Lesson #11 / #12: Man on Wire

We have just finished watching the documentary "Man on Wire", directed by James Marsh. The topic of the documentary itself was already captivating, as almost all of us would never have the chance the experience wire-walking, but the director has additionally applied different techniques to enhance the excitement that the film gives us. For example, right before Philippe walked between the Twin Towers, to intensify the tension of the atmosphere, the director included shots of lighting / thunder / rain while Philippe's ex-girlfriend is speaking about her worries, which foreshadows that something bad might happen. It turned out that he successfully reached his dream and gained a lot of fame, however, on the other hand, his personality changed and he seemed to forgotten about those who have supported him along the way. His friend got expelled from America, while on the contrary, his is praised and admired by everyone. I also felt really bad for his ex-girlfriend, as she has been supportive from the start, yet Philippe seemed to have immediately forgotten about her and went on his "pleasure journey". 

To retell the story of Philippe and his team planning and sneaking into the Twin Tower, a lot of old photos and archived footage were included - they even managed to include old news footage. Flashbacks were involved as the film did not follow a linear chronological order. There was also docudrama, where they reenacted the actual events in a dramatic and vivid way, and these all allow us to gain deep insight into what was happening from different perspectives as the film crew was able to interview everyone who was involved in the actual event. 

I really admire how Philippe is able to pursue his passion. It was certainly very fascinating to see the behind the scenes of an "artistic crime", and I could never imagine myself having the courage to step and walk on a single piece of wire.

Lesson #10: Camera Techniques and Watching "Lift"

Today, our lesson started with Zhu laoshi teaching us about the Rule of Thirds and different shots and angles. Below demonstrates the key points of what we learnt today:

Rule of Thirds

To compose a well balanced, natural, and visually appealing shot, filmmakers often apply the rule of thirds. The frame is broken down into thirds (nine parts), and it is considered ideal when the points of interests (subjects) are placed in the intersections or along the lines.

Shot Types

(Extreme Close Up, Close Up, Medium Close Up, Long Shot... etc...)

When filming a conversation between two people, the ideal type of shot to use is "Over the Shoulder" - shot of someone or something taken from the perspective of another person / camera angle from the person's shoulder.

Angles

Angles help with shaping a character as it indicates his or her social status / position. Filming from a high angle allows the character to appear vulnerable, while filming from a low angle makes the character look powerful and superior. However, unless it serves a purpose (eg. portraying specific characteristics of people), it is best to keep the camera at eye level for a more natural shot.

* The exposure of the shot can be adjusted, however, it is important to make sure it is not overexposed so that the outlines of the face can be preserved.

Watching Lift - Documentary directed by Marc Isaacs

Lift, directed by award-winning filmmaker Marc Isaacs, was released in October 2001. The film was quite different in terms of its subject and style, as Isaacs documents his encounters with people in the lift of a typical English tower, having to carry a camera in the lift 10 hours a day for an entire week. Unlike traditional documentaries, Lift mostly involved short conversations with a variety of people and the use of (medium) close up shots, with some shots of other objects like flies and the lift mechanics to prevent the audience from feeling confined / getting visually tired because of the repetitive head shots. Marc Isaacs is very innovative and clever to include shots of a fly throughout the film, not only to fill in the gaps between the people shots, but as he shows the fly dying it helps indicate the end of the film. 

I really enjoy how Marc Isaacs chose a lift as the main setting of the documentary - because of this, only short small conversations can be collected on camera, and each conversation is like a snippet / fraction of the interviewee's life. The shots of the same people are spread out throughout the film, hence, with all these snippets, our curiosity is captured, as we attempt to piece the snippets together and form a clear understanding of people's lives. 

I notice that Marc Isaacs, who is asking questions behind the camera, often zoom in into the interviewees' faces, keeping the camera at eye level, which helps the audience focus on their emotions. I still remember the Indian guy whose eyes seemed lifeless and was frowning, but when Isaacs asked "What's on your mind?", he first responded with "Nothing much", even though it is clear that he is worried / depressed about something. As predicted, he later on revealed his truthful thoughts and explained that his parents both died over a span of three months and later on, when we discussed about him in class, Zhu Laoshi told us that he committed suicide after the release of the film. 

