#audiovision

[marcogiovenale]

la partecipazione al premio è gratuita https://premiozavattini.it/ _  

[deathshallbenomore]

i milanesi nelle produzioni audiovisive italiane:🅰️🅾️

[oculus-ag]

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[multiverseofseries]

Maze Runner su Netflix: 5 curiosità che forse non sapevate sulla trilogia di Wes Ball

Maze Runner - Il labirinto, Maze Runner: La fuga e Maze Runner - La rivelazione sono tutti e tre disponibili su Netflix e hanno scalato velocemente la Top 10. Siamo andati a scovare qualche aneddoto sui film diretti da Wes Ball.

Stiamo diventando davvero vecchi? Sono passati 10 anni da Maze Runner - Il labirinto, primo film della fortunata trilogia cinematografica tratta dall'omonima saga di romanzi sci-fi per ragazzi di James Dashner, seguito da Maze Runner: La fuga e Maze Runner - La rivelazione. Ora che tutte e tre le pellicole sono disponibili sul servizio streaming per antonomasia, ci sembra l'occasione perfetta per fare un recap sul dietro le quinte della realizzazione dei film.

Maze Runner - Il labirinto: una scena corale del film

Ma di cosa parla Maze Runner? Narrata in ordine non cronologico, la trama della trilogia racconta come la Terra sia stata devastata da una serie di Eruzioni Solari che hanno portato con loro l''epidemia di una grave malattia contagiosa, chiamata l'Eruzione, che porta alla totale follia e morte di chi viene infettato. All'inizio della storia facciamo la conoscenza del protagonista Thomas, imprigionato nella Radura, da cui dovrà cercare di uscire.

1. Punto di partenza… e di arrivo

Maze Runner - Il labirinto: Dylan O'Brien in una scena del film

La saga letteraria di Maze Runner sembra non avere fine oltre ad essere il punto di partenza dei film di Wes Ball. James Dashner infatti oltre alla trilogia principale composta dai romanzi omonimi, Il labirinto (2009), La fuga (2010) e La rivelazione (2011), ha scritto due prequel, La mutazione (2012) e Il codice (2016). Ci sono anche un libro complementare, The Maze Runner Files (2013), e uno spin-off, The Crack Palace, ambientato durante gli eventi del terzo libro ed incentrato sulle vicissitudini di Newt in seguito alla separazione dai compagni. Esiste anche un sequel, Il veliero del labirinto (2021), che dovrebbe formare il primo capitolo di una nuova trilogia sequel, ambientata 73 anni dopo La rivelazione.

2. Promising Young Cast

Maze Runner - Il labirinto: una scena tratta dal film fantascientifico

La trilogia cinematografica di Maze Runner ha avuto davvero parecchio successo rispetto ad altre storie ambientate in un futuro distopico sul grande schermo degli anni 2000. I numeri al botteghino mondiale infatti parlano di 348 milioni di dollari per il primo film, 312 milioni per il secondo e 288 milioni per il terzo. Grazie al successo, i suoi giovani e promettenti interpreti sono stati lanciati insieme alle proprie carriere: il poker protagonista, composto da Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster e Will Poulter, fu trionfatore all'epoca ai Teen Choice e agli MTV Movie Awards, i premi più vicini alle produzioni audiovisive per target giovane. Eppure proprio Dylan O'Brien inizialmente venne scartato dal regista Wes Ball poiché la sua folta chioma gli ricordava troppo lo stile di Teen Wolf, la serie di cui era co-protagonista in quegli anni. Una foto del ragazzo coi capelli corti fu galeotta quando finì per caso nelle mani del cineasta, che tornò sui propri passi a patto che il giovane attore leggesse in solamente quattro giorni il primo romanzo per prepararsi al ruolo. Oggi possiamo vedere l'interprete in Love and Monsters su Netflix ma non nel film sequel di Teen Wolf, al quale non ha preso parte.

Maze Runner - Il labirinto: Kaya Scodelario in una scena nei panni di Teresa

Sempre sulla piattaforma, Kaya Scodelario (Teresa) è invece divenuta co-protagonista accanto a Theo James di The Gentlemen, la serie di Guy Ritchie tratta dal suo omonimo film dl 2019 - oltre che nel quinto capitolo della saga di Pirati dei Caraibi - mentre all'epoca venne presa grazie alla propria interpretazione in Skins. Thomas Brodie-Sangster, visibile su Netflix anche ne La regina degli scacchi accanto ad Anya Taylor-Joy, è anche nel cast della miniserie Pistol nei panni dell'anarchico agente della band e protagonista del serial The Artful Dodger nel ruolo del personaggio titolare, il Jack Dawkins di Oliver Twist di cui è sequel e spin-off: lui si propose sia per il ruolo di Gally che per quello di Newt, ma ottenne alla fine quest'ultimo e, a differenza del co-star, non ha mai letto i libri originari.

