Here are some questions, notes and suggestions on how to interpret and/or modify the script to maximise the effectiveness of sound design to aid the storytelling. Here's the link again to the draft script for reference.
Scene 1 (EXT. WOODLAND AREA, NIGHT): Are we going to be hearing this dialogue from the perspective of it being recorded on the cellphone along with the cell footage? Or, are we going to be hearing it as if we were there, ie., not as part of the cell footage? If it's the latter, it would be useful to have a minute or two of the sound (ambience) of the woodland scene, preferably in stereo as we might be able to use it in the final mix. Mono is better than nothing but it would then act more as a guide. If recording the ambience in stereo then 30 secs of mono "room tone" in addition to the ambiance would be useful.
Scene 2 (EXT. SAN FRANCISCO BEACH, DAY): A. Beach scenes are usually tricky as far as audio is concerned. The sound of waves breaking/lapping is irregularly rhythmical and so makes decent picture and dialogue editing very difficult/impossible and due to it being broadband noise it is difficult/impossible to remove. In all likelihood this scene will need ADR'íng. B. If possible, get a master-shot of the beach, preferably including one or more of the following: a nearby road/traffic, industrial or commercial dock area, boats, planes, jet skis, bus station/stop, fun fair, bar or indeed anything else which makes a noise! C. Again, if possible, a stereo (preferably) or mono recording of the location for guide purposes would be useful.
Scene 3 (INT. ARTIST’S STUDIO (RICHMOND, VA), DAY): Where is this studio? An urban/city center, in the countryside or a suburb? Is there any possibility of a shot of establishing this location? Is there any possibility of establishing the nearby presence of: a construction site, someone mowing their lawn, a train line/station, airport, school playground, etc?
Scene 4 (EXT. NEAR AUSTERLITZ PYRAMID): A. Again, a recording of the location to act as a guide would be most useful. B. If it's a very quiet location, maybe at some point one or more of the actors could briefly/subtly respond to a sound in the distance, maybe while smoking? If it's not so quiet consider a shot which briefly visually establishes what's causing the sound.
Scene 5 (INT. BEDROOM (WELLINGTON), NIGHT): When looking out of the window, is there a way to very briefly establish the presence of one of the following: a train line/station, transport depot, hospital, factory or any other point of aural interest which operates at night?
Scene 6 (EXT. FOREST AREA, DAY): A: Again an aural guide of the location would be useful. B. Where is this wooded area, is there a distant logging operation? Can we visually establish there is some logging related operation going on in the distance or at least the odd truck/vehicle using the road?
Scene 7 (EXT. OREGON SMALLHOLDING, DAY): Any chance of visually establishing the presence of some running farm machinery when Samuel runs across the yard or in one of the rundown buildings?
These are just suggestions, we don't always need to visually establish the reason for a sound but it does dramatically improve audience believability and in some cases is essential. These suggestions are to allow the logical presence of a background ambience with occasional sounds which can push through that ambience.
For those who maybe unaware, we can vary the level of this ambience (and/or those occasional SFX within it) to add tension, increase the pace/tempo/shape of various parts of each scene, add emphasis to the dialogue, change/affect the aural POV (for example, create an aural link between our "real location" and the location as perceived by a particular character) as well of course as creating a believable aural world beyond just the picture frame. Here's a hypothetical example: Maybe we see a brief distant shot of a saw mill (band saw SFX) and hear the last few words of Vern's phone conversation just before we cut to Scene 7. Now we can add the distant/very distant band saw sound once Vern gets out of his truck. The sound of an operating band saw varies as it goes through thicker/denser wood and it also starts and stops, we can use this to make the action more dramatic; maybe the saw sound dips or even stops when Vern spots the liquid and maybe it starts up again when Vern sniffs and recoils. We're talking about a very distant quiet saw sound here, very subtle, hardly noticeable if you're not specifically listening for it. On the other hand, we might make the saw sound so quiet that it can't be discerned at all from the background ambience or we might leave it out altogether. The point is that we have an aural storytelling tool which we can logically employ (if necessary) once we've seen how the dramatic impact of the scene plays out on screen during/after picture editing.
