Sweetening the Deal - Seminole Cinema: SEHS Film
IB Film 1W19.3: Sound, Take 2Why Filmmakers should learn Sound DesignThis is a very good video that discusses how sound helps a production, and what to consider as you produce your film.Watch This: the DealHere are a collection of tips, tricks, and advice that are all intended to help you improve the quality of your sound design and final mix.In the recording and audio special-effects industry, this process is sometimes referred to as 'sweetening'.You can think of it like adding a little bit of sugar to your cup of coffee. Black coffee is great, but sometimes that sugar and whipped cream can turn it into a tasty treat!You will learn about equipment, software, and audio techniques.By the end, you should have a nice 'sweetened'?package to make the audio in your filmMixer Boards?We already discussed microphones and the pros and cons of the various types.Microphones, however, are not the end of the game.If you have the means to work with a mixer board, do so, especially if you are going to record dialogue or sound effects in a controlled studio environment.A mixer board connected to a computer or other audio recorder will allow you to mix a variety of input signals live without the need to edit them in post.For example, say you wanted to record vocals from three singers simultaneously. Rather than being limited by the onboard mic on the camera, you could adjust the levels for all three singers live, and record one clean track of the song perfectly mixed and balanced.A mixer board will also often allow you to add certain live audio special effects as well.If you want to deepen an actor's voice, or make him sound robotic, you can adjust the settings live to achieve the effect right away. This allows the actor to hear it and perhaps make minor adjustments on the fly.If you are doing foley work, you can adjust settings to your heart's content to see if you can make that bongo drum sound like an airlock, or your friend's parakeet like a vicious dragon.It is a great asset to your arsenal if you can get the chance to use one.Headphones and Earbuds?The other audio tool you do not want to underestimate is a good pair of over-the-ear headphones.The typical set of earbuds you use for your portable audio devices will not do.This is not merely a matter of snobbery, but a matter of practical necessity.When you put in a pair of earbuds, your ear is still exposed to the world around it and will pick up background noise.You need to hear what the actual sound you are recording is like, and that means shutting everything else out.Over-the-ear headphones cover the ear completely and thus, block out external sound, especially if you use the noise-cancelling variety.Quick TipIn between takes, pull one headphone or both completely off your ears.Sometimes microphones get bumped or other loud, unexpected noises occur that can seriously damage your ears when they are completely enclosed.Once shooting resumes, put them back on.Headphones and Earbuds - Principal Photography?There are two key production phases when you must have headphones with you at all times: principal photography and post-production.When you are recording sound on set, you should always be monitoring the audio levels on your headphones as well as on the VU meters—the little digital readout displaying the strength of the audio signal in both the left and right channels.Some of the mid- to higher-end cameras have VU meters as part of the readout on their LCD screen.Also, if you are the sound person, you should never be afraid to ask for a minute to check the audio before the director and the rest of the crew move to a new shot setup.Take the time. Check the audio. Make sure it was clear. If you feel like you need one, ask for another take. Insist on it.The crew may groan in the moment because they are tired and cranky, but they will thank you in the long run for your conscientiousness.Headphones and Earbuds - Post-production?During post-production, as you edit the soundtrack, you should never rely on just the computer speakers.They will not give you a true picture of what the sound levels actually are, and you have all kinds of background noise in the room to contend with.There is nothing worse than watching your film for the first time in front of an audience only to hear audio levels that seemed fine on the computer speakers suddenly sound horrific in an auditorium or, even worse, unwanted background noise you never heard on the speakers is suddenly, glaringly obvious on amplified speakers in a theatre.Headphones will tell you exactly what you have to fix.It might seem like a hassle to wear them, but put those headphones on while you edit.Who knows, you may just be able to focus a little better as well.Highpass Filter, Lowpass Filter, and Hard Limiter?A highpass filter will eliminate some of the lower frequencies.A lowpass filterwill get rid of higher ones.A hard limiter effect will put a cap on audio levels, so that no matter how strong they are, they will never be allowed to go above a certain level, which blows out speakers.Usually, a good step in addition to the hard limiter is to normalize the audio.What this does is makes the peaks and valleys of different audio sources be more similar, by bringing all the peaks up to a certain common level.This is good if one speaker is loud and the other quiet, or if a speaker suddenly quiets down.In scenes with excessive background noise, normalize will not work as expected and will tend to blow all the sounds out.Reverb, Echo, Pitch, and FlangerReverb is a really fun and useful effect, especially if you want to create the illusion of your actors being in a more cavernous or more confined space.A related effect is an echo effect, which is also worth trying.Often, you will have the ability to change the pitch of the audio, making a petite, teenage girl sound like a pro rugby player, and that hulking weight lifter sound like a princess.All kinds of fun can be had, with no helium required.Another distortion effect