Sound Project

 My chosen film for the sound project was the Vodaphone mayfly advert, I felt like this was the best option out of the two as it seemed more challenging to try and create sound for a forest environment. 

The equipment I used to create the sound were the following; 

Voice - AKG Acoustics C 414 B-XL ll mic 

Foley – Sennheiser K6 

Recording Studio 

Pro Tools 

      I had to book out the recording studio twice. The first time I went to record sound, I couldn’t get any of the mics to work. Pro tools wasn’t picking up any of the mics plugged in, I also couldn’t find someone to assist me in fixing the issue. However the second time I booked the studio everything was working perfectly this time with the audio. I began with the voiceover as this would take less time then the Foley. I wanted to save as much time as I could for Foley recording as I wanted to make it sound as realistic as possible. 

       I set up my voice over track, and began with a few tests so I could get the volume just right, I didn’t want it to be to loud or to quiet. To achieve this I had to speak clearly and try to remain the same pitch throughout the whole voiceover. Also adjusting the DB meter to the right level helped me achieve my voice over consistency. After several test I was ready to record the voiceover. Personally I feel that the voice over came out pretty well, it suits the film in the final render. 

     After recording my voiceover it was time to begin recording the Foley environment. This was difficult as you really have to think about what sounds right for the environment, you don’t want something to sound out of place as it could lower the quality of the whole video. To create somewhat realistic sounds I did multiple tests with certain Foley equipment to see if it sound right though the mic. 

     Creating the mayfly's wings was something I found difficult as they are so small I didn’t want it to sound to loud and unrealistic or to quiet you couldn’t hear them. I decided that tapping on a branch created a nice tapping noise with a slight rustle of leaf's behind that made it sound lighter than just the tap alone. 

    Moving on to water, creating an ambient water noise was very easy. Water in a bucket with slight movement will achieve this. I had problems creating the heavier sounding water as it was hard to get it to sound realistic. In the end what worked best for me was pouring water into a bucket down the sides, adjusting the db also helped the sound levels not be to overpowering. 

   I also created a swooping noise using a fishing rod, this came out just as I wanted it to. It really adds some extra speed to the mayfly. To create trees rustling I used leaf's in a box and slightly moved them around, I had to adjust the db as it was to overpower at first and sound very strange. I also created a very simple plucking sound by simply plucking a leaf of a branch. Finally to create the mayfly's wings in the cave I used a large fern leaf and stood a about 4 foot away from the mic, so it wasn’t to loud. I think this came out perfectly and is probably one of the best sounds in the whole video. 

     Finally to finish the film I edited it on pro tools. Adjusting volume on tracks and getting as close to perfect timing to make the video flow. I think my chosen music track also helps bring a happy vibe to the film. I'm happy with the final render and look forward to recording sound In the future.