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watch The Last Straw...berry

S

SiCurious

Morning/Afternoon/Evening all.

I had difficulty deciding where to post this. I don't even know how to describe it, maybe a comedy, but more of a bizarro action adventure based around a love of parks, with an electro chase sequence. And fruit. I think there's a hidden PSA message about getting your five a day.

Have a watch, and let me know what you think :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIOsCR-gE2M

Hope you enjoy

TECHNICAL NOTE: It's the first time I've experimented with what you might call sound design, building a soundscape of sorts from the ground up using wild audio, ADR, Foley, music and effects. Due to lack of experience at this sort of thing, we may have made a pig's ear of mixing the audio and exporting the video (iMovie FTW), so the audio mix came out a bit skewed to the left channel. If anyone enjoys dissecting audio mistakes, please have a listen, I'd especially get a kick out of reading some criticism along those lines. I think I know where we went wrong, maybe one day we'll remix it and try and get the balance right!
 
Hmmmmm.... I don't know where to begin...

I didn't really hear much in the way of sound design, and what I did here was pretty bland.

How much time did you spend on audio post? I would have put in about 25 - 45 hours. Since you have less experience you should be putting in more.

Audio post is all about small details. Believe it or not, there should be a sound for almost everything, like running his fingers through the tall grass, or the strawberry stem hitting the path. There are lots of missing footsteps, and the "fight" is completely lacking in sonic details. I did not hear much in the way of ambiences either; and what about the duck in the pond?

Constructing a soundscape for visuals is all about building layers on top of layers. I am part of the "wall of sound" school of thought in this - I put in everything I can see, and even many things that are only hinted at visually. This avoids becoming a meaningless wash of sound during the mix, when everything is tamed and put into perspective.

And, as you said, it was VERY left heavy about 70% of the time - you need to address that problem.
 
Haha brutal! Thanks Alcove, I wouldn't have expected less :D

How much time did you spend on audio post
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Time spent on audio, total: about 32 hours. Time spent on actual audio post: not so much. To be honest, I didn't really know what I was doing and I was happy to get something recorded that almost matched the on-screen action. I don't have any education or experience in sound design, sound recording, mixing or indeed film-making in general. So this was a pretty deep pool for me to jump straight in, but someone had to do it or it would have sounded worse (honestly).

like running his fingers through the tall grass
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the duck in the pond
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Damn, late additions to the film, missed them.

strawberry stem hitting the path
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That was in there! Perhaps overpowered by the music.

Constructing a soundscape for visuals is all about building layers on top of layers. I am part of the "wall of sound" school of thought in this - I put in everything I can see, and even many things that are only hinted at visually. This avoids becoming a meaningless wash of sound during the mix, when everything is tamed and put into perspective.
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Beautifully put, and I've read as much elsewhere. Getting it done, and making it sound awesome, is something else entirely. Like I say, I don't do this professionally, I've only just started as a hobby and I'm happy enough learning at the pace I'm going. I like to think I've come a long way since I started in February. Apart from ducking in and trying stuff out, and reading books and IT, what else could help me out?

Cheers for your feedback, man, although I am still in lovey-la-la-land with my work, it's good to know I've got a lo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ong way to go yet :D The sound for my next short will be much better.
 
SiCurious said:
The sound for my next short will be much better.
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That's all anyone can ask. "Any day you learn something isn't a total loss." Did you learn anything?

The mix is the hardest part. I can do very nice, very solid mixes, but I have a long way to go before my mixes have that "Hollywood" sheen. Besides, by the time I get to the mix my perspective is gone, so I would rather have someone else mix and I'll fly second chair :D .

Keep at it. And next time, do all of the audio post before you put music in; there were a number of spots where you could have done without the music.
 
Alcove Audio said:
That's all anyone can ask. "Any day you learn something isn't a total loss." Did you learn anything?

The mix is the hardest part. I can do very nice, very solid mixes, but I have a long way to go before my mixes have that "Hollywood" sheen. Besides, by the time I get to the mix my perspective is gone, so I would rather have someone else mix and I'll fly second chair :D .

Keep at it. And next time, do all of the audio post before you put music in; there were a number of spots where you could have done without the music.
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I think the main thing I've learned is to spend more time on audio post. After recording everything, I just thought I could synch it all up and it would be done. No dice!

I've got a great big book on sound manipulation; plenty of bedtime reading and experimentation, I reckon.

On the plus side, I think I've done enough audio-evangelising to finally convince my crew that (ba-ba-ba-baaaaaaaa) sound is half the experience :cool:
 
ive always wanted to do this one type of shot but i have no idea how to do it.. at 3:37 how di you do the shot that zooms in the background and he at the same spot?
 
SpiderMonkey said:
ive always wanted to do this one type of shot but i have no idea how to do it.. at 3:37 how di you do the shot that zooms in the background and he at the same spot?
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That's called a dolly zoom (to give it one of its many names) - the camera pushes towards the subject while zooming out, or vice versa.
 
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