Sound Panning

 Sound Panning (3 clip evaluation)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ0OUq_kDh8  (Matrix Bullet Dodge)

In my opinion this is the best possible example of Sound Panning there is. In 1999 when the matrix was made there was little or no Bullet time or extreme Slow Motion. This scene shows Neo Dodging bullets. As the bullets pass over his shoulders with the unique sound it presents a perfect opportunity to showcase this worlds first special effect with the addition of a right to left pan giving the illusion that the bullet is passing from right to left.







http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQp6RWrHxRE    (Lord of the rings (shelob Scene ))

There are many instances of sound panning opitunitys in this video the best of which is the point when the Shelob brushes the light of
Earendil (the glass thing) to its left. This allows for a more smooth sound pan and a soft roll from the centre to the right giving the audience a greater immersion within the scene.  Another good instance in which sound panning can be used is at the part when same drops his Sword and it lands to the right there could be an abbrupt noise to the right as he does this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wStCRCVwFo     (fearless fight scene)



This scene from Fearless is one of my favroute movie fight scenes and is one of the best choreographed. Jet Li and his opponent tear up the building they are in during the fight and theres bits of wood and general debris flying everywhere which gives the perfect opportunity for sound panning. The main action in the scene is the fight which has not sound panning present but the background noises are herd everywhere and all around at different volumes and areas which makes the audience feel like there in the room and overall making a better film.

White balance & Colour temperature

White Balance


White balance is the process of removing unrealistic color casts, so that objects which appear white in person are rendered white in your photo. White balance has to take into account the "color temperature" of a light source, which refers to the relative warmth or coolness of white light. Our eyes are very good at judging what is white under different light sources, but digital cameras often have great difficulty with auto white balance and can create unsightly blue, orange, or even green color casts. Understanding digital white balance can help you avoid these color casts, thereby improving your photos under a wider range of lighting condition

Color temperature 

Color temperature refers to a characterization of the spectral properties of a light source and is commonly used during the production phase in the film and photography industries. Low color temperature is the warmer, more yellow to red light while high color temperature is the colder, more blue light. Daylight, for example, has a lower color temperature near dawn and a higher one during the day. The standard unit of measurement for color temperature is Kelvin (K). Some typical color values include the following;

• candles or oil lamps: 1000K
• household light bulbs: 2500K
• bright sunshine on a clear day: 6000K
• very overcast sky: 10,000K

Reference : http://www.studiadualne.info/whatis/TERM/C/color_temperature.html

Colour temperature is used within the film industry in order to create and allow for a better colour for the picture for example allow for more reds if you want to achieve a warm effect and blue is you want to achieve a cold or cooler tone eg a horror film . 

Tom Mellors Production Blog

Tom Mellors

Production Blog



Monday 7th oct

We started to make powerpoint containing all of our initial ideas for the story and the way we were going to film it. We have agreed on the idea to climb a mountain for the duration of the video and finish at the top. The song we agreed on is "Run Boy Run" by Woodkid this song is very fitting as we are planning to show three people running up a mountain.  The initial idea to run up the mountain was mine, but the running idea was pioneered by jim 2 into a more complete idea.

Tuesday 8th oct

I have decided that the best mountain to climb is Pennyghent which is part of the Yorkshire dales three Peaks i chose this because i have been there before and know the terrain.  I like the location i chose because its where harry potter 6 is filmed. Today we finished the original idea in more detail and added this into the powerpoint. We started looking at routes to the location on google maps and screen shooting them and adding them into the powerpoint. I also figured out a suitable parking location which was near where we needed to start and safe.

Monday 14th oct 

Me and Eddy started to complete some of the storyboard, we had worked out that to get in one shot every two seconds we had to complete one hundred and four shots to allow for a fast cut montage style video which would be ideal for our song.