Will Poulter in Maze Runner - Il labirinto

Il ruolo di Gally andò invece a Will Poulter, protagonista di un'altra saga fantasy per ragazzi, Le cronache di Narnia, molto più sfortunata al cinema e che potrebbe avere una seconda vita in streaming proprio su Netflix nei prossimi anni. Oltre che come protagonista dell'esperimento interattivo di Black Mirror sulla piattaforma, Bandersnatch, Poulter è in Midsommar, è diventato Adam Warlock nel Marvel Cinematic Universe e figura nel cast di Dopesick e come special guest star della seconda stagione di The Bear. C'è infine chi è arrivato al limite dello stalking: Blake Cooper riempì di messaggi il profilo Twitter di Wes Ball per convincerlo a dargli il ruolo di Chuck, e alla fine lo ottenne.

3. Special Training… o forse no

Maze Runner: La fuga, una scena d'azione tratta dal film

Il giovane cast venne scelto senza accertarsi delle loro capacità fisiche da parte della produzione. Vennero quindi mandati in una vera e propria sfida di sopravvivenza in mezzo alla natura: costruirsi strumenti utili a cavarsela e per ripararsi dalla pioggia, insomma entrare in un vero e proprio survival mood, anche se supervisionati. Tra i potenziali pericoli, ben 25 specie di serpenti velenosi e addirittura letali. I produttori scoprirono così che gli interpreti non necessitavano di ulteriore training fisico per iniziare le riprese. Nonostante questo, Kaya Scodelario che voleva immergersi completamente nel ruolo di Teresa, prese lezioni per conto proprio, senza voler utilizzare controfigure nelle pellicole. A Thomas Brodie-Sangster invece serviva l'abilità di zoppicare con naturalezza per Newt e gli venne un'idea geniale, degna dello scienziato che ha ispirato il nome del suo personaggio: mettersi dei sassolini nella scarpa.

4. In Nomen Omen

Maze Runner - La rivelazione: Dylan O'Brien, Thomas Brodie-Sangster e Ki Hong Lee in una scena del film

A proposito di ispirazioni, In Nomen Omen dice il detto, ed effettivamente i nomi dei protagonisti della saga letteraria (e quindi del franchise cinematografico) non sono stati scelti a caso ma intendono omaggiare personaggi storici realmente esistiti e divenuti celebri per aver portato delle importanti innovazioni e scoperte all'interno del proprio campo, come la scienza, la matematica, la fisica e la filosofia. Tra questi citiamo: l'inventore Thomas Edison per il protagonista maschile, Madre Teresa per la protagonista femminile, Isaac Newton per Newt, il nostro Galileo per Gally, l'evoluzionista Charles Darwin per Chuck, Albert Einstein per Alby, il Primo Ministro inglese Winston Churchill per Winston e il Padre Fondatore Benjamin Franklin per Ben.

5. Ispirazione cinematografica

Dylan O'Brien con il regista Wes Ball sul set di Maze Runner - Il labirinto

Quali film hanno ispirato Wes Ball tanto per il primo capitolo quanto per i suoi sequel Maze Runner: La Fuga e Maze Runner - La rivelazione? Due sono le ispirazioni cinematografiche solo apparentemente antitetiche, ma forse complementari. Da un lato Steven Spielberg che ha cresciuto molti di noi con i suoi film di formazione e d'avventura, principalmente col suo cult Jurassic Park, che ha avuto sequel e spin-off a sua volta. Dall'altro Terrence Malick, legato nella sua filmografia alla natura e una visione di cinema tra il naturalistico e l'ancestrale e forse proprio per questo legato alle tematiche di Maze Runner. Ball dichiarò che si fece una maratona di tutte le pellicole di Malick prima di iniziare a girare.