worth learning is the flanger effect.Check it out and see if it fits what you need.Show a Little AudacityThere are plenty of high-end audio editing programs you can use if you have them available to you.Software like ProTools will certainly provide you plenty of muscle, but are quite expensive, and honestly may be more than you need for your projects.If you have a suite of software like the Adobe Creative Suite, you can use Soundbooth, which is a great tool as well.If you are working with the higher-end video editing programs like Final Cut Pro, Vegas Studio, or Adobe Premiere Pro, there are fantastic audio editing tools that come built-in, so be sure to play with those.If, however, none of those things are true, then fear not. You still have Audacity.We mentioned this program in an earlier lesson, but if you have not done so yet, you should consider a quick download of this free software.Guerilla Mode?Head on over to Audacity and download a completely free version of this fantastic program.It will do almost all of what you need.Its noise reduction capabilities alone are worth the download time and hard drive space.Highly recommended.Resource -?AudacityExtract, Sweeten, Import?Your workflow with Audacity, or any separate audio editor, will involve a few extra steps, but will definitely be worth it.Extract, or separate out, the audio from your edited clips. This is sometimes referred to as unlinking the audio.Export the audio to an easy-to-find location on your hard drive.Sweeten the audio in Audacity and export the sweetened audio back to the same location.Import it back into your video-editing software and relink it to the video.Now you have some sweet(ened) audio for your film.This process can be tedious, but it is also what separates the merely competent from the excellent.Go for excellence!Another Plug for Unlinking?Do not be afraid to unlink the audio from the video.You will often want to hear the audio of a clip long before you see the video - what is known as a split edit or an L-cut.You cannot trim video without also trimming the audio unless you unlink the two.Just be careful.Once you unlink the audio from the video, it will be very easy to get the two out of sync.As long as you stay aware, unlinked clips will really help your audio editing stand out.Audio Effects and TransitionsWhatever software you choose, explore what you can do to not only sweeten but distort sound.There are a few effects and transitions with which you should definitely become comfortable since you will use them repetitively.Obviously, you will want to learn how to raise and lower the volume and be able to change those levels dynamically.Sometimes programs will use a virtual mixer board within the interfaceor will allow you to adjust levels with keyframes.CrossfadeThe main audio transition you will need is the crossfade.What it does is allow you to fade one audio clip out while another fades on, which you will use on most of your cuts.Sharp audio changes can be very jarring for an audience.Unless you want such an effect, the crossfade is a great technique.There are usually two options—constant power or constant gain.One is a linear change, and one is exponential.Only trained audio engineers can really hear the difference, so either one is fine.Noise ReductionA noise reduction effect is crucial, especially for getting rid of consistent background noise like camera hum, the whine of appliances, and sometimes even wind noise.What you basically do, is find a section of audio that is just noise and identify it as noise for the software.This is sometimes called creating a noise profile.Once the software knows what noise is, you can tell it to get rid of it, either slightly or to an extreme.Be careful with this.If you go too far, you will cut out some of the frequencies of your actors' voices as well, often making them sound tinny or hollow.Automatic Dialogue Replacement?With a well-funded shoot, actors will often be asked to return for ADR, automatic dialogue replacement, sometimes known as dubbing.Sometimes audio files will be corrupt beyond fixing. Maybe a crew member laughed in the background, a tractor drove by, or a plane flew overhead.When that happens, instead of re-shooting the scene, the actors simply re-record their dialogue.They stand in front of a screen onto which the footage is projected.Then, they try to recreate the performance while a studio microphone records the sound.This is a good way to control the sound from very loud locations.ADR setups are expensive, but there is no reason not to try a little improvisation.Guerilla ModeConnect one camera with the footage from the scene you want to record new audio for to a TV.Put the actor in front of a mic in front of the TV.Connect your mic to an audio recorder or directly to your computer.Magic!Instant ADR capability with no extra expense whatsoever.Exploit the Band?Most schools will have a band, an orchestra, or a choir and will often have all three. Use them! Exploit them!With a microphone and an audio recorder you can record all kinds of instrumental, vocal sounds, melodies, or whole songs.Record every instrument playing a variety of notes at a variety of pitches.A piano is an especially useful instrument since it has such a huge range; the low end is great for establishing tension, the high end for establishing lightness and fun.Percussion instruments are fantastic for action sequences.A choir of human voices lends grandeur to a scene.Plus, you can also take the natural sounds you record and then distort them later.What does a slowed-down, flanged saxophone note sound like? Try it out.A bass drum with a pitch change and some reverb? You will never know until you grab a mic and go.Experiment!?If you try all these techniques, tricks, devices, and programs, you can take your sound work to the next level of quality.Hopefully, you have found a few useful things to try as you continue developing your skills as a film artist.Have fun! ................
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