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Two weeks ago in class we had a sound lesson and watched videos, which I learned a lot of things. We were taught what sound is and the different types of sounds that are used throughout a film. For example, one of the many reasons sound is used is to add emotional impact to the scene, as well as make visuals more realistic. Then the teacher gave a whole lesson of the variety of sounds like synchronous, asynchronous, and diegetic, which are all used in most movies, films, or pieces of media.  Aside from that, we also had to watch a couple videos on illusion and foley sounds. The illusion videos helped me identify and learn the purpose of the creepy, nerve wrecking background music. The sound consists of several tones but you mainly hear the lower bass fade in while the higher one fades out, which makes your brain believe that the sound is constantly increasing. This is used in movies like Sherlock Holmes to create a feeling of intensity and anxiety. Additionally we also had assigned to watch a couple of foley videos and take notes on them, which were quite interesting. The videos showed how a professional foley sound maker develops the perfect sound through a variety of objects that are all put together in the end. They do this because in films the original sound is not as intense or loud, and therefore will not receive the attention that directors want. Personally I learned how difficult and time consuming it is to make a foley sound, whether you’re a professional or not. 

For the sound project we had to work in pairs of two and brainstorm a 1-2 minute realistic scene, that could actually happen in a 1-2 minute span, and using only sounds. Then, we had to create a detailed outline that explains the sounds that will be used. We were only allowed to add 7 words and no video, just a black screen. When we got to making the final project we needed to use online sounds effects for the most part and at least 4 foley sounds made by ourselves. All duos were required to turn in 3 files; the completely edited sound file of the scene, another file of the evidence of all of the foley sounds, and 1-3 images of the editing timeline showing the audios layered. 

Me and my partner were thinking of a real life scenario that could happen in 1-2 minutes, and we came up with the idea of a person walking in a park when a heavy storm hits them and they need to escape it. After brainstorming, we completed the soundscape planning outline which we split the film into 3 main scenes; walking through a park, the rain starts, and then escaping the rain. The outline was probably one of the most important steps for this project since it helped me organize what sounds we wanted to use, and made sure that we wouldn’t repeat or mess up. For each scene we came up with at least 7 sounds that showed what was going on. For the foley sounds we created regular footsteps, raindrops and splashing puddles, footsteps on wet pavement, and clothes rubbing together when running. We used the websites provided by the teacher to look for the rest of the sounds and put it all together on iMovie. 

In my personal experience, I believe that we did a very well job organizing the scenario since we had everything we needed and there was no confusion. We were also able to find every singe sound that matched up perfectly with the scene, which was kind of surprising to me since I thought we weren’t going to find every single one. The foley sounds were also very well done. But I do have to admit that editing the sounds, placing them on top of each other, and making it all sound good was where I struggled. For me it was very difficult to hear the scene and visualize what was going on, especially during the more chaotic scenes. The whole process of layering sounds, increasing and lowering the volume, and placing them at the right spot was honestly so time consuming and difficult. This all tells me that I need to improvise on my editing skills so that my next projects turn out even better.

MunozCykert_soundscape_per1.mp4