LO4: Full documentation of the creation of my advertisement. (P5, P6, M2, D1)

On the 14th of May 2018 I recorded the dialogue part of the scrip which I had previously written. I had to wait up until this date as that the guitar I was going to use was broken an I decided to wait to see if it would be possible to use it in this project. It was however clear on this date that it was beyond repair.
I used garage band to record my script and have provided images of me doing this below:

here I am recording my script. Reading it into the microphone in the recording space

After recording my script I made sure that it sounded ok in garage band before saving it and leaving the studio. 

After recording the parts that I needed to speak I went onto the internet in order to find a piece of royalty free music that would suit the tone of the advertisement I was trying to create. I had to use royalty free sound as that (as I have stated in my Legal and ethical issues section of this blog) I could be potentially sued if I were to use the copyrighted material of somebody else. In order to find music that would not be under copyright protection and therefore be legal to use I went to the creator studio of youtube (however I did not end up considering any of the sounds which I found there) as well as www.Freesound.co.uk and searched for indie music as well as metal sound effects (These were the sounds that I had stated above that I would need. Below I have linked all of the sounds that I thought would be appropriate for this piece of work. 

Music Parts: 

https://freesound.org/people/abett/sounds/316703/

https://freesound.org/people/aceinet/sounds/415780/

https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/music

Sound effects:

https://freesound.org/people/magnus589/sounds/184580/

https://freesound.org/people/michorvath/sounds/270589/

After downloading all of these sound effects I could begin putting together my advert. I have shown how I did this below: 

I began by making sue that all of the pieces of round which I wanted to use had downloaded correctly onto the computer I was using. I then opened Adobe audition as that it is the piece of software that lends itself best to editing audio without visuals.

The first step towards creating the product was transferring the file of me speaking to Adobe audition. I did this by saving the GarageBand document as an MP3 to the computer and then opening it on audition afterwards. 

Above I have show the file as an MP3 as well as how it looked when I opened it in audition. Now that the file was transferred I could begin adding the other elements in order to create my final product. I was at this point that I encountered a problem in my work. The recording which i had done was only playing back through one ear of my headphones. Upon investigation it became clear that this had happened because it was recorded as a stereo file however I have not got two different feeds as to how I was recording. As that the issue was me only having one half of a stereo feed I decided that my best course of action would be to change t to a single mono feed. This would mean that the sound that I had recorded would be played through both ears of the headphones solving my issue. I have show how I did this here: 

Now the formerly unusable sound clip was made appropriate to be a part of my final product.

Version One:

After Making sure that the diolouge section of my work was usable I inserted it into a multitrack format meaning that I could start adding new parts to it. I have show the audition programme after creating the first edit of my work below. I have added the anvil sound, cropped it and copied it 4 times to make it sound like a counting to the music which Is put afterwards. I felt that this music was the most appropriate as that It was lo-fi as I wanted and includes solely an electric guitar with a "Reverb" (echo) effect on it and was therefore the closest thing I could find to what I wanted to create had I had the chance.  After adding both if these sounds I put the desired echo effect on my voice by going to SFX  > Creative > Heavy reverb. I feel like this edit was a good starting point for the product which I was trying to create. (I have uploaded it to youtube so that it can be viewed here:)

The audition programme for this first version of the advert. 

Version Two:

There were several changes that needed to be made to the first version of my work in order to create a second version which would come closer to achieving the vision which I had for the advertisement. The most minor of these changes were that I felt that the anvil chime sound effects were too loud and would better serve their purpose as a musical count in if I was to shorten them down so that there was less time between each of the sounds. I did this fairly quickly by simply deleting all but one of the sound effects, cropping the remaining one and then copying it 4 times so that the effect was achieved again. After doing this my next correction was that I wanted to make the music in the advert fade out which I again did quite quickly by using the option for a fade out which adobe audition makes very easy to find.
My final problem to solve was that I had to balance the sound that I had created so that the dialogue was the easiest to hear but none of the other sounds were lost. This took me some time as that I wanted to make sure that the sounds were perfect and up to a professional standard.
The second version of the advert is available below:

Version three: 

I wanted this version to appear less empty which I thought could be achieved by adding an ambiance track as well as some of the other tracks which I had downloaded earlier on. I downloaded the track that I used from this address:
https://freesound.org/people/Zabuhailo/sounds/194438/\