Tuesday 15th

Today we worked out that it would take 104 shots to make the video this would mean two shots every 4 seconds so we can have regular changes in the shots to give us the "fast cut montage" feel that we are looking for in the video. we also worked more on the locations

Monday 21st
Eddy was absent and we started the risk assessment to fit in with our location including parking, safety when running, and how to use the camera safely and what food to bring so that we don't starve to death on our location.

Tuesday 22nd

Today we were told the news that we are unable to film at our 1st chosen location Pennyghent mountain because of health and safety regulations of york college. To change our i idea at the last minute was difficult but me and jim 1 stayed later at college to come up with a new location at a hill near Horcum which is a good alternative to out location at Phennyghent we have edited our powerpoint to fit in with our location change. 

 Later we find out that our second idea was also turned down due to similar health and safety reasons and are forced at a moments notice to find a new location so this time not making the same mistakes as last time. I found a flat area of land which was not subject to health and safety requirements. We decided that our new location wold be sand hutton wood. 

wednesday 30th
We set off at 6am to our newly decided location and we needed to get all the shots we wanted but at the end of the day but come the end of the day we decided to to get a wider range of shots so we agreed to come back another day that had similar weather.


Monday 12th
We started the editing process at my house as it seemed more convenient at the time so we began by listening to the song repeatedly so that we could find out the pace of the track and discover the correct rhythmic places to cut the video. We then added our prologue and started to add the first clips into the timeline.

Tuesday 13th
We came into college and worked on the powerpoint and got it fully finished including information about our 3rd and final location and i worked on my production blog. We finally at the end of college hours started to edit again and completed the first half of the editing and got it timed to the music.

Monday 18th
We came finished most of the extra production work and started to make the shot sheet and evaluate every shot on how good it was.

Tuesday 19th
Finished the edit and then re-timed the beat of the song to the videos for the final time. Including several final cut montages which contain 100 cuts in each which we timed to the the iconic drum beats of the song





Tuesday26th
uploaded the video to youtube

Post-Production

Post-Production

The first step in post production is choosing where the files have. usually the best idea is to create a folder to place your new project in, to do this right click and select new folder. (external or internally saved)   Save in this file all the work













All the files can be taken straight from DSLR,external recorder or the internet and placed in the folder. To import into final cut by using log and capture or import.


Scratch Disks 

Scratch disks are hard drives (or portions of space on a hard drive) that are used by Final Cut Pro for the temporary storage of files when editing videos. Although Final Cut Pro does not use the space for permanent storage of video files, scratch disks are vital when working with videos or clips that contain a lot of complex effects or transitions.

Setting scratch disks on Final Cut Pro is an
important part of the editing process

It dictates where the any footage captured (log and
transfer) will be stored, including rendered files,
waveform, cache and autosaves. 

Project and Sequence 

The timeline that you are working on currently has a sequence in of clips.  you can use more that one
sequence in single project. 

This is very useful when creating rushes eg.(quickly previewing footage for a director)  you can
create projects much more quickly when using this technique.  

   To create a new sequence in the current project

1.            Do one of the following
             Choose File > New > Sequence (or press Command-N).
   •      Control-click in the Viewer, then choose New Sequence from the shortcut menu.

Exporting Footage

   In some cases, you may want certain file formats for exported footage

   It may be because the client wants the video for mobile content, web use, DVD or even uncompressed allowing for high quality viewing 

   If you have a sequence in a low quality codec, and want a high quality export, then you can export in PNG format. This export will usually easily finish overnight even with a long project.

   ways to export, you can:

•         encode this movie to x264, H264, FLV or WMV (or any other format) 
•       drag it into DVD Studio Pro or iDVD to author an SD DVD
•        take it on a Firewire drive to a dub house to transfer to a broadcast format for cable/satellite, or for a film festival
•      or any other conceivable use.

