editing Sound Design

cameronchapman

cameronchapman

I'm working on a short that will have all the sound done in post (I wrote it that way, because at the moment I have really crappy sound equipment, but know how important sound is to the finished film). There's some V.O., but other than that no dialogue.

I want the soundscape (is that the right word?) to be very minimalist. The story is bleak, the visuals are bleak, and the overall thing is kind of depressing. I want the audio to give the same sense of emptiness and loneliness that the visuals and the story have.

Now, that said, I also know that minimalism is often harder to do well than something where there's a lot going on. Less to work with means that every single thing has to be spot-on and perfect, or it just sounds lacking.

So what should I keep in mind for designing the overall sound? I'm doing this on basically a zero budget, and with limited equipment (I have a Blue Snowball mic and access to both Audacity and Soundbooth)? Any tips for the process I should use? The variables I need to consider? Any tutorials you can point me to for designing the soundscape from scratch?
 
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Don't confuse "emptiness and loneliness" with minimalism. You can convey a "depressing" atmosphere with a "dense" sound design.

Sound design hangs on the visuals. This may sound trite or obvious, but the devil is in the details; sound only SUPPORTS the visuals. Sound alone cannot convey subtle emotions because, with a few exceptions, sounds are very cultural and/or geographic and/or generational.

I worked on a short some years ago where the final confrontation took place in a "factory"; of course it was not actually shot in one. The director wanted "lots of ominous machine sounds" to heighten the tension. I tried lots of different things, but with no visual references there was nothing to hang the sounds on; they came off as annoying or "what the hell is that?" Eventually the "producer" listened to what I said about needing something the sounds could relate to - B-roll/establishing shots - and the director finally agreed. Just the shot of a machine press and another mechanical device gave me all that I needed, and I was able to play the sounds almost like a score; it definitely made the sounds work much better.

The point is that showing a lot of "empty" doesn't really convey emptiness; you need the visual contrasts. A swing moved by a breeze in a weed-choked playground tells you a lot more than an empty field of grass; and the squeak of the rusted chains can have a mournful "lonely" sound. And, when you start really digging into it, just any squeak won't do; you need to select the right one to convey the emotion you wish to evoke. And the mix is just as important as the sounds you select.

What is also never thought about is that "empty" is full of sounds, it's just that sounds take on a whole new proportion and perspective. There is also the emotional state of the character to consider; sounds and their effect upon the character can be greatly magnified by the situation in which the character finds him/her self.

When I'm doing the audio post work I do the Phil Spector "Wall of Sound" technique; I throw everything I can think of at it. When it comes time to mix I do the "Michelangelo"; the sculpture is already in the marble and all I need to do is chip away all the unneeded bits. Sometimes all that's left is the dialog plus a little BG or the score. In your case there isn't any dialog, but the principle holds. And everything can still be present in the mix; you just give predominance to individual elements on a moment by moment basis.

Just a few other quick comments... 1) you have to have the basic sound concepts in mind before you start shooting. 2) still capture production sound; you never know when you're going to get lucky, and even the on-set conversation while shooting can remind you of your thought processes during production.

You've chosen a difficult task - GOOD LUCK!!!
 
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On my Suburban Romance short, I used ADR and foley for every single sound you hear. The original audio I recorded ended up so crap that I decided to completely scrap all of it and build the sound from the ground up in post. Here's the final result:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZzwGCG1zxA

Now, it's far from perfect, but most people I've talked to said they didn't notice until I told them.

My setup for this was pretty simple. I used my den for my "sound room" because that's where my computer equipment is. I did traditional ADR "looping" by showing the footage on my main computer and recording the new dialogue on my laptop via Audacity. I used a simple SM-57 microphone and a couple sets of headphone for me and my actor.

The background audio, I simply found on the internet via various websites offering sound effects. But if you don't need specialized sounds like tire screeches, you can probably record your own sound FX "Ben Burtt" style, with a portable recorder and a microphone. I just thought it was much easier to cull my sound from a pre-made catalogue.

Anyway, after dialogue was taken care of, I started the actual sound FX by laying down the ambient background audio first (birds chirping, breeze blowing, etc...) to cover the length of the short, then added each individual sound as I saw it pop up, e.g. the car tires screeching, the garage door opening, footsteps, etc... I then adjusted each sound individually until the mix seemed right. LONG process, but it can yield some decent results if you take the time to do it right.

