Video & Sound Production: Project 1

 Video & Sound Production (VSP 60104)

NAME: Adeline Wong Chyn Nee (0344017) I.D: 0344017 COURSE: Bachelors of Design in Creative Media MODULE: Video & Sound Production

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LECTURE NOTES

WEEK 3 (08.4.2022)

This week, we were introduced to the sound of film, to start off the lecture, we we shown a video on YouTube called 'See With Your Ears: Spielberg And Sound Design'. The video shows how sound design can be utilised to enhance the video experience of a viewer.

Fig. 1.1 'See With Your Ears: Spielberg And Sound Design' by Nerwriter1

3 sound elements

There are 3 elements to sound, these 3 elements creates an audio setting that supports the action and engages the spectators.

Fig. 1.2 speech, music and sound effects as the 3 sound elements

1. Speech

The speech element is one of the most important tools for understanding the story of the film. There are 2 kinds of speech in film, Dialogue and voice-over.

Dialogue: Conversation between characters in movie.

Voice over: The voice of an unseen narrator speaking.

2. Sound Effect

The sound effect element is known as ambience sound, ambience audio refers to the background noise present at a given scene or a location. It can be hard or "cut" effect.

Examples: Train sliding door open and close, foot steps, train moving on tracks, ambience in train etc.

3. Music

The music element in film is to enhance the dramatic narrative and the emotional impact.

4. Dubbing

Dubbing also known as automated Dialog Replacement (ADR), is the process of re-recording

dialogue after the filming process to improve audio quality or reflect dialogue changes.

5. Foley

Foley is a sound effects technique for synchronous effects or live effects. The Foley technique are named for Jack Foley, a sound editor at Universal Studios.

WEEK 6 (29.4.2022)

This week we were introduced to sound shaping with EQ, along with a tutorial on how to edit audio clips on Adobe Audition.

Frequency range 

Hertz(Hz): 

Fig. 2.1 Seven subsets of frequencies used to help define the ranges.

Dynamic range 

Fig. 2.2 The dynamic range: decibels

Decibels (dB): The threshold of human hearing is measured as 0dB SPL (sound pressure level) and the threshold of pain 130dB SPL.

Space 

Mono sounds are recorded using single audio channel, while stereo sounds are recorded using two audio channels.

1. Mono

Fig. 2.3 Mono audio file

2. Stereo

Fig. 2.4 Stereo audio file

Phone call sound effect

Bring down bass, tremble, raise mid range between 500Hz to 2kHz.

Muffled sound effect

Bass remain, tremble to the bottom, raise mid range to top.

Phone call sound effect

Sound in space, echo caused by the reflection of sound waves from a surface, reverd is applied.

Reverd Sound Effect

Decay Time: Specifies how many milliseconds the reverb takes to decay 60 dB.Longer values give longer reverb tails. Pre‑Delay Time: Specifies how many milliseconds reverb takes to build to its maximum amplitude. Perception: Simulates irregularities in the environment Dry: To add subtle spaciousness, set the Dry percentage higher; to achieve a special effect, set the Dry percentage lower. Wet: To add subtle spaciousness to a track, keep the Wet percentage lower than the Dry percentage.

WEEK 12 (10.6.2022)

4 important sound design techniques

1. Time stretching/ compression

Fig. 3.1 Time stretching

Time Stretching/ compression changes the length of audio without altering its pitch.

2. Pitch Shifting

Process of adjusting the pitch of an audio signal upwards or downwards, for both corrective (getting a vocal perfectly in tune, for example) and purely creative (changing the character of a drum loop, say) purposes.

3. Reversing

The end of the audio will be heard first and the beginning last. Reverse audio changes the whole feeling and rhythm of the sound. 4. Layering

Arranging several separate sounds together, in such a way the overall effect is of a single complete sound.

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INSTRUCTIONS:

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WEEK 3 (15.4.2022):

Exercise 1 [Audio Dubbing]

For this exercise, we are required to sync the required speech and sound effect audios in Premiere Pro, and no music is required for this exercise. I first observed the clip and the script and then started recording after some practice, I recorded the voice recordings on my phone's 'Voice Memos'

Fig. 4.1 Voice recordings on Voice Memo

I then imported the audio into my laptop and into Premiere Pro, there are a total of 17 audio recordings.

Fig. 4.2 Imported voice recordings

Not only that, but I scoured the internet in search of suitable sound effects for the clip and found 10 sound effects to put into my dubbing video.

Fig. 4.3 Imported sound effect

Fig. 4.4 Screenshot of timeline

Final draft:

After a feedback session, I was told to include more street noise.

Final Dubbing Video:

Fig. 4.5 Final dubbing video

WEEK 8 (20.5.2022): Exercise 2 [Sound Shaping]

For this exercise, we are required to edit the given audio files in Adobe Audition and make them sound a certain way. For this exercise, we have to edit a voice recording to sound differently in the given environments.

Fig. 4.5 Given audio files

1. Voice of phone call.
2. Voice coming from inside of the closet.
3. Voice of big stadium.
4. Voice of toilet/bathroom.

5. Underground cave.

Editing process in Adobe Audition

Fig. 4.6 Screenshot of the editing process

Fig. 4.7 Applying Reverb to audio clip

Fig. 4.8 Reverb in Effect Rack

Fig. 4.9 Exporting the audio

Fig. 4.9 Uploaded final audio files in Google Drive

Final sound-shaping exercise audio

Fig. 4.10 Final cave audio

Fig. 4.11 Final closet audio

Fig. 4.12 Final phone audio

Fig. 4.13 Final stadium audio

Fig. 4.14 Final toilet audio

WEEK 11 (10.6.2022): Exercise 3 [Sound Design]

For this exercise, we are required to edit the given audio files in Adobe Audition and design them to sound a certain way. For this exercise, we have to edit the audio clips in Multitracks in order to layer the audio to give them more depth.

These are the required sound design we have to recreate with the given audio

1. Magnification explosion sound 2. Variation of punchy sound (Triple punches) 3. Monster of alien voice (select one part from sample voice)

Fig. 5.1 Given audio files

Editing process in Adobe Audition

Fig. 5.2 Screenshot of progress in Adobe Audition

Fig. 5.3 Effect used for triple punch variation

Fig. 5.4 Effect used for Alien sound

Fig. 5.5 Effect used for enhancing explosion sound

Final sound design exercise audio

Fig. 5.6 Uploaded final audio files in Google Drive

Fig. 5.7 Final edited audio

Fig. 5.8 Final edited audio

Fig. 5.9 Final edited audio

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Reflection:

I really enjoyed all the exercises in project 1 and it was overall really interesting to try out a new Adobe software such as Adobe Audition. I have learned the basic tools in it and can carry my basic skills into future projects and from there, advancing the software. This was really the start of editing sound/ music for me and it was a fruitful experience personally. From this experience, I have also got to know my love for sound editing as I discover how fun it actually is, I thought it would just be another Adobe software that I have to learn and practice, but that was not the case this time at all.