Marc Isaacs did do some prior research to get to know the interviewees better before installing himself in the elevator, but the relationship that he built with the people in the tower block is fascinating. He asks simple questions like "What did you dream about last night?" or "How was your day?", and along with the use of close ups, the personality of the interviewees can be identified. At first, the atmosphere of the lift was quite awkward, but towards the end, the interviewees' attitudes have changed - those that were nervous slowly opened up and people became really friendly. Some were so eager to talk to him that they did not want to leave the lift. It is interesting to witness the filmmaker's interaction with people of diverse backgrounds / different personalities, genders and age. Lift demonstrated to me that producing a documentary requires patience as it takes time for the interviewees to loosen up. 

Lesson #9: Introduction to Documentaries

Today in class, we spent a period working on our foley projects. In our second period, we were introduced to our next unit - documentary. Zhu laoshi showed us two silent documentaries that are both produced in the 1900s. The topic of the two documentaries are quite different - one is about the traditional lifestyle of Eskimos and the other simply records a natural phenomenon (rain). My perspective on the authenticity of documentaries have completely changed after this lesson. 

Nanook of the North // Robert J. Flaherty // 1922

Zhu laoshi asked us if we thought that the content of the documentary about the Eskimos - "Nanook of the North" was preplanned / staged or not. At first, most of us believed that it was real, but it turns out that one of the most interesting / captivating scenes - the hunting of the walrus, was a staged event. The filmmaker Robert J. Flaherty, requested his Inuit actors to use the traditional harpoon to hunt instead of the modern rifles that they normally used. In addition, it turns out that the main character's name, supposedly Nanook, is a made up name as well. Despite the fact that many criticised him for “deceptively portraying staged events as reality”, I believe that his intention behind the act of staging the event is simply to show the audience the lifestyle of Eskimos from a different, unique perspective. Nonetheless, this was a complete surprise to me and I am shocked at how much control the director has on the film. Not only can he preplan a scene and manipulate the audience's minds, through the process of post production, the director can also rearrange the shots anyway he / she wants and change the entire scene.

Rain // Joris Ivens // 1929

The shots in the documentary "Rain" are all very aesthetically pleasing. Ivens, fascinated by natural phenomena, not only made a documentary about rain, he also created another one later on about wind. "Rain"'s subjects are numerous and anonymous and the film focuses on capturing intricate detailed shots of the rain's interaction with the city. It is unique as it is ambiguous - there is no clear fixed message that Joris Ivens is trying to convey, unlike "Nanook of the North". Perhaps he was trying to portray the beauty of nature / rain and thereby reminding us to appreciate our surroundings. 

Peer Review

Today, we reviewed the foley films from our class and another class. As a class, we provided positive and negative feedback for each group. 

My group's film received generally good feedback. The class agreed that the dialogue was well-written and suits the character. One distinctive attribute of our film was that the static noise produced naturally by the microphone, unlike the other groups, has no negative impact on the film and instead helped with creating a realistic old factory environment. As the film reaches its climax, the pitch of the music also increased and thereby helping with the enhancement of tension in the atmosphere. We paid attention to small details, especially the mechanical sounds such as the turning of the table, the scraping of metal against the plate, and the placement of the bowls.

Scraping of Metal Against the Plate

However, one of my classmates pointed out that certain part of the dialogue was missing or delayed. There was a part where the man in suit did a hand movement and spoke but we did not record / put any dialogue for that. We should have paid even more attention to the details to reduce the errors in the film.

All of the films were unique in their own ways. Many of the groups evidently put in a lot of effort in their production and created remarkable results. Out of the 11 films that we watched, the most unforgettable one in my opinion would be Polar Express. The film consisted of a lot of complex / intricate sounds, with the sound of the old fashioned steam train being the most impressive. There was a long period of silence in the beginning of the film. Some thought it was awkward and that they should have filled some sounds in, but I think that the complete absence of sound plays a crucial role in the film as it helps build up a creepy, mysterious atmosphere, heightening suspense. The strong contrast between the sudden abrupt noise of the train and the silence before that effectively surprises the audience and thereby stimulating their urge to find out what would happen next. The fact that they included the sound of clock ticking reveals the fact that they paid a lot of attention to the minor details, which I think is why their film was so successful as each and every single sound contributes to creating a realistic environment. From what I remember, the only bit that they can improve on is the sound of walking on snow, which they could have used powder / cornstarch to replicate a more realistic sound. 

