This week I continued on with Foley for Barton Fink. I have done a little more research into the movie and found out about the location of the the film, setting and time period it was set. This has helped with creating sounds through methods such as worldising. I needed the location to sound believable and recording studio ambiance was not a fitting bottom layer for a film set in California in 1941. For this it needed a warm tone which was preferably humid as well. I used the air conditioning unit in the studio to heat the live room to a warm temperature. In post I will continue this theme, rolling-off a little of the high frequency content of the whole mix to give that effect of a damp sound given by humidity and water droplets in the air obstructing some of this frequency content.
As well as this I read that the hotel seems quite eerie and deserted for its size when Barton first sets foot in it, which is the scenes I am doing for the clip. That has allowed me to get an idea for how many sounds should be put into this. From the visuals alone I already got a minimalist idea for the sound and that there should be emphasis placed on his movements as though he is being really loud in this new environment to him. This will also draw focus to this character for the audience and give you his perspective of being uncomfortable in this unfamiliar situation. For this reason I am layering the sounds with other more annoying and grating ones e.g. footsteps with creaking floor boards; bassy and boomy finger taps on the wood; loud key turning in locks and the rattling of his suitcases. Anything that the character touches will almost seem to be abnormally loud and as though he seems to be creating all this noise and drawing an uncomfortable amount of attention to himself. I feel this goes with the theme of the movie as the bell on the check-in counter seems to have this long ring that is also irritating enough for Steve Buscemi's character to want to stop it before properly addressing the Barton character. This also links with the theme of simple, almost quiet and unnoticeable sounds that are getting Barton's attention, such as a mosquito. This will help to convey the thoughts of a man who has his senses highly tuned to his surrounds and is curiously observing all that is around him.
I also worked my way through getting some of the sounds that take place as the character walks around his hotel room such as the bed, type writer and keys.
I've been looking at a soundtrack for the clip and using the time period to narrow it down. It doesn't seem like the majority of it would need music as the eerie tone and emphasis on his movement through the hotel provides a good overall view of the character and I do not want to muddy that image with music. There is one part that I think would suit it though and that is the scene where he looks at the woman sunbathing on the beach. I feel this looks like he wants to escape to that place and he could truly imagine being there. For this reason I want to put some music that would reflect his view so music of that time period would be good. I looked at popular genres of the time and I felt what best suited the beach scene of California was Doo-wop. I found a song that I think would reflect the scene well called Bye Bye Blues, which is sang by a Barber Shop Quartet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiwMofWfc5E
I feel like the lyrics seem to communicate with his writers block and uncertainty about moving all the way to L.A.
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