the reader can investigate and research with the book pointing him/her in the right direction. Examples in the films The Lion King and The Incredible’s are discusses to highlight the way Foley has been created and used at a professional standard. Professional Foley artists and postproduction artists also give dialogue of experiences they have had and how to work with people in the industry.

The chapter “Let’s Go Ahead and Go Back: Spotting and Cueing” is dedicated to the first steps that are taken to adding Foley to film. Ament gives pictures of Spotting sheets and Cue sheets and then explains them to help to reader make one themselves. Picture example are given throughout the book with very something explanations attached to them. Pictured example of Foley Studios and Foley props are

The Grail looks into the physical side of Foley more then the technical side. This is why the book is unique and helpful to someone working on postproduction for animation.

“Future critical reflection on animation and game sound can only benefit by feeding in the kind of specialist practical knowledge Ament provides about the aural footprint left by a very particular aspect of the sound production process” (Garwood, 2010)

Garwoon, Ian (2010) Review Essay: Vanessa Theme Ament, The Foley Grail: The Art of Performing Sound For Film, Games and Animation. [Online] Available from: <http://anm.sagepub.com/content/5/3/369.short> [Accessed  8^th December 2013]

Viers, R (2008) The sound effects bible: How to Create and Record Hollywood Style Sound Effects. Michael Wiese Productions: California.

Ric Viers has worked for universal Studio, Disney and many more companies from with in the Film and Television industry. Vic has 10 years of experience and has written two books about sound for film.

The Sound Effects Bible has a technical approach to recording sound effects and Foley. Viers writes in depth about Microphone specifications and types, this help the reader to make important decisions based upon the specifications given. Viers also writes about using Tape and digital recorders n the studio and the field. He talks in depth about the science behind the recorders and what to avoid when using them.

The Sound Effects Bible writes extensively about the processing software available for a sound recorder. Tutorials about what software does what and how to use it makes it a beneficial tool when processing audio in the studio. The book covers noise reduction, pitch shifting, Reverb, time stretching and time compression and plug in chains. Viers also illustrates the theory behind studio setup, microphone capture and mixing audio. Though some of the theory is basic Viers does write about trips and tricks that can reduce the time spent on certain tasks, this is beneficial for time management.

The publishers review explains the book to be “a complete guide to recording and editing sound effects.”

Ginsburg, F (2013) Sound Effects Bible, By Ric Viers, [online] Available from:http://filmtvsound.com/index.php/book-reviews/271-sound-effects-bible-by-ric-viers [accessed 8th December 2013]

 

Kenny, T (2000) Sound For Picture: The art of sound design in film and television. Mix Books: California.

 

In Sound For Pictures Kenny concentrates on how specific films from “Beauty and the beast” to “Casino” have had the sound made for them. Kenny concentrates more on the creative side of sound design not the physical or technical. Sound designers and Foley artist talk about their experiences of working on certain film. They talk about how different films have different challenges that they overcome in unique and creative ways.

The Books first chapter is an interview with Robert Murch one of the fathers or sound design for film. He is notably one of the best and most experienced sound designers in Hollywood. The Chapter explains Murch’s career and what each film wanted for sound. This is helpful to see how each film require certain types of sound effects, and how Murch discovered that and produced sound for them.

Kenny writes about all areas of postproduction. Some sections of chapters talk about music scores and how they were produced. The different types of equipment are used.

Rose, J. (2002) Audio PostProduction for Digital Video. 1ed. San Francisco: CMP Books.

“Audio Postproduction for Digital Video” has an all round explanation of postproduction. Rose goes into more perceptual theories behind postproduction, for instance Diegesis. Physical elements of sound are also discussed. Rose writes about the Doppler effect and how it can be produces artificially.

“There are the occasional references to Chion and Murch, with the mention of Gestalt theory (and a tendency to overuse ‘diegesis’), but the exploration into the psychology and physiology of sound was fascinating reading”

Houlihan, K. Journal of Media Practice. 2003, Vol. 4 Issue 1, p69-69. 1p.

ADR Research website

http://nofilmschool.com/2013/12/inside-the-world-of-adr-with-dub-master-doc-kane/

Look into old and new techniques used by Disney.

Sound design and ADR research wesite

http://library.creativecow.net/cowdog/ADR/1

A look into the sound design from Wall-E.

By watching this film it has been decided to use the spring/Pick up technique as a layer for the laser of amaz’o.

Composition studio session: Korg MS 2000

The Korg MS-2000 was used for the main synthesiser lead in the Car chase.

The pre-set Gates of Hell was used which was tempo synced to Logic Pro. By Tweaking the L.F.O and Filter parameters a great sound was created that was perfect for the scenes.

Logic Psy-trance, composition session

Field recording, Motrobike.

Introduction

For the Bat-Plane a layers of motor bike revs will be layered on top of each other. The Motorbike recording took place on the Wirral. The motor bike was a Yamaha R-6, which is a High performance race Motorbike.

Implementation

The recording were done in the garden with two portable recorders. The Zoom HN4-EXt’s were positioned on axis to the exhaust and off axis. One Zoom HN4-Ext was recording with a Boom microphone and the other was using the stereo microphones on the portable recorder.

