DDD Evaluation - 502 words

Over the course of the second term I attended lectures held by Andy. The main area’s we focused on were story boarding, characters and plots, roles with in production and realistic scheduling.

First of all we concentrated on making a good plot, this includes various factors like settings, point of views, style, tones and languages, themes and symbolisms. We mainly focused on creating well-developed characters. There are seven standard character types, the confidant, dynamic, flat, foil, round, stock and static which all bring different attributes to a story and ultimately keep it interesting and vibrant for the audience. We mainly focused on a protagonist and antagonist. The more the audience know about the character the easier it is for them to relate to the characters, anticipate their reactions, emotions and emphasize accordingly. The best way to start doing this is by making a biography for the characters. As essentially, the only way to come up with a believable developed character is principally the depth of research and background we have given them.

The next thing we concentrated on was storyboarding.  This is the first time we draw out the key scenes, this helps us create a structured narrative that makes sense, but to do this to a high standard we need to do some essential work before hand which include; initial concept – the theme of the animation/film, what is it about, some times it is easier to start with a seed and then layer up everything else. The synopsis comes next, which is a summary of your film or animation. Story development is the next stage, as you should have a clearer idea of the direction of your production, this means you have time to check and change anything that needs to be altered. Next comes, camera scripting, this is when we turn out story into a script this is mainly the directors job, as this is where you start to think about the different shots and how you want them to be framed. Blocking is when you turn your idea into a plan, plotting the key parts of the environment and also the positioning of your characters, its so important to make sure that the geography is consistent. Once all these stages are done it leads onto the story boarding.

I mentioned above about roles with in the development of a project. Executive Producers are Andy and Ron they make the ultimate decisions and are rather hand’s off. Producers are the bean counters. The make a production schedule, make everybody aware of roles and gets everything in order. The Director plays the nurturing role, they create a loyal army of followers it’s a tough role and requires a lot of work. The animators do the graft, when they feel like they contribute to a production it works better, Negotiation and compromise is key to make sure they everything runs smoothly. Other roles in the production process includes, product designer, layout artist, sound designer, editors who all individually contribute to a project.

Final Version of 30 clip.

This is my final version of the 30 second clip piece. Just to refresh everyone i thought i would re-blog the passage that we had to make sounds for so everyone can know what i've tried to.

Final 30 Sound Track

 ‘Tales from the Geronimo’ Scott Frank 

The beaten hotel had memories flickering from almost every corner. Drifting into short dreams, at times I thought I heard the putt-putting of old Model Ts pulling up to the lobby, dropping off elegantly gowned women accompanied by pillars of the community in cool, white tuxedos. Opulent repose, 1920s desert style. Back in 1919, when the Geronimo was built, edges of huge desert tracts were still nearby. Horses and Model Ts pulled up to the community growing around the new University of Arizona.

When dragging hours in the hotel corridors reached post-midnight hush, time secretly eased its pace. My eyelids would droop; then faint brown light oozing from dust-covered globes caught my lashes. Momentarily I’d catch the glimmer of sparkling chandeliers and the bright warmth of the old-time light bulbs. They had a filament in them that you could see clearly, and it wouldn’t hurt your eyes to look. Sometimes I fancied flickering on the dreamwalls, flames dancing in the lobby’s old fireplace. But when I opened my eyes, all I saw was a sealed up chimney and an old black and white TV sitting where the logs used to burn.


As i have explained in previous posts i have tried to slip the narrative into three separate parts and share a equal amount of time on each.

Evaluation:

Overal, im pleasantly surprised with the outcome of this task. At first i struggled to understand what i had to do and what i was reading as i have dyslexia, it took a lot of brain storming and pulling the words out of the text to get a idea of what the passage was  talking about. There are things i would change - for instance i think the change between inside the lobby and then the lobby after dark is to quick. If i was allowed an extra 10 seconds this wouldn't be a problem anymore. One whole paragraph talked about the outside of the hotel and i felt like i needed to make this as one of the longer parts of audio. Over all the outside of the hotel goes on for just under 12 seconds.

I feel like i have created a story with sound, and i feel like its quite easy to follow and quick logical in sound and approach. Maybe next time i could be more abstract in approach and think outside the box rather then what is immediate. Also if i had more time i would probably book a sound room and make my own foley noises. I have two different walking tracks however, i find that they are rather slow and i would have preferred something a little quicker in walk. Although, when i put it all together the pace of the foot steps isn't really noticeable.

