Summary Blog

This is an executive summary to demonstrate the extent of my work with Barton Fink and the methods that I used to create a full sound design for the clip.Through blog posts I have periodically documented my progress to show my thoughts, experimentation and final results. This includes a detailed step by step guide as to how I worked on the project.

In the first few weeks I plan out the way I am going to attempt the clip. I watched the clip several times and gained knowledge and information from classes on ways in which to approach it, which I detail in my blog. From here I made a short treatment that summed up the general ideas and sound I was wanting to convey in the soundscape. As well as this I went through the clip in Pro Tools and using markers set where I wanted the sounds to be. I exported this information and aligned it in a cue sheet which I used to collect my sounds at the recording stage. These documents can be found in my blogs.

After this I went on to begin the recording stage. I would book out mics and the studio for Foley sessions and spot sound recordings. I documented my progress incrementally in the blog stating what I had achieved in each session. This allowed me to keep track of where I was and what needed to be done next as well as provided a reason for why I was recording things in a particular way. As well as this it allowed me to go back later and check for my thought process at the mixing stage. I recorded everything in a few sessions and updated my cue sheet to tick off all of the sounds I had. I then posted this document to trello and linked it into my blogs.

When all the sounds were recorded I edited and mixed the audio for the clip. I split this into separate sessions to make this easier to concentrate on the one method at a time. The session were split into; footsteps, movement, bell, clock, tap drip, vocals, radio, outside ambience and music, hallway wind and ambience, bed springs, typewriter, worldizing and final mixing and mastering. These are all documented as individual blogs. Once all of the mix was balanced and mastered I bounced the clip to the appropriate file format to submit.

In conclusion I feel that the mix and soundscape works the way I planned. The soundtrack is simplistic and mostly ambient drawing focus to the main character. I feel I managed to create that sense of unease but not have it over the top to meet my original aims.

Barton Fink Final Mixing and Mastering

Throughout the mix I EQ'd certain elements like the footsteps to boost frequencies that really make the human hearing system feel irritated. I boosted below 50Hz, 1kHz-3kHz and above 8kHz. This removed warmth and inviting qualities and made the hotel cold and noticeably sharp and noisy. This gives the hotel and negative feeling as it sounds like it would feel uncomfortable.

I balanced all the levels to get the mix that I desired that accentuated many of Barton's movements and interactions with the hotel. Many of the objects in the hotel were made quieter to add depth to the mix and again focus on Barton. I wanted to make him seem like he had dragged all his problems into this place and everything and everyone in the hotel was aware of it. As well the subtlety in the ambient sounds with the EQ helps to make everything uncomfortable, but not enough for it to be completely obvious and thus achieving that feeling of not liking a location just because you get a funny feeling that I was trying to get.

After all the mixing was done I put maxim on the master fader and boosted it to give the mix more headroom and limit the level of the audio volume stopping distortion or peaking.

Barton Fink Worldising - Mixing and Effects

I gave each area its own reverb. I took into account the main properties of the rooms such as the dimensions and surfaces. For the foyer I looked at creating a room reverb that incorporated the height of the room but also the counteracting surfaces of carpet, curtains and fabric chairs. There was still more reflective surfaces like wood though. I opted to create a bigger sounding reverb as the bell ringing out would be a little more justifiable if the room had the qualities to cause this.

The hallway needed a long sounding reverb so I used a hallway reverb even thought the it was carpeted as well. I wanted the sounds to seem like they were coming from far away deep in teh maze of the hotel and a longer reverb suited this better.

For the bedroom I wanted a more intimate sound and the bathroom reverb to seep into it. I put a small room reverb on to make it boxy quite flat sounding.

The bathrooms was tiled and highly reverberant to make it seem like it would amplify everything in there making the tap drip so prominent.

For the outside reverb I wanted the hotel to be near the beach to have all of the people and other sound effects. Due to this I went for a small ambient reverb to add some warmth to the tonal qualities of the waves and beach to make the weather outside seem inviting and a contrast to the cold reverbs of the hotel.

Barton Fink Typewriter Editing and Mixing

The typewriter is a form of comfort for Barton. He is struggling with it just now it is why he fumbles badly with the case and the latch. He is worried about opening it. He isn't sure about whether he likes it or not at the moment due to the troubles he is experiencing. Loud clicks and and heavy fumbles show the slow release and desperation of the man and not much comfort in it until the lid comes off. A deep breath as he looks at it shows his one moment of relief in comforts form outside of the hotel but nothing about his new environment sounds that promising.