Or the two main ways in the quicktime format 

QuickTime Movie (This is a high quality compressed version of your current sequence in

a .MOV file – an Apple developed format)

Quicktime Conversion (This allows you to choose from multiple file formats, the

resolution it exports and quality of the finished product)

Production Equipment

Production Equipment 

Our group made a production video showing others how to use production equipment including lighting, sound and how to use the camera. Sam was chosen to do the acting in the video. He introduced all the production equipment and showed the audience and instructed them  how to be used.

We decided to edit the footage by adding close ups of the equipment when sam mentions it to emphasise how its used.  We used a basic 2 point lighting set up to light the scene which sam then showed when on to show how to use. 

If i was to repeat the video I would change the lighting so that sam would be a clearer a three point lighting set up would be better.  I would add a better script and train sam to speak more fluently.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wsm2q5vvmg    Youtube link

History of cameras

Early cameras had a frame rate of of 11-20 frames per second. The first kodak 16mm film stock launched in 1923, this was a lower cost camera used mainly by amateur film makers of the time.  

In the early 1930s the BBC experimented with Digital cameras and created cathode ray tubes. Overtime cameras changed drastically and got smaller n smaller. 

in the 20th century we got the analogue formats such as VHS and 

betemax. 

The modern standard film is 35mm usually between 10 and 24 megapixels. The current digital standard is 12 megapixels.

How they work

After film is added to the camera, the shutter opens and light travels through the lens exposing the film or sensor. the shutter then closes moving the next unexposed film into place. This then repeats it self over and over at on old cameras at 12 frames per second creating a moving image. 

Aperture

In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. The higher/larger the aperture the more light coming into the camera.  In other words it is a device that controls the amount of light admitted through an opening. In photography and digital photography, aperture is the unit of measurement that defines the size of the opening in the lens that can be adjusted to control the amount of light reaching the film.

Shutter speed &  ISO






The shutter speed is the amount of time that the shutter on the camera is open. This determines how many shots / frames per second the camera operates at, the more frames per second the the  slower you can reduce the action to 

Lighting setups

Key Light

This is the main light. It is usually the strongest and has the most influence on the look of the scene. It is placed to one side of the camera/subject so that this side is well lit and the other side has some shadow.

Fill Light

This is the secondary light and is placed on the opposite side of the key light. It is used to fill the shadows created by the key. The fill will usually be softer and less bright than the key. To acheive this, you could move the light further away. You can also want to set the fill light to more of a flood than the key.

Back Light

The back light is placed behind the subject and lights it from the rear. Rather than providing direct lighting (like the key and fill), its purpose is to provide definition and subtle highlights around the subject's outlines. This helps separate the subject from the background and provide a three-dimensional look.

Reflector

The use of the reflector is very helpful in budget film making or when using a one point lighting set up. It reflects the light back to the subject and fills in shadowy areas whilst controlling highlights.








:http://www.mediacllege.com/lighting/three-point/

Sound 

This is a film microphone which is used to record the voices of actors or various other things. It should be pointed directly at the subject to allow maximum and higher clarity of sound. This one shown here is known as a shotgun mic and is used because of it being lightweight and how easily it can be pointed directly at a subject. 










Basic editing workflow

file-import:    This screen shot shows how to import files into Final cut.   These files can not be from a camera and have to be imported on to the computer beforehand.

file-log and capture:   This shows how to log and capture files from a camera. To log and capture footage you have to have a camera plugged in this gets the footage directly from the camera.

 file-export:   This shows how to export videos.

effects-filters: This shows how to add transistions to your shots .

Sound

Sound

Diagetic Sound

Sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film. this is a sound which the characters within a film/footage can hear. Diegetic sound can include everything from traffic noise, telephone rings. doors slamming and animal sounds, to industrial machinery and dialogue  These sounds may be used to generate a reality effect for the audience, but can also take on symbolic meaning

• voices of characters 
• sounds made by objects in the story (eg explosion (rerecord) )
• music represented as coming from instruments screen (Sherlock Holmes)
• actors singing on screen

sometimes Diagetic sound can become Non-diagetic sound in a film. eg when some one plays the radio on screen and the song continues in another scene. A good example of this (below) shows 12 people talking to each other the sound is daigetic because the sound e is visible on the screen.