I have learnt a lot from this project the thing i am most proud of is tackling a new Adobe programme, i feel like i know the bare basics but it was enough to get me through this task. I did get a little bit over whelmed in the sound workshops because there was so much to do, so many buttons, menus, rules, settings that i couldn't take it all in. I just made sure i took in all the essential information and it seemed to work out okay. I would probably benefit by having more classes on Adobe Audition, there were many things we did in class that i cant remember how to do now, and therefore i believe it would be beneficial. 

Link to Sound

Near finished sound

Above is the link to my version of the sound piece with the piano - but after listening to it a few times i have decided that i need to add two lots of foot steps walking into the lobby to make it seem like we are following some people inside. I will do this and upload shortly.

30 seconds with Piano

Finally after a lot of research i found a piece of music that would be appropriate for the time that the passage was written. The music i chose can be found on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qMU17puYnw - its called 'Night & Day' and its on a cd-rom called Pianoforte Jazz. The piece itself goes on for just over 5 minutes so i have the opening part of the piece as the door opens.

30second Piece with Piano

It actually makes it sound much better, much more up market however, i could do with some talking outside the hotel as they walk up to the butler standing outside the hotel ready to let them in. Also maybe i could have some foot steps, some high heels and flat shoes?

There seems to be some technical issues with my upload onto Vimeo - i think when i exported from after effects i forgot to click the audio settings, and therefore after effects didn't export the audio! So i have done the process again making sure it had some sound.

30 Second clip with no piano

The link i will paste below is the link to the 30 second piece with out the classical piano playing in the lobby! I thought it would be good to have two different comparisons for me and also for other people to listen to, it will be interesting to see how it changed the atmosphere - i think it will make the hotel sound much more upper class.

30s Clip - No Piano

I had to make the audio into a film in AE to be able to upload it to Vimeo. I rendered it at the rate that Joe told us to do in the sound work shop and i also exported it at H.264 as i have learnt from Jon in my Digital Skills lessons that it is the best compression format.

Finishing the 30 second sound clip

This is a image of the first version i have completed for the 30 second clip. I think it works rather well. It has all three aspect of the passage, outside the hotel, inside the lobby and then at night when everything has settles and the author comes to the realisation of where he is... I couldn't really add too much more sound effects because then it could sound over crowded and it would have been a struggle for me to make sure that everything stays under -10dB. I labelled everything to make sure i could keep tabs of where everything was - although they aren't in order, this is because i made the error when i added a new multitrack of having one of the layers high lighted, this meant that then the new multi tracks would altermatically go underneath.

However, i was watching a film last night and there was a couple in a hotel having a lovely meal and it was based in America - NewYork i think. They were sitting having dinner and it sounded much like the lobby that i have in my 30 second sound clip - but they had some classical piano playing in the background so i might add something like that into the lobby sequence as it might help bring the lobby to life a bit.

BUT...... the definition of a lobby is:

Noun A room providing a space out of which other rooms or corridors lead, typically one near the entrance of a public building.

Verb Seek to influence (a politician or public official) on an issue: "booksellers lobbied their representatives".

Synonyms hall - vestibule - foyer - hallway So they might not have the music playing, but from the information in the passage, i can gather that this is based in the evening, and i'm sure that if i owned a hotel i would have some music playing in the lobby whilst people meet up before they either leave the hotel for the evening or come to the hotel for dinner or to stay. So i think i will have some classical piano in the background.

Production of 30second Piece

I set up a new project as Joe showed us in our sound tutorials with him a few weeks ago.

I imported the files to the project manager on the side one piece at a time. I started off with the ambience of the place outside, so i imported my desert sounds which i put on a really low volume, i then started layering up the desert sounds with other noises like cars and horses in the background trotting and maybe a neigh, some birds and other noises that could be heard.

With the car coming up to the front of the hotel, i wanted to make it seem like it started far away, went past the audience and then want on part, this means that i had to manipulate the sound of the clip to suit my needs - i had to change the blending of the layer by changing the gradient of the sound lines, and i also added some 'key frames' so i could change where the sound gets louder and when i want to make is quieter. Its actually really clever, and i am so glad that i made Joe's lesson or i would have had no clue.

This image is a print screen of the two tracks that i explained about - you can see the left and right ear sounds for the ambience and then some birds chirping. On 'Track 3' you can see a line which is all over the place, that line demonstrated how loud i want the track, and it varies as you can see. These ambience tracks will mainly be on through out the whole clip - this is because they are on so low and also because when the character is quiet in his room he would still be able to hear the outside ambience - although the birds probably wouldn't be chirping.

TECHNICAL ISSUES..... Adobe Audition kept shutting down which was really frustrating - it wouldn't save my work, nor would it stay open for a long duration. So i had to do this process 4 times, however, it probably did me some good because i got to slightly amend it every time, getting me used to the process and also to opening new projects.

Planning 30 second track.

