Research

Research

I found a short clip on another blog about how the soundtrack for 'Looper' was created, they used a zoom similar to the one we had worked with to record different things.

LOOPER Nathan Johnson Score Preview 1 - Field Recordings from Nathan Johnson on Vimeo.

The rhythmic aspects to the sound reminded me of the experimental films we had watched in the seminars, and also the Sheffield Sound Map from the Millennium Gallery. It is amazing that such an intense score of music was created using simple sounds such as a treadmill or a microwave, and that it was all recorded on a zoom. 

All these sort of sounds are ones that we could record, all they have done is slowed down and sped up some sounds and then layered others over the top.

Planning

Planning

We were thinking along the lines of the opening doors idea as the one we would go with, we set out deciding what sort of doors we would record to begin with;

• revolving
• sliding
• automatic
• lift
• cupboard
• fridge
• car
• tram
• train
• indoor
• oven
• microwave
• shower
• shop

We recorded some sounds to begin with as we were developing the idea, we were planning on recording other things that sounded like a door opening or closing but didn't know how to approach it.

Initial Idea

Initial Idea

Jordan and I decided we would work together on the experimental piece and started to think about some ideas for what we would record. One idea was about the progression of someones day and the sounds that they would encounter throughout. Another was inspired by the day spent at the station, we thought about the sounds of different doors and what you expect to hear when you go through them. For example going through the doors of a shop and hearing cash registers and people generally talking, or a cupboard door and hearing silence.

The idea of someones day being played out did seem pretty basic for something that was supposed to be experimental, so we thought about how we could create certain sounds in a different way, rather than actually recording what it is supposed to be.

Sounds at the Station

Sounds at the Station

This session with Lee took us around Sheffield; we visited the train station, the shops in the city centre, the Cathedral, the Winter Gardens and the Millennium Museum. We were told to note down all the different sounds we heard as we were experiencing these places. Some sounds were obvious like the voice over that announces the train arrivals and departures and the sounds of people passing but as we sat and listened more intently we found we heard things that we otherwise wouldn't notice, like a bottle being squeezed as the end is being drunk and the sound of coins dropping on the floor.

Sound Tutorial

Sound Tutorial

In our Production Skills seminar today we learnt about the Zoom H4N. We learnt all the features of it and how to use it in the two different modes; stereo and mono. We also learnt about gain and phantom power.

This session was very useful in relation to the experimental project as i had never used anything like the zoom before or done any sound work. It was good using both the stereo and mono settings on the device for the different types of sound we were recording.

Our First Session

Our First Session

This session was an introduction to the module and outlined what we would be doing in this semester and the next. We were given module guides and told about this blog we were supposed to be updating, preferably on a weekly basis.

We were told the project title Sense of Space and were told about the separate sound and film aspects of the project and that we would be doing the sound first and then creating the film from that.