Composers

            There is a very important part of movies that I wish I possessed the ability to really be a part of, and that is the composition and scoring of the music.  It can take a scene from seeming a little sad to bringing an audience to tears.  Or it could turn a smile into full on belly laughing if done right.  It is there and so fitting because it is able to transform a mild feeling into a strong emotion.  There are people out there composing for films, TV shows, and advertisements everyday who are able to turn it into a paycheck and I commend them all and I’m honestly a little jealous.  But I am going to focus on just a few of the bigger names that you may recognize, or if not, you should look into. 

            I am going to guess you have heard of John Williams whether you are a movie buff or just a music fan.  Even if not, there are references to him in TV shows that I  have heard.  Family Guy more specifically.  Anyways, he is most noted for his work on Star Wars, Jaws, E.T., Indiana Jones, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and so many more.  If it was a blockbuster, there is a good chance John Williams had something to do with it. 

            Next on the list is Danny Elfman.  If you’ve ever seen a Tim Burton film, you’ve heard Elfman’s music.  He conveys the creepy, fun feelings that you get from a lot of Burton’s films.  A short list includes: The older Batman movies, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and one from Peter Jackson: The Frighteners.

            Last on my list is probably my personal favorite, John Murphy.  I actually had to go and turn on a song called Adagio in D minor while I’m typing this, because I love the song so much.  That song appears in a sci-fi movie called Sunshine.  He has also done movies such as 28 Days Later and Kickass.  The sound he achieves is one of raw emotion that leaves you feeling a little heavy as if something huge is either about to happen or just did and you are still recovering.  Anyways, that’s just my take on him. 

            I hope you check out a couple of these guys, or even some others.  If movie music was never your thing, I recommend getting into it. There is a lot of great music you’re missing out on.

Sleigh Bells/Confusion

            This week’s sound effect is intended to convey a feeling of confusion.  I was inspired by an episode of Breaking Bad where the end credits are set to the sound of a bell being manipulated.  What I did was take a recording of some sleigh bells that I had and try to create the same type of effect that I heard in the show. 

            I’ll walk through my process here.  The original is just a simple recording, so set up 3 Aux inputs in ProTools all bussed to the same track.  Each aux has its own frequency modulator set up to it: one set to higher frequency, one set to lower, and one set to quickly go back and forth between a high and low. I recorded the faders of the high and low frequency modulators to be pretty much opposite of each other (while one goes up, the other down) at random.  Then I made the up/down one simply raise throughout the recording. In my opinion, this could represent a type of wandering confused feeling if used correctly.  Once again, this is just an experiment that I hope you have found useful.

Sound Companies

            I’d like to introduce a few companies that specialize in the different jobs out there that have to do with audio in film.  A few of the jobs out there include post-production, field recording, Foley work, and set recording. 

            I would imagine there are a lot of people out there with a dream of making it into Skywalker Studios someday if they have ever thought about audio post-production.  It is the first place I ever had a goal of working towards and the reason I decided to pursue an audio degree.  Their building, on a ranch in California, contains mixing rooms, Foley stage, Scoring stage, and pretty much anything you could ask for as far as audio goes. They have done the sound for such works as Iron Man, Wall-E and Cloverfield.

            Detroit Chop Shop is a unique company located in Detroit, started by a man named Ric Viers.  The overall workings of this company include collection, storage, editing, and sales of sound effects. They employ teams of field recordists, mixers, and engineers who all work together to create libraries of sound effects.

            Set recordists are on set while the shooting is taking place. This job will keep you at attention, as you may have to move around a little bit as the action is taking place.  You  also have to make judgment calls of where you may or may not be in the way in such situations as documentaries or newscasts where there may be no scripted actions.

            There are many jobs that all have their own niche in this world of sound, who all depend on each other to keep everything together.  I will say that the most interesting sounding one to me would be out in the field gathering sounds to bring back and mix down into usable material for films. What sounds interesting to you?

Bug Noise Elimination

            This week’s sound effect is more of a tip that I picked up from one of my most recommended books: The Sound Effects Bible.  In the field, while recording sounds, there are sometimes a lot of bugs around that you’re simply not going to be able to get rid of while recording.  A long time ago, I found a door at a gas station that I really liked the sound of, so I creeped everyone out as I stood there and recorded them walking through it.  One thing that I noticed upon listening back through it, though, are the bugs. 

            Ric Viers gives a tip on sweeping through you EQ to find the frequency that the bugs are sounding at.  It’s never going to be perfect, and it is definitely a possibility that you’ll lose sound quality, but you can eliminate a lot of the sound that they are making by silencing a band of frequencies.  I tried just that with the sound of the gas station door.  My attempt definitely shows the potential, but the bugs were simply too loud to be shut out completely, and unfortunately some of the frequencies I silenced were pretty crucial to the sound of the door that I loved. 

            Anyway, this is just an example of what you can do if the bugs get in your way. Like I said, mine wasn’t perfect, but shows you your options. 

Foley

            There is a world of sound known as Foley.  This is basically when someone known as a Foley artist performs their interpretation of a sound that is going on in the film. The advantage of doing it this way is that there is a human feel to it, or some would say it has a more natural feel to it.  It takes some rehearsing and a lot of experience to get this technique down, which is why there are people who specialize in Foley work.

            Foley requires its own setup. You can’t just walk into any studio and perform Foley work.  First off, there needs to be a projector or large screen of some sort to be watched by the performers while they are doing their work.  Another big part is that footsteps are often created in these studios.  I read on another blog on Harmony Central that it is a good idea to have at least 5 of these “pits” to perform in.  Some pits will contain water, various rock sizes, sand, grass, leaves, etc.  Then on top of these pits would be “lids” covered in wood, linoleum, tile, cement, carpet, etc. 

            Another thing about a Foley studio is that you will be collecting everything you can imagine to make sounds with.  That requires a lot of space.  Foley studios are often a more dry sound.  You need to be able to record little to no reverb or room noise if that specific scene requires it.  Much like a music studio, however, you are going to want a plethora of microphones.  As with any sound recording, experimentation is key.  Finding the right microphone for the right job has everything to do with just going in a trying.

            Hopefully this gives you a jump-start on gathering ideas on your own Foley stage/studio if that interests you.