DIRECTIONS: SOUND DESIGN

What is sound design?
Sound design in film and television essentially describes the process of capturing layering and mixing of individual sound elements to create one single soundtrack for the project. Just as you shoot and edit the image part of the project, you also shots and edit the sound part too. Sound design occurs at all stages of a  production, but it is essential a post-production phase, this process is also called the Sound Edit.

The Sound Designer
Originally, all the sound editing of a film was completed by a sound editor or a team of sound editor. These were technicians who had little creative input into the project., this new supervising sound editor position became known as the sound designer. The first film to credit someone as the sound designer, was Apocalypse now by Francis Ford Coppola.

Sound Layers
The job of the sound designer is to assemble a number o flayers or tracks of sound, which are then mixed together to form one whole. On some production there might be 50 tracks of sound, however most commonly there will be between 5 and 20 tracks of sound. There are 7 different types of tracks that can be used
- Dialogue; this is all the recorded dialogue from the actual shoot. Voice over would be a separate track.
-Sync; this is recorded sound from the shoot that ISN'T dialogue, IE someone walking across a room or getting into a car
-ADR; automatic dialogue replacement, this is all of the dialogue re-recorded or dubbed after the shot. Nearly all Hollywood films use ADR for the whole film.
-FX; Certain sound effects for elements such as a car engine, a computer, or an explosion. These will be recorded specifically for the production or more commonly they will come from a sound FX library.
-Foley; any sound that is created for the purpose to replace sound within a film
-Atmos; all the sound elements that make up an atmosphere for a particular location. This could mean weather elements like rain,
-Music; this is all the music in the film, diabetic music on a radio or someone playing an instrument within a scene, and non diegetic which is all the composed music places over the film, also know as the score. 

The Sound Edit
Thought the sound edit phase, the sound designer and the team will compile all the tracks, editing the various sounds to the picture, making creative decisions all the time. The sound is cut just like the picture and can be done in PP, but most commonly done using specialised sound editing software.
The Mix - once the the tracks have all been compiled and edited to the locked picture, the will be edited all together to form the one final track to be used in the entire film, this is known as the mix. The mix enables all the sounds to be balanced with each other and the picture to create the perfect soundscape.

The Art of Sound Design
The art of sound design is to add depth, feeling and emotions to the picture, its about making it feel right, so the audience believe in what they are seeing. Even if the story is set on an alien world, it should sound RIGHT. Great sound design can add details the audience can't actually see. A clock ticking in a room, a bird high up a tree etc.

DIRECTIONS UNIT: PRODUCTION DEVELOPMENTS

As we get closer to filming time for my production in a few weeks, i have started all of my preparations and started to finalise locations, casting and any props that i will need (as well as visual material). The script is completed and i have started to draw and write out some storyboards and shot lists, which will hopefully make the actual filming process a lot more smoother and make sure that everything will be completed on time

LOCATION
I have 3 different locations, 2 of which are now finalised and the other is in the process. I have 2 different houses to use (though for the actual film they are the same house), one of which i will be using for my main characters, Vee, bedroom, and the other i will be using for they're kitchen. The reason i am using a different house for the kitchen is because i prefer the structure of the other houses kitchen, there is 2 big windows and one back door enabling a lot of natural light to come through, which is something i want and it is a kitchen and dining room in one, which is perfect for me to get all of the shots that i want and need to get

CASTING
My main character Vee, i have cast, through mutual friends i have casted someone who has an interest in acting and will hopefully bring this interest to the role. The role of Vee's mother is more of a tricky one to cast but i am currently searching and advertising on Casting Call Pro for this role and hope to have somebody cast soon. I would like to use a semi-professional actor from Casting Call Pro as the role is for an older women, i believe they will bring a sense of authenticity and maturity to the production as a whole.

PROPS AND VISUAL MATERIAL
The main prop and visual mateiral that i need for this role is family photos, i will be able to obtain these from the main character who i have casted; these will be pictures of her so they will all fit together when filming. The main obstacle that i find in this, is creating the graphics for the Nerve video game, and so to overcome this i have decided to instead of filming the graphics, i will record sound only for it and instead film Vee's reaction to it.

