540 Students:
Assignment 1
Please post a proposal for your final project here, including a brief description of your proposed sound design.
Remember that the scene should be 3-5 minutes long and include DIA, MX, FX, BG, and Foley. If you choose an already existing scene, you should not attempt to reproduce the sound design of the scene exactly as in the film. The point of the assignment is to be creative and create an entirely new sound design. Consider it a blank slate.
If you are in doubt about your choice, you should list more than one possibility and I will try to guide you towards a good choice. If you choose something obscure or if you choose one of your own films, you must bring in a copy of the scene to the next class so that I can look at it before I approve it.
Click on “Post a Comment” immediately below to post your assignment. If you do not see it, try clicking here.
31 comments:
To post a comment, you may log in to the right (if you have a Google of Blogger account) or use " Other."
Enter your Assignment text in the LEAVE YOUR COMMENT box. Be sure to sign your name or handle.
You must enter the WORD VERIFICATION , then click PUBLISH YOUR COMMENT .
If all else fails, you can
e-mail it to me.
"Taxi Driver" - Final Shootout Scene
This scene is shot in a very surreal way but I think the current sound design neither matches nor contributes. I want to go more in the direction of hyper-real to surreal. As it is now, the cartoonish gunshots and doorslams "totally take me out", for lack of a better phrase. My only fear is that by going in this direction of hyper-real sound design, this shootout scene will become almost too intense and too gruesome. We'll just have to see...
Sean -
Excellent scene choice, but here are a few things to think about.
How long is the scene? My memory is that it's pretty long. You may need to choose only a section of it.
How much ADR is there? I recall a lot of effors, there may also be some on-camera dialogue.
Backgrounds could be completely surreal or real or somewhere in between.
Do you want to use music at all in the scene? IIRC, the music only comes in at the end on the overhead shot. If you think the scene is too gruesome, adding music might help turn it back into a movie.
"Ceremony of the Ark" - end of Raiders of the Lost Ark
The scene is a bit primitive in its special effects visually, as well as thin in its sound. The score carries the meaning and emotion of the scene, drowning out many of the effects.
I would like to do a more real, less cartoonish as Sean said, version of the effects, to keep me in the scene, and also experiment with what I can do to express the spiritual nature of the scene without solely relying on score. Or at least something different than part of the Raiders' theme...
Catherine -
Again I have to ask how long the scene is. Exactly where are you starting and ending? It might be too much for this class.
It's an interesting choice. The music is overwhelming, it would be interesting to hear how it works without it.
It's 4 min and 20 sec.
Do you think that's too long, given the intensity of what is involved in the scene? That time is from the establishing far shot of the cavern they're in (1:44), to when the lid drops back onto the ark after it's all over (1:48:20). I could look for a better starting point if you advise it.
Or do you think I should look for a different scene altogether?
Catherine -
It's a fine scene, and finding a later starting point might be better.
How long is it from the opening of the ark to the closing?
How much ADR is there at the beginning?
1:44:46 is when the ark is opened, which makes the scene about 3 and a half minutes.
The only ADR is what I assume Hebrew right before the guy opens the Ark, and then Indy saying "marianne, don't look at it. shut your eyes. no matter what happens, don't look at it." or something to that effect.
I would like to do a scene from Evil Dead 2. From the point when Linda comes back from the dead and there's an animated sequence of her dancing until Ash goes into the work shead with Linda's head biting his hand. I'd like to do the whole work shead scene, but there's kind of a lot of sync DIA.
For the dance sequence I'd like to use music box music to try and make it creepier. And all the slapstick stuff that happens after I'd like to use a large dynamic range so that the wresling on the floor is subdued, but the punches and such are really loud.
Paul -
Sorry to admit I haven't seen ED2 all the way through and don't remember the sequence, but it sounds like a good choice, as long as there is not too much dialogue.
Catherine -
If it's 3 1/2 minutes, that sounds good.
"The Gift" - The bathtub scene
In this scene, Annie walks into the hallway to find water on the floor. In the bathroom, there is a ghost in her bathtub. I want to use the water to create more tension within the scene. Also, I'd like to utilize efforts in the soundtrack.
Beth -
Bathroom-type water effects, particularly in a bathroom, are very difficult to do. We don't allow it in our Foley room because of the mess and stench it makes, and outside of a Foley room, it's even more difficult, as you have tto edit every movement into synch. I would recommend looking for a different scene.
I am proposing Sound Design for a Spanish film called "13 Curses." I want to do the opening scene (about 4 mins). I believe it contains a bit of all of the elements which we spoke about in class. It has a couple of lines in Spanish which I want to ADR into English. It has a lot of opportunity for folley. The story is about a father who is trying to keep his crazy wife away from their son. It may be one that the class is not familiar with so I can bring the scene in question to class or leave a copy in your box early for your opinion. I do have a couple of other ideas but I think this one could prove to both interesting and challenging.
Reed -
Sounds like a good choice, but I haven't seen the film, so bring the clip to class Monday.
