LO2: Guns Are Noisy

The Ragtime Gals animation requires a few gunshot sound effects. I originally thought that guns would be easy to provide audio for as they’d only require a brief explosion sound. I soon realised that my expectations were far from the truth.

To closely observe how guns sound in existing media, I played around with some guns in the video game Grand Theft Auto V. I quickly noticed that the guns were incredibly noisy even when they’re not being shot. In the video below, I compare the sounds between some in-game guns, an air pistol and a broken cap gun.

I thought it was weird that the guns in the video game kept rattling – it was as if they had loose pieces inside of them. This idea of guns being noisy seems to be a trope within a variety of media.

“In real life, guns are carefully designed, well-constructed tools that – provided they are well maintained – can last a lifetime. Or somebody’s lifetime, anyway. On TV, they’re apparently filled with rusty nails and loose change, and held together with masking tape. As a result, whenever someone hefts a weapon – particularly if it’s a machine gun or submachine gun – it will make a whole load of clicking, clacking and clonking even though all they’re doing is rotating it through 90 degrees. This trope is likely the result of the fact that a noisy gun adds drama to the scene” (TV Tropes, 2018).

Any rattling heard coming from a gun, such as that heard coming from the cap gun, would indicate that it is broken. Apart from when they’re being fired, guns are usually quiet. The Ragtime Gals animation team originally requested for “realistic audio” but after confronting them with this information and telling them of how quiet guns realistically are, they have since decided that I should exaggerate the sounds within the few scenes in which a pistol is flicked around in someone’s hand.

References

Grand Theft Auto V (2013) [Primary observation] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmRFbTRu4sw

TV Tropes (2018) http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NoisyGuns

LO1: Piano Recording Attempt 2

The recordings taken from our last recording session contained a lot of unwanted noise such as squeaky pedals and rattling parts from within the piano. Also, my client and performer, William Healy, wasn’t too happy with his performance. And so, we decided to give it a second attempt. I first recorded the piano with a single Rode NT1-A microphone placed behind the piano, positioned low down and centre. This time, I recorded the piano with a pair of AKG C414s, both behind the piano on the left and right sides. They were placed a bit higher than last time to avoid picking up the mechanical noises at the bottom of the piano. The piano was also moved to the centre of the room so that it wasn’t too close to any walls. This was to help reduce the pickup of reverb.

Healy informed me that he’s been planning on featuring another artist’s song in the credits of the animation. And so, he wants the piano we record to end just before the credits. However, I requested that we record some of these short takes and some longer takes that could play over the credits just in case his guest artist was to pull out of the project at the last second. Overall, the recording process went well. We got some really good takes and, with the new microphone placement, we managed to avoid recording any unwanted noise.

LO3: Recording in Stereo

During our first recording attempt, I recorded the piano in mono without putting any thought into it. However, after further thought, I decided to record the piano in stereo during our second attempt. I wanted the song to be treated as somewhat diegetic and non-diegetic.

I got the idea from a particular scene in the movie Gangster Squad (available to watch in the video above). Within this scene, a group of men are about to raid a bar while a musical performance is taking place on the stage. The music seems diegetic as it is coming from a known source within the scene. However, it is also non-diegetic in the sense that the tonal and dimensional properties of the music don’t change as the camera transitions between each shot, placing the viewers in different areas of the room. Instead, the music is treated more like a non-diegetic background song.

I wanted to treat my piano recording similarly within the animation I was working on. I wanted it to seem diegetic and fitting with the scene, yet recorded and mixed like a non-diegetic background piece. Hence why I decided to record in stereo rather than mono.

References

Gangster Squad (2013) [Primary observation] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPsXWKMwfV8

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