2001 A Space Odyssey - Rough Analysis

I have watched through both of the movies a couple of times so far and have been coming to some conclusions about the comparisons and differences between the two.

Music -

Use of classical work made everything seem grandiose and epic. Pieces such as The Blue Danube Waltz, by Johann Strauss II gives some fluidity and motion to the space ship and station as they prepare to dock. It made whole sequences in space seem like a dance with the 3/4 timing of the Waltz. Made space seem very calm, relaxed and mellow at the very start.

Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss. Use of a large symphony with large build ups adding instrumentation made for a very grand opening to the movie and a big close. The music seemed to go full circle. It's like a big reveal and is epic. It sets the movie up initially for its scale and finishes the movie on what seems to be a crescendo.

Requiem (Kyrie section) by Gyorgy Ligeti shows a build-up of tension. It is a lot darker, ominous and mysterious, giving an unsettling feeling for the most part. It helps to show the encounter with the unknown Monolith and provided a very good tension and anticipation for the scene. 

Atmospheres by Gyorgy Ligeti used during the StarGate sequence creates this unease and uncertainty of where the astronaut Dave is going to end up.

Aventures in the mysterious bedroom scene where Dave ages before his eyes. It is all distorted and reverberant and quite hard to make out leaving this feeling that everything is very odd and what lies ahead is completely uncertain to the astronaut.

Gayane Ballet Suite (Adagio) by Aram Khachaturian is a piece that uses very few instruments and sounds very mellow. It seems to give the idea of the astronauts loneliness on the ship as they travel to Jupiter.

SFX -

Minimal all round for the entire movie but this minimalism was effective in creating some uncomfortable situations where the feelings of stress, loneliness and fear really had the time to become deep rooted. When in the ship it is futuristic, electronic, lots of bleeps and bloops and the rumble of generators. There seems to always be this electrical hiss and/or hum. This seems to set a comfortable tone for the ship to start off with. Everything on the space station initially seems homely and as though it is no different to being on Earth in terms of technology and communication.

The second ship run by HAL sounds a little more scientific and professional/engineering in its environment. It still has all the same features as the above one but there are more gadgets and all the devices seem to sound more heavy duty, such as the pod bay and other machinery.
Space is completely silent. No sound keeps it completely accurate to real life. It almost feels peaceful at some points but mostly in the third part with the journey to Jupiter it feels remote and out of communication with not only the ship but all of civilisation. It makes it seem as though there would be no hope for the characters when they are locked out in space. It makes the atmosphere seem really tense at these moments in the movie.

As well as this though you can hear sounds from the characters perspective such as breathing in the space suits. This was also layered with a constant hiss on the air compressor of the breathing apparatus. One part in particular it becomes uncomfortable as it is the only thing you have heard for 5 mins.

Dialogue -

Very minimal and not fully explanatory at some points. Most of the actors seem very monotone. It seems to no be the main focus of the film as everything else like the sound effects, music and ambience have a much bigger part to play. The point of the movie seems to be conveyed through the experience and not through the conversations.

Small parts of dialogue contribute to the plot such as the astronauts discussions with HAL, the meeting room conversation about the monolith and the dialogue between the astronauts. There was an interesting point where even though dialogue is being used to talk about shutting down HAL having just the lip movement and HAL's perspective of lip reading really showed that the dialogue wasn't the main drive behind showing the audience what was going on.

The computer HAL is even more monotone than the humans. This seems to play an important part in how the computer's AI is portrayed as having emotion. You cannot tell the whole time what it is truly feeling. It seems very inquisitive to start off with and then as it begins to kill the crew it seems tactical, dark and evil. It's only when it begins to be shut down that you really see that it is scared and fearing for its life. It shows very human emotions and I believe from the beginning was scared of what the crew would do. It leaves a sad feeling as well as a note of relief when the computer finally shut down. For the whole third part I believe you are feeling the same as the astronaut. He is scared for his life as well. Tense situation and knows that the computer has to be shut down. When he finally begins doing it you actually feel some sadness and pity for the machine as it seems truly scared and worried about dying.