Examples of diagetic sound are  andy sound which can be see non screen such as a conversation between two people (video below) or another example is the scene at the end of "heat" in which you see a gin fight which the director insisted that the sounds of the guns firing blacks was perfectly addiquate instead of adding in the sound after in post production and making the non-Daigetic  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhl1U6CG2pg 

Non-diagetic

This is sound which does not exist within the story of the film, but is put onto the film in post production. This type of sound could be in the form of a music soundtrack, voice over or extra sounds which enhance the meaning of elements within the film.

A Non-diegetic sound is the sound whose source is neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be present in the action:

• narrator's commentary
• sound effects which is added for the dramatic effect (usually timed to the music)
• soundtrack / score

An example of this is the soundtrack/score in Once Upon A Time in the west which keeps the scene together and allows the action to flow 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kD54-q1uFM (do not watch if haven't scene one Once Upon A Time in the west !) 

An example of non-daigetic sound within my own work is the narrational radio signal which is used in my post apocalyptic work for scott. in the scene which we shot it shows the main character using the radio which of course couldn't give off the sound of a emergency broadcast so we added it in in post production and is then became non-daigetic sound.   

juxtaposition

Juxtaposition is where there is a contrast over what is on screen and the sound track, this is used a lot in comedy for example their could be a scene of a funeral but instead of a sad or slow soundtrack it could be a happy song playing over the scene to create a contrast. This scene from Reservoir Dogs is a good example of this as it shows contrast between what music is playing and whats happening. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiU2pKQ683s (Warning Spoilers)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWQ7imklTlc (second example (kill bill) 















The best examples of good juxtapositional sound are when there is a very big contrast between the visuals and the audio such as large the scene in Green street in which there is a large fight breaking out at the end and everyones surrounded by death but a soothing song is playing. 








mood and meaning in soundtracks 

Mood and meaning is when both Diegetic and Non-Diegetic sound works together to create atmosphere. A good example of this is in the end scene from The Matrix in which the viewer experiences the music of Don Davis with the addition of the foley sounds of the bullets and the Diagetic Sound of the voices of Neo and Mr Smith. The combination of the two working together builds the atmosphere getting the audience excited about what is happening on the screen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYwdzYC3uUc (Warning Spoilers)

Foley Sound

Foley effects are sound effects added to the film during post production by foley artists who record the sounds to fit into the film  . They include sounds such as footsteps, bones cracking, punches, horse hoofs ect...   A good example of foley sound is in Fearless. when Jet Li is fighting  you can hear the metallic noises of the two swords coming together and the noise of the furniture and pots breaking around  them.  But my favourite foley sound comes at 4.12 in the video when Jet Li breaks his opponents back.

Foley sound can help my work here at college my giving it a more professional feel. this is the main reason which i think breaches the gap between professional amateur. for example in a project which i recently finished for college the on screen character was walking across gravel we recorded the sound and it sounded much better and and gave a degree of professionalism to the piece of work.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxtYihzhquE  (no major spoilers)( 4.12)

Tom and Jerry 














Non diagetic 

classical music to soit music

Foley 

dog bark (dog bark)
dog eating a branch (chain saw)
Smash dog kennel (chain move about)
cat footprints on grass ( force a cat to walk on grass land )
Cymbal noise ( go to music and borrow some cymbals )
baseball bat hit ( hit something with a bit of wood )
rattleing noise (rattle some stuff )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__CxFMas4LE     (project link)


Project Evaluation Tom and Jerry 

I thought that my project was successful in the end even though some of the sounds I recorded don't necessarily fit the visuals correctly.  If i was to repeat the excise i would allow more time for recording extra/correct sounds to make my foley should a more accurate representation of real life sound.  Though real life sounds are not necessarily best for a cartoon. I thought the best aspects of our video were the noises form the kennel rattling and the pool cueing noise when the cat puts the dog back in the kennel.