[michelangelob]

Bill Viola: addio al pioniere delle Installazioni Audiovisive nell'Arte Contemporanea

Bill Viola ci ha lasciati. A 73 anni il pioniere delle installazioni audiovisive se n’è andato a causa dell’Alzheimer. E’ stato senza dubbio uno degli artisti più influenti dell’arte contemporanea e nei suoi 50 anni di carriera ha realizzato opere visionari con installazioni immersivi e paesaggi sonori. Vi ricordate quaando Bill Viola, il 26 gennaio 2018 inaugurò la mostra a Londra che…

[lamilanomagazine]

Modena, il quadro di Ubaldo Oppi a Barcellona nel segno di Picasso

Modena, il quadro di Ubaldo Oppi a Barcellona nel segno di Picasso C'è un po' di Modena nella mostra che si svolge al Museo Picasso di Barcellona da giovedì 6 giugno (fino al 6 ottobre) dal titolo "Fernande Olivier, Pablo Picasso y sus amigos". Viene esposto, infatti, anche il dipinto di Ubaldo Oppi "Donna con abito rosso", del 1913, che fa parte della collezione Sernicoli del Museo Civico. La mostra ripercorre la vita e le relazioni di Fernande Olivier, compagna e modella di Picasso a Parigi dal 1904 al 1912, e l'opera di Oppi è stata selezionata perché nel volto della donna in rosso sono state riconosciute proprio le sembianze di Fernande, non solo per via del particolare taglio a mandorla degli occhi. Il dipinto, infatti, venne eseguito nel 1913, nel periodo in cui l'artista ebbe forse una relazione con Fernande a Parigi, come riporta una testimonianza dell'artista Gino Severini che Oppi frequentò nella capitale francese. L'esposizione presenta anche documenti e fotografie inedite, testimonianze audiovisive e numerosi ritratti firmati dalla cerchia di amici di Fernande Olivier. Tra questi, dipinti di Kees van Dongen, Joaquim Sunyer, Marie Laurencin, così come i ritratti realizzati da Picasso che furono fondamentali per lo sviluppo del cubismo. Entrato a far parte delle collezioni del Museo Civico nel 2007, in seguito all'importante lascito di opere del commercialista Carlo Sernicoli, il dipinto può essere considerato tra le opere più intense e sofisticate eseguite durante la prima permanenza parigina dell'artista, dove le esperienze viennesi si intersecano con quelle scaturite in seno all'avanguardia francese. "Forte dell'humus culturale assorbito in occasione del contatto con l'ambiente secessionista e con gli esiti della pittura fauves-espressionista, Oppi – spiegano gli esperti del Museo Civico - ne sostanzia gli influssi in questa serie di figure misteriose ed elegantemente atteggiate". Personalità dalla cultura eclettica e sfaccettata, Oppi è annoverato tra i protagonisti della scena figurativa italiana della prima metà del XX secolo. Di origini bolognesi, è cresciuto a Vicenza, seguendo l'attività del padre, per poi vivere a Vienna, a Venezia, a Parigi e a Milano dove nel 1923, sotto l'impulso teorico di Margherita Sarfatti, costituisce il gruppo dei sette pittori del "Novecento italiano" insieme a Bucci, Dudreville, Malerba, Marussing e Sironi. La mostra di Barcellona focalizza l'attenzione sulla capacità di Fernande Olivier di raccogliere e incarnare nei suoi scritti la vita condivisa con Pablo Picasso nel momento in cui l'artista inizia ad emergere nell'ambito delle avanguardie. In "Picasso et ses amis" (1933) e "Souvenirs intimes. Écris pour Picasso" (1988), Olivier racconta in modo diretto e sincero gli anni di convivenza con l'artista al Bateau-Lavoir. Olivier ha scritto anche una serie di racconti e poesie (ancora inediti) che mostrano una grande sensibilità e un forte interesse intellettuale. Oltre ad essere una finestra per conoscerne un po' meglio il genio, questa mostra - la prima a lei dedicata in Spagna - vuole essere anche un omaggio a questa artista, al di là del suo rapporto con Picasso. Il progetto della mostra spagnola ha coinvolto l'Archivio La Belle Fernande (Albf) e importanti fornitori come, tra gli altri, il Musée Picasso di Parigi, il Museo delle Belle Arti di Bilbao, la Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, la Kunstsammlung di Düsseldorf, il Museo Reina Sofía e il Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza.... #notizie #news #breakingnews #cronaca #politica #eventi #sport #moda Read the full article

[felixtam]

Audiovision Blog Post week 12

1. Research (technical, academic, creative practice)

Some of the final finishing touches I needed to make to the sound design surrounded the alteration of the dialogue at the end. I initially just used a royalty free recording of talking but even after manipulating it, it was still audibly in english and some of the words could be understood. As the characters would be speaking in Mandarin I decided to record this myself. This was fine for the old man but I had some trouble getting the tone of an old woman as my voice is not that high pitch to where it would sound accurate.