Wallace and Gromit Sound Design Ideas

Before doing chase sequences look at classic ones. Its about sustaining motion and action the whole way through. You must do this sonically as well. 
Watch "Bullet" and the original "Gone in 60 seconds". 
Classic chase elements: Quick (some faster than others. Visual cues happen very quickly.) the tracks Gromit lays down have a sense of rhythm to them. To start off with it isn't quite as intense. 
When does the chase sequence start? Import point for when to bring in the music. You need a definite sync point. 
What do you do with the music? It is the most important factor here. The rhythm and flow of the animation needs to be complimented by the music. It will need to have the same tempo. Using the music in conjunction with sound effects as though the characters in the world are affecting it or moving in conjunction with it. 
Melodic contour? Give each character a certain theme music all so layers come in and out. Music can cut out when the penguin hits the trousers. Gives the focus to the visuals and helps accentuate the punch line. 
Take the length the chase happens for, work out the tempo of the piece and that gives the foundations for the music. Divide the time by the beats and with the tempo gives you the bars of music to work from. Eg 10 seconds turned into minutes. Take the number of bars you need and that's how many beats 4 for example is 16 beats. This gives you the tempo. 
Other musical sync points can punctuate certain areas with chord stabs etc. You don't need to match everything exactly to everything on screen. Can end up Mickey mousing (a very very high degree of synchronisation). Everything is perfectly in sync with the visuals and gives a very cartoony effect. The clay-nation visual style would not suit this as the world is solid unlike cartoons. 

1950's look to everything but never seems to be set in that time period. Set in a kind of fantasy modern day. A very contemporary period and slightly steam- punky. Reference back to the industrial revolution. A clunkiness and quirkiness to the world. Bow do you communicate this through music. 

Where is it set? Yorkshire. How do you bring that out, if you want to, in the music. A weird contemporary but traditional Yorkshire. 
A player piano style... Like silent movie. 

Sfx fine line between exciting and cartoony. How does a slide down a banister sound.  I would take a syncresis method with sand paper to over emphasise the action. 
Toy train set do you keep it clicky and small or bring out some real world train like qualities. Not to a full train standard more like a smaller motor. How do you stop it being drowned out by the music or over powering it?
Emphasising small points that wouldn't be that loud but used for comedic effect.  
Play to the importance of narrative points. 
Do you sync with every track placement? No to keep more of a rhythm in it. Sync start and end points though to give continuity. 

Always try to sustain engagement. 

Audio Production Class - Ideas on the use of silence

Use of silence

Its part of the soundtrack. Its used in artistic and production as a choice. 

Skyfall - What happens in the soundtrack that causes the suspension of disbelief? Build up and animated sense of emergency. Dramatic rhythm lots of it, orchestral brass and sting stabs. Music in a holding pattern. It represents the action on screen. Once past that it takes  the music onto the next scene with a string swell and a release of the holding pattern. 
The music is crescendo-ing along with the build up to the shot. After the shot there is silence. The soundtrack fades back in and back out again. Helps tail the scene. Its functional. 
The silence is there so you can focus on the visual impact of the scene. 
The second silence is about everybodies introspective reflection. Waiting for moneypenny to say "agent down". Silence is used to stretch out that moment. You sit and wait with them. 
You then here the river from the next scene but a soft cut so it sounds like the rain on the windows at MI6. 

Bond films reference the original John Barry theme during the whole score. Continuity. 

Kill bill volume 2 - tarrentino's movies are usually dialogue heavy. There was a slow fade as the dirt gets added more and more. 
The sound is mostly killed the minute the box is hammered shut. Not realistic but gives the idea of being trapped on her own. 
When the last nail goes in even the music cuts. It amplifies the sounds in the coffin and provides contrast to what is going on outside. Hear breathing and knocking to dragging of coffin and dirt being added. It makes it more horrific and emphasises the futility of her situation but allows you to focus on things you don't normally hear like her breathing. She becomes submissive before the end until it fades to complete silence. 

Cop land - Sound track is mostly from Stallone's perspective. When he walks up the road it changes to his view completely. Done through the high pitched whistle. The audience is hearing his deafness. Its symbolism. 
Other sfx like the dog are low pass heavily and barely there sound. It sounds weird and shows the audience that something is off. 
Gun sounds stay loud as they are the dramatic focus of the scene. Could also be a symbol of the cause of his death. 
The slow down helps to show Stallone's perspective in the visuals but the audio is unaffected. 
There is a heart beat that even speeds up but stays mostly consistent. And is disjointed from the visuals so helps to show the characters perspective. 
Reference to the whole soundtrack at the end where Stallone replies to Keitel with I cant hear you. 

Find movies with this silence use as well.

Barton Fink New Ideas

In class we discussed some methods and thoughts on how to tackle the Barton Fink clip. These are some of the points that I wish to follow up on and I have added to to make the sound design better.

Its about both Barton and the hotel. Begins with the hotel and changes to him through the camera perspective. Emphasise on the elements in the room like fans lights and room tone. After this bring in the footsteps over the top of it more changing the focus of the viewer. How do you get a warm sound tone? What does warm sound like? Saturation?? Electrical hum.

Using a different sound for the footsteps. Maybe wooden floor or different shoes to show the weirdness of the hotel when its all meant to be carpet. Particular focus on tempo and pace. I feel the footsteps should be very heel/toe and over emphasise this flow, pace and uncertainty…..

