Production Principles – Sound Design

For this class, we created several short films focusing on sound- some of which were edited, some were not. We analysed our perception of sound, both as humans and as individuals, looking at our evolutionary adaptations to perceiving sounds and our personal preferences of sounds. For all of the short films I created, I used edited sounds I had made myself. These includes nails on jeans, a Vaseline pot on painted wood, metal beads on a window frame, a hand on cork, and other similar homemade Foley sounds. I added video of regular activities I do, such as reading and feeding my pets, to compliment the homemade sounds (some videos are sped up). One thing I found really interesting about the tutor’s presentation was the fact that we always expect a sound to go along with an action, so separating the two can be a useful tool (e.g. you don’t have to animate an ambulance if you play a siren sound, the audience just pictures one). I’d really like to experiment with this in future.

10 second films below:

20 second “indoor to outdoor” film below: (made with non edited sounds)

If the embedded video doesn’t work it can be accessed through this link: https://vimeo.com/625750703

Final Reflection:

Note: this is the same writing from my final production principles PDF.

I think the outcomes for this rotation were good! I managed to get some interesting sounds, as well as create, combine, and edit my own for an effective and interesting listening experience. I think the subtlety of the sounds is good and they don’t sound overly artificial or grating, but I could have tried experimenting with some more brash sounds such as people speaking or waves crashing to create more intense videos.

My concept was to use the sounds around me, including my pets, things in my room, the outside weather, etc. It went very well, and it was interesting to see how I could alter these naturalistic sounds to make them appear completely different. If I were to do this again, I would challenge myself to use less common but still local sounds such as the noise of bedsheets and wood shavings (from my guinea pigs).

The tutor mentioned that separating a sound from an action (for example, playing an ambulance sound while not actually drawing one) can create the illusion that an action has happened. Therefore, I wanted to experiment with creating sounds of movement, rumbling, or train-like noises in some of my works. This was incredibly interesting and I learned a great deal about sound design while doing it. However, if I were to do this again, I would push myself to create more effective and intense sounds rather than more atmospheric ones.

In all, this was a good, informative experience where I was able to learn a lot about a topic I knew little about. I could have pushed my work further, but am satisfied with what I created and know I can take this knowledge forward in my future projects.