Using Adobe Audition

Important note on using copyrighted sound or video.

Simply taking a sound from our library or downloading music or sound and adding it directly to your footage is not enough! Below is a a hierarchy of different levels of creativity can be shown, which directly corresponds to your assessment. We are aiming for  levels 4 & 5!

  1. simple addition of existing non-copyright audio-visual material
  2. basic manipulation of existing non-copyright audio-visual material
  3. substantial manipulation of existing non-copyright audio-visual material
  4. innovative interpretation of non-copyright existing audio-visual material or creation of basic original audio/visual material
  5. creation of sophisticated original audio/visual material.
  • 4)  will be evident in your multi-track mix of loops and effects, which you will get from our library and mix in Audition.
  • 5) will be evident in your recorded foley sounds, application of effects in Audition and in how you mix these with your multi-track of loops and effects in the final edit.
Sound Designers will use Adobe Audition to…
  • Use loops of sound effects / music in order to create:
    • Ambient sound
    • Sound hits, stabs, crescendos
  • Apply effects to own recorded foley sounds or music

You will need to refresh your memory on the basics of Adobe Audition:

Creating Loops in a Multi-track Session:

This enables you to take a sound and repeat it seamlessly, whilst building up other layers of music or sound.

Choose 6-10 sounds or loops of music from our sound effects library and using a multi-track session create a layer of ambient sound, one for each of your different locations (outside / inside).

Horror Sequence Post Production

The deadline for the final draft of your video is: Friday 25th May

The post production will be organised as follows:

One of your group will now take on the role of editor, the other member(s) will take on the role of sound designer.

The Editors Role

Work towards your group’s collective vision and creative intentions for the sequence.

  • Will be responsible for organising the footage so that the edit is well structured and the edit flows well.
    • This means sorting the footage using folders and renaming files appropriately.
  • Creating a rough cut of the footage which tells the basic story.
    • No effects, colour correction or transitions should be used at this stage.
    • The focus is on making sense of the events in your story in a continuity edit.
      • You will work with your partner to assess the sense in your story and get notes for draft 2
  • Using the rough edit you will work with the sound designer to create a foley sound spotting list.
  • You will also work with the sound designer as this point to lay down a simple track of music and ambient sound.
    • They will be making this whilst you do the rough edit.
  • Following this, you will re-cut and polish the edit in draft 2, cutting to make clearer sense of the footage and also applying colour correction, transitions and visual effects.
Sound Designer’s Role

Work towards your group’s collective vision and creative intentions for the sequence.

  • You will work alongside and in collaboration to plan and evaluate the sounds / music you are going to use.
  • You will create a layer of ambient sound / effects which create a sense of atmosphere.
  • Using sound loops (or musicians), you will create some music for the sequence.
  • You will work with the editor in order to sync these sound in the rough cut.
  • Using the rough edit you will work with the sound designer to create a foley sound spotting list and record 3-5 important foley sounds, which you will edit, applying effects in Adobe Audition.
  • You will polish the sound track and foley sounds alongside the editor ready for the final draft.

The Brief

This is the brief for your first full film sequence.

‘The opening sequence (approx 2-3 minutes) of a new horror movie.’

Your creative intentions should be clearly identified at the outset and your reflections throughout and once complete will be based on them. You must also reflect on your developing understanding of your production roles.

You must always keep a record of the production process and upload evidence of your work throughout (at least once a week) to your reflective journal

The creative intentions may be drawn from this list and you should identify 3-5. You may choose others or modify these as you wish.

  • Create a sense of…mystery, suspense, horror, intrigue…around a given place.
  • Introduce a monstrous character or presence.
  • Introduce a…tense, frightened, oblivious… victim.
  • Build the sequence to a shocking/scary crescendo.
  • Use specific cinematography techniques from German Expressionist film making.
  • Use montage editing to develop a sense of place and/or compress time.
  • Use continuity editing to make sense of a characters (inter)actions.
  • Design costume and props and dress the set to create a sense of….abandonment, corruption, decay, threat…

Your creative intentions may depend upon you production roles. You will be working in pairs and will be required to adopt at least one production role from each of the three main stages of production:

Pre-production (planning):
  • Screenwriter &/or storyboard artist
  • Production designer
  • Producer (both)
Production (filming):
  • Cinematographer.
  • Director.
  • Sound recording.
  • Producer (both)
Post production (editing):
  • Visual editing.
  • Foley sound designer
  • Sound editing
  • Music composer
  • Producer (both)
Task:

Define each of these role in terms of the tasks they will be required to undertake during that particular stage of production.

