Category: Multimedia

After deliberation, I decided the time machine’s sound should be a representation of a huge build up of energy quickly dispersing, therefore giving the illusion it disappeared into to time and space. This sound, as it is non existent in reality, has a lot of room for imaginative non realistic (sci-fi) sound. I achieved this with a mixture of techniques. Firstly I approached the panoramic effects of this sound. When watching this piece of film I could imagine an onslaught of sounds evolving around the screen space, rising to an imploding climax. I used low sub rumbling sine waves and emulated the doppler effect upon these sounds to create a chaotic panoramic image that resolves in an implosion.

The doppler effect is a physical phenomenon caused by a sound source approaching and passing the receiver at speed. When a sound source approaches the observer the relative wavelength shortens in frequency creating the illusion of increased pitch. This combined with the increase and decrease in amplitude provides the illusion of movement in the stereo field and speed.

The next thing to decide was the timbre of the warp sound. For this I decided to use an analog synthesiser to provide warmth and unpredictability. I used a pitch sweep to create an inharmonic sound and then applied a hi pass sweep to enhance the metallic qualities of the sound.

After the ethereal non-diegetic sounds I needed to take care of the mechanical sounds of the time machine. The mechanical sound was created with a tape delay emulation plugin set at 100 feedback, I used a digital plugin because it provides a lot less audio loss than my Copicat. I then used a fully wet Watkins Copicat with a varispeed modification to speed the sound up.

After this it was just a case of mixing these sounds together. I used automation a lot through this process to ensure the sound meshed together well to create an effective sound.

I used this technique across a range of recordings and found that it also worked well with the recording of an electric motor.

Game of Thrones Battle Scene Dragon Roar

 

Modern sound design relies on the human ability to match image with sound. A lot of sounds that are seen in films today exploit this ability to create sounds that are actually larger than life. By layering sounds with the sound that we expect and the sound that we can subconsciously respond to it is possible to achieve new sounds that are more captivating and imperative in their direction of the audience.

When creating a dragon’s roar, it is hard to match sound to that of the real subject as nobody has ever witnessed a dragon roar, nor will they. So, a little imagination must be employed.

 

To draw influence and spark inspiration, I researched in to similar sound design productions and found joy, after a while, in the sound design of the original Jurassic Park movie.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwWvO4UgJiU

 

To create a dragon sound I employed the methods used in this production by combining the sounds of a bear with a dolphin, employed pitch-shifting and time stretching techniques and the results were impressive. To add a little more dissonance to the sound I added a recording of a tire screech with a few effects to add screech to the roar. I then recorded a whistling kettle and placed this over, to add air and top end to the dragons war cry.

Within a soundtrack there are numerous sonic events, with the most emphasis being placed upon these five:

• Dialogue
• Music
• SFX
• Foley
• Ambience

 

When planning a soundtrack for a multimedia product, a cue sheet is used to organise each of these sounds. Cue sheets are effectively a timeline of events, a script for the sound producer if you will. Cue sheets are made via a method called spotting – which is effectively exploring the media and planning for specific events along a timescale. These are useful because, the vast amount of responsibilities placed upon a sound designer make it easy to miss opportunities to have effect. So, having a solid plan of action makes this less of a possibility.

 

In the world of sound design, sweetening refers to the reinforcement of a sound to convey the most effective, emotive representation possible. Sound sweetening is identifiable in every modern multimedia format that includes sound design. The most common method of sweetening a sound comes from layering sounds to heighten it has on the audience and in modern media formats this is applied without restraint. For example, almost every sound in mainstream film today, from the closing of a car door to the exploding of a helicopter is not an accurate representation of the sound but instead a created detail to immerse the audience. A lot of sound sweetening reacts with subconscious cognitive responses, relating a sound to a known reaction of the human psyche. I.E animal roars within fire to create fear.

Sound sweetening effectively makes on screen sounds larger than life, often enhancing the bottom end to provide more oomph.