Completion of Film

Lesson 7 / 8: 5th November, 2015 / 13th November, 2015

In our last two lessons, my group mostly spent our time in the Editing Suite. We edited our film and also took note of what sound effects we are missing. We fixed some minor flaws, such as the timing of the dialogue, and we also finished recording the missing sounds. We spent some extra time after class to complete our film.

Choice of Music

Josephine searched for royalty free comedy music for our film and adjusted the speed and length of it so that it will fit in perfectly and help enhance the sound quality. There were two versions - one was at a normal pace and one was slower. Since the film itself belongs to the comedy genre, I believe that it is important for the audience to feel relaxed and truly enjoy the film. However, the speed of the normal version created a strange, overtly tense atmosphere for the film, giving off an uncomfortable, hasty vibe. The slow version, on the other hand, is able to convey a nerve-racking mood while retaining the film's comedic nature. Hence, we decided on using the slower version as it is more suitable for our film. One unique feature of the soundtrack is that its pitch raises during the climax - when the eating machine begins to malfunction, which helps with intensifying the atmosphere of the film. 

Challenges

The most difficult part throughout the entire film production, I would say, is post-production (editing) due to the fact that it requires 100% concentration and is time consuming. There were a lot of tiny unnecessary bits in the audio clips that had to be cut off, such as the sound of the mic moving around or our own laughter. Clips had to be separated into small segments in order to match the timing of the visuals. It was difficult to trim the clips accurately, especially the dialogue clip, because the pace Isaac and Benjamin (they did the voiceover for us) were speaking at did not match the visuals. Luckily, the zoom slider tool on Final Cut Pro was very helpful and allowed us to edit efficiently and accurately. 

Zoom Slider Tool

Last but not least, it was also challenging to make the sounds sound realistic. We had to test different objects on different surfaces to create and find the most realistic sound. For example, when we were trying to create the sounds for the eating machine wheels, we used one of the chairs in the library and tested it against different surfaces. We wheeled it against the library carpet, lobby ground, and even brought it outdoors. It turns out that wheeling it against outdoor ground produces the best results as the ground is rougher and more friction is created between the wheels and the ground, hence producing a louder sound. We also realised that it is important to place the mic near the sound source in order to fully capture the sound, especially in outdoors as sound waves can easily disperse. After the foley process, we had to apply several layers of audio filters (eg. Echo, Vintage Television) to some of the audio clips in order for it to reach the effect that is most appropriate / realistic for the film. What we should have done to minimise the inconvenience is to play and watch the video clip while doing foley. We only provided the script for the two guys to follow when they were doing the voiceover, hence, they were unclear about the pace they should be speaking at. Therefore, we had to rerecord part of the dialogue and this led to an awkward, unnatural change of voice (the original one was more raspy / hoarse, while the rerecorded one was clearer) in the middle of the film. 

Another challenge was spotting all the sounds in the clip that we have to do foley for. It is important to pay attention to the minor details. We did create a sound list in the beginning to help ourselves organise and remember all the sounds we need to record for our film. However, we did not fully complete it (which we should have) and hence, it was easy for us to neglect some of the sounds. Luckily, we had Zhu laoshi to review our film and she told us how we can improve as well as the sounds that were missing. 

In spite of the challenges, I am quite satisfied with the outcome of the film. Most of the sounds matched up perfectly with the visuals and were realistic. I read a blog which mentioned that the hard parts of foley are "finding the starting point for that sound and figuring out what work needs to be done to make it sound the way you would like without having it end up sounding the same as what was in that other program." I am glad that our imagination and creativity did not get limited by any initial sounds and it is easier for us to create our own interpretation of the sounds since we chose to use a silent film for this project. Having the ambience in the background was a slight annoyance, but it plays a crucial role in our film. Its constant presence not only creates an environment, it also helps indicate to the audience that no change of space has occurred. 

