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Help with sound design site

C

cobak04

Hey,

Ive been working on a site for low budget sound design for directors and I would love some help. I need a few volunteers to help me out by testing out the site, reading the material, and giving me feedback. You dont need to have any knowledge of sound design, a newbies perspective would be great. Might be a good chance for you to learn more about sound.

So just PM me or go to the contact page on the site. I hope i put this in the right place, i just figured newbies would be the best people to give me feedback on what might be missing or confusing.

The site: www.thefilmsoundeffect.com

Thanks
 
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cobak04 said:
I just figured newbies would be the best people to give me feedback on what might be missing or confusing.
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Hmmm, if they're newbies how would they know what's missing? Let alone if the info/advice is accurate or any good.
I aim to teach you how to get good enough sound from just about anything, no equipment investment needed.
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This is pretty vague and inaccurate to start with. What do you mean by "good enough", good enough for your mum to hear most of the dialogue in your home video, good enough for a film festival, good enough for distribution or broadcast? No matter which of these you mean, there will be at least some equipment needed!

G
 
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First note from my first (and second) land on your page:

Warning: Missing argument 2 for wpdb::Prepare(), called in /home/cobak/thefilmsoundeffect.com/wp-content/plugins/membership/membershipincludes/classes/membershippublic.php on line 2312 and defined in /home/cobak/thefilmsoundeffect.com/wp-includes/wp-db.php on line 990

Warning: Missing argument 2 for wpdb::Prepare(), called in /home/cobak/thefilmsoundeffect.com/wp-content/plugins/membership/membershipincludes/classes/membershippublic.php on line 2312 and defined in /home/cobak/thefilmsoundeffect.com/wp-includes/wp-db.php on line 990

You may want to turn off your announcement of warnings in what I presume is Apache.

Next point, why would someone register to view a site that really gives you no idea of what kind of quality information you have. While this is just me, I won't register unless I've already been convinced that I need the information you have or I've decided this is where I want to be. You didn't do that.

Good luck with your website.
 
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Using CHROME on win7 64bit
Using MS IE on win7 64


Warning: Missing argument 2 for wpdb::Prepare(), called in /home/cobak/thefilmsoundeffect.com/wp-content/plugins/membership/membershipincludes/classes/membershippublic.php on line 2312 and defined in /home/cobak/thefilmsoundeffect.com/wp-includes/wp-db.php on line 990

Warning: Missing argument 2 for wpdb::Prepare(), called in /home/cobak/thefilmsoundeffect.com/wp-content/plugins/membership/membershipincludes/classes/membershippublic.php on line 2312 and defined in /home/cobak/thefilmsoundeffect.com/wp-includes/wp-db.php on line 990
 
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Just some thoughts in general..

conceptually, I don't like the biz proposition. To me, the tut sites that work best, get the most money don't sell the tuts, they sell the products and services in the area of interest.

Maybe you sell your sound design services on the site, but offer the tuts for free to drive interest in your site.

Another model would be like indietalk, where paying for membership in a an active online community gets you privileged access, but more importantly, gives you a sense of "belonging."

And finally, saying your site is "not as full of crap as it will be" is off putting.. why do I want to go to a site where the content creator says its "crap" ??
 
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The site is based on wordpress and the host updated it automatically to 3.5 yesterday so thats why that error message is popping up now :(. Site is still fully functional though. I appreciate the feedback on the sellability of the site too. Im not asking anyone here to pay for it, im having people look at it for free and to give me feedback at the moment. Thats why you would have to message me.

To answer some of the questions above.

1. Newbies would know whats missing because they might have a questions about something they want to do thats not on there.

2. There is no equipment investment needed, you dont even need a $100 mic to get the job done, ive done it with my cell phone, or all with a cheap flip cam. Movies are about story, good enough sound sells a good story. The site is made to get people to stop ignoring sound completely and just use whatever they have or can borrow.

