P2: TITLE - DESCRIBE HOW THE SOUND ELEMENTS ARE PRODUCED
Theme Music
The official definition for theme music is “Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game, or movie and is usually played during the intro, opening credits, and/or ending credits.”
The official definition for theme music is “Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game, or movie and is usually played during the intro, opening credits, and/or ending credits.”
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Theme music is one of the first things that comes to mind when thinking of our favorite shows as normally the creators of the shows want the theme to be memorable, by including jingles and catchy lines so that we can sing along whilst it’s playing.
Source: https://www.wired.com/2015/06/song-exploder-game-of-thrones/
I research how the opening for Game of Thrones was made, what I found out was that the composer Djawadi was already reviewing possible music for the show then the director of GoT Alan Taylor sent the first two episodes of the show to Djawadi, he got inspired from that and he was really excited, since the opening theme for GoT was 2 minutes long which is much longer than most other shows which have openings only around 30 seconds.
Djawadi was also shown the incomplete visuals for the show and he was told that the creators want the music to have a theme of a journey as there is a lot happening to different characters in GoT, the first thing Ramin made was the small melody of two minor bars then going to major then back to minor this linked in with the theme of backstabbing in the show and then he went from there. Ramin’s favorite instrument is cello and it has a good range of sounds so he chose to use it, then a solo violin joins the cello an octave higher and Ramin said this sounds like two characters meeting.
Technology played a large part during the creation of the theme for GoT as Ramin had a choir in Prog while he was in his studio and they communicated over the internet and he gave them feedback as they worked, he mentioned how that was really useful. Ramin was also really happy when hearing the fan parodies of the opening he made.
When researching what type of file format would be used in the industry I could not find anything but from my experience I know they would use a file format with lossless compression meaning it would not lose any quality some examples of what they would use would be FLAC, ALAC, and WMA or for uncompressed formats WAV.
https://www.tomsguide.com/us/what-are-audio-codecs,review-4469.html
Equipment that would be needed to create a theme and incidental music would be:
- Instruments
- Soundproof room
- Foley equipment (Everyday objects to make sounds with)
- Computer setup with soundboards
- Correct software Adobe audition, Logic Pro and more
- Microphones
Incidental music
“Music used in a film or play as a background to create or enhance a particular atmosphere.”
Incidental music is the music we can here in the background of films, plays and games it’s something that normally does not stand out on it’s own but without it our favourite scenes would not feel the same, this is because incidental music is made to enhance and create a certain mood that goes along with the scene.
The incidental music in black panther was made by Ludwig Göransson and by Kendrick Lamar they created this music percussion instrument as well and wind instruments they go inspired by going to African countries to see their culture and their music as the fictional country of Wakanda is set in Africa. This incidental music was nominated for 4 different awards of which it won American Music Award for Top Soundtrack and Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media.
“Music used in a film or play as a background to create or enhance a particular atmosphere.”
Incidental music is the music we can here in the background of films, plays and games it’s something that normally does not stand out on it’s own but without it our favourite scenes would not feel the same, this is because incidental music is made to enhance and create a certain mood that goes along with the scene.
The incidental music in black panther was made by Ludwig Göransson and by Kendrick Lamar they created this music percussion instrument as well and wind instruments they go inspired by going to African countries to see their culture and their music as the fictional country of Wakanda is set in Africa. This incidental music was nominated for 4 different awards of which it won American Music Award for Top Soundtrack and Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media.
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ADR
ADR stands for Automated Dialog Replacement, it’s a method of replacing dialog typically in movies that is unusable this can be because of background sound or other reasons. ADR can be both done in studio and out of studio, it can be done inside the studio by the actors watching the scene and dubbing over it to ensure the taking is in sync with the visuals, it can also be done outside of the studio by having a microphone wired up to the actor or person that is being interviewed and instead of using the sound from the camera they would use the wire microphone.
The process of recording ADR take time as you need a whole set up with a screen so the actors can see what they did and ensure that the dialogue works with what is happening and so that the lip syncing is good they also require a headset and a good microphone and it’s best if the actors are in a soundproof room.
The process of recording ADR take time as you need a whole set up with a screen so the actors can see what they did and ensure that the dialogue works with what is happening and so that the lip syncing is good they also require a headset and a good microphone and it’s best if the actors are in a soundproof room.
An example of bad ADR would be Sigourney Weaver in Galaxy quest when she says "Screw That!" but if you read her lips she says the F-bomb.