Thanks,
"The Silence of the Lambs" - Jodie Foster entering the basement
I like this scene because there is some dialogue but not too much, some off-screen as well which should be interesting. There are also hard fx and foley, but I like the direction of the scene and I think it has some great opportunities for ambient and subjective sounds. I also like how I think the scene could have a more minimal sound design. I am also interested in working with different music cues. My only question is that the scene is broken up slightly, can this still work?
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Lizard Bar Scene
This is from 16:17 to 19:40, from Hunter and his lawyer's entrance to the lizard lounge. As is, the scene is music heavy, dialogue light, a bit of narration, and lots of strange surreal sounds. What I'd like to do different is minimize the music and make the hard FX real, instead of surreal. So lizards sound like lizards, etc. The goal is a clear sound design, instead of the muddy drugged one it has now. Look forward to your feedback.
Kyle -
Good choice for a scene, it could be very interesting with a different sound design.
Pip -
I don't remember the scene that well, but any drug-induced scene is a good one, IMHO.
Hi David
I'd like to do the scene in "A Series of Unfortunate Events" when the kids get locked in the car on the railroad tracks and have to figure out how to escape. It starts at 23:37 and runs just about exactly 5 minutes. Right now the sound is a little sparse and the emotional build is very much in the music when it could depend much more heavily on the sound design. I'm worried about the amount of kid ADR, though. There's some kid dialogue in one section of the scene.
The other scene I was thinking about is in "V For Vendetta" when V takes over the TV station. Kind of a heist scene. It's shorter: about 2 and a half minutes, but lots of fun stuff.
In "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", Joel and Clementine are at the beach-house in one of the later memories that they have begun to alter. There are a couple of lines of dialogue about "coming back" and then it enters into a short dreamy montage with just music. I think it would be interesting to redo this with surreal and actual sounds without music. It's a short sequence, about a 1:30.
I'd also like to redo or at least update the sound on an animated short I did last semester. It's the third painted one on my blog. I need to hire a composer and some of the effects seem kindof cliche at this point. Also, there's no dialogue. Again, 1:30.
Other ideas I've considered,
- Miyasaki's "Howl's Moving Castle" - Castle mechanical effects could be interesting, redoing Christian Bale's voice which doesn't fit the character in my opinion
- dream sequence from Hitchcock's "Vertigo" without music
-Kill Bill 1 - part of the fight scene between Uma and Gogo when Gogo is killed.
After looking through my artsy films, I finally came upon a guilty pleasure -- LA Story. I want to work on the scene in the end of the film when weather intervenes to stop Victoria Tennant's plane from departing Los Angeles and brings her back to Steve Martin. The scene is a little over 4 minutes long and starts around 1:23:50 on the dvd. As it is in the film, the sound effects are minimized, and it is more of an Enya music video. I want to try to create a similar emotional climax through a crescendo of realistic effects with minimal, rhythmic music (if any -- I want to play with this). At the climax of the scene, a romantic embrace, the noise dies out as the world disappears for the two. There are also a few lines of diegetic dialogue and voice over.
I was also considering a five minute sequence of the newer Solaris in which George Clooney is dreaming of his first romantic encounter with his wife. Again, the scene relies heavily on music, which works well but seems to clean for a dream. I think that the sound could be much more experimental and sensual. I'm reluctant to do a scene with Clooney's bare ass, however.
I think I'm going to do the opening scene of Ghostbusters, the one in the library until the opening credits. I would like to create a darker sound design putting the scene more into the horror genre than the comedy genre.
Matt -
I love the movie, but I'm not sure you'll be able to change a romanitc climax into anything but a music montage.
SOLARIS might be more interesting, if you can stand looking at Clooney for a month.
Amanda -
SUNSHINE is fine. I need to see your animated short, so bring a copy Monday night.
Robyn -
I haven't seen either film, so you'll need to bring them to class. (ADR with kids is virtually impossible to do well.)
Beth -
GHOSTBUSTERS sounds like a good choice. My only questions are, how much dialogue is there, and how long is the sequence?
Not to be a copy cat, but I'd also like to do a scene from RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. I want to do the opening into the South American Temple up until he tumbles out the Temple door. Running time is 4min. The scene has wall to wall music that I'd like to minimize. I want to play with BG and FX to establish a more sinister/creepy atmosphere to the temple. There is a bit of dialogue with his local guide. All around a fun challenge. Thoughts?
I was thinking about doing a scene from the animated movie "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within." The scene I want to do is a 4 1/2 minute scene where a group of soldiers go to a wasteland to collect an artifact, only to be attacked surrounding creatures. The thing is, it's over 4 minutes and consists of both action and dialogue among 4-5 people, not to mention that I wouldn't have any idea about how to record sci-fi type sounds.
Theresa -
That's an intensely difficult scene. If you want to try it, go ahead, but you might want to pick a late start point.
Victor -
The scene sounds like it might be a bit ambitious. Please bring the scene in so I can look at it.
As for how to do sci-fi sounds, it's like any other sound. Use your imagination. There are no rules.
Post a Comment