After a lot of research into appropriate sounds on various internet libraries and in the sound library in the university I have gathered all of my sounds i need.

After a lot of deliberation i have decided to split the 30 seconds into 10 second slots for the 3 aspects of the passage. The three divisions are outside the hotel in its hay day, inside the hotel with all the loud people, and then the realisation of the character when he opens his eyes and realises he is in a quiet empty room.


The official list includes:

Part 1: First 10 seconds

Ambience:
Desert sounds - from sound work shop with Joe Left and Right ear sound
Bird evening singling
Car's pulling up
Car doors shutting
People walking
Horse walking
Horse neigh
Butler - 'Welcome'
Front door opening

Part 2: 10s-20seconds

An American restaurant to go with the american theme
A bell ring - front desk
Glasses clashing
People laughing

Part 3: 20-30seconds

Wind chimes
Buzzing electricity
Slight wind
A humming sound
and then burns out to silence.

Sound Work Shop

Today i attended a sound workshop run by a lecturer called Joe, who i have had some lessons with last year. Unfortunately i missed the last lesson due to being ill but from what i head today they spoke about diegetic and non-diegetic sounds.

Diegetic sounds:

Sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film: 

• voices of characters 
• sounds made by objects in the story 
• music represented as coming from instruments in the story space ( = source music)

Diegetic sound is any sound presented as originated from source within the film's world 

Digetic sound can be either on screen or off screen depending on whatever its source is within the frame or outside the frame. 

Another term for diegetic sound is actual sound  

Diegesis is a Greek word for "recounted story" 
The film's diegesis is the total world of the story action  

Non-Diegetic sounds:

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
• mood music

Non-diegetic sound is represented as coming from the a source outside story space. 

The distinction between diegetic or non-diegetic sound depends on our understanding of the conventions of film viewing and listening.  We know of that certain sounds are represented as coming from the story world, while others are  represented as coming from outside the space of the story events.  A play with diegetic and non-diegetic conventions can be used to create ambiguity (horror), or to surprise the audience (comedy). 

Another term for non-diegetic sound is commentary sound. 

(http://filmsound.org/terminology/diegetic.htm)

Today we were told to download some files from the UCA website in the DDD section and then import the files onto the Abobe Audition which i havent used before. We have five individual files in total and .... to be finished tomorrow

Breaking down the scripts into possible sounds.

The beaten hotel had memories flickering from almost every corner. Drifting into short dreams, at times I thought I heard the putt-putting of old Model Ts pulling up to the lobby, dropping off elegantly gowned women accompanied by pillars of the community in cool, white tuxedos. Opulent repose, 1920s desert style. Back in 1919, when the Geronimo was built, edges of huge desert tracts were still nearby. Horses and Model Ts pulled up to the community growing around the new University of Arizona.

When dragging hours in the hotel corridors reached post-midnight hush, time secretly eased its pace. My eyelids would droop; then faint brown light oozing from dust-covered globes caught my lashes. Momentarily I’d catch the glimmer of sparkling chandeliers and the bright warmth of the old-time light bulbs. They had a filament in them that you could see clearly, and it wouldn’t hurt your eyes to look. Sometimes I fancied flickering on the dreamwalls, flames dancing in the lobby’s old fireplace. But when I opened my eyes, all I saw was a sealed up chimney and an old black and white TV sitting where the logs used to burn.

Different sounds and ambience:

• Old Model T's
• Lobby
• Elegant Women
• Pillars - well turned out -high up men
• Horse shoes, possible horse noise
• Carriage - wheels, possible creaking
• Sparkling Chandeliers - possible sound of glass blowing in the wind
• old fire places - spitting wood, cracking.

Old model T's - The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Henry Ford's Ford Motor Company from September 1908 to October 1927. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, the car that opened travel to the common middle-class American; some of this was because of Ford's innovations, including assembly line production instead of individual hand crafting.The Ford Model T was named the world's most influential car of the 20th century in an international poll.

Elegant women - Im sure i can find a lot of old recording from the 1920's and even from 1920's films. definitely worth having a look at, getting a good feel for how they talk, vocabulary etc. - i should also look at what women wore in the 1920's cause this can help me get into the character of the women and decide what accent sounds right and which doesn't! 

Horse noises: A horse can whinny, scream, nicker, and even low growl. When a horse nickers it can mean that it likes something, or when its feeding time, they nicker to there feeders. When it screams it can mean a warning, an urgent call, or (GET AWAY!!!). When a horse whinnies, it may be trying to find something, answering another horse, or letting something (or someone) know that it is there. 

