Sound Designer Required for Fantasy Feature

F

fishcake

Hello fine folk of indietalk,

I'm looking for a talented sound designer for my low budget feature: 'Legend of the Golden Fishcake'. A modern day story taking inspiration from the classic works of Ray Harryhausen, complete with its own stop-motion creatures. You can view a short teaser here:

https://vimeo.com/38471013

The project is around 85 minutes long, and I'm looking for a full stereo mix (not 5.1!) at bargain prices. If this of interest, please get in touch and we can talk further in more detail.

Many Thanks,

John
 
I'm curious as to why you are specifically asking for stereo? The usual requirement for the better film festivals or commercial distribution is 5.1, it's very rare these days to hear someone asking for a stereo only mix for a feature.

G
 
Hi AudioPostExpert,

Thanks for your question. The answer is that this film is a bit of a homage to the kind of films Ray Harryhausen was making back in the day, and this extends to the sound design, and not using processes that were developed subsequently. Hence, stereo.

Did you know that some of Kubrick's films were mastered in mono? Anyway, I hope I have answered your question, I'm looking to retro-fy certain elements of the film, including sound.

Cheers,

John
 
fishcake said:
The answer is that this film is a bit of a homage to the kind of films Ray Harryhausen was making back in the day, and this extends to the sound design, and not using processes that were developed subsequently. Hence, stereo.

Did you know that some of Kubrick's films were mastered in mono? Anyway, I hope I have answered your question, I'm looking to retro-fy certain elements of the film, including sound.
Click to expand...

Stereo has never been a film audio format, as stereo does not work in anything other than small spaces. When you say "hence stereo" you are incorrect on several levels: Standard 2 channel stereo didn't become widely available for public consumption until the 60's and only then for consumer music recordings, in the 70s it also started to be used for TV broadcast but it was NEVER used in film. So, it was not just many of Kubrick's films but pretty much all films were mono before surround became common in the '70s. There were some films which used various experimental multi-channel audio formats going back as early as the late '30s but never as far as I am aware with 2 channel stereo. To carry through with your logic, you therefore need a mono mix, NOT a stereo mix!!

Trying to create a mono mix could cause problems, depending on how you intend to distribute your film, as mono has not been a standard for film sound for nearly 50 years and is not supported by some of the current distribution formats. You will need a sound designer who really knows what they are doing, as a stereo mix with everything panned to the center is NOT AT ALL the same thing as an actual mono mix.

Where do you intend to distribute your film by the way, DVD, online, Cinema/Film Festivals?

G
 
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Well I'm always happy to be incorrect on several levels, but a mono mix isn't very practical for the reasons you have outlined.

If you would like to talk more about my intentions then please send me a pm.

Many Thanks,

John
 
fishcake said:
Well I'm always happy to be incorrect on several levels, but a mono mix isn't very practical for the reasons you have outlined.

If you would like to talk more about my intentions then please send me a pm.
Click to expand...

Hi John,

It sounds like you have a tiny budget for this job and are therefore not going to end up employing someone who either has the necessary equipment or who really knows what they are doing. So I'm just trying to provide some advice so that you end up with a mix which is both usable and along the lines of what you are trying to achieve. I'm not giving advice on the tricky subject of creating a mix which has depth and actually sounds good in mono, just on a mix which will play back at all or playback from where you expect the sound to come from.

Yes, mono can be a bit of a problem on some formats but there are maybe ways around that problem, depending on the distribution format. On the other hand, there's also problems with stereo because 2.0 stereo is not supported by some film distribution mediums either, DCP and 35mm film for example. On a DVD or BluRay for home use, a stereo mix with everything panned to the center should work OK but it won't work as intended if you plan to use a stereo mix for screening at a film festival taking place in a cinema.

G
 
Greg,

Thank you for your advice. You have talked me out of stereo, and I think going mono would present too many issues, so I guess we are back where we started, at 5.1.

John
 
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