Introduction
In this project we were tasked to perform a sound replacement for the movie trailer A Quiet Place II. We were only given a small selection of Foley samples, Atmos tracks and a few songs that could be sampled for the trailer. Though our supplied material was limited we were free to record extra Foley , sound design, samples or compose what ever we thought was needed for the project.
Project management (CLO1)
ID key events
Composed musical sections was suitable for the
Early start to capturing Foley (link to week 2 post here)
Involved a few colleagues in the Foley capture process early in the trimester (Ron, Roy, Phil, Joe and me)
Continue to ask for help from more people in future and enrol interested people to help
Was not able to deliver the project at 95% completion for customer review in week 5
Can avoid this next time by having better time management
Prioritized study over casual paid work since to make sure I was able to deliver
How did I work in this environment during the day when we captured our Foley
Worked purposefully and well (link to the week 2 post on how we worked)
Reflecting back, on the project management for the trailer
Creative work (CLO2)
Creative processes
In this project everything stemmed from after reviewing the material provided by our lecturer
After reviewing the clip without any audio we decided the following actions;
Form a group for capturing sounds in one day
Sample universal agreed upon sounds that needed sampling or ones that are missing
Used markers within PT session where we wanted to sample sounds for Foley at critical sections
Work on the project individually afterwards
Setup 4 separate sessions: Foley, Vocals,
Planning stage (CLO4)
Initially planned in the second week to be able to add the required sounds.
Our team with Roy, Phil and I booked out the S6 in week 1 or 2 and imported the trailer video into a ProTools session.
We all then watched the trailer from start to finish whilst adding in time markers for events during the trailer that we all agreed needed a rerecording of Foley elements that were crucial to the final deliverable.
For example the Foley of beer bottles crashing down due to the trip wire scene.
(Insert image of the bottles falling down)
After tracking the sounds in the Neve studio we all went our separate ways and work on the final deliverable.
Case study (LO1)
To get a better idea on how I arrived at the aesthetic decisions I made for this Project lets look the breakdown that I did for the A Quiet Place Trailer (insert link here)
The aesthetic decisions noted in this case study are as follows
The minimalist use of instruments were used in each scene
There is massive build up of tension by the use of heart beats in lead up to dangerous scenes
The monster noises are extremely apparent in the
Key words are emphasized in the film
Sounds that are usually innocent are portrayed as life threatening
Key high pitched notes correlate with certain danger signals like red lights and the high pitched violin
Silence is used effectively during a pivotal part of the trailer
Production (LO4)
After the planning stage our all the people who participated had the original ProTools session with the recorded Foley.
I began to work on that session and name that file as the Foley session. Before this I talked with Phil, Roy, Ron and Joe about tracking Foley in the Neve for the trailer. Having worked with Joe before in the past on other sound replacement projects I knew I could count of him to bring plenty of weird equipment to record with. Not having worked with Phil, Roy or Ron before I discussed in detail beforehand with them to bring in plenty of household objects like bottles, cans, spatulas and anything else that wanted to record in the room.
On the day since I booked the session I had the project up and ready to record but as best plans go, Joe had a different take as to how he wanted to record. We predominantly used a Rode NT2 to capture the Foley but we also had a rode NT1 condenser as a standby mic. We setup the session as a standard practice by having headphones and a talkback mic in the room being the SM58.
I was the recording engineer for the day and everyone else took turns in making Foley. The day turned out pretty successful since we all knew what we wanted to record due to the preplanning and the session with markers.
Following what our lecturers recommended I split the project into 4 distinct sessions, each focusing on the following:
Dialogue
Foley/Sound design/Atmos
Music
Master session that takes the final mix of the Dialogue/Foley/Music into one session
In the past I had only placed all the sounds into one session and this quickly became out of hand once you loaded up plugins. So I saw the benefit of splitting up the session as described and allowed me to focus on certain aspects without getting confused with the routing.
Aesthetic design (LO13)
If having looked at the breakdown for the sound design in the first A Quiet Place, (insert link to that blog) that was present in the first chapter of the music we will breakdown the video into the following sections:
Initial stunner section [Audience Hook]
Mother drives car [Build up/Story Telling]
Monster crushes car [Climax]
Speed away [Frantic Build up]
Reverse panic [Climax]
Mother and kids leave burning home [Build up / story telling]
Trip wire trigger loud crash of Bottles and cans [Climax]
Frantic escape from noise [Build up]
Finds survivor and reveal of monster [Climax]
Converse while in safety of boiler room [Build up / Story telling ]
Shotgun rack [Climax/fadeout]
For brevity I will focus on the main design choices I made in terms of sound design and music choices that are not literal sounds like a car door or a footstep Foley sample unless its put there due to an aesthetic choice.
The Hook
In the first 5 seconds I used a reversed bell sample and a baby's cry to get the grab the audiences attention. Since this movie has a baby in it I considered it was diegetic to the universe that the story created. Also the sound of a baby's cry can be heard through a crowd of people and is easily discernible by the human ear. Since most people are usually talking, eating popcorn, texting the trailer needs to grab the attention of the viewer while waiting for the main movie the baby's cry will trigger a primal response from the listener and make them alert to view the rest of the trailer. Scientists have proven this theory and is reported by the guardian.
"They were faster and more accurate after listening to the infant vocalisations. It's almost like we have this improvement in our effort for motive performance immediately after listening to vocalisations that might facilitate care-giving behavior," said Parsons.
(Jha, 2013)
Tripwire scene
The baby's cry is also used again after the bottles drop after the mother triggers the tripwire and builds on top of the notion that after the loud noise the baby is crying and in this world of the movie any noise is dangerous. This will place the viewer in a state of heightened stress and is an excellent way to build up the tension in the scene.