Be careful with it though. There are a few places in my short where I went too far with the sound and I wish I could change some of it and take other parts of it out altogether because it seems heavy handed.

But all this is coming from someone that knows very little about the subject. I was flying by the seat of my pants and only found what worked for me.

I'd actually be interested to hear what Alcove has to say since he is MUCH more knowledgable than I am on this subject...

***EDIT*** Oops! Looks like Alcove posted while I was writing this up! :blush:
 
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LasVegasIRA said:
LONG process, but it can yield some decent results if you take the time to do it right.
Click to expand...

Yup, it can be a very long process. On the projects where I had something resembling a real budget I would spend between five and seven hours per linear minute of film; if I had more budget I would have spent more time or, with even more budget, contracted some of the work out.

A great sound design is layers upon layers of sounds all working together with the score and source music in an integrated whole to support the characters, story and visuals.

One more piece of advice when mixing - Randy Thoms "Two-And-One-Half" rule; the audience can only concentrate on or be aware of 2.5 sounds at any give time, otherwise it all becomes a confusing wash of noise. So, for example, in one scene it would be dialog, footsteps and background sound. Now, that's three things, but the score is background sound providing "context" so the background sound is the half sound. This is not to say that all of the sounds aren't present in the mix, but that only certain sounds will predominate the mix at any given moment.
 
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This is all great stuff! I'm feeling a bit more comfortable with the whole thing. I'll check the production sound files I have and see if there's anything usable (hopefully I can get a few things out of it, even if most of it is crap). Guess it's time to just dive in and start messing around with it! :yes:
 
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The production sound can be useful even if it's just for syncing footsteps.

A few more tips from your old Uncle Bob...

Do multiple audio sessions for each scene: (The reason is mostly data management.)

01:00:00 - 01:02:11 - Dialog (Not applicable for your project, but...)
01:00:00 - 01:02:11 - Foley
01:00:00 - 01:02:11 - Sound FX
01:00:00 - 01:02:11 - Ambience
01:00:00 - 01:02:11 - Music


01:02:11 - 01:04:49 - Dialog
01:02:11 - 01:04:49 - Foley
01:02:11 - 01:04:49 - Sound FX
01:02:11 - 01:04:49 - Ambience
01:02:11 - 01:04:49 - Music

When you're happy with what you've done in the individual sessions import the tracks into the Master audio session. (BTW, always leave overlap in case you need transitions.)

I always do dialog editing/clean-up first; I get to know the characters and the film. I also compile my ADR list plus the Foley and Sound FX cue sheets.

I start out with Atmospheres/Ambiences/BGs. This can be multiple layers - wind, traffic, water, etc. Use your visual cues. This gives everything a place to "live".

I usually do Foley next, and I do it by character all the way through the film - footsteps first, then clothing, then handled objects - so that I sort of take on the personality of the character; I seem to get through it much faster that way.

I then move on to Sound FX, and finally music (score and source music).
 
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Great information coming through on this thread. Really interesting to read what tips have been conveyed here. Thanks again Alcove for the excellent contribution of ideas!
 
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Did someone say Sound Design?

You say you want your film to be depressing.

Well, sound can help you with this.

I did a film about 3 years ago that was supposed to be depressing and I contributed to that by adding in as many sounds and details that I could in a depressing manner.

Some specific things I did that worked well were:

- Deleted any production tracks that had happy birds in it. Anything happy or with life, etc.
- The film was shot mostly on sunny days and I coordinated with the director to color correct and CGI storm clouds and overcast. Since it was on a sunny day I deleted all dry tire bys and edited in slick tires, tires going through puddles, etc. to give a feeling like it had just rained and it was cold. This had a subtle, depressing effect almost subliminally on the audience.

There is so much you can put in with the sound design. It's endless. This is what fascinates me about it and it's what I love to do and I get paid doing it! Fancy that!

I like to think of a film's soundtrack like a salad. The more GMO and store-bought ingredients you put into it, the worse it's going to taste. The more freshly grown ingredients you just picked from your garden you put into it, the better it will taste. The same thing goes for sound. A sound you recorded yourself with the proper emotion and the proper quality to what you're trying to communicate is going to work so much better than a downloaded sound effect from "FREE SOUNDS . COM" Have you ever heard the stock "Footsteps on Wood Floor" sounds you get in those libraries you buy? They're so lifeless and bland and "stock" it makes me SICK. That's why I spend as much time as I can gathering my own material and really putting in details that I have control over the emotion and tonality. It really makes a difference.
 
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