I followed some of the tips and tricks from this thread on 'gearspace.com' around the creation of inaudible dialogue.

By eqing the presence of audible words to around 5k-8k hz , adding reverb and some minor delay to layer the words this seemed to work quite effectively. It also added to the some what hallucinatory state that the character is in right before he is about to pass away and transition into the coffin scene.

This video by 'Thomas Flight' breaks down the controversial use of inaudible dialogue in the 2020 Christopher Nolan film 'Tenet'. While this movie had a quite polarised reception, personally I really like the film and the way it approaches its themes through Nolan's direction.

The reason why this video relates to my project is around the use of dialogue, or rather the misuse of it that results in an interesting result. Many viewers of the film criticised it around the multitude of sections where the dialogue is nearly inaudible. This is due to things like the mix, where the score dominates the scene or where sfx are on similar frequencies.

Following the criticism Nolan received as a result he spoke up in an interview for the Hollywood Reporter.

In my animation I wanted to use a similar technique as throughout the animation there is pretty much zero dialogue other than the low mixed television show in the background. As I personally don't speak any Chinese and the animation takes place in Hong Kong, this makes inaudible dialogue a solution to this problem. I am then able to mumble and chatter in a manner that is somewhat authentic to actual arguing whilst meaning nothing.

I used this super rough video of a dispute on a train in China as a reference for my own recording and found that it worked quite well.

By having the dialogue as a sound effect rather than a key narrative element, this allows the score and sound effects to become more dominant which I feel works better in the circumstances of the scene. The previous scenes in the animation setup the narrative in an understandable way where you as a viewer get this context through gestures and actions.

Ultimately I feel that this technique by Nolan has been implemented effectively whilst also filling the space within the mix to intensify the situation.

3. Progress

This week was directly focussed on working 1 on 1 with my group to resolve any issues and problems with the sound design/ animation.

I received a new version of the render, however the frame rate and timing of everything was a bit different. This led me to spend a few hours just painstakingly adjusting everything manually as I did not want to disrupt any of the automation and effects that I had in place.

This was quite frustrating however I am very happy with the new version of the render as the visual enhancements made ultimately improve the overall cohesion of the sound and video.

Some of the changes I made this week were,

Balancing out the levels of some of the louder sections as a couple of sounds began to clip after I mastered, saturated, and limited the audio.

Addition of some minor foley rustling and breaking sounds that I recorded myself (where the woman is walking around on the broken things and some minor creaking in the bed when she sits down)

More intense manipulation of the effects with some of the transitional sections.

I had to rerecord some of the inaudible dialogue myself. This was used in the final scene where they begin to argue but I have added a lot of distortion, delay, echo and hybrid reverb to make the dialogue inaudible. The effects also help enhance the atmosphere of the man as he is beginning to fade away.

I have just sent the final version of my sound design back to my group and am now just waiting on them to send it back after they have implemented it into their video.

Bibliography:

[levysoft]

L’ISAN (International Standard Audiovisual Number) è un sistema di numerazione certificato ISO per identificare, gestire e catalogare attraverso un codice identificativo unico, permanente e riconosciuto a livello internazionale, le opere cine‐audiovisive.

[afnews7]

"Competenza, pluralismo e obiettività nella ripartizione dei fondi": l'appello congiunto di Asifa Italia e Associazioni audiovisive nazionali

Asifa Italia e le Associazioni dell’audiovisivo in seguito alla pubblicazione del decreto Riparto del Fondo per lo sviluppo degli investimenti nel cinema e nell’audiovisivo per l’anno 2024, e in attesa di poter leggere i decreti attuativi che faranno luce sulle specifiche di detto riparto, vogliono porre subito l’attenzione sul sensibile aumento dei fondi selettivi a discapito di quelli…

[assignment4blog]

Week 11

This week, my main focus has been on my collaboration project. I had several meetings with my collaborator, who gave me feedback on my work in progress. She suggested that the music in the intro should start a bit later and that the pacing should be adjusted to match the animation. I made these changes, and she was pleased with the results. Currently, I am waiting for her to provide more finalised material so I can continue with the sound design placement, as I am still not completely sure about the overall pacing of the piece.

