P3.2 - Take 2 of the ideas and begin to develop them further

On Thursday 29th September we as a class had a pitching session of our ideas. We had to talk about our two best ideas then get feedback on that. That feedback was to be written down then developed further.
Below I have started off my development with my best two ideas that my teacher had liked and agreed with.

It talks about what each idea is, where I could potentially interview the interviewee, and an idea of what the sound effects could be.
My teacher said I could mix the two ideas together and ask my mum questions about both the road rage and America which would help keep the interview interesting.

I now need to develop the Atmospheric sound, Music and Dialogue/speech. 

• Music - For idea one I could potentially use the music my mom listens too in the car from her phone. It would make the interview more relaxed and calming. Or for when the rage kicks in i could edit in some angry music to set the mood. 

• Atmospheric Sound - There will be sounds of traffic in the background. Depending on the weather there could be rain hitting the car or thunder. There could possibly be horns being hit or emergency sirens rushing past. If the car windows are down then there would be chatter from people going past. 

• Dialogue/Speech - The dialogue will be between myself and my mum. I will be asking her questions about traffic, road rage, what life was like in the states, and more. I will ask the question and wait for her to reply. If i think she could say more on the subject then i will converse and get her to open up a bit more on that subject. 

(On a side note, I think recording will either take place during the car drive, or after back at my house and I can add sound effects in afterwards to make it sound as close as I can get it to sounding like we were recording in the car live.)

P3.1 - Come up with 5 different ideas for a 3-5 minute factual podcast

My five ideas of what I could do a radio interview about. 

I personally like the first two ideas and I will go forward to pitch them two as they interest me the most and think it would make a good interview. I have a few more 'back up' ideas that i will put below.

I now have approval for my first two ideas that will be developed next.

P2 - Understand how sound elements are produced for media products

You need to research how the following sound elements are produced. 

a) Sound effects: A sound effect is any sound that isn't music or speech. It is artificially reproduced sounds that are made to create an effect. For example in the film 'Into The Woods' there is a scene when the witch creates a fog like spiral when she disappears into thin air. The sound effect starts at 0:48 on the video below. 





Below is a video explaining what a sound effect is and how they are made for different movies. Foley artists reproduce everyday sounds that are added into films in the editing process. They do this to enhance the audio for certain sounds or actions. For example when there is a fight scene they reproduce the sound of skin smacking skin or a head being banged into a wall by hitting duct tape against a hard surface. The sound technician will be behind a screen recording what the foley artist's are doing. They recreate the sounds in a recording studio for different scenes. The different sounds are put on their own tracks so it's easier for the sound mixer to set the EQ at a consistent level. They use microphones that are set 3 feet away from their faces as the microphone is too sensitive that it could pick their breathing up which could ruin the audio.


b) Atmospheric sound: This sound is better known as Ambient sound. It is the background sounds which are present in scenes/locations. The sound is mainly made up from a range of sounds like water, wind, chatter, and traffic, etc.

Below is a clip from 'World War Z'. You can hear throughout the sound of background chatter/shouting, and cars honking/traffic.

It is made by the sound designer going out into natural atmospheres and recording what the sound is that is there. For example if they need traffic sounds then the sound designer will go out into a packed area where there is lots of cars and record the honking, and the movement of cars. they will then go back and clean the sound up and add it into the editing process which then will get layered onto the actual footage so it sounds like it's actually there.

c) Music: Is normally original music which is written specifically for that film or well known music which is added into the background noise for certain scenes to help build the mood. Music can also consist of different kinds, like score, soundtrack, incidental.

Below is a clip from the Marvel movie, Guardians Of The Galaxy. You can hear a popular old song in the background of the main character singing which helps him with his mission to distract the villain. 


The music is normally added after or during the editing process. It isn't recorded on the day of the filming but afterwards so they know which music to add to help create which ever mood they need for that scene.

d) Dialogue: A conversation which is being taken between two or more people in a movie/book. Dialogue has different kinds of techniques to it, for example there is dubbing a rerecording, voice over/narration, interviews, and tape sync, etc.  

The clip below shows two characters conversing with one another.


Behind the camera there will be a boom mic which will catch all the dialogue from that scene. There are other ways of recording dialogue, an example of this is for animation movies. Below is a clip from The Lego recording showing you how they get their dialogue for the movie.

P1: Understanding how sound elements are used in media products

First media product:
 Movie name: Drive

• Purpose (educate, entertain, inform, selling products)

The main purpose of this opening scene of 'Drive' is to entertain the viewer by having all these different sound effects going through the whole opening scene (car chase). It starts off with the dialogue of two of the characters which helps set the rest of the scene. It is suitable for both genders as there is a male lead (Ryan Gosling) and action (the car chase), these both attract many viewers straight away as the lead actor has a huge fan base who are mainly female based. However with the different actors/actresses, genres, and story lines it will manage to entertain most viewers. 

