Audio Research

Look at what sounds you need to create and how they (or similar sounds) have been created in the past.

In the scene I am doing, I need to create the sound of trains coming in and out of a train station. I am going to research the best way to create this sound in a way that sounds the most realistic.

I looked at these secondary sources to find the best way to get this sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D7vTRtLz2w and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8cMMrgjNzU 

When looking online I could only find a video showing me how to create the sound effect with my own voice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D7vTRtLz2w or a recording of the actual sound https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8cMMrgjNzU. In the tutorial of how to make the sound with my voice RudiRok says “there are three steps”, these steps are quite difficult and sound best if you have some training and talent in making sound effects with your voice, sadly I have neither so my attempt at making this sound effect wouldn’t be very effective. Whereas with the actual recording of the sound, it is very effective and creates the most accurate and believable sound.

After researching both options I think that using a pre recorded sound is the best choice. I will use this one for my sound design. The sound is much more effective and realistic, it will fit in well with the visuals and improve the quality for the audience.

This research has helped me alot because I was worried about this sound effect, but now I have a better understanding of what to do to make it the best quality possible. This research has helped to make my sound design much more effective and better quality

Primary research: Mr Bean Exam

I wanted to find out how to successfully plan to add audio by writing an effective spotting sheet.

I did some primary research by experimenting with a short Mr Bean clip where he is in an exam hall. I filled out a spotting sheet and used it when creating the soundtrack for the video. 

My first step was to watch the video clip through a few times so that I could get the idea of the film and start thinking about what sounds were missing. After that I went through the video again, pausing it often and noting down every sound that was missing on my spotting sheet. At first I focused on the sounds the main character was making and then on some of the surrounding characters. After watching it through two more times to make sure that I caught every sound needed, I started to think about the wildtrak of the exam room and noted them down as well.

This is the spotting sheet that I filled in for The Exam video:

https://youtu.be/3mh-wo4Fg2A  This is the video that I added the audio to. Overall, the experiment was quite successful, I recorded all the sounds that I wrote on my spotting sheet and in the video you can hear most of them clearly. I think the wildtrak is successful because it makes the scene more realistic and means there are no uncomfortable silences in the video. Next time, when i’m mixing the sounds with the audio I need to focus more on the timing of each sound to make sure that the sound is in sync with the action in the video, as some of the sounds in The Exam video are slightly out of time. Also I should work on getting the volume of each sound right because some of my sounds like the sound of the main character writing were drowned out by the other sounds in the video.

By doing this research I have learnt the importance of making a spotting sheet and being as detailed as possible when filling it in so that you are prepared for the recording stage and have a clear idea of what you need to achieve. I have also seen how important a wildtrak is to add to the feel of the film and make sure there are no silent moments, this will be key in the future. I also found out the need to focus on the volumes of the sounds when mixing the sounds with the video. For example making some sounds quieter and more subtle and other sounds louder so they stand out more, this will make it sound more realistic and be more effective for the audience.

Completing this research has been very helpful because it has given me the chance to experiment with all the areas of Unit 5 and identify possible problems I might face, whilst still having time to research how to avoid them. I am now able to go into my final project with more confidence in planning, recording and mixing sounds with knowledge of what to look out for and what to work on. To progress further I should look at adjusting the volumes of sounds to make them more effective.

Microphone Placement

I want to find out the best positioning of a microphone so that I can get the best quality audio. 

I looked at these two secondary sources to find information about this: https://www.mediacollege.com/audio/microphones/placement.html and https://castos.com/mic-techniques/ 

The writer of media college.com says that “The golden rule of microphone placement is get the distance right” and that you should “place the microphone as close as practical to the sound source without getting so close that you introduce unwanted effects” https://www.mediacollege.com/audio/microphones/placement.html . This is useful to know but doesn’t give me any specific information on the distance that the microphone should be away from the source. Dennis from https://castos.com/mic-techniques/ says you should “Place your thumb at your nose and your pinkie finger on the mic. That’s about the right distance.” This distance is about two inches and means that the mic won’t pick up too many of your mouth sounds or the sounds from the room. I am going to experiment with this to make sure. 

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1fvLXohxMnydregaOAvHPuPZvZLY87a1B These are my experiments that I did to make sure that the secondary sources were correct. The first experiment I did was using Dennis’ advice of having the mic two inches away from the source, this audio was clear and didn’t pick up any unwanted mouth sounds. The second experiment I had the mic a lot closer to the source, this picked up lots of unwanted mouth sounds and is too bassy. In the future I will make sure to try to keep the source two inches away from the source because this created the best audio quality.

Having done this research and experiments it is clear that having the mic at a distance of two inches from the source (no closer), or as close as practically possible is the best way to record audio because it picks up the clearest audio and doesn’t pick up any unwanted mouth sounds.

This research has helped me a lot because I now know the best positioning of a mic, which will make my audio quality a lot better for the recording in unit 5. I wanted to make sure I had researched the positioning of mics before recording so that I could make sure I recorded the best quality audio that I can. This means that my recornings will be much more successful because I have had a chance to experiment so that I can get the best results.