As well as this while putting this version together I hadn't made any attempt to make my advertisement fit into the typical length intervals that a redio advert should and therefore it would not be able to be used in a professional situation. The ad as it was In version two is around 30 seconds long. While 30 seconds is one of the acepted lengths in the industry I decided that this was too long as that it had over 10 seconds where all that could be heard was the music. For this reason I halted the length of the ad. I feel like the shorter length makes it fit the codes and conventions o f a typical radio advert more as that no radio advert would ever have as long a time playing only music as version 2 of mine did.
This is the third version of my ad:

Final version before presenting to a member of my target audience:

After the third version of my advert I was confident in the professional standard that my work lived unto and therefore only changed some of the sound missing as well as the intensity of the effect on my voice for my final advert.
This is the final version I have created. I fell like I have utilised professional working practices in order to create a product which is up to a professional standard as well as fitting for the tone and target audience that I am trying to reach.

Presentation to members of the target audience:

After this version was finished I decided that it was time for me to present it to a member of the target audience so that I could gain some feedback that would fairly represent the interests of my target audience. I obtained my feedback through showing the advert to a freeind who is of the target audience as well as by adding the advert to a sbreddit which allows people to gather data. This means that some of the data was submitted by people who weren't interested in the project.
After compiling the things that both the people on the internet as well as my friend had noticed was wrong with the advert. The only major complaint which could be fixed was that the dialogue was to quiet and they couldn't hear it.

Here is a screenshot of Survey monkey:

Here is the final version:

LO3: planning for the creation of my advertisement P3, P4, M1

LO3: be able to plan the production of sound elements for an identified media product:

·         General overview of my ideas:

For this unit I will be creating an advertisement for a morning radio programme aimed at students (18- 23 year old people of all genders)  in the Sheffield/ south Yorkshire area titled Sheffield City Campus (SCC) Radio. The advertisement will be for radio and therefore will feature only sound and no visuals (much like the vox-pop I created earlier in this unit.)

As to effectively market the radio show to its intended audience I will make sure that it contains conventions that appeal to both people of this age group and people in the south Yorkshire areas. For this reason I have decided that the backing music will be indie rock inspired as well as having elements of industrial rock music this is because I feel that the people of the age I am targeting would be interested in the indie style of music which I am using and the industrial music will help the radio station remain related to its local roots as that the south Yorkshire area (Specifically Sheffield) has a long history of factory and steel work the sounds of which went into inspiring this genre to begin with.

The

·         Advertisement structure: 

 

More developed ideas:

I created this moodboard to show how my advertiment was influenced as well as the tone it will be attempting to convay.

Locations Materials and techniques:

To record his is will need a sound recording studio as well as the equipment to create it to a professional standard. This equipment will include.

1:   A microphone with a pop filter (the pop filter stops the sound from "Peaking" and is used in professional recording spaces) as well as the cables to lug the microphone in.

2:   A computer with Adobe audition as well as garage band so that I can review what I have recorded as well as recoding the guitar part of the sound properly (Garage band will help me to apply the correct effects to the guitar to make it fit the codes and conventions of the genres I wish to emulate)

3:   An electric guitar and cable (this I can bring in from home)

In order to create my advertisement I will record all of the components separately and the edit them together. This will mean that I can edit the all separately so that they reach a more professional standard.

I will use effects on both the Guitar part of the advert to make it sound more like the styles of music I am trying to emulate. This will (as I have stated in my script) likely be a reverb effect. As well as this I will use.an echo effect on my voice as to make it sound louder and make it follow the codes and conventions of other radio adverts.

Production schedule, 2nd of May 2018:
10 – 11am	10:00: with permission from CDM staff I will enter the recording area and sign into the mac in that room.
	10:02: I will set up my guitar and record multiple takes of the 30 second long guitar sound underlay which will accompany my advert
	10:20: I will remove my guitar from the recording hardware and tidy it away making sure to not make a mess
	10:22: I will use a microphone and a pop filter as to record the duologue part of my advertisement (I will also do many takes of this so that it sounds professional and I can chose my favourite.
	10:35: I will leave the recording studio after saving my work and find a mac computer and open audition
	10:45: I will apply appropriate sound effects to both the guitar and vocal components of the advertisement
11- 12 am/pm	11:30: I will edit together the two components of my advert and then and a drum track that fits well with the guitar as that that will give it a more upbeat atmosphere.

Contingency plans:

1: If I cannot gain access the recording studio on the 2nd of May

I will instead record on another day or late on the same day.

2: I cannot bring my electric guitar to collage:

In this case I will have to use the Internet to find royalty free sound for this aspect of the advert. This however, would be inconvenient and that I cannot make this sound however I want.