Here is a link to my works in progress: Work in progress Audiovision  

Liam and I also took the time to borrow a field recorder from the loans desk and recorded a variety of sounds to create a sound library. I plan to use this library for my assignments and future projects. We recorded sounds such as footsteps, nature and city ambience, bush sounds, and water.

[paoloferrario]

“Scrivere per cambiare. Le narrazioni audiovisive nel servizio sociale”: 31 maggio, Cinema TAU, evento accreditato dall’Ordine degli assistenti sociali della Calabria

vai a: “Scrivere per cambiare. Le narrazioni audiovisive nel servizio sociale”: 31 maggio Cinema TAU, evento accreditato dall’Ordine degli assistenti sociali della Calabria. – Maria Anna Notaro “Scrivere per cambiare. Le narrazioni audiovisive nel servizio sociale”: 31 maggio Cinema TAU, evento accreditato dall’Ordine degli assistenti sociali della Calabria.

[jeskkka]

Illustration for VFA pension insurance published in the program booklet of the locarno film festival.

Client: Vorsorgestiftung Film und Audiovision vfa

[deathshallbenomore]

gaydar pazzesco per spottare gheis da occasioni fugaci quali: passeggiate, guardate fuori dalla finestra à la pettegola del paese, osservazione indignata di turisti vestiti da avventura nella savana, esperienze audiovisive e consumazione di prodotti mediatici in generale.

gaydar non pervenuto con: le donne con cui entro in contatto nella vita quotidiana. e infatti sbaglio sempre

[cinquecolonnemagazine]

Piano cinema 2024, nuovi fondi dalla Campania per il comparto audiovisivo

È stato pubblicato ieri sul BURC l’Avviso pubblico per la concessione di contributi per lo sviluppo e produzione di opere audiovisive, per la promozione della cultura cinematografica e audiovisiva e per il sostegno all’attività delle sale cinematografiche, ai sensi del “Piano operativo annuale di promozione dell'attività cinematografica e audiovisiva” per l’anno 2024. Piano cinema 2024, nuovi fondi Le risorse assegnate per le opere audiovisive (sez.1) ammontano a euro 2.500.000 (di cui euro 500.000 per lo sviluppo), a euro 1.300.00 per la promozione cinematografica-festival, rassegne e premi e altre iniziative- (sez.2) e a euro 700.000 per gli esercizi cinematografici (sez. 3). Grazie alla Legge Regionale 30/16 “Cinema Campania”, il Piano Cinema annuale è diventato un elemento strutturale del sistema audiovisivo campano, permettendo alla Campania di raggiungere una posizione di assoluta rilevanza nel panorama audiovisivo, sia in termini di attrattività della “location Campania” che in termini di visibilità del territorio regionale che ha raggiunto un pubblico sempre più numeroso, anche fuori dai confini italiani. Nuovo vigore e nuove iniziative Nel settore della promozione gli incentivi regionali hanno avuto il merito di ridare vigore ad iniziative già consolidate e garantire spazio a nuove proposte e sperimentazioni in uno scenario di grande vivacità e dinamismo. Il sostegno regionale, inoltre, ha permesso alle sale di resistere alla crisi del settore dell’esercizio che finalmente comincia a dare segnali di ripresa. Anche quest’anno la gestione del fondo e dell’Avviso pubblico è affidata alla Fondazione in house Film Commission Regione Campania che fornisce i servizi di informazione e assistenza per la presentazione delle domande. Le istanze di contributo possono essere presentate dal 30 aprile al 30 maggio 2024 sulla piattaforma www.pianocinemacampania.it. Foto di Andreas Glöckner da Pixabay Read the full article

[delectablywaywardbeard-blog]

Cinema, nove produzioni pronte a girare in Liguria

Nove produzioni audiovisive nazionali e internazionali sono pronte a girare il primo ciak in Liguria sostenute da un contributo regionale di oltre 2,2 milioni in totale. È il risultato emerso dalla chiusura del bando della Regione Liguria dedicato all’attrazione di nuovi lungometraggi o serie tv.     “Una grande risposta che testimonia, ancora una volta, l’interesse che suscita la Liguria in…

[s3840808]

Assessment 4 - Blog s3840808

Week 1:

I found the introductory class to AudioVision very interesting. We had a look at a unique instrument created by Canadian composer Mark Korven, called the Apprehension Machine. It features multiple components; some metal rods, a single string with an attached ebow, metal rulers, etc. From what I’ve read, it was designed for writing horror scores and was actually featured on Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse and The Witch. I’d be very keen to play and experiment with it in the future. We also had a look at the Japanese concept, ikigai, which translates to ‘ a reason for being’. The ikigai states that your purpose in life should consist of what you love, what you’re good at, what you can be paid for, and what the world needs. Darrin also recommended Sweet Anticipation, a book by David Huron on psychology and music, which I’ll definitely have a read of.