Music
For the music choice in this project I decided to use a minimalist approach. I watched the entire trailer I felt that the tone of the whole movie gave me a whole "return to basic homestead survival living" feel. Not to dissimilar to circumstances seen in the early medieval times since all technology in the film that can cause noise have either been switched off or rendered useless. I thought of using Baroque music and composed a gently section with using a wood recorder and guitar.
Another reason why I chose the guitar for this type of film was because I took reference from the main theme for "The Last of Us"
Gustavo Santaolalla: The Music of The Last of Us (PlayStation, 2013)
For the placement of the music I decided not to deviate from the original trailers position and identified where the music starts and stops in each transition and composed accordingly.
Creative use of Non-Diegetic sounds
A big learning curve for me was how to use sonic risers to give that Hollywood crash or impact. I imagined the riser to be like a wind up punch, it creates tension and drama so at the moment of impact you release the energy in the scene by placing a loud bang immediately after or alternatively use silence to create an anti-climax to create suspense. That was why I used the reversed train and reversed cymbals just before the climax sections in my re-imagining for the trailer.
The best example of non-diegetic sound use in this trailer is during the monster reveal at the climax. I used a reversed train sample just as the survivor places his hand to stop the mother from screaming, I dropped all volume and left the scene in silence. This had a dramatic build-up and was designed to hold the audience in suspense. As the survivor and the mother turned around to reveal the monster, I raised the train sound again along with a thumping heartbeat to simulate how the mother is hearing her own heart pounding in her ears after running and being forced to stay silent.
I used a similar reasoning when approaching the other climatic sections, and follows a similar pattern of non-diegetic build up sounds then followed up with either a bang or silence depending whether the scene needed a climax or anti-climax.
Loudness levels for films in Australia
According to the OP-59 standard the loudness target for films should be -24LKFS +- 1db Integrated (OP-59 Measurement and Management of Loudness for TV Broadcasting, 2018)
The standards can also differ depending on region where the trailer is to be played for example in the theatre I mastered the entire mix to be at the required -24LuFS which is the same as -24LKFS.
Had this been for online streaming then I would have mastered the mix to the loudness limit of the platform the trailer will be streamed on.
Summary (LO17)
The final deliverable which is shown above compared really close to a Hollywood film trailer and for some aspects I liked having added my own touch to the overall sound design aesthetic. There film cut of the trailer was fixed so in a way the trailer dictated the pace and transitions in which the events unfolded in the film but I was able to interpret the trailer my own way. Looking at the climax sections I used risers and loud bangs and silences like they do in Hollywood and was successful considering the feed back I received from my classmates and anyone I showed it to so far. All in all I believe I came close to the mark when trying to make a Hollywood style trailer.
Reflection on the project
This project is a step up from the past ones that I had done so far and was extremely interesting and a bit stressful in making the sound design.
The biggest key learning after making this trailer about my own practice can be grouped in the following categories:
Music
With the music composition I had a great time exploring the possibilities, I had a good listen to everything that was provided by Guy but nothing seemed to suit the mood of the whole scene so I decided to try make my own. Having played "The Last of Us" the colour palette and the apocalyptic themes it just seemed right to use a Baroque style piece for the transition sections to give that sad and somber mood. IT could definitely do with more instrumentation but I was also going for a minimalist approach.
Sound Design
This the part where I think I had most growth in my craft. I was the type of Sound Designer who wanted to get the most pure sound and most authentic sounds. Meaning that I was a bit too literal with each sound, Using risers, reverse cymbals and horns was a bit foreign to me and after some guidance form Nick I found that theses extra non-diegetic sounds really help sell the picture. It also helped created drama when needed as well. I will always remember these sounds are like a pro fighter winding up a fist and its up to the designer whether to hit the audience with a jump scare loud bang or use silence to "feint" a impact and create tension and anticipation to the audience.
This is an area I will continue to explore and look out for in movie trailers.
Foley capture
For this project I don't think I have grown in my knowledge of Foley capture as I was the recording engineer, I will look into a more hands on Foley creation role in my future project to explore alternate sounds that can be created household objects.
Vocal editing
I had the chance to clean up and pan effectively this project, after getting feedback from my brother who watched the film he picked up something that I did not which was when the mother was in the car her voice does not change pitch even when she turns her head away from the camera to look back onto the road. This broke the immersion for him and knowing my brother he is a very observant person, I experimented with automation for the pitch and remedied the scene. From this experience I learnt that if even though I thought I finished the vocal edits, the immersion can be broken by simple things like this. Its not always a perfect vocal edit that will work, in a scene it needs to reflect what's happening on the screen.
Mastering
This was where I learnt the most, in the past I just made sure that everything can be heard in the mix and did not know how to make things loud to any standard. After Guy showed us about LuFS and how industry expect you to master using Limiters and Compressors it was another light bulb moment for me and all of a sudden now know how to make my mix loud enough for theatre. During the screening section it became obvious that even though I had mastered to the correct loudness values in the S6, a theatre setting the details in the mix can sometimes be lost due to the room size. I learned that I will have to test my mix in a live theatre setting before submitting to a client. This is a great lesson for me in learning my craft.
References:
Jha, A. (2013). Why crying babies are so hard to ignore. Retrieved 8 May 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/oct/17/crying-babies-hard-ignore
PlayStation. (2013).Gustavo Santaolalla: The Music of The Last of Us[Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ejdjcun2Jo4
OP-59 Measurement and Management of Loudness for TV Broadcasting. (2018). [Ebook] (4th ed.). Retrieved from https://www.freetv.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/OP-59-Measurement-and-Managemnt-of-Loudness-for-TV-Broadcasting-Issue-4-October-2018.pdf