DIRECTIONS RESEARCH: LUTHER

Luther is a British Crime Drama programme starring Idris Elba, like many different television programmes, the show alternates within its directors, some come in to direct a one off whereas others come in for a block and stay for multiple episodes. Whilst they have different directors, Luther still has a particular directing style that flows throughout the series.Luther mostly alternates between establishing shots with discrete push in or out, so we have time to situate the characters in the environment they are in, very effective as characters are either in a  criminal environment or a police background, as well as warm close ups where the eyes are often enhanced.

Luther is a programme that through the use of different cinematography, creates an extremely high sense of realism. The most reoccurring shot within each episode of Luther, is a wide angle shot of an investigation room, due to the programme revolving around a police detective. This type of shot is interesting because in some scenes it helps to highlight the maverick side of the main character Luther. We see this shot as Luther investigates a criminal or one of his victims, whereas in some scenes we see this same shot, in the same one table and two chairs set up but in a different location, of someone appearing above Luther whilst he himself is slouched down in his chair; perhaps making him look like the criminal for once.  Another recognisable element of Luther is the colouring, each episode is very grey and dreary in colour, creating a very gritty and especially British feel to the programme.

Within my work, something that mainly inspires me is the colouring. The show itself uses mainly natural or low level lighting, nothing is too bright, everything is dim and sublime. This is an element i also would like to try and be an influence to my work.

DIRECTIONS UNIT RESEARCH: DIRECTORS

Martin Scorsese is an american film director, his career spans over 53 years and thus he has built a huge list of directing credits. His lengthy career means that he has built up a very specific and certainly very influential directing style. His directorial career began with 'Who's that kicking at my door' in 1967, he became known for his work as a director, and began to win many awards with the release of his more popular films, 'Taxi Driver' in 1976 and 'Goodfellas' in 1990. One of his recognisable directorial traits, is to feature long tracking shots within most of his films. Scorsese was dubbed "King of the Tracking Shot" as it is a hard shot to perfect, something which Scorsese did multiple times. His most famous tracking shot, is from Goodfellas in 1990, following Henry Hill and his wife Karen as they walk through the basement of Copacabana nightclub.

Colour is a very interesting and particular use within Scorsese films, a very distinct colour to feature is red, for example Taxi Driver. However in more recent times, Scorsese has used more colder colours, prominently blue, in his films, for example in Hugo. Also another recognisable feature is popular music, Scorsese likes to use many songs by The Rolling Stones in many of his films such as Mean Streets and The Departed. Martin Scorsese is one of the most influential directors of his time, he was and still is a director who strays from traditional conventions of directing and it is because of this that his work became so well known and famous. The biggest example that i am most intrigued and engaged by within Scorsese work, is the following clip from Taxi Driver. Within this clip, there are multiple things that link to both the cinematography and the editing. There is a panning shot that goes from Travis looking at himself in the mirror, panning across the room to Travis himself. As well as this, the scene is edited in an engaging way, at some points it is fast in pace and in others it is slow, moreover at one point a clip is repeated.

Martin Scorsese's work is very interesting for me. My director for the directions unit is Ariel Schulman, who in comparison to Scorsese is an extremely new and modern director, who's feature length films are no where near the sheer number Scorsese himself has directed. Looking at a director who has a career which spans across 50 years is interesting because you can look at how his work has been adapted throughout, how it has perhaps changed for different audiences and different generations. For example in Scorsese's recent work Hugo, there are still many elements that are recognisable throughout his career, such as the use of colour throughout to influence mood and tone, the same popular music as well as long takes instead of short and snappy ones edited tightly together. Whereas there are also new elements which could demonstrate how Scorsese has adapted his work for  more modern audience, such as science fiction elements.

DIRECTIONS UNIT: INITIAL IDEADS

For my production for the directions unit, I am directing a few scenes from Ariel Schulman's Nerve. Centralising around the main character Vee, she is scared of admitting to her mother that she has a scholarship to an art school far away from home, as her mother wants her to stay at home with her and attend the location art college. The drama within the scenes that i have chosen is very subtle, and in order to make sure that i achieve the correct shots that i want, i need to make sure i plan and prepare effectively.

Location
There are three main locations that i need for my production, I need Vee's house that needs to have her bedroom, her brothers bedroom and her kitchen. As well as this i will need a road that leads to a field, where Vee sets down after an argument with her mother.

