Jump to content

My first Sound Design for Film


harlowsound

Recommended Posts

Hey guys, I have not been active on the forum for sometime because of academic studies and productions. I did collaborate recently on my first student film. I did the sound design, mixing, dialog editing, foley recording and ADR. While it is still being finessed and finishing touches are being made, I thought I would share the trailer with you. If you want to check it out, I would be grateful. The actual film is being mixed in 5.1 (subtly). This is the first time I have automated something in entirety with preview capture with both eq and reverbs. I used the avid S6 for automation with VCAs and assigned fader groups within the S6. Perhaps I will do a video in the studio setting if it is of interest to any of you. A lot of the film was shot without sound and it has been keeping me busy for the past few weeks. 

Thanks

Harlow

 

Click on the Link it will redirect you. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You seem to have done the "fun stuff" -- foley and music -- fairly well. (I'd have wanted some foley at the picking at :04 and the lab machine leading the cut at :19, plus something maybe design-y on the lighting effect at :32, but that's just a personal preference... and I don't know the film or its goals.)

 

You didn't ask for reactions or suggestions, though. So please indulge my pointing out that the dialog is getting lost. It needs to be equalized and mixed -- often on a syllable-by-syllable basis -- before you do anything else. And that eq has to be subtle: in most scenes, words tell the story; the dialog premix has to sound like it really happened in the characters' world. Then you can fit everything else around it. 

 

It's tempting to build the foley and music, and figure you'll ride and tweak the dialog as necessary in the final mix. A lot of corporate and low-end TV is done that way. Coming from a corp/ad background, that's how I was taught to do things. But I don't anymore, not even on my few corporate projects, and certainly not on docys. You end up doing subtle things that subliminally say 'this is manipulated, not a reality' and it fights the viewers' getting involved in the story.

 

If there's dialog in a scene, get it right first. That's really what a pre-dub is all about.Then mix and eq the other elements to make room for it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jay,

Thank you for the response. I am currently reading Dialog Editing for Motion Pictures and I have spent more time with the actual dialog within the film. As I am going through and learning more about the process of film, I am becoming more aware of the workflow and how important the work-flow is even before the production process, much less the actual post production process. You are right about the eq and this is why implementing preview automation mode in protools is something I am excited about exploring further, particularly within the reverbs and the space of the picture. I like to hear your thoughts and learn from your experiences including others. I come from a live theatrical background and much of the workflow is new to me. Unfortunately, I was not able to be on set during the production process, but I spent a lot of time removing as much noise as possible from a near by airport. We rushed a bit on this trailer and I recorded Foley and mixed to be put online within 4hours. For my first film given the timeline and budget I am happy with what was achieved but I am always striving to do more and learn from others. I know I have a lot of knowledge to gain.  

 

Please tell me about your process when you think about characters and eq?  And how much consideration do you give audience? Thank you again for taking the time to look and critique. I value your opinions.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...