The selling product for this movie is the male lead (Ryan Gosling). This is due to his fan base who will pay to see the movie which will then bring in revenue for the business. I guess the action/drama genre will draw in an audience too.

• Elements (wild tracks, atmospheric sounds, sound effects, dialogue/speech, music including theme tunes and incidental music)

There are several different elements in this scene. There are sound effects going on during the whole scene with sirens, helicopters, engine running, tiers skidding across the tarmac, leather going across the steering wheel, and an alarm going off, etc. The dialogue/speech is mainly at the beginning when one of the man in the back seat grunts, "run, come on, come on get in get in... woo". The other is off the radio with the cop radar and basket ball game which could mix in with sound effects.   
The wild track goes with the crickets that you can hear at the beginning layered in with the alarms and sirens.   

• Meaning (how does it enhance audience understanding? Create tension, reinforce genre/conventions, establishes mood, helps to establish time/location, enhances characterisation, use of silence, impact on audience)

As it has hardly any speech but more of sounds it can easily enhance the audiences understand of what is going on in this scene. The mix of sounds and actions helps show what is going on without actually telling us. It has moments that create tension, for example when the men are packed opposite the cop car at the red light, it makes you wait to see what is going to happen at the short pause. This clip does establish the mood, time, and location as it keeps a tense mood throughout the whole scene, however it doesn't tell the precise time but you know that it's late at night and in the Los Angeles area in America. The use of silence helps with the tension and how the characters are feeling which gives the audience a sense of what is going on. 

Second media product:
Radio 4: Fags, Mags, and Bags

• Purpose (educate, entertain, inform, selling products)

The main purpose of this radio series is to entertain the listeners by having a comedy that is set in a corner shop in Glasgow. It is lighthearted and relatable at times through out  the 5 series. The comedy is the selling product as many people enjoy comedies more so then the other genres. 

• Elements (wild tracks, atmospheric sounds, sound effects, dialogue/speech, music including theme tunes and incidental music)

At the beginning there is a theme tune with a presenter speaking over the top telling the listener what the series is and which episode. This helps with informing the listener as to what they are listening to. There are many sound effects through out the podcast, for example, crisp packets,camera clicking, baby sounds,  heels clicking, in a hall/meeting area (echos),and  Draws closing, etc.

The atmospheric sounds includes cars driving past outside , footsteps, door opening with bell,and  chatter within a few people. 

There is dialogue/speech through the whole podcast as that's the point of it. It is a comedy about a group of people that are friendly towards on another. The speech is constant.  

Meaning (how does it enhance audience understanding? Create tension, reinforce genre/conventions, establishes mood, helps to establish time/location, enhances characterisation, use of silence, impact on audience)

It enhances audience understanding by adding sounds that are normally in certain places and the dialogue tells you where they are and what they are doing. It reinforces the genre with quick funny one liners or funny topics which are discussed between characters. The accents/tone of  enhances each character which helps the audience understand who is talking. It doesn't exactly establish time/location too much but you get that it's during the day as they are travelling to several places and the people are awake and fully awake and shops/restaurants are open.

Third media product 

Video game: Cry Plays: Bio-shock Infinite

• Purpose (educate, entertain, inform, selling products)

This Video game clip is solely to entertain the viewer and maybe to sell the video game to hundreds of viewers as the male that is playing the game has a large amount of followers who watch his videos everyday time he posts on YouTube. He informs the viewer as to what the game consists of and what he is doing when playing. 

• Elements (wild tracks, atmospheric sounds, sound effects, dialogue/speech, music including theme tunes and incidental music)

There is speech/dialogue throughout the whole 38 minutes, this is including the male playing the game and the voices of the characters on the game. There are many sound effects in the video game, some of them are, creaking of wood on the boat, money shaking, foot steps against wet and dry surfaces, hand banging on door, background singing, and metal, etc. 

The atmospheric sounds  are the rushing of the sea currents, thunder, and rain pouring down. 

There is incidental music at times, for example, at the beginning of 4:20 minutes there is a record playing of a old song as the background noise but it doesn't last long as the character plays on. 

• Meaning (how does it enhance audience understanding? Create tension, reinforce genre/conventions, establishes mood, helps to establish time/location, enhances characterisation, use of silence, impact on audience)

It enhances the audiences understanding of the game by there being a walk through of the game. There is use of silence from the player when the characters are speaking so the audience can hear what they are saying and understand the game better. The game establishes the time of day as there is sunlight so it's during the day.