Casting
The main character of Vee, is a medium height blonde young women, and for this role i have already cast, she has minimal pearcings and within the original film she wears bright clothes with her hair up. I would like to have Vee in my production looking similar to the way in which she is in the original as i think this would be a recognisable element for both. Vee's mother is in one scene, she comes from work and therefore is in a nurses uniform, i haven't yet cast Vees mother but i will be hopefully looking on websites such as casting call pro to get a semi professional actor, as i believe especially with a role of an older women, the acting needs to be as authentic as possible in order for the drama to work.



Props
I will need quite a few props for my production. The main one will be family pictures, as that is what a lot of the drama within the scenes revolves around, pictures of Vee and her dead brother is a huge talking point within the scenes and we see these photos in frames on her bedside table as well as her laptop screensaver.

DIRECTIONS: EDITING

We must think about editing now, before our production, in order to think about it whilst filming as it may help to decide what shot to do/not do because of the way you may be able to edit it.

Editing
Film editing - the art of joining separate shots together to create longer sequences that make up the complete story of the film. Sometimes referred to as the 'invisible art' because when done well a viewer is so immersed in what they're watching they do not notice the editing. It's also about creating emotion, drama and action through the combination of shots, its all about storytelling.
The very first film to use film editing as a story is 'The Great Train Robbery' from 1903 by Edwin S. Porter. Up until the early 2000s all films were cited together using a machine called a Steenbeck, splicing the film together with sellotape.
With the advent of video technology, linear video editing was developed, this is editing in the most basic form, only allowing you to place one shot after another in order, you cannot move the shots around again. The creative shift found its way into films and tv programmes with cutting eventually cutting faster and faster.
Digital non-linear, combining the freedom of film editing and the speed of video editing, you could now move shots about where ever you wanted, keeping sync and making a cut in a fraction of the time before. The most common professional editing system is avid.

Continuity Editing
The predominate form of editing style in narrative film and television is referred to as Continuity Editing. The idea being the main purpose of editing is to take discontinuous shots and create a continuous whole. The rule of less = more applies all the way through the editing process, even if you have spent a while shooting something, if it doesn't add to the storytelling then there is no need for it. The biggest and easiest mistake to make is too leave too much in. The most creative layer of editing is creating the drama of a scene, through pacing, rhythm and emotion. The main thrust of pace is created through how quickly or slowly you cut from one shot to the next, and from once scene to the next. It doesn't just mean 'fast cutting; a film paced too quickly the audience will fall behind, whereas a film paced too slow can leave the audience bored or disinterested.

Pacing
Ordinarily, a scene starts wide and slow, then gets closer and quicker. A slow stilted conversation become free flowing and ends abruptly. Always cut for a reason, never to just cut, it must add to the scene.

Emotion
As a general rule, an emotional scene you will hold shots that are longer and slower.

POV
Where you position your characters in a scene is crucial in editing - whose story sis it? where is the focus of the story? Someone could be doing all the talking but if you focus on someone else in the scene that isn't talking, who is the focus on?

Match on Action
Match-on action is a very useful creative tool in editing, allowing for dramatic shots, where the editor cuts from one shot to another view that matches the first shots action.

Cross Cutting
Cross Cutting is an editing tool that can create great suspenseful action sequences, essentially it is cutting between two or more scenes that are occurring at the same time in the story, allowing the editor to open up the story to many different levels.

DIRECTIONS; FILM DIRECTOR RESEARCH - FRANCIS LAWRENCE

Francis Lawrence is an Austrian-born American film director and producer. Born on March 26th 1970 he was brought to America from Vienna at the age of 3, where he was raised in LA. Within the 1980s, he found he had an interest in making film, he attended Loyola Marymount University (studying film) and during this time created at least 8 short films. During the 1990s he started directing music videos for famous artists such as Britney Spears and Will Smith. It was in 2005 when he become a film director with his debut directorial feature length. His main directorial efforts include:

- Constantine (2005)          - I am Legend (2007)         -Water for Elephants (2011)

- Gotham (2012)              - The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One (2014) 

 -The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part Two (2015)

Lawrence as a director, doesn't restrict himself to one specific genre, he directed action in I am Legend and Constantine, romance in Water for Elephants, and then both genres in The Hunger Games series. Running themes between most of his films, are a world of fiction, many different fantasy elements. The camera work is of Lawrence is mainly handheld, in order to get a range of shots, including close ups to show the characters emotion and wide shots to emphasise location. More widely seen in Hunger Games and I am Legend, is a more fast paced edit. This is more due to the action genre of the films, fast paced editing keeps the audience engaged and is an iconography of the action genre. 