Legal and ethical issues:

·         Legal:

The issues that this product will have during creation are rather serious. The first and most pressing of these would be copyright. Copyright is an important obstacle of this product a violation of the existing law could be an unlimited fine (according to the severity of the stolen work as well as 6 months in prison.)

In order to not have any issues with copyright I will have to make sure that any sounds that I take of the internet is royal free (not made for profit) as to make absolutely certain that the company that owns the content will not threaten to sue me if the advert is not edited as to not include the sound or taken down.

Another large legal issue would be the upholding of the Data Protection Act which means that any personal information on the people who have contributed to or were in any way featured or mentioned in the advert must be protected by me as the creator. This law would be especially relevant to my advertisement as that we are featuring a segment of the planned show which talks about specific issues that have been sent in by listeners. If any of the personal information used in this section was used without authorization then the potential penalty could be up to £500,000 in the case of a very serious breach.

·         Ethical:

Ethical issues refer to the representation of the people featured in the product which I a creating. This means avoiding the use of any racist, sexist, homophobic or transphobic stereotypes in the product.  These will not be an issue for my advert as that it will feature only the voice of one presenter of the SCC radio morning show and nobody else.

LO2 - Ben Burtt research (P2)

Ben Burtt, born on the 12th of July 1948, is widely considered be one of the most influential figures in modern film sound design. He is renowned for his work on the Star Wars franchise which included the creation of the sounds of R2-D2, the original lightsaber "Hum" effect and the blaster gun "Zap"

Burtt uses many methods to capture sound. He states that his preference is to find the sounds in real life and record them on a scene. For example, there are photos of him recording the sounds of planes, bears and explosives (all below) 

Above Are some images of Burtt recording sounds for films which he was working on


One of his most famous sound effects was created by citing a slinky that had been stretched out with a pencil. as Burtt explains the high frequency noise reaches the microphone (set up at one end of the slinky) before the low frequency sound which gives the laser gun its signature "Zap" sound. In the case of Star Wars these funds were very unlike the sounds that were used in films like this beforehand. For examples, many Disney animated films used cymbals and drums to indicate a loud bang nose or gunshot sounds. The difference is very notable when comparing a scene from the first Star Wars film (for example the opening fight sequence) and the sounds for the animated films that were the only other films at the time which provided viewers with the same sense of wonder.

Another important part of Burtt’s foley work is his use of ambient sound which can be seen in many sequences in the film "WALL-E." This film centres on a robot that cannot speak and as so only has dialogue after a long period of characters who don’t often speak. Burtt Created emotion in this long part of the movie by ensuring the sounds that all of the sounds that the robot characters make are all very emotive and convey the tone of the sequence. This helps the audience to understand the motives of the characters of “WALL-E “and ‘EVA” as well as how they are feeling.  Have attached one sequence for from the film that shows this use of sound very well.

As can be seen in the clip while the emotions of the characters would be clear from their expressions and body language the sound design significantly contributes to its emotional depth. As well as this the fact that the message is conveyed non- verbally helps the target audience (who would be mostly children ages 5-13) understand the characters on a much more personal level as that they might not understand what the characters were saying had it been delivered in dialogue. To create the sounds of the films robots he used several different methods. For example, WALL-E’s sounds were created using several different kinds of motor which were pitch shifted in order to give it personality. In contrast to this EVE’s was created using “Soothing” sounds such as small snippets of music finally the robot antagonist of the film “The Autopilot” or “AUTO” was created using different whistles and bells as well as a voice which was artificially made lower to give him his intimidating voice. The reasons for using different sounds for each helped to give each its own unique personality which, in turn, created more verisimilitude for the audience as that they would be able to tell the three apart even when they are not shown on screen. The scene I have attached below shows the contrast between the three characters.

In conclusion Ben Burtt has been one of the most influential people in the history of sound design and his influence can be seen in the sounds which he inspired. 

LO2 - Examples of audio creation and editing (P2)

Public interview activity.

On the 14th of March we were tasked to go out into the public with sound recording equipment and ask people an open question so that we could create a radio style public compilation of opinions when we came back. The subject I decided to ask people about was their opinions on Stephen hawking as that the internationally famous physicist had died just the day before. I decided that for the purposes of integrity i would ask people who would have different opinions about him. This meant that I asked one person near Sheffield Hallam University as well as a Jehovah's Witness who would clearly disagree with hawking when it came to their opinions on how the universe came to be. 