Things that could have gone better in the video

I could have done with more time to get the correct sounds because some of the sounds where perhaps not the correct ones for the moment e.g. when the dog is hit by the baseball bat.  There were some moments of prolonged silence which effected the overall feel of the video e.g. just after the dog gets hit by the baseball bat. Also at the beginning there is what i think is to much science when you can just hear the classical soundtrack before any foley sound is herd.


Things i think when well 

My favourite foley sound in the video goes to the moment when the dog chews the branch into a baseball bat for which we added a chainsaw sound . Though this noise is not usually associated with chewing in real life it fits in well as a cartoon is not a realistic representation of the sounds of the real world. The other parts i think went well included the pool cueing sound which fits in perfectly and the noises of the kennel rattling which i thought resembled the correct sound that would have been made by that action.

Conclusion

To conclude I thought that with the time that we had we created a very successful video which i have eventually painstakingly placed on youtube. The quality of sounds I had were perhaps not the best but other sounds worked pretty well. Overall the main contributing factor to the demise of the video is that i did not have enough time.    

Kick ass Sound 

1. 00.00 - 00.09 - tense music                                

2. 00.09 - 00.14 - breathing & gun clicking            

3. 00.14 - 00.16 - breathing                                   

4. 00.16 - 00.22 - slow motion camera                   

5. 00.22 - 00.23 - gun shots                                    

6. 00.24 - gun shot                                                                                                      

7. 00.25 - gun impact noise         Footsteps throughout                            

8. 00.26 - book hit by bullet                                   

9. 00.27 - kick noise (man falling noise)                

10. 00.32 - bullet to head noise                             

11. 00.35 - gun shot                                               

12. 00.38 - 00.40 - gun reload                                

1.  intro tense music 
2.  breathing sound and sounds of metal clicking
3.  breathing
4.  slow swoop
5.  gun shot
6.  gun shot
7.  shoot someone in he face
8.  shoot into a book with an air rifle
9.  I kick the sleeping cat
10. Shoot the sleeping cat
11. shoot gun
12. reload my gun


Uses of audio panning within my the kick ass video

1. slow motion moving right to left (best part)
2.when she jumps on the cabinet right to left. 
3.
4.
5. gunshot right to left
6.
7.gun impacts on the door herd in left ear 
8. rifle shot right to left
9. gun shot left to right
10.the clicking of the gun herd in left then right 
11.
12.

Link To the video on your memory stick 

Project Evaluation Kick Ass 

I though that the sounds in the video Sounds that we recorded were perfect in fitting with the visuals unlike the previous foley sound work that we did we spent much more time planning and recording the visuals which is why the finished product has much more accurate sounds which are a good representation of real life. 

Things that could have gone better in the video

Obviously some of the sounds in the video are unobtainable by students and are not readily available to people in the UK such as the foley sound for the handgun shot from "hit girl" and the people shooting at her.  If I was to repeat the process I sound try to find a substitute sound to that of a gun shot such as a balloon bursting.

Things i think when well 

My favroute sounds in the video are the bullet impact noises which we achieve by hitting a chair with a stick of bamboo which we found this gave the impression of bullet impact noises into a wooden door and in the finished product you wouldn't know otherwise. I also think that the music that we code to go in the background of the peice fitted perfectly espachally the part when hit girl turns around at the begging the music is perfectly synchronised to the visuals.   

Sound panning Analysis 

The uses of sound panning in the video I think worked well and aid the video nicley such as the moment when the two bullets impact on the door and the sound only goes to the left ear giving there impression of the bullets going from right to left and making the audience more engrossed within the piece. I think sound panning is a very important contributer in making a movie as it helps create the world in which a film maker is trying to create by adding a certain realism to it.

Conclusion

To conclude I think that is was much more successful that the previous project on foley sound and the factor that made it better was that we had much more time to record the sounds and much more time to edit.