Week 2:

During the second week I worked on assignment 1 which involved creating sound for an animation of Gina Moore’s. It was fun composing for visuals again - I haven’t done it since 2020 when I was studying sound production. It was interesting seeing everyone’s approach to the assignment. Despite being completely different from one another, I can see why each person went the direction they did. I watched an interesting interview with Hans Zimmer where he discussed the creative process of scoring Dune. He made a good point in saying that it’s odd that almost all sci-fi movies like Star Wars, Alien, 2001: A Space Odyssey, etc. feature european orchestral sounds despite them taking place in other worlds and cultures. Zimmer set out to create a unique sound that mirrored the dark atmosphere that the Dune universe encapsulates. It was also interesting hearing how he described what kind of sounds he was going for, for example, he’d tell his celloist to play the cello like a Tibetan war horn or his flautist to play the flute like it were the wind whistling. It was a fascinating insight into how he operates as a composer and it gave me a lot to think about moving forward as a sound designer/composer.

Week 3:

During week 3 we had a guest lecturer, Mark Hooper, who has done sound design work on multiple films/tv shows throughout the years. I found his lecture very engaging and gained alot of insight on his thought process when it comes to approaching a new project. A useful piece of information I picked up from Mark was how to effectively fade in and out audio between scenes; Fading audio for scene A out one frame after and fading audio for scene B in one frame before. Mark also emphasized the importance of prioritizing time when working on a project, saying its better to focus more time on impactful moments - themes, motifs, signature sounds, etc. , as opposed to getting caught up on less important details. This is something I often struggle with myself. I find myself obsessing over tiny details and then begin to stress out when deadlines grow closer. This is something I’ll need to work on continuing on in the future. Mark also recommended a book by Walter Murch called In the Blink of an Eye, which focuses on the art of editing in filmmaking. I intend to look into this in the near future. I recently watched Justine Triet’s, Anatomy of a Fall, and really enjoyed it’s approach to sound design. From memory, all sound is diagetic and I assume they went for this approach in order to keep the audience’s attention on the dialouge as it plays the most important role in the film. The sound feels extremely grounded and realistic - you really get an idea of the tone and character of each space in the film, whether that be interior or exterior. There are a few recurring songs that play throughout the film, serving as important plot devices. I wont spoil anything but I enjoyed how they used sound as a pivotal factor in driving the plot forwards.

Week 6:

These past two weeks I've begun working on the soundtrack for my collaborative project. The soundtrack will complement a horror game featuring elements of traditional Chinese folklore and Taoism. My collaborator, Yue, wants the music to be eerie, atmospheric and slow burning rather than grandiose or jump scare orientated. In terms of instrumentation, gongs, vocal choir chants, droning synthesisers and bells are being utilised. I recently watched a Japanese film called Kairo, directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. I found the film's sound design particularly interesting; dialogue often sounds extremely close in proximity and white noise can be heard in almost every scene creating quite an unnerving atmosphere. Additionally, the soundtrack itself is rather minimal for the most part, often revolving around some droning sounds, which lends itself to the dark atmosphere of the film.

Week 7:

This past week I've made some significant progress in my collaborative project. I created a few different demos of potential soundtracks and sent them to Yue to get an idea of what direction I should be heading for. They were very happy with one demo in particular so I've been working on refining the idea and creating two other pieces with a similar essence. I’ve been reading Karen Collins' Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory, and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design and have been picking up a few ideas and tips from it. Collins speaks of the importance of experimenting with different variables to ensure that a composition gets a “longer shelf life”. One of the aforementioned variables includes rhythmic changes - in a major key a sudden rhythmic change can create a sense of positive anticipation, whereas in a minor key it can create a sense of dread or fear. Collins also states that avoiding harmonic resolutions can make a composition more adaptable to gameplay changes, allowing the music to flow in multiple directions. I've also been reading Michael Chion's Audio-vision: Sound on Screen. Chion states that there are two ways in which music and sound can establish a specific emotion: empathetic effect or anempathetic effect. Empathetic sound correlates directly to the emotion being shown on screen, while anempathetic sound is indifferent to what is being shown on screen. The juxtaposition of anempathetic music and on-screen visuals has the effect of intensifying an emotion.  I recently watched a Japanese psychological horror film called Cure by Kiyoshi Kurosawa and noticed it utilises the anempathetic effect multiple times during its runtime. For example, during the opening scene quirky jovial music plays as a man murders someone in cold blood. The music being played is emotionally detached to what is being shown on screen and made the scene seem far more disturbing as a result. Perhaps this is a technique I could try to incorporate into my collaborative project.

