Month: October 2016

Location Recce 2

 

Friday 28th October

Spare Bedroom

After finding difficulties with the space that Drill Hall offered us, we wanted to find another location that would be more suitable and preferable to shoot the film. Luckily, Hannah has a spare bedroom in her house that we could use, and suggested we come over to take a look at it.

The house was located on a connecting street to West Parade Road. The room itself was averagely sized for a two-bed rented house. In terms of sound, the problems would occur from: the boiler; which would be switched off when shooting, the fridges and freezers; which Hannah said could be switched off too, depending on whether they could fit all the food into one. This may not be much of an issue anyway, as the room is two sets of doors away from the kitchen which will hopefully provide enough barriers for the sound to not travel through. Dan brought his Tascam to listen to the space itself. There were cars passing on the main road which were unlikely to be heard, but any cars on the house of the street would definitely be picked up. We could also hear music from the house next door, but during the shooting days we would ask them to turn this off, and hope they are understanding, reasonable people who will oblige.
Apart from this, the space was good. Big and high enough to boom, unlike the Drill Hall. Free of course as it is Hannah’s house, which also allows more flexibility when dressing the set, setting up the shots, etc. which are all positive outcomes.

The only issue that did arise was the double bed situated in the room, which Hannah was unsure of whether could be removed. As a team we agreed to try and move it at a later date, and also come up with solutions to the problem if it can’t be moved out of the room, such as were and how to situate it so it is out of shot. The team seemed reasonably happy with this location and it was agreed that this is where we’d shoot. Furthermore, the shooting dates were altered to the 14-16th November by recommendation of Mikey who wanted us to have as much preparation as possible before the shoot. Attached below are some photos of the location.

Set Locations-4 Set Locations Set Locations-2

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Weekly Meet 4

 

Tuesday 25th October

Filming Dates

The most important discussion to come out of this week’s meeting was the filming dates. While looking over our schedules, Hannah suggested a three-day shoot 9-11 November would be best for organisation, while the set would be dressed the week before. This led us to booking out all the equipment needed for the shoot, as well as organising a location scout for Friday.

Apart from this there was not too much to discuss. A composer had got in touch with Hannah but is asking for a fee we simply cannot pay. We also discussed other fundraising ideas – another film group are putting on a quiz night at the Shed – and Hannah gave us positive feedback with our research.

The outcomes were to book the equipment, get prepared for the location scout on Friday and keep researching.

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Guest Lecture 3

 

Monday 24th October 

Luke Pickering

This week’s guest lecture was presented by Luke Pickering, a former University of Lincoln (BA Hons) Audio Production student, who graduated in 2012. The session was very insightful, as Luke knew with first-hand experience what students want to get out of these sessions.

Luke began by explaining his own experiences when it came to leaving university and entering the real-world for the first time. He justified and encouraged us to not get stuck in a 9-5 while looking for media work, or else we may never get out. Luke himself did a lot of volunteer work in London, working freelance and for Sync music companies. However, in 2015 while being hired by Miloco (recording studio company) he was in the right place at the right time to help out at Church Studios, where he now works on salary.

After taking us through a virtual tour of Church Studios, and informing us of the real roles of a studio assistant, assistant engineer and engineer itself, Luke gave us some do’s and don’ts, as well as what to expect in recording studios. Although this isn’t as relevant to someone focusing on Location Sound and Post- for Film and TV, the tips given were universally applicable across the media industry.

The Do’s included researching the job thoroughly, applying for the job listed not the job you want in the future, taking time with layout, appearance and grammar with CVs and cover letters, appearing flexible, curios and keen, and following up the application afterwards. Even if you don’t get the job, it’s useful to know why and how to improve for the next application.

The Don’ts were equally as illuminating: Don’t say you are a producer (or professional in which ever field) – you have just graduated from university. This would likely insult an expert who has been in the industry for 30 years doing it for real. Don’t get spelling and grammar wrong on the application, write more than one page, talk about yourself too much, or create work for the person reading the application as they are most likely a very busy person who does not have the time to research you/your work/read a long application. Finally, don’t profess how amazing you are at ProTools, but instead when the opportunity comes demonstrate your skills and impress your employer.

