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.
Monday, 27 April 2015
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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].
Barton Fink Radio Editing and Mixing
Radio echoing down the hall with the track that is used in the longing stare at the painting "bye bye blues". This is the original instrumental version. Gives a creepy eerie feel as added a long echo and added to the reverberation of the hall it is almost never ending.
I was going to add lo-fi to make the audio sound more authentic and give it an ominous feel but this took away some of the qualities of the old style recording so I left it with just the reverb.
The song speaks of no longer being blue which I feel is what Barton is searching for but this hotel doesn't solve this it will only add to his problems. using the common human trait of hearing a song somewhere else and then it being stuck in your head. That is the reason why Barton hears it as he stare at the painting. It's a moment of realisation of escapism but he doesn't have any of that.
Bye Bye Blues ref - YouTube, (2015). Leo Reisman and his Orchestra - Bye Bye Blues (1930). [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD-q-eXEjAI [Accessed 27 Apr. 2015].
I was going to add lo-fi to make the audio sound more authentic and give it an ominous feel but this took away some of the qualities of the old style recording so I left it with just the reverb.
The song speaks of no longer being blue which I feel is what Barton is searching for but this hotel doesn't solve this it will only add to his problems. using the common human trait of hearing a song somewhere else and then it being stuck in your head. That is the reason why Barton hears it as he stare at the painting. It's a moment of realisation of escapism but he doesn't have any of that.
Bye Bye Blues ref - YouTube, (2015). Leo Reisman and his Orchestra - Bye Bye Blues (1930). [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD-q-eXEjAI [Accessed 27 Apr. 2015].
Barton Fink Vocals Editing and Mixing
Vocally in the clip I have gone for sounds that seem really deflated. Like the people of the hotel have given up. Buscemi when he comes out of the door gives a modest attempt at speaking with Barton and I wanted it to sound as though he has made no effort in even addressing him properly. The man speaking on the phone through the corridor is not getting angry with his wife but instead has heard the same argument again and again therefore making him sound mundane and disconnect with what the woman is saying to him. I am doing this to try and show the hotel is a place people go to give up.
To help aid this I have pitched the vocals down slightly by 1-2 semitones.
I used EQ to remove the high frequency content as the man is in the room through the wall and I wanted the phone call to sound muffled and boomy. I boosted a little at 200Hz to accentuate this effect as the low mids give a slightly muddy presence. This make the whole place seem poorly audible when interacting with the people for the first time. This would show that for someone to make it out of there they would need to give extra effort in an attempt to better themselves, again showing that where Barton is going is not a place that is going to help him.
I kept the panning relative to the camera so the man on the phone is in a room on the right while facing toward Barton coming down the corridor and on the left when it cuts to face the opposite direction. This is to keep with what we would hear from these perspectives and not break immersion. It was a bit too jumpy to start off with so I increase the amount of time it took to pan to make it smoother and less jarring to listen to.
To help aid this I have pitched the vocals down slightly by 1-2 semitones.
I used EQ to remove the high frequency content as the man is in the room through the wall and I wanted the phone call to sound muffled and boomy. I boosted a little at 200Hz to accentuate this effect as the low mids give a slightly muddy presence. This make the whole place seem poorly audible when interacting with the people for the first time. This would show that for someone to make it out of there they would need to give extra effort in an attempt to better themselves, again showing that where Barton is going is not a place that is going to help him.
I kept the panning relative to the camera so the man on the phone is in a room on the right while facing toward Barton coming down the corridor and on the left when it cuts to face the opposite direction. This is to keep with what we would hear from these perspectives and not break immersion. It was a bit too jumpy to start off with so I increase the amount of time it took to pan to make it smoother and less jarring to listen to.
Barton Fink Tap Drip Editing and Mixing
The dripping tap is a sign of the chronic and slowly building problems. Leaking tap would represent not much of a problem but left to get worse and it may break, cause water damage and serious problems. The slow building of volume is Barton's problems slowly building up coming to the forefront of his mind again until he looks at the painting and begins to dream of the escapism.
The dripping also represents a form of water torture slowly grating at a constant rhythm. The volume increases over time as Barton slowly settles into his room. To make it more annoying I start the bedroom scene with silence to fake that there is peace and quiet here but after the pause it starts back up again.
As time goes by the echo gets more as well so it lingers around more and more until it becomes unbearable. The dripping tap begins to flow into the waves crashing. This can signify Barton's mind starting to drift the minute he gets in the room. The tap drip will slowly speed up and flow into the wave sound showing that he has completely drifted off into his mind somewhere he would rather be that isn't where he is at this moment. The dripping is almost too loud and out of place. This brings the question is the dripping actually coming from the bathroom or is it in Barton's head and the worry he has slowly coming to the forefront of his mind.
Sign representing a moment of relief and should fit perfectly in with all other sounds dying out. Shows a moment where he truly thinks he has escaped or been given a moment of peace only for all the irritating sound to build up again.
The dripping also represents a form of water torture slowly grating at a constant rhythm. The volume increases over time as Barton slowly settles into his room. To make it more annoying I start the bedroom scene with silence to fake that there is peace and quiet here but after the pause it starts back up again.
As time goes by the echo gets more as well so it lingers around more and more until it becomes unbearable. The dripping tap begins to flow into the waves crashing. This can signify Barton's mind starting to drift the minute he gets in the room. The tap drip will slowly speed up and flow into the wave sound showing that he has completely drifted off into his mind somewhere he would rather be that isn't where he is at this moment. The dripping is almost too loud and out of place. This brings the question is the dripping actually coming from the bathroom or is it in Barton's head and the worry he has slowly coming to the forefront of his mind.
Sign representing a moment of relief and should fit perfectly in with all other sounds dying out. Shows a moment where he truly thinks he has escaped or been given a moment of peace only for all the irritating sound to build up again.
Barton Fink Clock Editing and Mixing
For the clock ticking I drew out of the ticks to make the length of time Barton was waiting around and even walking to the desk seem a lot longer than it actually was. I also make the hotel seem bigger as it feels like he takes a while to get anywhere or for people to get to him.
When he is walking in and looking around it helped to show Barton really taking in everything but also makes the hotel feel like there is no sense of time.This sticks with the particular old fashioned themes of the hotel as though it is not connected to the world around it and is actually a separate entity altogether.
I wanted to draw particular attention to the tick so I kept the panning central and it doesn't follow the camera/audience perspective around the foyer. This makes the it very direct sounding and is more that the clock is a way of telling the audience that this hotel really doesn't have a concept of time.
As Barton heads further into the hotel the clock gets louder and louder to signify that the deeper you go into this place the more lost in time and the more lost in the hotel you become helping to create the uneasy feeling of the place I am trying to achieve.
When he is walking in and looking around it helped to show Barton really taking in everything but also makes the hotel feel like there is no sense of time.This sticks with the particular old fashioned themes of the hotel as though it is not connected to the world around it and is actually a separate entity altogether.
I wanted to draw particular attention to the tick so I kept the panning central and it doesn't follow the camera/audience perspective around the foyer. This makes the it very direct sounding and is more that the clock is a way of telling the audience that this hotel really doesn't have a concept of time.
As Barton heads further into the hotel the clock gets louder and louder to signify that the deeper you go into this place the more lost in time and the more lost in the hotel you become helping to create the uneasy feeling of the place I am trying to achieve.
Links To Documents
I meant to post these earlier but as seen in previous I had worked on a cue sheet and short treatment to help work on the clip. I set up a Trello page where the documents have been uploaded to view fully. This features a complete cue sheet with all the sounds recorded and ticked off which I have been using for the entirety of the recording process and a short treatment of how I wanted the sounds to work in the clip.
Cue sheet - https://trello.com/c/SZjFqqOI/1-cue-sheet
Short treatment - https://trello.com/c/BzH4qWFe/2-short-treatment
Cue sheet - https://trello.com/c/SZjFqqOI/1-cue-sheet
Short treatment - https://trello.com/c/BzH4qWFe/2-short-treatment
Tuesday, 21 April 2015
Revision Ideas part 3
Further to looking through notes in the first part I was looking into the music side of sound design. Barton Fink seems to have long periods of time waiting about, in a lot of other movies to pass this time there is some kind of music to help progress through it. In this circumstance I feel like that would take away from the tension and mood I am trying to build.
Without music there is still a tempo to Barton's movement. These include his footsteps, suitcases and breathing. The lack of music helps to draw out the scenes including the journey through the lobby, the wait for the bellhop and the hallway. I will then use other features in the scene to keep a pace. These include; a ticking clock, where the tempo will change up and down, as well as a tap dripping in the bathroom in the bedroom scene.
I want music for the end part of the clip where Barton seems to look longingly at a painting of a woman at the beach. I have looked into the time and popular music that was around just before or through the years the movie was set. There are multiple versions of the music including that of Big Band and even Doo-Wop versions. These fit the aesthetic perfectly of California and the early 1940's. I will check a couple of the different versions to see what I feel fits best and flows with the scene. I am looking for something somewhat relaxing and warmer sounding. It is to show the drifting off of Barton's thoughts so if it can be somewhat whimsical and brighter sounding as he flows off into his thoughts to a better place, that would be best.
Without music there is still a tempo to Barton's movement. These include his footsteps, suitcases and breathing. The lack of music helps to draw out the scenes including the journey through the lobby, the wait for the bellhop and the hallway. I will then use other features in the scene to keep a pace. These include; a ticking clock, where the tempo will change up and down, as well as a tap dripping in the bathroom in the bedroom scene.
I want music for the end part of the clip where Barton seems to look longingly at a painting of a woman at the beach. I have looked into the time and popular music that was around just before or through the years the movie was set. There are multiple versions of the music including that of Big Band and even Doo-Wop versions. These fit the aesthetic perfectly of California and the early 1940's. I will check a couple of the different versions to see what I feel fits best and flows with the scene. I am looking for something somewhat relaxing and warmer sounding. It is to show the drifting off of Barton's thoughts so if it can be somewhat whimsical and brighter sounding as he flows off into his thoughts to a better place, that would be best.
Barton Fink Bell Editing and Mixing
The main feature of the bell was to make it seem as though it was ringing for an unnatural amount of time seamlessly. This was already clearly set up in the movie as Buscemi has to stop it ringing when he gets to it.
Following these guidelines the first part was to get a good loop. I didn't use a bell for this but instead a dense metal bracket to get a resonating tone. I edited the recorded clip until I found the desired loop. This gave it a slightly unnatural sound as it was too harsh at the start of the impact. I had to cut the initial hit out and then fade the sound in. I then blended it with the sound of an actual desk bell being pressed to give it a more natural attack. This worked really well and creates a real sound for the audience just like what Barton seems to experience and then as the sound rings on they get to feel the same confusion as the sound still continues, putting them a little closer to the characters position.
Through reverb and a little echo it sounds like the bell is darting around the hotel. I have reinforced this with a reverb that has a high feedback and makes the bell sound like it has no sign of ever dying away. This gives the hotel that weird and almost unfathomable size and uncertainty I was looking for.
The reverb and volume level of the bell are increased again when Buscemi looks at it for the first time coming out of the floor hatch. His gaze allows Barton and the perspective the viewer gets from the the mix to be focused back onto the bell and this unnaturally long time that it has been going on for. Especially since they followed it around the hotel foyer with Barton prior to the arrival of Buscemi.
Also reference to it down the hallway as the elevator ding. Blended the sound of a real elevator bell with the ring but with the reverb it rings out through the hallway longer than the real one giving that perspective of the bell still resonating through the corridors of the hotel. Again this adds to the mystery of the building.
Following these guidelines the first part was to get a good loop. I didn't use a bell for this but instead a dense metal bracket to get a resonating tone. I edited the recorded clip until I found the desired loop. This gave it a slightly unnatural sound as it was too harsh at the start of the impact. I had to cut the initial hit out and then fade the sound in. I then blended it with the sound of an actual desk bell being pressed to give it a more natural attack. This worked really well and creates a real sound for the audience just like what Barton seems to experience and then as the sound rings on they get to feel the same confusion as the sound still continues, putting them a little closer to the characters position.
Through reverb and a little echo it sounds like the bell is darting around the hotel. I have reinforced this with a reverb that has a high feedback and makes the bell sound like it has no sign of ever dying away. This gives the hotel that weird and almost unfathomable size and uncertainty I was looking for.
The reverb and volume level of the bell are increased again when Buscemi looks at it for the first time coming out of the floor hatch. His gaze allows Barton and the perspective the viewer gets from the the mix to be focused back onto the bell and this unnaturally long time that it has been going on for. Especially since they followed it around the hotel foyer with Barton prior to the arrival of Buscemi.
Also reference to it down the hallway as the elevator ding. Blended the sound of a real elevator bell with the ring but with the reverb it rings out through the hallway longer than the real one giving that perspective of the bell still resonating through the corridors of the hotel. Again this adds to the mystery of the building.
Barton Fink Movement Editing
As well as the footsteps the other main parts of Barton's movement were the suitcase rattle, jacket flapping and breathing. Again there helped to draw emphasis to the fact that the hotel is so quiet.
Done most of the work with Foley to keep everything in time with the video. The cases sit the highest in the mix out of the three. I chose to do this as Barton's typewriter is in one of them. I wanted it to sound like he was lugging around a heavy item that he seemed to feel was weighing him down and I wanted to communicate again the point of the writers block to the audience.
Breathing starts calm and in awe of the hotel. I have made it overly loud as I wanted the audience to connect with Barton's feelings as he moved through the hotel. The breathing would be the only real thing that could be used to connect to that as there isn't enough vocalisations or other characteristic traits, than maybe his awe of the hotel and the way he is looking around.
For the whole thing I kept it mostly in rhythm with the walking and pace of Barton. In the Foyer he is quite slow and looking around so I made the breaths long.
In the hallway they are quite quick as he seems to be moving with some speed trying to his room. As well as this I made it sound like he was out of breath to show how tired he has become down this long hallway walk that, seems to be going for miles.
In the bedroom Barton seems to sigh a lot so I synced up all the breathing around these points where he takes long deep breaths. This shows the character as being fed up in my opinion. I wanted him to seem completely unsatisfied with everything that he encountered in his room.
The jacket then adds to that lower level that backs up the quietness of the hotel. I didn't want it to be too loud as he was moving around as it would seem unrealistic and break the immersion of the rest of the movement soundscape. I found it important to bring in the rustling of the clothes at times where Barton was right in front of the camera, so scenes where he is standing at the desk you can hear it. This gave the soundscape more depth and layers to fill it out and show the realism of the place drawing the audience in to a normal sound when it would be heard.
Done most of the work with Foley to keep everything in time with the video. The cases sit the highest in the mix out of the three. I chose to do this as Barton's typewriter is in one of them. I wanted it to sound like he was lugging around a heavy item that he seemed to feel was weighing him down and I wanted to communicate again the point of the writers block to the audience.
Breathing starts calm and in awe of the hotel. I have made it overly loud as I wanted the audience to connect with Barton's feelings as he moved through the hotel. The breathing would be the only real thing that could be used to connect to that as there isn't enough vocalisations or other characteristic traits, than maybe his awe of the hotel and the way he is looking around.
For the whole thing I kept it mostly in rhythm with the walking and pace of Barton. In the Foyer he is quite slow and looking around so I made the breaths long.
In the hallway they are quite quick as he seems to be moving with some speed trying to his room. As well as this I made it sound like he was out of breath to show how tired he has become down this long hallway walk that, seems to be going for miles.
In the bedroom Barton seems to sigh a lot so I synced up all the breathing around these points where he takes long deep breaths. This shows the character as being fed up in my opinion. I wanted him to seem completely unsatisfied with everything that he encountered in his room.
The jacket then adds to that lower level that backs up the quietness of the hotel. I didn't want it to be too loud as he was moving around as it would seem unrealistic and break the immersion of the rest of the movement soundscape. I found it important to bring in the rustling of the clothes at times where Barton was right in front of the camera, so scenes where he is standing at the desk you can hear it. This gave the soundscape more depth and layers to fill it out and show the realism of the place drawing the audience in to a normal sound when it would be heard.
Barton Fink Footsteps Editing and Mixing
I took all of the files that were in the session and began to cut them down. I have been trying to fit the Foley into the same timing as the video. Since most of my footsteps lined up closely to that of the the clip I decided to use the polyphony option on Pro Tools to make rough amendments. This included using the analysis options and warping the files to sync up exactly. Some of the cue points didn't sync up perfectly with how it felt the sound should come across. To keep the flow and the pace it was sometimes better to leave the Foley as it was and make minor adjustments around that. This kept Barton's pace to the rhythm of his walk.
I took out any footsteps that didn't have the full heel/toe motion in them as I wanted every step to be distinct to get that clarity and overly articulate sections to the footfalls. I replaced some of the footsteps with other ones that synced better with the visuals.
Buscemi's footsteps can be heard well in advance and as though they are bellowing from the depths of some underground chamber. Gives a creepy sense of lots of passages under the hotel and the mystery of where was he and what do they do down there. As well these footsteps change over two surfaces, wood and carpet. The change happens out of the view of the camera shot so I had to use my judgement on where it sounded like the right place to change the sound. This was important for me to keep the change realistic and not have the audience feel it was too soon or late and break immersion.
For all of the footsteps I added some automation to the volume as they were too static and loud in the mix at points where Barton wasn't close enough to be heard properly. I wanted to keep this realism as it felt too unnatural and off putting when listening to such intense footsteps breaking the immersion as mentioned before. In the foyer and hallway there are very distinct instances of Barton walking towards the camera and away again. To give the audience the perspective of getting closer and farther away with him I automated the footstep volume and pan as he walked by.
I added an EQ to the footsteps as I wanted to highlight certain frequencies. These included 50Hz, 2kHz and 8kHz as it resonated through the mix making it feel like the footsteps could be heard for a lot longer than they were actually there. This helped when they were run through the reverb for each part of the hotel as well. It also was a creative choice as these can be quite irritating frequencies and are not typical of a footstep. This helped draw particular attention to them and point out that the hotel was particularly quiet and shows the strange ambience of the place I wanted to create.
I also added a little compression to the footsteps to stop any of the forceful ones altering the mix too dynamically.
I took out any footsteps that didn't have the full heel/toe motion in them as I wanted every step to be distinct to get that clarity and overly articulate sections to the footfalls. I replaced some of the footsteps with other ones that synced better with the visuals.
Buscemi's footsteps can be heard well in advance and as though they are bellowing from the depths of some underground chamber. Gives a creepy sense of lots of passages under the hotel and the mystery of where was he and what do they do down there. As well these footsteps change over two surfaces, wood and carpet. The change happens out of the view of the camera shot so I had to use my judgement on where it sounded like the right place to change the sound. This was important for me to keep the change realistic and not have the audience feel it was too soon or late and break immersion.
For all of the footsteps I added some automation to the volume as they were too static and loud in the mix at points where Barton wasn't close enough to be heard properly. I wanted to keep this realism as it felt too unnatural and off putting when listening to such intense footsteps breaking the immersion as mentioned before. In the foyer and hallway there are very distinct instances of Barton walking towards the camera and away again. To give the audience the perspective of getting closer and farther away with him I automated the footstep volume and pan as he walked by.
I added an EQ to the footsteps as I wanted to highlight certain frequencies. These included 50Hz, 2kHz and 8kHz as it resonated through the mix making it feel like the footsteps could be heard for a lot longer than they were actually there. This helped when they were run through the reverb for each part of the hotel as well. It also was a creative choice as these can be quite irritating frequencies and are not typical of a footstep. This helped draw particular attention to them and point out that the hotel was particularly quiet and shows the strange ambience of the place I wanted to create.
I also added a little compression to the footsteps to stop any of the forceful ones altering the mix too dynamically.
Sunday, 12 April 2015
Revision Ideas part 2
Looking through the notes again I found an interesting segment about "spinning a deceit that is both convincing and consistent". The whole point of the sound design is to make the viewer believe that the film they are watching is real. You need to make them form an emotional connection and become invested in what is going on.
I looked into how I could do this in Barton Fink. Creating a consistent soundscape would be important so I had a look over my sound design to see if there was any conflicting components to it. I have that theme I mention in a previous blog about the uncertainty of being somewhere. The feeling that people have when they get an almost instinctive idea that something isn't right and they just don't like it. Where you cannot quite put your finger on the cause but you just don't like the building. I want the audience to know there is something wrong with Hotel Earl and they are experiencing this uncertainty with Barton.
I have thought this way since first looking at the silent clip of Barton Fink. I want to match the mood and feel of the visuals and I feel like this is what the directors were going for. They may have been more obvious or subtle than me but I hope to be creating an accurate representation of what the viewer is watching aurally.
I will need to watch out with features such as extending the clock tick times as moving it too much could result in it sounding obvious and breaking the immersion. As well as that I have already looked at toning down the boominess and prominence of Barton's footsteps. They are still very prominent when he is right in front of the camera but now as he becomes more distant they die out a little and the reverb of the room carries them instead. This creates a better and more effective uneasy feeling as the sound still seems to last when the main component of it is gone.
I will try to set this up early on in the first few seconds so that the audience feel they can sense what is coming next. If I can lure them in and then drag it out to make everything in the Hotel seem like it takes ages it will build the anticipation of the viewer.
I looked into how I could do this in Barton Fink. Creating a consistent soundscape would be important so I had a look over my sound design to see if there was any conflicting components to it. I have that theme I mention in a previous blog about the uncertainty of being somewhere. The feeling that people have when they get an almost instinctive idea that something isn't right and they just don't like it. Where you cannot quite put your finger on the cause but you just don't like the building. I want the audience to know there is something wrong with Hotel Earl and they are experiencing this uncertainty with Barton.
I have thought this way since first looking at the silent clip of Barton Fink. I want to match the mood and feel of the visuals and I feel like this is what the directors were going for. They may have been more obvious or subtle than me but I hope to be creating an accurate representation of what the viewer is watching aurally.
I will need to watch out with features such as extending the clock tick times as moving it too much could result in it sounding obvious and breaking the immersion. As well as that I have already looked at toning down the boominess and prominence of Barton's footsteps. They are still very prominent when he is right in front of the camera but now as he becomes more distant they die out a little and the reverb of the room carries them instead. This creates a better and more effective uneasy feeling as the sound still seems to last when the main component of it is gone.
I will try to set this up early on in the first few seconds so that the audience feel they can sense what is coming next. If I can lure them in and then drag it out to make everything in the Hotel seem like it takes ages it will build the anticipation of the viewer.
Revision Ideas part 1
I have recorded all my sounds for Barton Fink and I was going back through all of my course notes before tackling the clip to ensure I had all of the right ideas, and that I would achieve them correctly through applying professionally accepted techniques. Upon examining the week 1 introduction to the unit I was reminded of some important techniques that may be useful in fleshing out the sound design.
The pitch shifted vocalisations mixed with the lion roar that gave the voice of King Kong is a great technique for making things seem larger than they are. Doing this to features such as the doors, footsteps and button pushes on the typewriter could in fact make everything seem that much more heavy and cumbersome, showing Barton's stresses.
Silence and fear of the dark is why sound was needed originally but I could look to use it to cause a slight unease for the audience. I wil need to look further into the manner in which it can be used as I don't want it to take a horror turn or be so obvious that it breaks the subtlety I'm going for. I don't want the audience to think the hotel is scary I just want them to get that natural human emotion where they feel something isn't right.
Ensuring the realism will be heavily depedent on the old technique of synchronising the sound with the images. This is a must for a natural look and feel. I will be doing this with the footsteps to show that there is nothing untoward with the character of Barton and keeping him very natural. On the other hand some sounds may benefit from being slightly out of time with their surroundings such as a clock ticking or the ring of the bell.
As well as his something as basic as appropriate panning and level boosting and attenuating are key components. I want to emphasise certain features that would not naturally be heard and show that the hotel is a bit off. I want to make Barton's breathing overly loud to show how quiet the hotel is as well as his footsteps echoing down the hallways. I will use the panning to show features in the background moving about or provide localisation in the stereo field. This will help to make the world more believable and bring it to life so that it isn't too out of the ordinary.
The pitch shifted vocalisations mixed with the lion roar that gave the voice of King Kong is a great technique for making things seem larger than they are. Doing this to features such as the doors, footsteps and button pushes on the typewriter could in fact make everything seem that much more heavy and cumbersome, showing Barton's stresses.
Silence and fear of the dark is why sound was needed originally but I could look to use it to cause a slight unease for the audience. I wil need to look further into the manner in which it can be used as I don't want it to take a horror turn or be so obvious that it breaks the subtlety I'm going for. I don't want the audience to think the hotel is scary I just want them to get that natural human emotion where they feel something isn't right.
Ensuring the realism will be heavily depedent on the old technique of synchronising the sound with the images. This is a must for a natural look and feel. I will be doing this with the footsteps to show that there is nothing untoward with the character of Barton and keeping him very natural. On the other hand some sounds may benefit from being slightly out of time with their surroundings such as a clock ticking or the ring of the bell.