The recording will be processed and manipulated with the GRM tool and with Kontakt. Such application as Kontakts A.E.T Morph Filter are expected to give the best results due to past experiences.

Compliments and Criticisms 

The field recordings turned out as well as expected. The different angles and microphone types will be great when processing the different continuities in the animation.

The wind was a factor and did corrupt a few seconds  of the audio on the stereo portable recorder. The audio will be processed in Abode Audition due to its mass amount of proccessing tools.

Foley session 2nd session

Introduction

The 2nd Foley session was utilised for the recording of clothing and capes.

Implementation

The cape was recording using a larger diaphragm condenser microphone (Rhode NTK) and an SM-58. The Cape noise was done by wafting a bed sheet in-front of the microphone. The microphone had a pop-shield attached to stop the attack of the sheet distorting the microphone.

The clothes Foley was recorded using the N.T.K for a crisp sound which will make the cloths present in the mix. The HD Television was used to sync the rubbing of the materials.

Compliments and criticisms 

Problems did arise with the air pressure fluctuating the diaphragm into distortion. this problem was solved by creating a greater distance between the sheet and microphone.

1 st Sound design Sit-down session.

Introduction

The first Sit-down session was time tabled for the ES2 to be programmed.

Implementation

The first “ES2” sound design session was conducted for the Bat-plane. To get the first layer of the jet engines with the white noise oscillator activated an envelope was routed to the cut-off of the first filter. The Envelope is set to be synced to the way the plane is flying around.

Complements and criticisms 

The way the filtering is controlled gives the white noise a great roaring sound which i perfect for the Bat-plane. The next layers to be designed field recordings of a Race Motorbike. The white noise will have to be mixed to give maximum impact.

The sound design process is very subjective. The imagination and creativey has to be well thought out for everything to fit together.

1st Composition session

Introduction

The method behind the first composition session was developed through attending the Music to Film working sets.

The discussion of musical diversity was a focal point that helped develop the genre of music for the first scene. The decision was made for the music to be heavy rock for the first scene.

Implementation

The Microphone set-up used for recording the drums was Glyn Johns method. The method was used to created a big drum sound with minimum microphones. The two C-451’s were utilised as over head and Opus 68 was used on the Kick Drum and a Sennheiser on the snare. In case of the Glyn John method not working each drum was captured separately using the individual clip on drum microphone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdiPLpXASgo (Glyn John technique explained)

The guitar was recorded clean. This is so that the guitar distortion can have  modelled using plug-in like Guitar Rig.

The microphone method used was an A.K.G 414 Close mic’ed to a Vox Valve Amplifier.

sound design, Punches.

Introduction

The Batman animation has several fight scenes throughout the twelve minutes. The first layer of the punch is a snare drum being hit.

Implementation

A deep wooden and metal snare were used to create the first layer of the punches. To deaden the snare and to make it sound more realistic a towel was placed over the top.

The microphone technique was a simple set-up of one A.K.G 414 placed 5 inches away.

3rd A.D.R session

Introduction

The Joker A.D.R session was conducted in Leeds metropolitans anechoic chamber. The reasoning behind the recordings taking place in the anechoic chamber is to match, acoustically, the sound of a sponge room, which is where the joker is sat. The first reasoning behind recording in the anechoic chamber was for experimental purposes. The end result was that positive the whole scene will be recorded in there.

Implementation 

The recording was conducted using an AKG being routed into a portable recorder. The portable recorder was used as a sound card interface. The size and weight were major factors for using the Portable recorder. furthermore Audacity was used as the sequencer, this allowed the analysing tools available with Audacity to be utilised.

The reverb chamber was used for the laughing (Joker) A.D.R that carries on into the finishing scene. The natural reverb was professional sounding then using a digital unit.

Compliments and Criticisms 

The set up used to record the dialogue would clip when being utilised in the reverb chamber. To resolve this the next time recordings take place in the Reverb chamber a Mac Book Pro, portable sound card and more sutable microphone (NTK, Sennheiser MD-421 and the Sure SM-58).

The recordings conducted in the anechoic chamber were sounded very suited to the animation. Though the template tracks are done for that scene over the course of the next two months the whole scene will preferably be recorded in the anechoic chamber.

1st Foley session

the first Foley session took place between 2pm – 4:45pm.

The Foley was recorded with C-451 spaces pair, AKG 414 centre microphone and a  Rhode NTK for ambience.

The Recording session was conducted in studio which allowed room for the Foley stage to be constructed. Sound design materials were also recorded in the session. Balloon and party popper were pooped for later designing in Lab sessions.

The Foley session was predominately conducted for the first layer of foot steps. 

The HD Television screen was utilised for syncing purposes.  

Outcome Compliments and criticisms

The Foley was well synced which allows for a lesser work load when Editing and syncing.

Though the AKG 451’s provided a crisp capture the overall sound was thin. The stereo image was better than Mono due to optimal stereo positioning which provided a better overall sound.

Though The AKG 414 did provide bass, using a large diaphragm dynamic microphone would probably provide a warmer image.