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.