Sound Check

06/04/16

Sound Recording

This is a Zeplin!!Say hello to him!!




Sound is directional - Faint/Loud, (dead cat) stops wind noise, microphones sensitive to sound and touch.



Boom Pole - Closer to the source the better.

Right environment, quiet space, realising what a loud world we live in

Low frequency - Traffic



Folley Artists - someone re-create afterwards, recording studio, different textured stones edit>sound recording a scene or two just recorded.  Completely recorded on the day.  There is alot to recording sound

Wikipaedia Definition of Foley Artists

Foley is the reproduction of everyday sound effects that are added to film, video, and other media in post-production to enhance audio quality. These reproduced sounds can be anything from the swishing of clothing and footsteps to squeaky doors and breaking glass. The best Foley art is so well integrated into a film that it goes unnoticed by the audience It helps to create a sense of reality within a scene. Without these crucial background noises, movies feel unnaturally quiet and uncomfortable.

Foley artists recreate the realistic ambient sounds that the film portrays. The props and sets of a film often do not react the same way acoustically as their real life counterparts.  Foley sounds are used to enhance the auditory experience of the movie. Foley can also be used to cover up unwanted sounds captured on the set of a movie during filming, such as overflying airplanes or passing traffic.

The term "Foley" is also used to describe a place, such as Foley-stage or Foley-studio, where the Foley process takes place.

1. Make sure environment quite



PCM Recorder (digital)

Recording Audio with the PCM recorders and Sennheiser Microphones
1. Put together the Sennheiser microphone...

2. S et up the rest of the audio equipment. The boom pole will slide into the bottom of the microphone pistol grip.

3. Power up the PCM recorder by sliding down the power button for at least 3 seconds.

4. Set the PCM to ‘ Manual’ recording mode and plug in the headphones. Make sure you plug into the headphone jack. There are multiple jacks on this unit, so it can be confusing.
5. Make sure your Headphone volume is set to 15, so you are getting the right audio level in your headphones. (You don’t want the signal to be too loud or too quiet).
6. Set the Microphone recording level to either ‘ Hi’ or ‘ Low’. You’d typically record at a low level if you were recording a rock concert or heavy traffic etc. For most situations ­ interviews, drama, etc ­ you’d probably set this to ‘ Low.’

7. P ress the record button (1). You should hear the audio through your headphones WARNING: IT IS NOT RECORDING YET. YOU HAVE ONLY ARMED IT TO RECORD.
You must now press the pause button (2) to start recording.Y ou will see ‘REC’ on the display

8. Adjust the silver volume dial until the audio levels on the meter are on average coming in at ­12 to ­10 db

TROUBLESHOOTING:
You can’t hear any audio:

1. Are your headphones plugged into the correct jack?
   
2. Is your headphone volume turned right down?
   
3. Have you pressed the record button? (You will not hear audio unless you have).
   
4. You possibly have a faulty cable ­ try another XLR or XLR to mini
   
5. Is the microphone turned on? Perhaps the microphone battery is dead? 
   

Sound compact
Counter balances
Level essentially
Distortion

Microphones used to be formatted like cameras.

MISE EN SCENE

05/04/16 Moving Image - Mise En Scene

Advanced Film / Screen industry - Analytical breakdown into compartments.  The arrangement of everything within a film.

Anything within the frame to tell a story.

Can be listed but not limited to:

Lighting
Setting
Props
Hair
Makeup

Looking into movies for examples:

The Dressmaker

Setting-Desert land wooden houses

Costume-Distinctive outfits

Suggests-Time period, 40's/50's, personality

Makeup-Older and weathered, does not take pride in appearance,

Props-Indicator of time period, status

Lighting-Scene inside/negative and dark in juxtaposition to positive influence comes and brightens the scene.

Body Language - Invoke an emotion, analysing it early on.  Asking the question "Why has the director chosen to do that?

Making a film-99% is planned to story tell e.g raggedy hair-personality type.

STUDY THE SHOT!!! Visually tell a story




American Beauty as movie example

Start- Disillusioned, funny feeling in the scene.

Scene with computer and office supplies showing reflection of him and figures designed like a grid of jail bars.  Like he's stuck or in prison (planned in an unconscious level)

Emotionally told e.g the scene where family are surrounding their family dining table having dinner the colour blue representing melancholy a sad vibe.  A suppressed feeling (good example of making viewer feel included in the scene and to emotionally respond.

Wide shot - Scene where he is in the bosses office
The scene occupies most of the space he is in - he is exposed, weakness from angle of camera shot, the decor is dull and grey.  Painting is too small for the wall, sucks the life out of of its employees.

Dark/visual manifestations

Mid shot occupies emphasises position of power, visual pattern, job is a prison
straight angles - visual dominance, hopelessness and vulnerability.

Equal, out of focus, composition planned not chucked together

Writers tend to be symbolic and directors are analysing everything.

We all register it or read it naturally, analyse at a "microscopic level" enjoy take tools and use in our own work.

Feeling-pre conceived ideas, elements come together.

WES ANDERSON

Movies

The Life Aquatic
The Royal Tennabaums
Fantastic Fox
Moonrise Kingdom
The Grand Budapest Hotel

Style

Cartoonish (style)
Saturated Colours
Types of movement-Adds to his comic quirkiness
Symmetry - Likes using three people walking in a line when that does not happen in real life.
Tracking shot - Long takes plays the scene the whole way through, excitement, use of neutral browns (does not want it too flat).

Everything is planned for a reason!  In the bedroom scene the wallpaper is yellow for a reason, planned joy (blue and yellow complementary colours).




Tracking Shot - Long takes, love actors that play the scene right through, brings excitement and a sort of business to the film.  Stylistic device, he tends to use saturated colours,  comical in some of his approaches to film - eye heads to the brightest spot in the frame.

Red circle - stimulating, hard wired into us

COLOUR

Colour of props - Landscape,  1/2/3 vibe style, symmetrical,  flat lighting don't see a whole lot of shadow (HIGH KEY LIGHTING).  Low Key > Create Depth - Shadow, being in a deep room, all illuminated.



Colour Symbolism - Maps emotionally specifically set design, camera angles, actors expression.

Adobe Colour CC

Movies in colour - Film Makers, breaks down the colour schemes, broke down his colour spectrum's.  Dress for the characters > points of contrast.

De saturated > colour made up of saturation, hue and different saturation levels.

Tend to watch films in a different way once taught MISE EN SCENE.

DOMINANT - What is dominant? Size, position, whats in focus?? Evidence of camera skills, thought about lighting - 180, composition, proper framing.  Closer you get the better it looks.

Resolution > appears higher

Lighting images in Studio

These were a few images taken from previous lecture.  On the basics of lighting within.  I enjoyed learning around lighting it was quite an eye opener and interesting lesson.

Back light is generally essential in film, because without it everything tends to go muddy. But there are also plenty of exceptions — e.g. “Minority Report,” which has some beautiful shots with no back light. Lack of back light can work well if the scene has a chiaroscuro quality to it, like Caravaggio’s paintings. 

For a strong example, see the painting below (“The calling of Saint Matthew,” by Caravaggio):

This painting by Caravaggio shows how some exceptionally moody lighting can be achieved without back light (“The calling of Saint Matthew,” 1599-1600)

Filmmaking is all about designing a look from scratch and then executing it on the shoot itself, which means that control is everything in filmmaking.

Backlight vs. no backlight

These two frames are taken from my first film: the first has no backlight and the second was shot with backlight (a daylight-balanced Kino Flo):

The effect of back light is clear: it increases contrast, reduces “muddiness” and enhances perceived sharpness.