LO4: Improving Communication Techniques

Whilst working with the animation team, I’d often get very short and vague answers when asking for their preferences on how I should record and mix certain sounds. They found it difficult to explain what they wanted because they weren’t entirely sure on what they wanted and how to achieve such results. I think this is the reason why I was given a lot of creative control over the audio production process.

When explaining the work that I do, I need to try and avoid using audio-related jargon if I want them to understand how and why I choose to produce audio in certain ways. In addition to this, I could also send my clients drafts of my work from time-to-time to avoid me having to explain my work through audio jargon.

I looked online for other various tips for improving my communication skills and found some promising ideas (Designm, 2009; 99designs, 2015). One tip was to use examples of other works when proposing ideas to my clients. And so, when proposing some musical ideas for the chase scene, I also gave examples to the animation team of music styles that I could take references from when composing. I used Amedeo Tommasi’s ‘Sunflower’ (available in the references section below) as my main example as I thought an organ could really suite the scene. I also suggested how the music could compliment the actions on scene similar to how the music of Tom and Jerry does. The animation team were still undecided with the idea but stated that I should come up with ideas for them to listen to.

Another communication tip was to ask as many questions as possible. This is very important as I need as much information on the animation scenes as possible in order to create suitable sounds. For example, I need to ask about the floor materials in certain scenes before I start recording footstep sounds.

Finally, time keeping is another important tip that I found. I need to know that the animators are making good progress. They should also be aware of the progress I make. Knowledge of their progress is important to me as I require some early animation renders in order to start syncing sound effects. During our first attempt at recording piano, I asked Healey when I could expect to see the first renders and they told me I should see some in 2-4 weeks.

References

99designs (2015) https://99designs.co.uk/blog/tips-en-gb/ways-to-improve-client-communication/

Designm (2009) https://designm.ag/freelance/communication-with-clients/

LO1: Piano Recording – Attempt 1

On the 16^th of March, I met up with one of the animators, William Healy, to attempt some piano recording. Healy wanted to perform the piano pieces himself but unfortunately hadn’t written any songs for the animation. He had an idea of performing an existing piece of music but that could infringe on some copyright laws unless we had some form of permission to use said piece. On top of that, the performance would also require some sort of acting as the in-film character gets interrupted a couple of times throughout his performances.

We needed to improvise a song but we also needed it to sync with certain actions within the visuals. And so, within my DAW, I placed markers on the timeline to show when key events would happen. I pulled the video window below the timeline and informed Healy of what action/event each marker represented. I then asked him if he could try playing the piano while watching the markers on the timeline. As a result, he played the piano and took each event into consideration in his performance. For example, there’s one scene in the animation in which the performer gets abruptly interrupted by a man pointing a gun at him. When the marker representing that scene passed, Healy was able to abruptly stop playing the piano in sync with the animatic.

Some of the markers used to inform the performer of in-scene events.

Our method seemed to work smoothly. However, when we later reviewed the recordings we noticed a few issues:

• Healy wasn’t impressed by his performance.
• The microphones picked up some unwanted noises (such as a squeaky pedal).
• I had recorded the piano in mono.

We’re going to try getting some more recordings soon. This time, we might apply some oil to the piano pedals and/or change the mic placement to avoid picking-up the unwanted sounds. Healy also said he would practice a bit more beforehand. If all fails, we might have to resort to using either an electric piano/keyboard or some form of MIDI software.

While explaining a few alternative ways of producing some piano parts, I noticed that Healy had a difficult time understanding some of the terms I was using. He asked me what I meant when using terms like ‘EQ’ and ‘MIDI’. This leads me to my next post… (See Research and Production Post 4).

LO1: Uses of Music

It’s clear to me that music can play many roles in film and animation. However, I need to research in to what those roles are and how I can replicate them. One of the most music-reliant animations that first comes to my mind is the kids cartoon Tom and Jerry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1O9Dj0GLos

In the video above (of which the uploader has unfortunately disallowed to be embedded on blogs and websites), most of the characters’ actions are represented by the music. For example, a lot of the running is represented by fast-playing string sections rather than the sound of footsteps. I looked online for more ways in which music can be used and examined the Tom and Jerry video to see if they were present in the video. I found one website with all sorts of examples (Robin Hoffman, 2015). I found that music can also be used to establish plot points in a narrative, represent time periods (which can be especially effective in flashback scenes), manipulate audience perceptions of characters and events, and create atmospheres. As well as representing movement, another key use of music that’s present in Tom and Jerry is to portray a character’s emotions and mental state. Whenever someone is feeling happy, scared, victorious or some form of pain the music is most often used to show it.

In my work, I hope that the music can be used to represent certain moods and actions during the chase scene. I want it to express tension when the cars are getting close to each other, further tension when the characters shoot at each other, and some form of release when the matter is resolved.

References

Robin Hoffman (2015) http://www.robin-hoffmann.com/tutorials/guide-to-working-with-a-film-composer/12-what-is-the-function-of-film-music/

Tom and Jerry (1945) [Primary observation] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1O9Dj0GLos

LO4: Communication with my Clients So Far

For this project, I’m working with a four-man animation team who call themselves the Ragtime Gals. I first met with them in December to find out what would be required of me. They informed me that they’d like for me to record, sync and mix all the audio for their animation including music and foley. I’ve been given a lot of creative control over the audio just as long as I meet a few specific outcomes: I must record some piano parts to be used at the beginning and end of the animation, and some old car sound effects to be used in a chase scene. I suggested that some music could go well with the chase scene, however opinions were mixed on that idea.

Meeting with the animation team regularly was difficult as they were rarely free at the same time and, since animation was a slow progress, they would rarely have any updates for me. I’ve still been creating sound to the original animatic until now in March. Because of this, I have been mainly communicating with the lead animator via email. I tell him of my progress regularly and he informs the rest of the team of my work when required.

Over the past few months, I’ve noticed a few problems with email communication with my client. My main issue is that replies can be quite slow – I guess he doesn’t check his emails as regularly as I do. This can be quite an issue when I’m needing a fast response. For example, I’ve recently been needing his input on when to book a piano recording session. I’ve got couple opportunities to book a session in the next few days but if he doesn’t respond to me soon then we might miss these chances.

To solve this, I’ve been debating on the idea of using social media, such as Facebook Messenger, to communicate with my clients. Although formality is important for businesses, email communication might be seen by some as overly-formal and obsolete medium of communication (Customer Service, 2016). With a large number of people now actively using social media (64% of the UK population since January 2017 according to Statista.com), it only makes sense for businesses to communicate with clients in places where they are more active

Using social media can offer a lot of advantages over email (Maximize Social Business, 2018). The biggest advantage of using Messenger is that business can have “real-time conversations with clients” – Faster responses are exactly what I’m looking for. In addition, Messenger also allows me to embed all sorts of media including images, videos and audio (for those long-winded messages or even possible sound effect examples that I want to share). Messenger also has a group-chat feature which could allow me to communicate with the entire animation team.

References

Customer Service (2016) http://www.customerservice.ae/customer-service-through-instant-messaging

Maximize Social Business (2018) https://maximizesocialbusiness.com/facebook-messenger-vs-email-26025/

Statista (2017) https://www.statista.com/statistics/507405/uk-active-social-media-and-mobile-social-media-users/