#ict 3.7

Here are the final few shots, of the Reason .aiff file exported into Logic Pro 8 which is then exported as an audio file and imported into iMovie; the .mov of the silent film is exported here as well. This is then exported as both a combine .mov file (the final iteration to be handed in) and a tiny .3gp file to be posted here.

Low-quality video ahoy!

EVALUATION OF PROCESS

[Found it! - F.B.]

This was a great project to end the year on, on that had many surprises and things I would have never predicted from its inception. Even before it had begun, I was particularly interested in the concept of doing Foley art for the audio lay-up; it is a very exciting, mysterious and entertaining part of filmmaking that does not often get due recognition.

However, when I actually got the film I was meant to work on, I was deeply saddened. I had wanted to work on one of the Seventh Formers' documentary films - there seemed like there would be a lot of opportunity for challenge and innovation, which is what this assessment calls for - but I instead received one of the Sixth Formers' horror films. There were two key problems with this: I had already worked with the genre and its associated conventions when we created audio to accompany Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, so I was less interested in having fun with something I had already explored thoroughly; also, the film itself did not allow for much Foley art, or anything interesting. It was some faux-arthouse film called Matryoshka about Phoenix turning into a doll (I think), with no dialogue and very little diegetic sound. Its audio consisted wholly of two songs, one by Burial and one by Massive Attack.

Because I could not do anything with the film's pre-existing audio (for instance, clean it up or apply filters), I decided I would start afresh and create my own, entirely new audio accompaniment. For this, I decided to use the trusty old warhorse that is Reason, but not solely as a means of creating music. Rather, I would use it as my sort of 'development environment' where I could create audio with other programs and import it into Reason to arrange. This seemed like a very smart option: I could work with reliable software as my base, and use other less familiar software in relation to it. Reason's versatility was a great help in this.

Despite this, the first section of audio I completed for the film was composed entirely in Reason. As was the second. These were the distorted string crescendo and rumbling noise that appear around halfway through the film, as Phoenix becomes Phoenixdoll. That was really the extent of my composition; after creating those pieces, I decided I would incorporate my own version of Foley art and use extensive sampling to introduce new, exciting elements to the film.

One of the first things I did after this epochal decision was bookend the film with two pitched up samples of Duke Ellington's Black Beauty. This was really where I started to innovate during the process, introducing an element that was not present at all in the original film. The light nature of the sample juxtaposed heavily with the dark, heavy atmosphere of the film, creating a sense of tension and unease - things I am now a master of after my bout with Kubrick. The original film was dark in both audio and visuals, but I think my interpretation is far more interesting and creepy. It was really fun putting my own spin on someone else's work.

I was particularly proud of the next sample I included (or 'layed-up' as the professional Foley artist might say): a distorted recording of my own panicked breathing. It was essentially a "Let's do this, just because I can" moment, and the headphones Terry leant me proved suitable lo-fi microphones. Again, I think this added further and more effective horror elements to the film and vastly improved it.

Of course, my greatest achievement during the process was my interpretation (subversion, maybe?) of club music. This is where I went 'full-Foley,' trying to create a realistic narrative atmosphere by using crowd noise samples sourced from YouTube. This was definitely an element absent from the original film, where the audio was all non-diegetic (it did not play in the world of the characters); it was particularly effective to create this atmosphere of reality, as that would juxtapose with the dark fantasy world seen in the second half of the film.

Of course I had to include Katy Perry. When I thought club music, I thought I should maybe try to compose my own. But, for a 'lark', I decided to try out a distorted sample of Stompin' with Katy, which actually worked surprisingly well!

終りましたよ。

Done. Dusted. 

A week has passed, and I have only added a small cosmetic change to the piece. Otherwise, it is finished!

I added the sound of a heartbeat to the distorted string build that accompanies Phoenix's transformation into Phoenixdoll; it adds a nice eerie touch and synchronises well with her breathing chest movements onscreen (though I did not plan that!).

Simply enough, I found a heartbeat sound effect on YouTube - one that beats faster and faster, fitting the climax provided by the distorted strings - and used an online converter to turn the video into an .mp3 file. This I opened in iTunes and converted again to a .wav file, importing this into an NN-XT in Reason. I created two different instances of the sample, as originally it was not long enough to last the entirety of the build - the first instance is a short sample (as shown in the sequencer detail) that segues nicely into the second and gives it appropriate length.