Update the definitions in your reflective journal under the main headings:

  • Editor
  • Director
  • Cinematographer
  • Sound Designer
  • Screenwriter

Here is our brainstorm of the tasks each production role entails.

Montage Filming and Editing

 Uses of a montage in film & TV

  1. To create a sense of place and/or events without giving any narrative information away. This is often done in title sequences to capture the mood of the film without giving away spoilers.

Here is short film, which is an extended montage of a place.

2. To compress time to show a rapid development of a character or event, which is important in the narrative development

Here are examples from the Rocky franchise:

Task

Create a montage which compresses time and communicates a sense of atmosphere. For example:

  • The tedious lesson
  • A frantic school day
  • Writing an difficult essay
  • Another long event (+1 hour) that can be filmed in school
The Rules
  • The montage should last 30-40 seconds.
  • It should contain at least 12 different (beautifully composed shots) some of which may be repeated in the edit.
  • The montage should communicate a clear meaning (what’s going on) and clear atmosphere (tone or feel).
  • There should be a clear sense of time passing and have a clear beginning and end, which fades out to black (to make it seem like more time has passed).
Creative Partnership

This week you are going to be working in pairs and will have specific roles in production and post production:

  • cutting-room-editing-film_medStoryboard Artist
  • Director
  • Cinematographer
  • Editor
  • Sound Designer / Mixer

To complete this tasks effectively you’re going to have to think carefully about how the edit is going to look in the end and ensure that you film all the shots you need. This means planning your sequence. Do do this we are going to use a screenwriting tool called…

The Storyboard

Here is a storyboard template that is similar layout to the professional one above.

Here is a document which explains how to design a storyboard.

You storyboard should be scanned / photographed and uploaded to your Reflective Journal under the screenwriting section.

You should also reflect on it’s usefulness as a pre-production planning / visualisation tool.

Production & Responsibilities

You will be acting for another pair of students and so will spend one lesson acting and the other filming and directing.

When you are the cinematographer you should ensure that each shot is well composed. Also you should ensure the following:

  • All shots are well lit
  • All shots are in focus
  • You get a variety of shot types.

If you are the director, you should be:

  • Working with the cinematographer to block the scenes.
  • Be clear with the emotion that you want you actors to be expressing.
  • Make sure that you work through the storyboard efficiently and in time.
  • Be an encouraging and positive presence on the shoot.

Post Production

If you are editor, you will be responsible for:

  • Compiling the basic montage.
  • Applying filters and transitions to the edit which contribute to the overall tone
  • Coordinating with the sound designer to apply their sound to the sequence

If you are the sound designer you are responsible for:

  • Completing a spotting session with the editor and making a list of sound effects that you want.
  • Sourcing effects that adds meaning / impact to the scene
  • Inserting your sounds into the edit

Reflective Journal

  • What have you learnt about filming and editing for montage
  • What went well
  • Even better if

The Foley Artist

What is Foley?

A Foley Explained and Illustrated

Watch for independent study

TASK

Creative Intention: To record Foley sound for a short sequence in order to create a soundscape that adds a ‘…insert own adjective(s) here’ atmosphere.

  1. Create a new Premiere Pro Project in the D Drive of your computer in a project folder called ‘Your Name – Foley Sound’
  2. Download this clip of film into the Project Folder.
  3. Complete a ‘Spotting Session’, where you identify the sounds that should be in the clip, list at least 5 sounds which you will record in the next session.
    • This should also include ambient sound, which will act as the base layer of sound throughout the clip.
  4. Create 5+ Foley sound using various objects that you bring in from home to create an atmosphere for the clip.
  5. In Audition import the sounds and sync them to the sequence.
  6. Create a title slate for the exercise, which includes:
  7. Export your Foley sound sequence, upload to your G Drive & YouTube
  8. Create a sub-page in the Sound section reflective journal called ‘My Foley Sound’
    • Explain the role of the Foley sound artist
    • The process you used to create the sound
    • Reflect on how Foley sound can be used to add meaning to film.

HELP WITH AUDITION!!!

CHEAT!!!

Here is some extra sound effects and loops