 The main key interest i have in Lawrence's work, is The Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is a big budget hollywood action blockbuster, but its camerawork could be described as somewhat unusual in comparison and contrast to others. Lawrence's main trait from The Hunger Games was 'trying to use IMAX cameras as handheld'. A handheld camera feel makes a movie much grittier, and it makes the audience connect with the characters on screen, making them feel they are part of the action rather than just watching it.

DIRECTIONS; TV DRAMA RESEARCH - THE WALKING DEAD

The Walking Dead has a very specific directing style; due to the nature of the show, i.e. locations and adult themes. The show itself has many different directors come in and out, whilst production assistants and writers stay the same, the directors change dependent on episodes; some come in just for a one off stint whereas others do some more longer episode directing arcs.
David Boyd has been a director of photography for at least 10 episodes of The Walking Dead, so far. He directed the episode entitled 'Secrets' (Series 2 Episode 6) Boyd notes how he had an upper hand directing this episode, as he previously has been on the set as a cinematographer he is the first director of the show that has a real feel for the tone, image and style of the show because he has worked on in since its inception, just not as a director.


Within this, Boyd opted to use 3 cameras, rather than the traditional use of 2. This is because the 3rd camera is used to get more abstract and unique angles that directors normally do not have time for, it was a belief that with the 3rd camera he could get 'something odd, something that shows you really getting into he characters head'. More widely to the show as a whole, Frank Darabout,  one of the creators, opts for traditional dolly use to enable a smooth and tight shot, in the episode Secrets, Boyd wanted to use whatever he felt right at the time for that shot, whether that be a dolly or handheld.

If we were too look at the directorial style of The Walking Dead in a wider view rather than this episode specifically, we would find that a recurring theme in the show is long, wide and birds eye view shots. The Walking Dead is obviously a fictional programme, and so its imperative that the locations used be engaging and aesthetic, especially considering this show is adapted from a comic book, the audience will want to see these recognisable elements of the location and many of the directors use these different type of shots to illustrate these recognisable elements.


Furthermore, extreme close ups are a recurring element in the Walking Dead, particularly one shot of a zombies cataract eye. This type of shot is extremely effective, it adds value to the costume/SFX and acts as a common symbol/iconography to the show. Also fast editing is something that is always a high presence in every episode, the creators want the audience to feel as though they are a part of the journey these characters are going on, rather than purely watching it, and so this fast paced editing is effective and it brings the audience in on the action, paired with the array of camera shots used by the directors.

One way in which the directing style of The Walking Dead defiantly influences my own work, is the establishing and master shots that they use to set their location. I believe, as a viewer, that these types of shots set the scene and sets the tone of the show. For example the shot above of Chicago, a promotional shot for the 1st season of The Walking Dead, really illustrates the tone of the show, through the colour that is used (dark murky colours) and the small image of a character we can see walking toward Chicago. Fast paced editing is something that I also see here and influence my work. Fast paced editing, in my opinion, is one of the most engaging thing a programme can do, it serves a purpose to keep the narrative going and the audience interested. It is something that when making Nerve, i hope to use.

DIRECTIONS UNIT: ARIEL SCHULMAN

My chosen director for this unit, is Ariel Schulman, an American director and producer. Most widely, he works on all of his productions with friend and fellow director, Henry Joost. He first gained recognition for the documentary Catfish, in which he followed around his brother who was talking to somebody online and when they first met, she was not who she said she was. Together, Ariel and Henry have founded production company Supermarch, through which they have directed many feature films as well as number of short dramas.
List of main film credits
                 - Paranormal Activity 3                                     -Paranormal Activity 4
                 - Nerve                                                               - Catfish
                 -Viral                                                                

Key Works/Trademarks

The most recognisable directorial trait that I identify from Ariels work, is the genre of found footage. All of his films in one way or another, can be linked to the idea of POV filming from a handheld camera or camera phone. This idea dates back to Catfish in 2010, whilst this was a documentary, it still featured the use of these cameras, the way in which this is filmed is much more personal and suits the documentary genre very well. Catfish, because of the way it was filmed and the genre, was accused of being fake. In defence of this, Schulman said "We're basically in an age where cameras are so available and people are filming themselves more than ever. We started doing that on Catfish with just small cameras and we had them out all the time, the cameras weren't popular enough that people believed it was possible, and so they came to the conclusion that it was fake". This way of filming is a really engaging for an audience, because it allows for abstract cinematography and also gives the audience a sense of they are in the middle of the action, they aren't just watching, this way of filming gets them involved. 

Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost helped to bring about the collision of this way of filming from phones and handheld cameras too the horror genre, through their direction of Paranormal Activity 3 & 4. Schulman decided to use a multitude of different cameras within particularly Paranormal Activity 4, the use of a macbook to film (using both the webcam and screen recordings), an Xbox Kinect and an array of smartphones (iPhone). This again adds to Ariels trademark directorial skills, doing something no other directors have done before with the horror genre. Within his work, Ariel recognises that times are changing; "cut to five years later and everybody has a HD cameraphone in their pocket", this modern components are what Ariel uses in his work and one of the main reason i am so interested and engaged to his work.

Within their latest feature length, Nerve staring Emma Roberts, they utilise some of the trademark efforts we have seen in a different genre, thriller. Evident within Nerve from their work, is the use of modern technology (macbook by which main character Vee uses to talk to her friend on Skype). The main story of Nerve revolves around young people playing a game where they either complete dares set by 'the watchers' or they watch and set the dares to the players. This game is played through a mobile phone and thus involves the participants to film themselves as the complete a dare. Vee's friend often teases her about how she lives within her comfort zone and doesn't challenge herself, to disprove her friend she signs up for the game and competes dares, ending up top of the leaderboard. The collection of scenes that i have chosen to recreate demonstrate Vee in her journey about what makes her decide to sign up as a player rather than a watcher. I choose this scene because i believe, through minimal dialogue, it opens up the entire narrative, every story is started/mentioned/referenced within this opening scene, for example introduction to the game nerve as well as the college application.

DIRECTIONS UNIT: RED RIDING

For the beginning of our new unit, Directions, Simon have given us a short portion of the script for 1974 film Red Riding, and in order to get us in the mindset of being a director, we are tasked with directing this portion of the script that we have. Mainly, i have been thinking about both the cast i would use and the locations, as well as the certain type of music that i would want in order to create the atmosphere that i sense when reading the script.

The opening of the script is very atmospheric, the location is detailed as a dark night with an icy and cold feel. I imagine this also as being in a big city, so though it is cold the scene would probably be very low lit, for example bright street lights would clash with the back screen darkness that we see. However another idea woud be to use a low populated area, a country road for example, that would further emphasis a sense of mystery and also portray wintery feel through the view of ice/snow - more likely to see in a country are rather than city. Below are example of both different locations i believe i would like to use.











Furthermore thinking about location, the conference room of which the investigation brief takes place within the script. I would use a small room, something that perhaps feels a bit claustrophobic and vulnerable; this is about a police investigation and a missing young girl, this sense of vulnerability portrayed would add to the story, indicating that theres no where to hide and the investigation will be solved. I also would use a room where chairs are face opposite each other around a table, rather than chairs in rows looking forward. This again gives a more personal approach, rather than being spoken too its almost like a discussion, this can be further emphasises by the conversation between the detectives later in the script.

In terms of cast, i picked actors for the three characters of -Eddie Dunford -Bill Hadley and -Bill Molloy. Mainly i picked them based on the description that i saw within the script. Bill Molly is described as a 'big and evil man' and so i picked John Goodman. Goodman was the main actor in Cloverfield Lane and his character within this was very evil; a turnaround from his most common roles in film history, and this is my main reason for picking Goodman for the role of Bill Molloy. Eddie Dunford i picked Ansel Elgort, a young up and coming actor who in my opinion would fit the role of a 'young and ambitious person' perfectly. Finally i picked George Clooney for the role of Bill Hadley, a bit of a different character than Clooney's normal roles, however in more recent times and with George Clooney not playing his most common younger roles, i think he would be a good fit for a respected character.

Ansel Elgort

George Clooney

John Goodman