After gathering the footage that I am using for this feature i transferred the files to adobe audition where I balanced the sound levels for each (as that the distance that I had held the microphone away from people’s mouths and the loudness of their voices had led to discrepancies in how the audio clips sounded) and then lined them up to play one after another. 

I also recorded myself saying that I would be asking people their opinion on Hawking so that the listener would be introduced to the feature and understand what the people were talking about. The final product is attached below:

Adding a score: 


For this task i was to use the Internet to find appropriate sound effects in order to create the sound for a short scene in the film "Beverly hills cop." In order to do this i found the correct effects and then made them lined them up to the film scene in Adobe premiere.
for the scene i needed:

1.  A track of upbeat American popular music to give the scene continuity as well as to convay the positive tone of the scene. 
2. The sound of a car driving  
3. The sounds of cars passing by  
4. the sound of a car door closing 

As well as addin these sounds I wated to give the scene the impression that the sound was digenic. Therefore i decided to make it appear that the sound was coming from the car's radio. To do this on adobe premier i used a "High-pass fliter" and used 450 for he mesure of the effect. I feel like this helped to make the sound feel more atmospheric.

Finally as that all of my sound effects come from youtube I had to delete the video parts of them once i got them into premeire. I did this by selecting the whole Audio visual clip and then seperating them and deleting the video part of all of them.

My final score is below: 

I relised after creating this piece of work that I would need to redo it with a different piece of music as that the song I used "Sweet Jane" by the Velvet underground would likely have copyright protections on it which would stop my first version from being available. It was my intention to use this track however so If I was to redo the scene with some different music then it would need to be something that covered the same retro and upbeat tone.
For this reason I have gone into the "Creator studio" section of the website into the Create > Music policies section which has a large data base of songs as well as the policies set by their copyright holders and then I put in some songs that I thought would be appropriate to use. I did this unitl I got to the song "call me the Breeze" by JJ Cale. The song is blocked in 238 countries not including the United Kingdom. This meant that I was free to use it in my work.

The list of the countries in which the song is blocked from usage. 

In order to get the song in my video I found a video of it on youtube and then downloaded it to my computer using a Youtube to Mp3 downloader.
I then applied the same fade and high pass effects to the clip.




































The final piece is below:





Foley art for documentary film: 

On the 21st of March 2018 I was set the task of recreating the sound in a documentary scene by the national  geographic. I was given the vide clip with no sound and was tasked along with my teammate with writing a script for a voice over to the clip as well as creating the background sound such as music and sounds like leaves rustling when the featured animal (those bing British Red Squirrels) is seen.

This is what the premiere program looked like when me and Matt finished editing the clip. He wrote

Below I have inserted the final version of our scene.

LO1 - Sound conventions in radio.

Radio sounds Index:

Foley - A technical process by which sounds are created or altered for use in a film, video, or other electronically produced work.

Sting – Musical/Audio punctuation to show a break or change in a program.

Bed – Instrumental music played in the background of an audio product or promotion.

Jingle - A produced programming element usually in the form of vocals to accompanying music often produced in-house to identify the show, DJ or the station.

Pre-Rec – A pre recorded element played into a live show, this may be to add to a factual item or segment,

Vox-Pop  - literally voice of the people, a pre recorded sound clip getting public opinion on a topical issue. 

Ident – A station's name often accompanied by music, a jingle or an animation.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Task: Explore the use of sound within three different pieces of radio programming. 



Programming piece one: 

Radio 1's Life Hacks

The first piece of radio programming given to me was titled "Kicking down barriers in football" and was presented by BBC 1 on the 22nd of January 2018. The piece makes use of a "Bed" of sound which consists of a piece of music which plays under the entire programme. As well as this there is also a "Sting" before Liv Cooke starts seeking. The use of a sting makes it clear that the focus is changing to the audience.

Programming piece two: 

James Acaster's Findings

This second piece of programming is much different to the first for a few reasons.firstly because it is comedy programming secondly because it is comedy programming the elements of sound used are being used as to parody typical radio conversions rather than re-enforcing them. This is at its most clear when the host James Acaster doesn't let the opening sting ring out before delivering the title "Fruit."

Programming piece three: 

                                  




The Archers

The third and final piece of programming is an episode of BBC's "the Archers" (13/02/2018) the sound in this is much more subtle as that it is narrative based unlike the other two pieces of broadcast. This means that it relies on a lot of foley sound and sound alteration/ effects (which can be seen with the opening phone call.)
The foley sound can be seen in the ambient noise (conversation and sound in the background) as well as this is the opening and closing of doors.