Week 8:

This week I’ve been developing my collaborative work further. Taoist and Buddhist themes are a key element of the game I’m working on and my collaborator has expressed the importance of including traditional Buddhist instrumentation in the compositions. As such I researched what instruments are involved in Buddhist rituals. As Zhang states, Buddhist instrumentation and music differs depending on region but a few notable instruments include gongs, the Gu drum, di and xao (two different flutes) and chimes. Vocal chanting is also prominent in Buddhist music and is an element I’ve utilised heavily in one of the compositions. I read Tibetan Tantric Buddhism: Envisioning Death by Kathryn Coster to get an idea of the instrumentation used for Buddhist funeral ceremonies, as a major scene I’m composing for in the game is set at a funeral. I discovered that the kangling, a trumpet made from a human thighbone, representing death and impermanence, is commonly used. The kangling produces a haunting sound and fits in well with the themes of the game’s narrative.

Week 9:

I’ve made further progress on my collaborative work this week. Presently, I’ve been focusing purely on the musical composition of the project but I’m beginning to prepare myself for the sound effect aspect. To gain further insight into horror sound design in video games, I’ve been reading Sound and the diegesis in survival-horror games (2008), a paper by Daniel Kromand, and have picked up a lot. Kromand (2008) states that sound design in horror games often create “a framework of uncertainty that constantly holds the player between knowledge and ignorance”. Horror games purposely confuse and mislead players by making it uncertain which sounds are diagetic or not. The inability to locate the source of these sounds causes unease in players. As Kromand (2008) puts it, “collapse of the barrier between the diegetic and non-diegetic soundscape is a strategy to build a horror atmosphere”. Kromand (2008) also brings up an interesting sound design technique used in the game, Bioshock (2007), in which crescendos, which often are used in horror films to create fear and symbolise impending danger, are instead activated by how much time has passed. This preconceived notion of the traditional use of crescendos (in a horror context) causes constant confusion in players and puts them on edge as they begin to anticipate conflict that may not even happen. 

I’ve also been reading a paper by Mark Grimshaw called, The audio Uncanny Valley: Sound, fear and the horror game (2009), which goes into the utilisation of the uncanny valley phenomenon in relation to sound design. Grimshaw (2009) states that by defamiliarising an everyday mundane sound through use of different processing techniques, you create an unnerving uncanny valley-like feeling. An example of this can be seen in Ringu (1998), in which the sound of the ringing telephone is actually a combination of four different phone rings at once. 

I look forward to putting these different techniques to use for my collaborative work.

Week 10:

This week I did further research into video game-based sound design. I came across a really interesting youtuber called Marshall McGee. His videos often break down specific games, analysing how they've approached the sound design and how they've achieved it. He also interviews industry experts from time to time, which is rather insightful. A recent video of his I watched goes through a trending sound stylisation being frequently used in the industry at the moment. The sound I'm referring to is a low mid-range rumble. The sound is achieved by using an envelope follower which opens up a filter, creating a sense of movement, and by focusing in on 180hz -400hz. The sound is then ran through various modulation effects and multi-band compression. I've also been watching another youtuber, David Dumais, who makes similar videos. He has a video providing tips on creating a sound design demo reel which I've found useful as I'm in the process of creating one at the moment for an internship application.

Week 11:

This week we all uploaded our works-in-progress to Canvas and gave each other feedback. For Angus' project, I suggested some extra harmonies could slowly be introduced for the sadder song as it progresses to add some extra emotional weight. I also recommended utilising more percussive elements to the happier-sounding song to bring more energy to the composition. I really liked what both Hugh and Ryan were able to accomplish in the Us! animation. I think the score and sound design match the style and tone of the animation perfectly. One thing I suggested though was to cut out the music from 1:36 to 1:48 to enhance the comedic effect of the situation on screen. Also, I think adding a large, spacious reverb to the sound of the character's movements during the outer space scene would work well to reflect the sense of the environment. I was a big fan of Nick's work on the Worm's Memoirs score. The gradual transition from playfulness to horrific was well-executed and I loved the piano tone of the ending rendition of the main theme. One piece of criticism I had though was the tone of the flute; it came across as quite jarring and 'pokey' sounding. I suggested using some subtractive EQ to mend the issue.