All in all, it was an enjoyable experience producing this film. From preparation to doing foley to editing, throughout the process, I have gained a deeper and clearer understanding of foley and sound editing. If we had extra time, it would be nice to label all the audio clips to better organise the timeline and work more efficiently and conveniently. 

Lesson #6 | Working on Our Foley Projects

This is our sixth film lesson and we spent the entire lesson working on our foley projects. My group went to the library meeting room to replicate and record some sounds. It was unexpected how the sounds we produced in the meeting room for the clip were actually desirable and realistic. We played around with the chairs, the TV remote, the door handles and locks, the sockets, and fruits. To emulate the chewing sounds in the film, we recorded the sound of Michelle eating an apple. We rubbed the TV remote against the chair and it created an interesting sound that matched one of the scenes. With the door handle, we created the sound for the pulling of machine levers. The process was enjoyable and certainly eye-opening. 

After recording sounds, we went to the film suite and edited our film. Seeing how the most of the sounds recorded in a meeting room matched perfectly with a scene that took place in a factory was amusing. In order to enhance the sound quality of our film and make it more realistic, we had to adjust the volume of the sounds. 

Lesson #5 | Motifs

In our fifth lesson, we began with learning about motifs - which after researching and sharing, we found out that is the repetition of an element in ways that acquire symbolic meaning for the element. It can be a technical feature (a shot angle, a lighting set up), a sound or piece of dialogue or music, or an object,  according to this website. Motifs are not only applied in films, they are used in literature and music as well. 

Afterwards, we watched an old horror film named "M". As a class, we identified that the man's whistling in the movie is the motif that symbolises the presence of the murderer. 

Then, we proceeded with our Foley group projects. We identified more sounds in the clip that we will have to replicate and recorded the dialogue for the clip with the help from two male classmates. Originally, we thought that we would do the voiceover ourselves, however, we decided that it would be more realistic and sensible to get guys to do the dialogue for us, since the characters in the clip are male. The process went smoothly; the only problem we had was finding a quiet place to record the sounds. We went to the empty classroom across our film classroom at first, however, the sounds of the wind and electricity could be heard clearly in our recordings. The same situation happened in the other classrooms. Zhu Laoshi then advised us to record the ambience sound and layer it under the other sound effects during the editing process in order to solve the issue. It would be a good idea to go to the music hall to record our sounds next time. 

Lesson #4 | Identifying Diegetic and Non-Diegetic Sounds

In our fourth lesson, we learnt about the three major types of sound: Dialogue, Sound Effects, and Music, as well as the functions of sound effects:

→ Impact on the Plot

- Change the Mood / Feeling of the Character

- Provide Contrast

- Shape Character’s Personality

- Define Location: eg. In a Jungle / Forest - Sound of Bees / Bugs

- Portray the Environment’s Impact on Characters: eg. Gunshots enhance the tension experienced by the characters, allowing us to understand their situation better.

→ Impact on the Movie (as a whole)

- Simulates Reality

- Helps Create a More Dramatic Effect

- Provide Better Sound Quality

Zhu Laoshi also taught us how filmmakers apply different components, such as onscreen and offscreen space, image mood and sound mood, objective and subjective sounds, as well as image time and sound time to either create contrast between sound and the imagery onscreen or to enhance the plot of the movie - for example, image time and sound time may differ during transitions between scenes in order to foreshadow what would happen next.

Afterwards, we each found a clip and identify the diegetic sounds (ones that can be heard by characters in the story) and non-diegetic sounds (those that come from outside the world of the story) in the clip. I chose to analyse the training scene of the Hunger Games movie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGyQFdjCy6c). Here are the sounds that I identified:

DIEGETIC

Dialogue

Sound of Peeta Falling onto the Ground 

Weapons: Bow and Arrow

Sound of Training Machines

NON-DIEGETIC

Background Music (Drums)

We then worked on our group projects. Josephine is responsible for the dialogue of the clip, while Michelle and I are responsible for the sound effects. We are planning to finish the sound list as soon as possible so that we can begin emulating and recording sounds. We will also need to find people to help us out with recording the dialogue since all the characters in the clip are adult males. 