The clip starts from a standstill this provides the reference level for the rest of the sound. This could be a simple base there and probably would be the lights hum or hiss. Draw particular attention to it at certain points where the visuals are on screen but it should always be subtly in the mix.

The scene needs a clock but the even though there is nothing on screen to back up this. It can be used to slow down the pace and make this movement to the desk or even the wait on the bell hop even longer.

The bell rings the whole time which is unusual, think about drawing out the weirdness. Finding a reverb feedback loop that builds you would create a slow rising tension. I could gently bring the reverb into the mix through automation.

Steve Buscemi's footsteps are sock on wood and shoe on wood. He is holding the other. Make a point of this.

When the elevator bell rings it can have the same base layer sound as the desk bell to keep a common theme. Keep the unusually long sound reference as well. As though the bell is echoing down the hallway.

Long corridor and how can that be communicated. Does windy suit it? The same undertones as before with hum from the lights. Wouldn't suit the warm tone any more. People in some of the other rooms would add to the fact the hotel actually does have guests. Maybe an old timey radio or tv echoing through the hall with a big reverb to give an idea of how long it truly is.

Make the hotel room seem dank and dingy. Outside when the window is opened have some gulls? How can the room be made more miserable? Drip of water from the tap in the bathroom? The hiss and hum from the lights stops.

How do you make the space bar seem more significant? Amplification of sound as before. Its and affectionate touch. Intimacy that is layered with the sound of a skin on skin caress to signify the connection. The painting on the wall would be the big flow of music beginning to fade in. SFX of the sea and idealised beach scene. Music is of the period both in style and piece to give reference to the 1940’s. If I was considering more music does it really need it? What does it bring?

Catch-up Blog - Cue Sheets, Pro Tools Markers and Video Synchronisation

I had a class in which we had to make a cue sheet and do a sound design for a 19 second ATAT Walker clip. During the process of creating a cue sheet I remembered a feature in Pro Tools which allows you to output timeline information through markers Fig.1. I did some research for this feature and found it to be part of the Pro Tools 10.3.1. This allows me to export session info as text, and in doing so I can select markers and the timeline format I want to export in. It has dramatically reduced the time taken to construct a cue sheet and allows me to work fully inside Pro Tools to the video with data as accurate as a sub-frame. With this in place I have been using spot mode and the previously made cue sheet when I am syncing audio with the video. This makes it simple to quickly align audio and then make fine tuning using nudges and slip mode.
Fig. 1

For the clip I tried to achieve sound that really justified the size of the ATAT. To do this I used drums, including a low tom and kick. These were then pitch shifted down so as to get that low end rumble and stomp of the Walker. I layered these with the previously non-pitch shifted drums to get a full range.
I used the sound of a Nerf Gun reload pitched down and time stretch to get the Walker mechanical movements. I also added some lo-fi to get a slightly more distorted sound which worked to make it seem more screeching and metallic instead of plastic. To get the sound of the leg coming off the ground I reversed the sound creating a smooth, seamless loop.
I had some lasers pitched down but the big problem with this was the target was off screen behind the camera. For this reason I had to try and judge the timings of the explosions going first of all with a rough idea of when it should trigger. When the clip was roughly in place I nudged it back and forth while loop playing the section of the video until I found just the right spot. I then took the timing of the shot being fired to when the explosion was triggered and then used this as the guide for the rest of the laser fire and explosions. Again both of these wounds were pitched down to give a better representation of the scale and power of the ATAT's.
In the background I had an ambient layer of wind to reflect the environment that the ATAT's were walking though. As well as this I put two crackling fires panned left and right to show that the destruction the Walkers were causing was spreading. To accompany all of that I had the sound of people screaming which was in sync with the explosions. My main point was to keep continuity off the camera so as to make the viewer believe this was truly going on behind it. Another method I used to sonically give perspective was EQ's and Filters. This gave the perspective that some things were farther away or behind the viewer by rolling off some of the high-frequency content as would happen as sound travelled through a real space.
To finish all this off I mixed the elements on and off screen to reflect their distances and positions and give a more balanced mix.

Finished Mix -

I was given feedback on the audio where the footsteps were still lacking some low end and some of the screams became rather repetitive due to it being the same people. This was helpful as knowing I can take the footsteps down another octave to give really low end content which will help to create more immersion in the sound.

All of this has helped to give me better ideas for Barton Fink. Thinking about the short clip from the movie it has elements that flow on and off screen, as well as some quick cuts. It also has longer static camera shots witch many of the features in the ATAT clip. I will need to set up an ambience for the hotel and the surroundings and this clip has helped me to think about my application of spot sounds both in front of and behind the camera.