After this, Luke suggested the skills that are worth listing when applying for a job. These included computer skills, social media skills, organizational skills, DAWs you are familiar with, first aid training and experience dealing with clients. But above all else, expect to make LOTS of tea when on work experience. It is likely that when we leave university we may become runners or assistants, so being able to make a good cup of tea is actually very important, it could open up a conversation that could lead anywhere, for example. This is a similar argument Lucy Johnstone made in her lecture, displaying the reality of life after university.

Finally, Luke ended the session with some tips on how to act when getting a placement: Don’t be late, be prepared to do little or a vast amount, be wary of clients – they are there for the studio not you, don’t create any additional work for anyone, use initiative and stay busy, stay as long as possible, find your place in the team, build contacts and most importantly: don’t leave until you have set up another placement for more work experience – the more you have the better.

Overall, this lecture was significantly beneficial and thoroughly enjoyable. Being a graduate himself, Luke knew how useful it was to give us an insight into the real world. The Do’s and Don’ts, useful skills and placement advice was exactly what we needed to hear from someone who has just started to consolidate himself in the industry. Also, the lecture shared similar themes with Lucy’s, suggesting how we would inevitably find ourselves lower down the chain, having to work our way up by being reliable, helpful, impressive when opportunity knocks, and by making a great cup of tea!

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Location Recce 1

 

Tuesday 18th October

Lincoln Drill Hall

Before the film crew meeting in the afternoon, some of the team headed down to the first potential location to shoot the film – unfortunately, because it was a small space, only Hannah, Lauren, Jamie and Rob could attend. The location was Lincoln Drill Hall, a local theatre in Lincoln, specifically inside one of their storage basements.

The location had many positives, such as its aesthetics. It appeared as the perfect location to suit Lauren’s vision of a small, cramped, aged basement with uncovered brickwork suiting the script’s description excellently. Additionally, the management were willing to offer it to us for free, which is the ideal scenario being students.

However, there were many more negatives which sadly outweighed the positives. The first was that although the small space suited the script and the cinematography of the film, it would be impossible to boom overhead. “The boom mic will always capture the most natural audio when positioned overhead and pointing downward toward the talent,” (Viers, 2012, 39). Therefore, this would not allow us to record audio as effectively as possible, we would have to scoop the majority of the shots. Scooping is be considered as the opposite of overhead booming. The mic is positioned underneath from torso-knee height with the same angle of use with overhead booming, pointing upwards. There are several downsides to this technique, such as: losing high frequencies (as the main character is a woman this would be adverse), capturing overhead noise (in this case light buzzes), and the large increase of difficulty added to the Boom Operator who will have to manoeuvre around objects, as well as stay further from the frame as they cannot appear invisible overhead. “Scooping can be a lifesaver, but should only be used as a last alternative,” (Viers, 2012, 41-2).

Additionally, Rob mentioned loud traffic noise as the location is adjacent to a busy main road, with some sorts of irregular holes in the walls allowing this sound to seep through into the basement, which would be captured on all of the location sound dialogue/room tone/atmos/SFX or wild tracks.

Finally, the availability of the location was poor allowing only three dates for us to film. We would be given time slots of 10am-4pm which would simply not be enough. With the location being so cluttered (see below), we would have to allow at least one hour at the start and end of the day moving these objects out and back in, before setting up and preparing, then shooting and having breaks. This would not be logical and would make us way too rushed, uncomfortable and stressed.

Therefore, as a team we agreed that this location would be used as a backup, last resort placement. Even though it looked great, the logistics of the availability, time on set, space to fit the actors in, and most importantly SOUND would not allow us to shoot to the best of our abilities here. However, it was a positive action to at least have checked it out and have prepared a back up option.

