Sound Design

Hello and welcome back to the blog! It is soon coming to an end. In retrospect, even though I struggled to stay consistent, this blog has helped me to analyze and think deeper about my production process and my creative process. Anyways, on this blog post we will be talking all about sound.

I have learned that sound is one of the most crucial parts of filmmaking. Whether foley, dramatic dialogue, an intense sting, or a compelling score, sound is what makes you feel what you are seeing. This is why I have made a whole post just about sound.

First off, microphones and audio recording equipment. Whenever you have dialogue or key sounds to capture, it is important to have good quality audio equipment that makes the sound or talent's voice as clear as possible. For our film, and like most films, audio and video were recorded separately. JJ held my Rode VideoMic connected to my Zoom H1 audio recorder with earphones plugged into it to make sure the sound was good. He held it as close as possible to the subject who is speaking without getting in the frame. Below is a photo of this set up for our film:

Foley and sound effects will also be incorporated in our film opening. Some of these are the police sirens for background sound and the thuds sfx for when Officer Chase is beating Khalil with the bouton. Other important sounds, some recorded within the scene, are the voicemail and the knife blade in the kitchen scene.

Finally, the sting/soundtrack used in our film opening will be produced by me. I am making my own soundtrack for the project. It is a very simple one, yet very impactful. It consists of one low C note on a piano hit every eight beats that is very dramatic. Layered on top of that are two drone pad that play heavy in the bass, making it really really heavy which will be increasing in drive and resonance to add more energy. Below is an overview

clip of the soundtrack in the making: