The sound for this is my own version, recreated from the 'copyright free' (that turned out to be copyrighted after all) music I sampled in my 5th rough cut.
I used Logic Pro to recreate a similar sound, and I'm very happy with how it's turned out. The timing now works perfectly and there's a nice balance between the synth sounds and the beat.
Screenshot of creating the sound
And thus concludes my journey into making a film opening.
It's hard to believe it's over, but I'd like to say thank you to everyone who helped me along the way - I couldn't have done it without you.
*An amendment: at 5:36 I say I feel defeated that I wasn't able to compose all the music myself. I made this post preemptively before my final cut, and before I realized the issue with the copy-right. The music in the chase scene of my final cut is now no longer the copy-righted music, merely a similar re-creation.
Initially I had intended to use mixture of prerecorded and post-production edited sound to create the diegetic sound heard within my opening; but due to issues I've detailed in my production diary, this was not possible. For this reason, all sound heard within my film opening has been added in post-production, using the Logic Pro sound software to do so. Ambience/Sound Effects (Diegetic Sound)
Using Logic Pro I was able to find (almost) every sound I could ever want, allowing me to place them in order to create the general diegetic noise of my film world, and letting me adjust their volume levels and 'positioning' (where you would hear them in the film world.)
To be as diegetically realistic as possible, I used separate background noise types for indoors and outdoors, and found sound bites that would fit with things like the jacket being zipped, the door locking, the running etc. A lot of the time the easiest way to make them seem realistic was to simply adjust the volume levels, but sometimes I also adjusted their positioning (e.g. to sound as if the door was being locked on the left side of the screen etc.)
My favourite use of sound within this was the heartbeat sound effect during the monster P.O.V shots. While I initially tried to edit this to gradually speed up, as if it was the girl's racing heartbeat we could hear, I realized that it was a lot more ominous when it stayed at the same pace, because it was coupled with a drone sound effect to help things seem distorted, and this connotes that it was the 'monster's' steady heartbeat we were listening too.
I later added a breathing sound effect to the monster P.O.V shots helped anchor down the signifier that someone/something was 'watching' the protagonist.
The only sound I needed to record myself was the dialogue, and I did this using the iPhone app 'Music Memos'. To make sure the timing was right Rose and I watched the scene over again, but the process was simple and worked well, giving us clearly recorded dialogue.
Soundtrack (Non-diegetic Sound)
Theoretically this should have been a lot easier than the fiddly process of creating the detailed and accurate ambient sound, but of course it was not.
In the first rough cut of my film I decided to place the song "Run" by AWOLNATION over the top for a bit of fun; I knew that I couldn't use the song for my final product (due to copy right) and I never intended to keep it, but it did fit surprising well with the timing and mood of my opening.
For my film's second rough cut I didn't use 'proper' music, but instead layered synth sound effects to create an eerie alien-like feeling. While I actually liked the unusual, sheer quietness of this, the 'chase' scene was still missing the sound necessary to build the appropriate tension.
For my third rough cut I spent ages combing through Logic Pro's various pre-recorded sound loops, even dabbling in recording some of my own original content using Alchemy, but I found great difficulty in getting the correct timing to create the tension and buildup I was looking for. While I was slowly improving I still hadn't quite found what I was looking for.
In the end I went to my teacher for help, which lead to the creation of my fourth rough cut. This time, the chase scene was changed to a much faster, more techno beat. I was happy with the timing (as it fit perfectly with the short chase scene,) but just couldn't help feeling it had the wrong atmosphere for what I'd spent the first minute building up to, despite the positive feedback I received from my audience.
I was considering trying to strip back the techno and add some more synth to give it a grungier, more natural sound, when Mr. Van Zomerplaag found a piece of copy-right free music. I made a brief tester video (rough cut 5) to see if this music would work, and was satisfied with the potential it had.
The sound in my final cut is my own, recreated version of the 'copyright free' (that turned out to be copyrighted after all) music I sampled in my 5th rough cut.
I used Logic Pro to recreate a similar sound, and I'm very happy with how it's turned out. The timing now works perfectly and there's a nice balance between the synth sounds and the beat.
Overall I'm proud of all the hard work I put into creating the sound for my opening, especially as I learnt so much about using Logic Pro and Alchemy along the way.
While it was an undeniably difficult task, (one that I dreaded even starting as the possibilities seemed to have no end in sight,) I did have some fun creating the diegetic/non-diegetic sound, and I look forward to using the skills I have learned in my next project.
Mr. Van Zomerplaag found some copy-right free music that he thought might fit with the chase scene, so (once I'd listened to it and agreed it had potential,) I used FinalCut Pro to put together a very quick rough cut to get an idea of how it might sound.
I'm quite pleased with the result, as it has the right tempo for the chase scene and its timings, and also as it fits relatively well with the genre and mood of my film.
As I've been struggling to find music for the chase scene that I was happy with, I decided to go to my teacher for help. Using Logic Pro we've given the chase scene a much faster, more techno beat. While I'm happy with the timing (as it fits perfectly with the short chase scene,) I can't help feeling it has the wrong atmosphere; to me, it feels too jarring compared with the eerie atmosphere of the opening, as if it's meant for the action genre instead. However, I did receive positive feedback I received from my audience. I want to continue to work on the music for the chase scene - I have an idea that if I strip back some of the more techno beats and layer in some synths it might give me the sound I'm after. For this edit I also adjusted the intensity of the lighting in certain scenes, to give my film an overall more consistent appearance in colour. This was necessary as I filmed outside, and different days produced different amounts and intensities of light (due to changing weather conditions.)
For this cut of my film I spent ages combing through Logic Pro's various pre-recorded sound loops, even dabbling in recording some of my own original content using Alchemy, but I found great difficulty in getting the correct timing to create the tension and buildup I was looking for. I think I'd like to make the sound grungier in the next cut, to see if that will improve the tension.
As my film opening is quite eerie - and as it's in the thriller/horror/sci-fi hybrid genre - I wanted my titles to reflect this.
My analysis of films within similar genres gave me an idea of what font style, coloring, effect and size I was looking for.
After scrolling through the FinalCut Pro pre-made fonts, I settled on a simple sans-serif font called 'DREAM. I chose this font because the sans-serif style meant that it fit with what's typically seen within the genre, while the colour (a pale blue-tint that seems to glow ever so slightly) links to the Sci-Fi genre.
'DREAM'
I did consider using a font more typical of the horror genre (something clichéd along the lines of dripping blood,) but decided against it as I wanted my font to like to the Sci-Fi genre, to appear as natural as possible onscreen, and to not seem cheesy or comic.
The order that my title's appear in is as follows:
Appearing on the lower left of the screen, this title is larger than the F9 Films credit, as SilverSalt Studios (my company) were the main producers.
This title also appears on the lower left side of the screen, and gives credit to Charles Verfeurth's film company as he occasionally took on the role of being my cameraman.
Appears on the upper left corner of the screen; the actress playing the protagonist. As my film's cast and crew consisted of three members I was able to keep the number of titles fairly limited (typical of the genre,) while still giving credit to those involved.
I added my name as the final title to credit myself as the role of the antagonist.
I used green screening in FinalCut Pro to display text messages on the phone, (a decision taken as the lighting burnt out the screen, making filming it difficult.)
Using a youtube tutorial, I taught myself the basics of using a green screen process on Final Cut Pro. First you select 'Effects', then click on the sub-heading 'Keying', from which two options will appear. Quite simply, I selected the option 'Keyer', dragged it onto the green screen clips (which was simply a green colour picture opened on my phone screen,) and watched as it magically turned black, ready to be edited. The next step was to insert the footage that would be shown on the green screen.
Where to find Keyer
Drag and drop Keyer onto the footage
The Keyer effect will turn the green to black
Drag and drop footage you want to be in place of the green
The footage will appear where the green was
*(Screenshots taken from the YouTube tutorial linked above.)
This is the first completed edit of my AS film "Mimitís". I've posted it on Youtube, and have begun to receive audience feedback.
Final Cut Pro
All the footage (with the exception of my company ident (see process here,)) was compiled and edited using Final Cut Pro. One way in which I manipulated the footage was by placing the "film noir" effect over the 'monster p.o.v' shots, so as to make the lighting seem more vibrant and surreal, and to help make it denote to the audience that they were watching from the 'monster's' point of view (I also added a sound effect to help emphasize this, but more on that later.)
For the most part I simply had to sift through the mountain of footage, looking for clear shots and good takes, a lot of the time cutting bits and pieces out (using the 'blade' tool) from various different takes and sticking them together until everything looked smooth.
The editing technique I enjoyed using the most was the green screen effect. I had to use green screening to display a text message on the phone (something that was vital to the storyline making sense.) Of course, I could've simply turned the phone screen on with a text message already in place, but the difficulty was angling the camera in such a way that my overhead bedroom lights didn't burn everything out, and even then there wasn't much guarantee of what the natural outside lighting was gonna be like, (there was no specific lighting set-up used, given that my film had the enormous budget of£0.00 - impressive, right?) Therefore, the conclusion was to use green screening, something I was assured would be "super easy" to do using Final Cut Pro. But if you've followed my other posts, you should know that nothing is ever "super easy" with my luck...
Using a youtube tutorial, I taught myself the basics of using a green screen process on Final Cut Pro. First you select 'Effects', then click on the sub-heading 'Keying', from which two options will appear. Quite simply, I selected the option 'Keyer', dragged it onto the green screen clips (which was simply a green colour picture opened on my phone screen,) and watched as it magically turned black, ready to be edited. The next step was to insert the footage that would be shown on the green screen.
I recorded this footage by plugging my phone into my computer, opening QuickTime Player, and then selected 'File', 'New Movie Recording'. From here I was able to switch the option settings to record what was on the screen of my phone. Having successfully acquired the footage, I imported it to Final Cut Pro, dragged it down to its appropriate place and began to make the necessary adjustments so that it appeared realistic on the phone screen.
The problem? Nobody warned me that for the footage on the green screen to look good (and by 'look good' I mean actually staying on the green screen) it would be vital to keep the green screen (in this case the phone) and camera perfectly still. Due to the very nature of my shot types (the close-up over theshoulder especially) I hadn't used a tripod - and while I'm pretty steady-handed, there was inevitably some slight movement. Long story short, while this by no means meant my plan was ruined, it did result in a very careful and time-consuming struggle to position the footage just so that it stayed (more-or-less) in place without any noticeable movements. While I still notice the slightly moving phone screen, it does appear I was successful, as so far none of my audience have commented.
Logic Pro
Moving on to sound! Every sound heard within my film opening (excluding my company ident) was added in post-production. To the trained ear this may be obvious, but I'm hoping that most people won't notice (and so far my audience hasn't.) All the sound heard is meant to be diegetic, with the exception of the low drone noise used in the scene by the church as this was meant to be more of a subconscious noise and added to build tension/atmosphere.
Using the sound production program 'Logic', I was able to find (almost) every sound I could ever want, allowing me to place them in order as a soundtrack of sorts to fit the film, and to play with their volume levels and 'positioning' (where you would hear them in the film world.) Due to my unfamiliarity with Logic I struggled with trying to edit the sound as precisely as I might have liked, but overall I am happy with the result. I may still adjust the sound in the chase scene, but I am satisfied with it at present because the sheer quietness of it creates a very eerie and unsettling effect (almost contradictory to the tense music you'd hear in other films within this genre,) seeming almost as if it's some terrible nightmare, and helping to raise the fear factor of my film.
To be as diegetically realistic as possible, I used separate background noise types for indoors and outdoors, and found sound bites that would fit with things like the jacket being zipped, the door locking, the running etc. A lot of the time the easiest way to make them seem realistic was to simply adjust the volume levels, but sometimes I also adjusted their positioning (e.g. to sound as if the door was being locked on the left etc.)
My favourite use of sound within this was the heartbeat sound effect. While I initially tried to edit it to gradually speed up, as if it was the girl's racing heartbeat we could hear, I realized that it was a lot more ominous when it stayed at the same pace, because it was coupled with a drone sound effect to help things seem distorted, and this connotes that it was the 'monster's' steady heartbeat we were listening too. Overall, it threw my audience off, making them uncomfortable and helping to build tension.
The only sound I needed to record myself was the dialogue, and I did this using the iPhone app 'Music Memos'. To make sure the timing was right we watched the scene over again, but the process was simple and worked well.
Overall I am very happy with this version of my film - it's been such an incredible and fun process, and I feel like I've been quite successful thus far. I know I'll probably have to make a few more adjustments, but the bulk of the work is done.
The idea for my company ident came from my company's name, 'SilverSalt'. The plan was to create a template of the words "SilverSalt Studios"and fill it in with salt to create the words; I planned to lay this template on a piece of black card under a spotlight in a dark room (to help create the black background.) I then used a Nikon D3200 to film, because it filmed at a rate of 50 frames per second, and when I would blew the salt away I would be able to slow the footage down in editing. However, as with the rest of my project, I had a few issues.
Surprisingly, the problem came not with acquiring the template (which I was able to create using a laser cutter with the assistance of the DT lab technicians,) but with getting my hands on enough salt. As I was filming this during the school day I was unable to go out and simply purchase the salt, so I had beg for salt from the kitchen staff, and they were lovely enough to give me all they had. Unfortunately, 'all they had' was barely enough to fill the bottom 5mm of a coffee cup - but it worked! Somehow it managed to fill in the template enough to make it look solid, so I headed up to the photography rooms with my classmate Tash Whitham (a young photography student, familiar with how to work the lights and willing to help me,) and got down to business.
I set up the camera, Tash adjusted the lights, and we filled in the template, ready for me to hit record and blow the salt away. With anticipation I sucked in a deep breath, and blew as hard as I could...
But the salt wouldn't move!
I'm not proud to say that there's footage of me huffing and puffing angrily at unmoving salt. The issue was that while I could blow some of the salt away in one breath, half of the words remained. But, not to be deterred I came up with the solution that I would blow it away from one side, and Tash would do the same from the other. But now there was also another problem, because during the first attempt, my salt had scattered irretrievably about the room and my limited stash was now depleted. The only solution at hand was a kindly teacher who gave us rock salt, but this also was a challenge as the large chunks of rock salt weren't as fine as the other salt. making my template look chunky and ridiculous.
It was Tash who saved the day. She had the ingenious idea to crush the rock salt by rolling over it with a paint brush, until it was as fine as we needed.
After a great deal of salt crushing, we were finally ready to film again. This time I'm proud to say the plan was a success.
With the assistance of my teacher, I used Premiere Pro to edit the footage. I re-centered the image so that the words were balanced in the middle of the screen, and adjusted the contrast so that the black looked solid. I also reversed the footage to make it look as if the salt was blowing into place to form the words. I also slowed the footage down so that it looked more dramatic.
Finally, I exported it to Final Cut Pro, where I chose a copyright free sound effect and slowed it down to 50% before putting it over the clip.
"Nicola, your blogging so far has been generally thorough, well written and expressed using appropriate terminology throughout - well done. However, it has slipped a little since you went into production, which I’m sure you’re aware of. So far there is little evidence of all the hard work you have done on your film opening. i would have expected to see your pitch, screenplay, storyboard, photography of your locations, and a production diary detailing how each shoot went. You should also be adding rough cuts and edits, so that there is a clear progression shown through your blog. I’m sure you’ll get on top of this and I understand that you have been away over christmas; I also know it’s easy to get carried away with the production itself, but just don’t neglect the evidence to go alongside it." Completed
Pitch (edited, posted onto my Youtube channel, and my blog.)
Screenplay (written, and posted on my blog.)
Storyboard (hand drawn, and posted on my blog.)
Location Scout (photos posted on my blog.)
Production Diary (up to date, posted on blog.)
Rough Cut (posted onto my Youtube channel, and my blog.)
To Do
Compile and edit together the footage of my opening by 3rd Feb (complete)
Record voices for the dub-over by 5th Feb (complete)
Create soundscape for my opening by 12th Feb (complete)