Lesson #3 | 1st Foley Experience

It was our third lesson and we have officially begun our journey as foley artists. Groups were reformed, and in our new groups, we practiced foley. My group - Josephine, Michelle and I, tried to simulate different sounds. We attempted to recreate the sound of rain hitting a tin roof by tapping on surfaces like the cover of the trash bin, tables, whiteboards, and door knobs, using either our fingers or push pins. Originally, we were going to try recreate the sound of running in high heels by attaching wood pieces to Michelle's shoes using blu-tack, however, the outcome was a bit different than expected and sounded more like a horse trotting. Ms. Zhu suggested to attach wooden pieces in the front of the bottom of the shoes as well for a more realistic effect.

Push Pins - Sound of Rain

Wooden Pieces on Shoe Bottoms - Sound of Horse Trotting

All the other groups produced impressive results. I remember the first group simulated the sound of sniper rifles by slapping a shoe against the ground and throwing coins. Another group achieved outstanding results as well - they recreated the sound of horse trotting using the volleyball net. 

We then watched a video about the sound production of the animation Wall-E and I was once again amused at the foley artists' creativity and the massive amount of work involved. Afterwards, we searched for clips for our foley project and my group decided on using a silent film. 

Today's activity and videos made me realise that there are so many items that can be used to create sound and I believe that the key to producing desirable sound is simply creativity. 

Lesson #2 | Movie: The Incredibles

“A truth whispered among animators is that 70% of a show's impact comes from the sound track.”

 –Michael Dougherty, 

scriptwriter of films like X-Men & Superman Returns

We began our second lesson of film with the movie The Incredibles. The sound effects were impressive: numerous elements were included - music, sound effects, dialogue and all these elements certainly enhanced the outcome of the movie. I remember in one of the parts, after Mr. Incredible returned to his superhero job (35:30 - 36:40), joyful, lively music was playing in the background, which reveals the fact that he enjoys this job and his excitement for future adventures. At 22:32, when Mirage (the lady with silver hair) glimpsed at Mr. Incredibles as he walked out, the background music sounded mysterious, allowing Mirage to appear suspicious and foreshadows how she will eventually be influencing him in some way. At 1:15:52, there was a moment of silence and Dash said "I'm alive" after being chased by the spaceship-like vehicles - which brings the audience relief and helps create a better effect afterwards as right after that moment, the sounds of the "spaceships" suddenly resumed, immediately provoking the audience's fear. The sound effects of the weapons and superpowers throughout the film were very realistic. For example, when Dash runs, the speed of the music accelerates to show that he is running at a very high speed. 

After the movie, we learnt about how the sound effects in films are produced using a technique called foley - the process of specifying, acquiring, manipulating or generating audio elements during post-production. With foley, everyday sound effects are reproduced / simulated using unexpected objects, then added to films to achieve the desired sound and enhance the quality of the audio. This is the first time I've heard about foley, and I certainly did not expect there to be so much work involved in order to create sounds. Knowing about this process has increased my appreciation for sounds in films and admiration for sound designers / editors. Foley seems to be a very interesting process and I can't wait to create our own soundtrack soon.

Lesson #1 | The Sound of a Story

1. How was sound used to manipulate the audience?

The absence of visual images allows the audience to visualise scenarios that match with the sound of the clip, manipulating our imagination. For example, in the film clip shown in class, the sound of chickens squawking immediately gives audience the idea that the film is set in a farm. Other than that, I think that sound can also manipulate our emotions and produce physical responses in us - they can heighten the panic and terror in the film and give us palpitations; they can induce sorrow and give us tears.

2. What does sound bring to the film story? What elements were in the film clip shown today?

Sound can help create an atmosphere / mood for the film story as it can convey emotions and can effectively capture the audience’s attention. As an example, in Ms. Zhang’s documentary of the Irish couple, most of the time the audio is filled by concrete sounds, dialogue or simply silence, creating a melancholy and gloomy atmosphere. Sound can also make a film more realistic and interesting. Dialogue and different sound effects / concrete sounds were applied to the film clips shown today and provided information about the scenario - a door slam delivers the image of someone entering a place, clock ticks suggests that time is passing by, while words like “detergent” instantly provides us with a clear idea of the film being set in the laundry room. Without sound, film clips would appear to be dull, confusing, and unrealistic.