3. Just a little more background on the site:

Ive talked with tons of new directors who honestly just ignore sound cause they feel the books are all for people who want to be sound designers. Too much information, not enough examples, and geared toward people who have a budget. I made the site cause i fit that same profile for a long time and didnt feel anything else out there did a good job. Im selling the information cause i put a ton of time into it and plan to more time into it. But hey, if that doesnt work out, oh well, gotta try anyways. I think the site is awesome and so do lots of other people who looked at it so far.

Thanks again guys
 
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cobak04 said:
1. Newbies would know whats missing because they might have a questions about something they want to do thats not on there.
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I repeat the question, how do newbies know what they want to do, what's possible to do or what they need to do if they are newbies?
cobak04 said:
2. There is no equipment investment needed, you dont even need a $100 mic to get the job done, ive done it with my cell phone, or all with a cheap flip cam. Movies are about story, good enough sound sells a good story.
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Sorry, but this displays a great deal of ignorance of film sound. If you think you can get "good enough" sound out of a cell phone or cheap camcorder you are completely misguided. Your definition of "good enough sound" will very seriously detract from the art of story telling (fimmaking), the exact opposite of helping to sell the story!
cobak04 said:
Ive talked with tons of new directors who honestly just ignore sound cause they feel the books are all for people who want to be sound designers. Too much information, not enough examples, and geared toward people who have a budget.
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Being a Director means creating a vision for telling a story through the medium of film and then directing the cast, crew and other film crafts to fulfil that vision. It doesn't mean that the director has to learn how to be a sound designer, only how to direct a sound designer. If a film director ignores sound that person is not a film director, they are a moving image director. The easiest and cheapest way to learn how to use sound to help tell the story is to listen critically to commercial films. However, if a director also wants to be a sound designer then they will have to learn how to be a sound designer, in which case the books, according to you, will be perfect!

You cannot create "good enough" sound with no equipment AND no budget. Not even the greatest sound design geniuses who ever lived can do that, so you promoting a site which claims to enable newbies to achieve this unprecedented feat is either delusional or pure marketing BS!

By all means prove me wrong, provide some examples and info on your site which prove or at least support your claims. No one in their right mind is going to spend $25 on what amounts to claims of the impossible with no supporting evidence.

G
 
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I'm just curious as to your bona fides. What qualifies you to teach sound design? And charge for it! Especially when there a people like Greg (AudioPostExpert), Charles Maynes, Georgia Hilton, Ric Viers, Vanessa Ament, John Purcell and even Randy Thom (all of whom have extensive IMDB credits, and there are a few Oscars, BAFTAs and other awards in there as well) are willing to give it away for free.
 
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In defense, I think there is something to the idea, and possibly some cash flow. However, the value proposition isn't there. Free info to drive people to your for pay service or products makes sense but this membership fees for presumed useful information seems senseless.

The idea of a clearing house of useful tips, tuts and DIY Audio solutions for $0 budget filmmakers, along with some engaging content (ala FilmRiot) could be a hit.

Imagine episodes where you and your field recorder and run around the neighborhood "worldizing" your music tracks.. could be funny.. you just run up to some shifty looking gangsters and pound on the window and ask them to play back your cheesy 1980's new wave homage DIY music track so you can record it as they pass by on the street.. Id watch that.. I wouldn't pay to watch that.. but Id watch it..
 
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Alcove Audio said:
I'm just curious as to your bona fides. What qualifies you to teach sound design? And charge for it! Especially when there a people like Greg (AudioPostExpert), Charles Maynes, Georgia Hilton, Ric Viers, Vanessa Ament, John Purcell and even Randy Thom (all of whom have extensive IMDB credits, and there are a few Oscars, BAFTAs and other awards in there as well) are willing to give it away for free.
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I second this question. I had a look at the site and no where does it provide credentials, or anything really. Just sounds like someone asking for a hand-out. I'm not saying that's the case here, but that's what it looks like. I'll give you the benefit of doubt that you are really trying to provide a service, but I suggest applying yourself a lot more and plan everything out prior to asking others to review this incomplete idea.

... and it will be difficult charging when there is so much free information out there from artists such as those mentioned above?
 
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