G
Scene 1 (EXT. WOODLAND AREA, NIGHT): Are we going to be hearing this dialogue from the perspective of it being recorded on the cellphone along with the cell footage? Or, are we going to be hearing it as if we were there, ie., not as part of the cell footage? If it's the latter, it would be useful to have a minute or two of the sound (ambience) of the woodland scene, preferably in stereo as we might be able to use it in the final mix. Mono is better than nothing but it would then act more as a guide. If recording the ambience in stereo then 30 secs of mono "room tone" in addition to the ambiance would be useful.
Scene 2 (EXT. SAN FRANCISCO BEACH, DAY): A. Beach scenes are usually tricky as far as audio is concerned. The sound of waves breaking/lapping is irregularly rhythmical and so makes decent picture and dialogue editing very difficult/impossible and due to it being broadband noise it is difficult/impossible to remove. In all likelihood this scene will need ADR'íng. B. If possible, get a master-shot of the beach, preferably including one or more of the following: a nearby road/traffic, industrial or commercial dock area, boats, planes, jet skis, bus station/stop, fun fair, bar or indeed anything else which makes a noise! C. Again, if possible, a stereo (preferably) or mono recording of the location for guide purposes would be useful.
Scene 3 (INT. ARTIST’S STUDIO (RICHMOND, VA), DAY): Where is this studio? An urban/city center, in the countryside or a suburb? Is there any possibility of a shot of establishing this location? Is there any possibility of establishing the nearby presence of: a construction site, someone mowing their lawn, a train line/station, airport, school playground, etc?
Scene 4 (EXT. NEAR AUSTERLITZ PYRAMID): A. Again, a recording of the location to act as a guide would be most useful. B. If it's a very quiet location, maybe at some point one or more of the actors could briefly/subtly respond to a sound in the distance, maybe while smoking? If it's not so quiet consider a shot which briefly visually establishes what's causing the sound.
Scene 5 (INT. BEDROOM (WELLINGTON), NIGHT): When looking out of the window, is there a way to very briefly establish the presence of one of the following: a train line/station, transport depot, hospital, factory or any other point of aural interest which operates at night?
Scene 6 (EXT. FOREST AREA, DAY): A: Again an aural guide of the location would be useful. B. Where is this wooded area, is there a distant logging operation? Can we visually establish there is some logging related operation going on in the distance or at least the odd truck/vehicle using the road?
Scene 7 (EXT. OREGON SMALLHOLDING, DAY): Any chance of visually establishing the presence of some running farm machinery when Samuel runs across the yard or in one of the rundown buildings?
These are just suggestions, we don't always need to visually establish the reason for a sound but it does dramatically improve audience believability and in some cases is essential. These suggestions are to allow the logical presence of a background ambience with occasional sounds which can push through that ambience.
For those who maybe unaware, we can vary the level of this ambience (and/or those occasional SFX within it) to add tension, increase the pace/tempo/shape of various parts of each scene, add emphasis to the dialogue, change/affect the aural POV (for example, create an aural link between our "real location" and the location as perceived by a particular character) as well of course as creating a believable aural world beyond just the picture frame. Here's a hypothetical example: Maybe we see a brief distant shot of a saw mill (band saw SFX) and hear the last few words of Vern's phone conversation just before we cut to Scene 7. Now we can add the distant/very distant band saw sound once Vern gets out of his truck. The sound of an operating band saw varies as it goes through thicker/denser wood and it also starts and stops, we can use this to make the action more dramatic; maybe the saw sound dips or even stops when Vern spots the liquid and maybe it starts up again when Vern sniffs and recoils. We're talking about a very distant quiet saw sound here, very subtle, hardly noticeable if you're not specifically listening for it. On the other hand, we might make the saw sound so quiet that it can't be discerned at all from the background ambience or we might leave it out altogether. The point is that we have an aural storytelling tool which we can logically employ (if necessary) once we've seen how the dramatic impact of the scene plays out on screen during/after picture editing.
G
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