• The Neigh or Whinny - A neigh sounds like a squeal followed by a nicker and is very loud.  The term whinny is also used to refer to a neigh.
• The Nicker  -  The nicker sound is produced when a horse creates a vibrating sound with his mouth closed using the vocal cords
• The Blow -  The blow sound is produced when a horse exhales through his nose with his mouth shut.
• The Snort -   The snort sound is produced when a horse exhales through his nose with his mouth shut and produces a vibrating sound in the nostrils.
• The Squeal -  A horse squeals with his mouth shut.
• The Scream  -  A horse screams while fighting with another horse.
• Clip clop of the horse shoes - determines pace, is the horse fast or slow? Being a cart horse i imaging it would be going at a slow pace - would i then have a man/the driver saying 'stop'? etc 

Chandeliers: i know it doesn't say in the passage that the chandeliers move in the wind but it could be nice to hear parts of the chandeliers knocking against each other - not like in titanic where they are making a racket, but just a gentle chime - imagine a wind chime for instance. It would be a delicate noise, a rather soothing noise!

Fire: Spitting - crackling, warm and intense.. fire itself does not make noise, fire from burning objects or gas causes reactions which cause noise. Example, burning wood, the wood burns to embers and cracks and boils sap. which all causes noise. In the passage it doesnt say what they used in the burning fire place, but im assuming it could have been wood - as it was a up market hotel at the time it cant have been coal as that was used for steam trains etc which was deemed a low class substance at the time (apparently)....

30 Audio Introduction

We have to create an animation ready body of work relating to sound demonstrating the key skills of recording, editing and production. We have to create a 30 second editted audio sequence based on a chapter or short passage from a book of our lecturers choice. We have no received the sequence and this is what we will be basing the audio on:

 ‘Tales from the Geronimo’ Scott Frank 

The beaten hotel had memories flickering from almost every corner. Drifting into short dreams, at times I thought I heard the putt-putting of old Model Ts pulling up to the lobby, dropping off elegantly gowned women accompanied by pillars of the community in cool, white tuxedos. Opulent repose, 1920s desert style. Back in 1919, when the Geronimo was built, edges of huge desert tracts were still nearby. Horses and Model Ts pulled up to the community growing around the new University of Arizona.

When dragging hours in the hotel corridors reached post-midnight hush, time secretly eased its pace. My eyelids would droop; then faint brown light oozing from dust-covered globes caught my lashes. Momentarily I’d catch the glimmer of sparkling chandeliers and the bright warmth of the old-time light bulbs. They had a filament in them that you could see clearly, and it wouldn’t hurt your eyes to look. Sometimes I fancied flickering on the dreamwalls, flames dancing in the lobby’s old fireplace. But when I opened my eyes, all I saw was a sealed up chimney and an old black and white TV sitting where the logs used to burn.

Roles within Group task lecture

Executive producer – Ron and Andy. Very hands off, ultimate decision of what gets made – name attached to companies.

Producers – bean counters, control budget. Generally tell you, get everything finished on time or they get sacked. Producers are responsible for putting together the production schedule. Make sure everybody knows what they are doing all the time.  Its about co-operation and being part of the team. Book voice talent, studios, pulling together the crew, wages, tax, insurance. They sign things off.

Director – stands between the crew and producer, director is a nurturing role, a good director will keep the team on board, so when you need to ask someone to stay on they will do so, a loyal army. Be aware of that the project requires, and what the team are good at, the director takes a project and story boards it, or a camera script and give it to a story board artist. Director is there to direct the action with in the shots to insure continuity. It’s a tough role, not very glamorous,

Animators – doing the graft, its your job to animate, when the animators feel like they have a contribution to a film works best, more passionate. A form of negotiation between the animators,  directors and producers work best.  Negotiation and compromise is the key.

Production designer – person that designs all the sets, backgrounds, over view of the charater designs, someone needs to step into this role by negotiation of the director. Everything you see on screen needs to be designed by the production designer.

Layout artists- these people generally do backgrounds, not glamorous, but essential, more of a 2D role.

Sound designer – the moment our project gets going we need to think about sound – its 50% of the film. Those of you who have a interest in sound should put themselves forward. Talk to director, what sounds do you think we need. Record dialogue, Foleys etc. No copyright issues, as it isn’t going on the web etc. But normally you have to be aware of copyright.  Carefully lease with the producer and director.

Editor – the editor should be working with the project from the start, The director would be working with the story, and break down into a camera script. Camera script – break down the story into individual shots – what action takes place and how would you frame it? Make sure you have got a nice rhythm between shots. Next stage is so block – a plan view of the set or location with the movement of characters and set. As much of the responsibility as the director – gather up all the shots as and when the come in. mail it to them on a memory stick so they can drop it into the time line, the editor and director will then short the shots.