I blended the caress sound with that of a coarse one like the typewriter is giving him negative feedback. I did this to show the two side of Barton's thoughts on writing. You can tell he longs to write but the machine will not provide him with his relief yet as he doesn't have the material to write yet.I made the press of the space bar some what lacking as well to show that his writing ability is weak and the buttons are lifeless and have no energy.

Barton Fink Bed Springs Editing and Mixing

For the bed I wanted it to fit the visuals of how weak the bed springs seemed. To do this I have EQ'd the springs to remove all body. This helps to give the impression of no comfort in the room. I also boosted the high frequencies of 2kHz and above 8kHz. This makes it sounds squeaky and irritating like it would keep you up all night and also give the idea that they couldn't support a human being. I wanted to convey that Barton wouldn't find any comfort in this hotel. That it would not help him with his writing but instead find ways to distract him and halt his progress further. The idea of bad sleeping conditions can build stresses and irritation and keeps with my theme or annoying frequencies and a place that just doesn't seem quite right.

I made a small repeating loop of a spring and duplicated it several times to get a constant irritating characteristic. I then have the volume slope down slowly making the springs feel like the can barely support anything. Even just putting the case down on the bed it continues for a while. Again this makes the sound loop in an annoying manner to distract Barton and keeps with the aesthetic of sounds continuing on for a prolonged period of time.

Barton Fink Hallway Wind and Ambience

The hallway needed to seem incredibly long and some what alive. I also wanted it to seem as though there was some sort of an unknown lurking, so I added wind. The wind down the hallway is blowing into cupped hands. This includes in and out of breathing to give the hotel this idea of a life of its own. It sounds wheezey and tight. This is to make the walls of the corridor seem a lot closer and again make it feel uncomfortable and unknown. Just as Barton shuts the room door I have a gust of wind that I edited onto the end of the loop and boosted the volume of. This helps to show how the hotel is waiting just outside with all its noises and strange sounds and that this will eventually seep into Barton's room and distract him from writing.

I still keep the light hum from the foyer as it has the same lighting as there and I wanted to have some form of continuity from there to the hallway. The light hum never stops and combined with the early fade in of the elevator it doesn't feel like the scene just cuts but has a smoother fade to stop that jump to the next scene the video has. I wanted to remove that feeling as I felt it broke the immersion of all the elements that had built up before, especially since the foyer sets the scene of the hotel.

I want the transition into the room to be a relief sonically by having all these droning irritating frequencies build-up and reverberate as Barton walks along it and then remove them all briefly when he enters the bedroom and this will be a moment of peace. Right after this a tap starts dripping and adds irritation back to Barton and the viewer again.

Barton Fink Outside Ambience and Music

Trying to open the window sounds really difficult like he is really struggling. The hotel doesn't want to provide him with any means of escape and is trying to prevent him from doing so. Heavy scuff and deep breaths as though his is putting almost all of his energy into it but also show that he is a weak and poorly driven man. To start off with you can hear the outside sounds slightly and they are low-pass filtered to give the perspective of the window stopping all the high frequency content.When the window opens I have it roll-off to allow more content through but not full as it's only a small gap. As the sounds filter into Barton's head I roll it off completely giving all the frequency content.As well as this the volume is slowly increase to suggest Barton becoming distracted by everything.

The seaside sounds and happiness show contrast to the excitement and good times that Barton is looking for. He is actually a really troubled man and that window represents a small gateway to a world where everything will be better but he is trapped in the room. That is why the sound slowly filters in as he opens the window and why as he stares at the painting that is a vision of what is just down the road at the sunny Californian beaches. He could just walk out and have that but he is almost a prisoner and cannot take part and enjoy it. The sounds all slowly get louder until the scene end as they further distract his from the thing he feels he should be doing.

I was originally going to have the music just play in like it was a song Barton was remembering but instead I decided to mix it with the outside ambience. I mixed it to sound further away like it was being performed on the street. I added another longer reverb for the song. This gives the qualities of the sound bouncing off the concrete walls but also sounds like it is bouncing in Barton's mind.

reference barbershop quartet - YouTube, (2015). Bye Bye Blues - Barbershop quartet Fourtune - SAMPLE. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiwMofWfc5E [Accessed 27 Apr. 2015].