As well as his something as basic as appropriate panning and level boosting and attenuating are key components. I want to emphasise certain features that would not naturally be heard and show that the hotel is a bit off. I want to make Barton's breathing overly loud to show how quiet the hotel is as well as his footsteps echoing down the hallways. I will use the panning to show features in the background moving about or provide localisation in the stereo field. This will help to make the world more believable and bring it to life so that it isn't too out of the ordinary.
Friday, 3 April 2015
Final Cue Sheet
I have been going through the whole of my Barton Fink session frame by frame to get a list of memory locations. With the new thoughts on sounds I wanted to add I felt it would be best to go back over what I had already done, to get a more detailed Cue Sheet. Using this method has allowed me to get accurate timing information of all the locations as well as notes and duration for reference in my cue sheet. It made it easier to go through and pin point the exact location for every spot sound in the clip, including individual footsteps and interaction with his environment but getting the exact duration of feature such as ambient room tones, fans and fade in and out points. It has made it easy to work out of the same program the whole time and streamlined my work as I can use the memory locations as spot points when I put the audio into the session.
Pro Tools Memory Locations
Rough Spotting
I have exported them from Pro Tools and pasted them into a word document. This was so that I had a better layout and an easier to follow document from just the basic memory location print out.
Link to Final Cue Sheet - https://trello.com/c/SZjFqqOI/1-cue-sheet
I will now fill it out with the audio files I have already recorded and this will give me a list of the things I still need to get. I will continue to update the cue sheet to keep fully on top of my progress with the Barton Fink clip.
Pro Tools Memory Locations
Rough Spotting
I have exported them from Pro Tools and pasted them into a word document. This was so that I had a better layout and an easier to follow document from just the basic memory location print out.
Link to Final Cue Sheet - https://trello.com/c/SZjFqqOI/1-cue-sheet
I will now fill it out with the audio files I have already recorded and this will give me a list of the things I still need to get. I will continue to update the cue sheet to keep fully on top of my progress with the Barton Fink clip.
Thursday, 2 April 2015
Barton Fink Extra Recordings
Last recordings for Barton Fink. Including the spot sounds and atmosphere. Below is a cue sheet of sounds left to get. I have also added these to my final cue sheet as some were sounds that I had missed in the initial run through of getting sounds for the clip.
Cue Sheet
Recorded sounds 3 times each to get variation. Recorded using playlists to make it easier for editing and mixing. I used an .OMF to get all the session data and information from the new session into the original. This was helpful as it kept all the timeline information and sync points that had already been put in the other session. Now I can easily edit the files in place and apply mixing without having to bother about bouncing all the files form one session into another and having to carry out trial and error to make sure the levels are correct. I will have to rename all of my tracks from the new session as they import nameless, this was the only downside of importing to the original session. It has saved me a lot of time overall though and allowed me to keep everything to the one session where I set up all the markers. Below shows the importing of the .OMF files and how they already line up with the marker after editing in the other session.
Imported Audio
I found that the playlists didn't carry over to the old session and instead .OMF replaces the existing playlists with the one main track. I have had to do the editing of the playlists and choose the parts I want in the new session first and then import that into the original session. I did this to get the best representation from all the takes to match what was on screen. When it sounded right and matched the visuals I would bump it up onto the main track. Below is photo of the playlists and editing to show what is mentioned above.
Playlist Editing
Cue Sheet
Recorded sounds 3 times each to get variation. Recorded using playlists to make it easier for editing and mixing. I used an .OMF to get all the session data and information from the new session into the original. This was helpful as it kept all the timeline information and sync points that had already been put in the other session. Now I can easily edit the files in place and apply mixing without having to bother about bouncing all the files form one session into another and having to carry out trial and error to make sure the levels are correct. I will have to rename all of my tracks from the new session as they import nameless, this was the only downside of importing to the original session. It has saved me a lot of time overall though and allowed me to keep everything to the one session where I set up all the markers. Below shows the importing of the .OMF files and how they already line up with the marker after editing in the other session.
Imported Audio
I found that the playlists didn't carry over to the old session and instead .OMF replaces the existing playlists with the one main track. I have had to do the editing of the playlists and choose the parts I want in the new session first and then import that into the original session. I did this to get the best representation from all the takes to match what was on screen. When it sounded right and matched the visuals I would bump it up onto the main track. Below is photo of the playlists and editing to show what is mentioned above.
Playlist Editing
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