I’ve never been particularly great at keeping documentation on my work. I sometimes find it overwhelming if I stop and consider all the work that I’ve done and how much is left. This does not help my mental health, so I tend to push it aside and keep working. Over the last few months, I have been trying to stop and meditate on my wellbeing. This means the next steps are now to stop and reflect on the work I have.
The current project I am doing is well underway and is a sound replacement of the Growling Scene from Zootopia.
The first two weeks were spent planning and analysing the genre of animation sound. Also, at the end of that week I went to dog sit a beagle which are known to bay. However, I couldn’t grab field recording equipment due to it being last minute arrangements and my personal recording equipment being difficult to move, so instead I used my phone (Galaxy S8). When I was there, I did manage to get several recordings that could be useful in the clip. The first being the beagle baying, secondly, I got rain ambience and lastly, I got ambience of an empty house with a house fan on.
Now these recordings weren’t perfect as you could here neighbours and ground noise in the clips, so I did heavy processing using Isotope’s RX7 series and Ozone 9 series. I used the RX7 Spectral De-noise on all the clips. I found parts where you couldn’t hear any on the intended sound and taught the plugin this. Afterwards, I played with the threshold to create a clear recording that didn’t lose the feel of the original sound. On the rain I also used Ozone 9’s Dynamic Compressor/Limiter to reduce the peaks of rain drops that hit my phone, as I placed it on a flat surface in the rain. This was my first time using the Ozone 9 series on a project, so it was interesting to see how it differed to ones I had used in the past. I definitely preferred the control that I felt that I had in the plugin compared to past ones that felt restrictive in their attenuation.
These last two weeks have been spent on Foley and potential Sound Design recording. Reuben and I spent a session in the C24 studio, specially designed for Foley, recording a large amount of Foley for the clip. In the session we had set up both a Sennheiser MKH416 and a Shure SM57. Reuben performed the Foley as we were restricted on time and I was more comfortable with Pro Tools and the signal flow. Reuben has since then done additional practice on Pro Tools and signal flow which should allow for more freedom in recording session to come.
This session was extremely productive as we have a comprehensive spotting list which made set up quick. I had also taken photos of all of the props in the C24 allowing me to make a list of potential sound sources for the clip. The first thing we began with though was footsteps. For this process I used loop record playlists to help with getting the feel for the part and allowing us options in the editing process. We got all of the footsteps for the two main characters done as well as the two wolves that walk at the beginning of the two wolves that walk at the beginning of the clip.
Since then I have gone an edited the takes of these sounds and chosen the best takes. My set up was slightly ridiculous as I moved my television to above my monitors to give myself a second screen however this was crucial as it gave me full access to the edit window in Pro Tools at the same time as the video engine. Editing consisted of me listening to the different takes and finding the best-timed ones, as well as the ones with the clearest recording. Some of these takes chosen weren’t the best take as I missed picking up on whether all the sounds where there. This was especially prevalent with the steps. For some of these I took steps from another part and timed them to fit or retimed recordings out by a few frames with nudge. After all of this I then faded all of the clips together.
I also took the best take of the sniffing and time stretched the take using elastic properties polyphonic mode to be the length of the scene. After this I committed it to the clip. This is all in preparation for the next Foley recording session.
Other things I have done on this project is setting up a Pro Tools session with markers for all the ADR in the video clip. This will make it easier for when the ADR recording session occurs. Another thing is giving feedback to Reuben on his soundtrack. The part I have heard up to is the part where the audience thinks the main characters may be caught. My main critiques were that the music keeps the tension in the video and that he may want to use the violin to create a pitch slide to the final point. This is when the player moves their finger up the board simultaneously with the bow (base of the bow to tip to make it quieter or reverse to make it louder) to create a higher sound.
Apart from all these things I actually feel on top of my work. My main concerns at the moment is that Zak has only been reachable twice throughout this process and has yet to make a recording session. He is supposed to be at the next one which will mean we will finally meet. I definitely feel more in control of my work and myself during this project and I hope that this will reflect in the finished project.
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