Finally, I automated a subtle fade in that eases the sample into the audio soundscape and makes it first noticeable when a close-up of Phoenix's breathing chest appears onscreen. That's the nice kind of picture/sound interplay this assessment calls for.

With that small addition, it is ALL DONE.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

So...remember the 'club music' I mentioned about a week ago?

It's done.

With style.

I have used a particularly devious combination of techniques, all of which I will detail in this post. I am incredibly pleased with how this stage of the process has turned out; far, far, far better than I could have ever expected.

This assessment is, of course, based around creating suitable sounds to accompany the various things onscreen; one possible way to do this would be actual foley art, recording live effects that are then synchronised with aspects of the film to create a realistic effect. This could be anything from footsteps to closing doors to ambient city noises. Initially, I did not see any instances in the film where foley art could be incorporated (aside from one brief sequence of Phoenix climbing a flight of stairs), which was rather disappointing. I put the idea in the back of my mind and set to work on the parts of the film that I was more readily inspired by; yet the idea of incorporating foley art never left my mind.

So when I came to creating the club-ish scene, the final sequence that needed audio accompaniment, I thought I should try my hand at some foley sounds; it seemed like it would be fun and this is one of the final things I will be doing in Sonic Arts this year, so why not go out with something I enjoy? Yet, I did not have much time to allow for actual recording - thus, I used a sort of 'bastard foley art' process to compensate.

I thought that instead of accompanying the dancing scene with non-diegetic club music (music that would not sound like it was functioning within the narrative sphere of the film) I would use audio trickery to combine ambient party noises - i.e. talking, glasses/bottles clinking, general movement of bodies - with the club music to give the scene a greater sense of realism. This would give the scene a quality that was completely absent from the original cut of the film, the audio of which was almost completely diegetic. It also creates a nice juxtaposition with the latter half of the film, where the audio I have already created is mostly diegetic - aiding the transition from reality to fantasy that lies at the heart of this piece.

How did I get ambient crowd noises without recording them, I hear you ask? With the magic of the internet. A simple Google search for 'crowd noises' reveals a host of websites with free, uncopyrighted sound effects for me to pluck from! From various sites, I downloaded four .mp3 variations on appropriate party crowd noise, which I opened in iTunes to convert into .wav files. These were then imported into the trusty NN-XT Advanced Sampler in Reason (the same one that contained the Ellington samples) and layered on top of each other to create a dense, realistic crowd soundscape.

That was the ambient crowd noise; how about the club music? Here, I did something very crafty. Sneaky, if you will. Instead of composing new music, I decided to do a 'Felix throwback' and use Stompin' With Katy as the music the young folk would be partying hard to. Just my way of spicing up things. Plus, it's my last Sonic project so I HAD to incorporate Katy Perry somehow. SO, I converted that whole song into a .wav file, put it on the same NN-XT that contained the breathing sample and was routed through a Scream 4 distortion unit - this resulted in the song sounding 'muffled' and more like it was playing within the context of the scene itself. It also gave the music a somewhat druggy (or as the more uncouth may say 'trippy') feel, further blurring the line between fantasy and reality. The level of this was set lower than that of the crowd noise, better replicating real life acoustics.

Both of these effects I faded in as the Ellington tune fades out, which coincidentally synchronises with the appearance of many feet on the dance floor (you sort of have to see the film to know exactly what I'm talking about). However, I thought I would heighten that sense that Phoenix was being affected by something and that transition from reality to fantasy by turning diegesis into non-diegesis: Around forty seconds into the film there is a close-up of Phoenix; here, I automated a fade out of the crowd noises and increased the level of the Stompin' sample. Thus, it transitions from a realistic party atmosphere to a surreal, druggy haze.

To REALLY emphasise the surreality of this sequence, I automated a series of crazy pitch bends that start with the next close-up of Phoenix. Here, it looks almost as if she's having a bad trip, prompting her trip (pun intentional) upstairs seen in the next shot.

Very brief post today: Success! With Reaper!

I managed to open video and audio with the audio program Reaper, the poor-man's equivalent of Logic Pro 8. It did require me to convert the .mov file of the film to a compatible .mp4, but that was achieved simply via freeware.