DrillHall

DrillHall-3

DrillHall-4

DrillHall-2

DrillHall-5

 

References:

Viers, R. (2012) The Location Sound Bible. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Production

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Roles

 

Initial Role Research

During the shooting of Cognition, there will be two primary audio-related productions that will be shared between the team of Dan Marnie, Robert Wynne and myself. These productions are Location Sound, which we are breaking down into Production Sound Mixer, Boom Operator and Sound Assistant, and Post-Production Sound, of which the many categories of audio (dialogue, foley and sfx, ambience and music) have not yet been assigned but we shall organise soon.

Location Sound Engineer

“For many programs, the quality of the sound picked up on location is the principal determining factor in the overall sound quality” (Holman, 2005, 43).

The Location Sound Team have a highly important job when recording audio such as dialogue, wild tracks, spot effects and room tone from location, especially for low-budget films. For example, it is more difficult for those with a lower budget to reschedule or redo another shoot if they cannot afford to pay additional fees to actors, for the location, and the rest of the crew. Therefore, as Holman suggests, this makes it vital for the Location Sound Team to record every element they require to a high standard without fail on the day.

One essential element to ensure the Sound Team can deliver this is Location Scouting. Holman states the two most important items to watch out for when scouting a location for its sound is noise and reverberation (2005, 45). When recording on set, dialogue audio is the most critical audio that needs to be recorded. The highest quality dialogue audio will come from the cleanest dialogue audio. This means any background sound such as traffic, birds, wind, even camera fans and hums, loose microphone connections, must be eradicated. So scouting the location before-hand give the Sound Team critical information needed to approve this location and also prepare for this location.

After this is complete, the team can select the appropriate equipment. Learning from the past and the equipment available to use from Media Loans, it is highly likely that we shall select the Sound Devices 633 Field Production Mixer with the Sennheiser MKH416 Rifle Mic and a collection of Sennheiser Radio Mics and a Boundary mic.

When on location, the Sound Recordist will have several jobs to undertake each day. This includes assisting with setting up audio equipment and any other help the crew might need. They are responsible for ensuring the dialogue is the cleanest it can be, by listening through headphones to check the location on the day. They must set appropriate volume levels, aid the Boom Operator in where’s best to position themselves, select the appropriate mics for the appropriate scenes, allow the director time to hear the audio and offer their opinion (if wanted by the director) as to anything audio-related which could improve the take.

The Boom Operator handles the boom microphone while filming, ensuring they collect the cleanest dialogue possible. They must be silent – any movement onto the boom pole such as their hand rattling the cable, or loud shoes on the floor will be picked up by sensitive microphones. Holman describes how the contribution of a Boom Op is often overlooked, as they must memorize the script and follow the action, get the mic in the correct place ensuring it cannot be seen on screen, record the optimum amount of reverberation and remain completely professional as they are closest to the actors who do not wished to be distracted (2005, 62). The Boom Op is also responsible for ensuring actors are radio mic’ed correctly, without the mic being on show.

Post-Production Engineer

The Post-Production Team are given an OMF from the editor, which includes picture-lock and rough audio, and essentially use audio recorded from the location, together with any other external sound FX, wild tracks, foley, etc. to create a high quality sounding product. Mark Scetta suggests the first action to take after being satisfied with your Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) and receiving the OMF, is to setup the audio session. This includes organisation into categories for dialogue tracks, wildtracks, atmos, foley, etc. as well as Auxiliaries and Busses (Scetta, 2008).

After setting up the audio session, the post-production engineers must edit clips, such as adding fade-ins and –outs to clean up files, sync them perfectly to the film, and so forth, to all tracks in all categories. This allows foley to take place – which is the additional of man-made sound effects. For example, footsteps and cloth movements are usually added in post by a foley artist if the location did not offer the correct sound, or one that could be improved.

Wild tracks, atmos, sound FX all receive similar treatment and along with dialogue and foley are mixed at the end. Each of these categories may be split up between the team to be pre-mixed, and mixed together after this. It is vital that all sound is mixed to its optimum levels to maximise quality of the film.

Reference List:
Holman, T. (2005) Sound for Digital Video. Oxford: Focal Press.
Scetta, M. (2008) Gardner’s Guide to Audio Post Production. London: GGC Publishing.

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