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An example of good ADR would be Logan as Hugh Jackman recorded all his lines in studio as the character of wolverine only wears a shirt so it would be hard to pick up good audio, so he watched the scene back and dubbed over it, this turned out very well.
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Wild tracks
“Wild track, also known as wild sound and wild lines, is an audio recording intended to be synchronized with film or video but recorded separately. Generally, the term "wild track" refers to sound recorded on location, such as sound effects gathered when the cameras were not rolling or extra takes of lines performed for audio only.”
What I understand by this definition is that when you need background sound in a scene you would have a recorder on location picking up the natural sound of the surrounding, so that it can be played over the scene this way you can focus on the dialogue of the scene. The wild track records the whole time and is not in sync with any scenes it’s mostly used when the microphones for the scene with dialogue don’t pick up good background sound then it’s replaced with the wild track, it allows to do adr as they already have sound from the location. The process is very simple as it only involves setting up the equipment in whatever location you need and leave it running and pick it up when your finished with recording, the equipment that would be required for wild tracks could be a simple as a Zoom microphone such as Zoom H1 making this process very cheap. |
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The video on the left talk more about why the creator records wild tracks and how he does it while the video on the right shows examples of wild tracks that the creator recorded themselves both these videos were informative when researching wild tracks.
Ambient sound
From the definition and my other research on ambient sound I found out that ambient sound is sound that occurs in the background of the present scene or location, it typically involves sounds such as wind, birds, crowds, office noises, traffic and many more. Ambient sound is necessary as it sets the tone for the scene and it adds another layer to sound present in the scene making it more interesting, increasing how immersive the scene is. The process is normally recorded on set similarly to wild tracks and they both use similar equipment so the Zoom series of microphones this can include the Zoom h1n-h7n all having similar features with slight variations in size.
This video is a great example of how ambient sound would be collected with a professional microphone and maybe a camera so that you can see what is causing the sounds.
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In this short video the creator demonstrates the difference between using professional equipment to record ambient sound and using basic recorders, this shows the importance of using professional equipment for even the smallest of tasks.
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Voiceovers
“The voice of an unseen narrator speaking (as in a motion picture or television commercial)”
From this definition and my research I understand that voice overs are dialogue that is spoken by a unseen narrator and it can be used in a range of different media such as TV, film, radio and independent productions. Voice overs are most commonly used for narration of a production or to give the audience some insight into a character's inner-monologue. This process is similar to ADR as the actors would look at the visual. The equipment required for this process could include a rode nt1-a which is a professional studio microphone to ensure the best sound is produced.
“The voice of an unseen narrator speaking (as in a motion picture or television commercial)”
From this definition and my research I understand that voice overs are dialogue that is spoken by a unseen narrator and it can be used in a range of different media such as TV, film, radio and independent productions. Voice overs are most commonly used for narration of a production or to give the audience some insight into a character's inner-monologue. This process is similar to ADR as the actors would look at the visual. The equipment required for this process could include a rode nt1-a which is a professional studio microphone to ensure the best sound is produced.
In this short film the voice of the unseen narrator describes what the characters in the story are thinking and the other characters can also hear this voice, this progresses the story.
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In this commercial of the Zmodo there is a narrator that describes the features of the product whilst the actors play out possible scenarios that the product would be useful in.
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Scripted speech
“Scripted speech has been written in advance, although the speaker may pretend that it is spoken without preparation.” What I have found out about scripted speech is that it’s scripted meaning it was planned for the specific product or presentation and tailored to that specifically, this can be both good and bad as it means the actors have something to refer to when revising their lines for movies or presentations but it also means that the speech may seem unnatural as if it’s not written by the person speaking then it could appear out of character. The process varies if it’s an animation it requires actors to go to the studio where they have soundproof rooms with professional studio microphones and a stand for the script then the actor records their lines, for non-animation movies and products most the speech is recorded during the action. |
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Foley
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“relating to or concerned with the addition of recorded sound effects after the shooting of a film.”
What I have found while researching foley is that it’s a method that normally has a team of around three people with two people making the foley sounds and one listening through the mixing board and ensuring that the sound is good. Foley is a necessary part in media both in radio and film as it allows you to recreate sounds that normally would be hard to hear, produce such as the breaking of bones can be replicated through the use of celery. Foley is most frequently used to re-record any sounds that were not picked up during the initial recording and then the foley listen back and watch the clip and when the sound should happen and then they make it. |
In radio it’s a bit different since there is no visual to support the sound so they would not watch back the film instead they might listen back to the whole scene and ensure that the transition between the sound effect and the rest of the sound is as seamless as possible.