I was very pleased with the positive feedback I received from my peers. I feel that I've been successful in accomplishing what I set out to achieve. Regarding criticism and suggestions, Nick feels that the synth tone in one of the songs is too clean sounding and suggested using downsampling or modulation to help it flow with the rest of the instrumentation. Dylan echoed something similar, pointing out that the synth's timbre is quite different from the rest of the organic-sounding instrumentation present in the soundtrack. This is something I'll look into mending. I've already begun playing around with downsampling, saturation, and modulation and it's already sounding a lot more fitting. Erin suggested adding more bass melodies to fill out the sound on some of the tracks which I agree with. Some sections of the songs couldn't definitely use lower-end elements to add more depth to the compositions. Angus liked the whispers present in one of the tracks and would like to hear them come in more often. He also suggested making an alternative version of one of the songs when the camera mode is activated which might be difficult to achieve this close to the deadline, especially considering that camera mode is a key mechanic of the gameplay and reoccurs constantly throughout its entirety. This would mean I'd have to create an alternative version of each of the tracks. I do think it's a cool concept though and it's something I'd like to experiment with in similar projects in the future.

Overall, I'm happy with the feedback and suggestions I received from my peers and found this exercise very useful. I'm really excited to see everyone's final projects!

Final Entry:

I've finished my project for the semester and I'm pleased with the outcome. I was glad to receive feedback from my peers and implemented a few suggestions. I ended up downsampling and saturating the synth's lead line, which both Nick and Dylan said sounded a little out of place, and it definitely made it fit better in the mix. I experimented with using different instrumentation altogether but it didn't feel quite right and my collaborator was already sold on what I had previously delivered and I didn't wanna alter too much as the deadline approached. In response to Erin's suggestion, I implemented bass notes from a piano and boosted around 100hz to add more low end to one of the song arrangements. Although I'm happy with how the soundtrack worked out, there are a few things I'd change and add if I were to do it again with the insight I have now. Firstly, I liked Angus' suggestion to make an alternative version of each track depending on which camera mode is activated. I would have worked on it if I had more time, but unfortunately, I was too close to the deadline to make this a reality. I also would have liked to have worked on more of the SFX for the game. Yue (my collaborator) ended up doing a majority of it as she wanted me to focus more on the music and already had her heart set on a lot of the specific sounds. It's a shame as I had a lot of fun working with more SFX-orientated work for my Sound Design class, where I reworked all of the sound for the opening sequence of the game, Bioshock. Here's a link if you're interested in checking it out. After all the projects I've worked on this semester in both AudioVision and Sound Design, I know that working in sound design is definitely the career I want to pursue moving forward.

Bibliography:

Chion, M. (1994). Audio-vision: Sound on Screen.

Collins, K. (2008). Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory, and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design (1st ed.). MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/7909.001.0001

Coster, K. (2010). Tibetan Tantric Buddhism: Envisioning Death.

David Dumais Audio. (2020, December 14). How To Make A Video Game Sound Design Demo Reel | 10 Tips [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VTG6zTyZpg&ab_channel=DavidDumaisAudio

Grimshaw, M. (2009). The audio Uncanny Valley: Sound, fear and the horror game.

Huron, D. (2008). Sweet Anticipation: Music and the Psychology of Expectation.

Kromand, D. (2008). Sound and the diegesis in survival-horror games

Kurosawa, K. (Director). (1997). Cure [Film]. Daiei Film.

Kurosawa, K. (Director). (2001). Kairo [Film]. Daiei Film.

Marshall McGee. (2023, August 2). The “Secret Sauce” In Modern Sound Design [Video].https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T14Er_xHRRo&t=387s&ab_channel=MarshallMcGee

Murch, W. (2005). In the Blink of an Eye.

Nakata, H. (Director). (1998). Ringu [Film]. Rasen Production Committee.

Triet, J. (Director). (2023). Anatomy of a Fall [Film]. Les Films Pelléas.

Vanity Fair. (2022, March 18). How 'Dune' Composer Hans Zimmer Created the Oscar-Winning Score [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93A1ryc-WW0&t=2s&ab_channel=VanityFair

Zhang, J. (2023). Buddhist Music as a Contested Site: The Transmission of Teochew Buddhist Music between China and Singapore.

2k Games. (2007). Bioshock.