Kurt Cobain: About a Son

AJ Schnack directed this beautiful, peaceful documentary about Kurt Cobain using audio tapes from interviews that Michael Azerrad held with him.

No photos are seen of Kurt, of Nirvana or music of Nirvana, the photography is primarily places and haunts Kurt Cobain used to live, see and explore. 

I thought this piece played at the beginning of the film 'Benjamin Gibbard & Steve Fisk - Overture' was so somber, setting the mood of Cobain and following aerial camera over Washington, setting the scene of Cobain's home. Like Cobain was a spirit flying over his home, the music setting the mood of melancholia. 

I think the fact that the film includes no footage or photographs of Cobain speaks a certain kind of truth to him. Cobain although being famous for his music, was such a great character and was followed, documented and filmed but his voice and his music alone conveyed a truth to them that wasn't noticeable when just being filmed. His actions speak lies but without his famous face and style being in the film, his words seems more real and enables you to imagine Cobain and his life without referring back to his image on screen. The most noticeable thing about the film is that we hear him almost speaking his own words rather than someone else talking about who he was. 

The soundtrack is an ambient one that helps to move along the cinematic images showing places of his childhood, to the streets of Seattle where he found his fame. This helps to make the watcher feel emotional closer to what Cobain is saying and lets you easily visualise the places from his life without trying to imagine for yourself, another factor that helps you to see some truth to him. The fact that the director has chosen not to use any music of Nirvana's is very striking but again, helps the viewer to see the more human side of him, almost forgetting his rock persona and let you experience the 'real' Kurt Cobain.

Editing Lost in Translation

I ran into problems with editing the clip; I first starting editing off of the computer in the Workstation which kept crashing on Soundtrack Pro and I ended up loosing all of my work.
However, I started on another computer and started to first put all the foley clips I had recorded into position then started to manipulate them.
First, I started by getting an atmos track of a naturalistic outside setting, which I got off of the network called Morning Park Birds. It was a recording of basically a park in the morning with relentless birds chirping away. Although the track was what I needed, I had to get rid of the bird sounds as it was too constant and distracting so I cut many of the bird calls and replaced with birdless atmos from other places in the clip. As now the bird calls were few and far between, I decided to use them a triggers when Charlotte is visibly moved by something and when the bride puts her hand delicately in her husbands hand so that the moment was emphasised by a naturalistic tone. 

 The screenshot here shows the atmos track and where I cut out the frequent bird calls.

The footsteps were the trickiest foley to manipulate, mainly because the file I wanted to use kept corrupting but because it was hard at first to get the correct balance of left foot and right foot and also sync it up to the image as she hesitates and quickens her pace all the time in the clip. I used a foley recording of Alice's pumps on concrete and repeated a small sequence of left to right foot for her walking up the temple steps and across the temple building.

I used the wet option on Space Designer on the footsteps to make them echo as she steps into the temple from the outside, turning up the wet as she comes further into shot. I also used the gain Channel EQ to make it so her footsteps start quietly when she is walking up the stairs, as she is far away and then get gradually louder as she comes further towards the camera. 

Using Space Designer to imitate the echo of footsteps as Charlotte changes location. 

I used Channel EQ to play around with volume to create a sense of space in the clip.

I used the same technique on Charlotte's footsteps as she is walking across the stepping stones; using gain on Channel EQ to lower the volume of her steps as she walks further away from the camera. 

For the bridal parties footsteps, was very tricky as I had to sync up eight people's footsteps. I managed to sync up the bride's footsteps and the groom's but for the rest of the group, who you couldn't really see their feet, I just layed different foley recordings I had recorded to make it sound like a group of people were walking. 

For the bride's dress, I cut up the clip of the dress rustling so it sounded like the material was rubbing against her legs as she walked forward.

For the scene with the paper tied to the trees, I used a track on the network called Wind Through Trees, which when I turned the gain up, sounded almost like paper rustling through trees as an overlaying atmos on top of the one I had already.

I used the foley recording of tying the paper to the mic stand and cut it up so it was in time with the video and had to lower the gain as it sounded too loud for the environment Charlotte is in. 

I knew that I wanted something atmospheric with an air of mystery to it. I found SWEET SOUL by Trans Atlantic Rage/Balogh on Free Music Archive, which I though was perfect for my clip as the tones used in it sound almost like Japanese wind chimes and as the film is set in Japan, in helped to give the film the right mood and context.

Foley for Lost in Translation

I booked out the Protools studio in Harmer along with Emma and Alice to record foley for the Lost in Translation video. We realised that although there was a computer in there to edit and play the video on, there wasn't one in the actually recording room so we wouldn't be able to see what we were supposed to be recording. Luckily, Emma had brought her laptop so we played the videos off of the laptop in the room so we could accurately record the foley.
I got out a Marantz 661 and a Sennheiser 614 to record with and used the trays of concrete and leaves to record Charlotte's footsteps when she walks up the temple stairs and then walks through the temple slowly to watch the bridal procession.
I put the Marantz on a mic stand and then watched the video while walking at the same time on the tray. However, I was wearing boots on my feet and the footstep sounded too heavy and not light enough on the concrete as in the video, Charlotte is wearing plimsolls. As Alice was also wearing plimsolls that day, I recorded her into walking on the concrete to the time of Charlotte's steps.

• Footsteps of Charlotte

I then recorded Charlotte's footsteps as she walks along the stepping stones in the garden, using the concrete again but with a little bit of grit scattered over it for a different texture.
I then recorded the different footsteps in the bridal procession, as there are 8 people in the party, by Emma, Alice and I choosing a person to imitate then doing so. It was quite hard as we all had different shoes on and the party walked quite quickly for about 10 seconds so it was hard to do a perfect take but I recorded lots of different footsteps so I could edit and choose from them later.
I realised after recording the footsteps that the bride is wearing a beautiful quite poofy kimono that looked like it would make an obvious sound as she walked quickly along the path. Luckily, I found a large sheet of almost silky material in protools that I used to imitate her walking along by rubbing the sheet together as she walked using varying speed and pressure.

• Bride's kimono material as she walks

Lastly, I recorded the sound of Charlotte tying a paper prayer to a tree branch. As I didn't have a tree branch, I used another mic stand in front of the Sennheiser, ripped a few thin sheets of paper and then recorded myself tying the prayer in a knot around the mic stand while watching the video on the laptop. It was hard because I kept pulling the paper too hard and ripping it or I tied it too slowly or quickly but after a few long takes, I managed to get something that I could use for her tying a paper to the branch.

• Paper prayer being tied to tree branch

Sound workshop 15/11

We began the session with talking about how stressed we were with our Narrative strands as we are all designing the sound for our respective strands, we were being being given till the last minute to edit sound as sound is the last on the chain of making a film. We were told about picture-lock, which I hadn't previously been told about in Documentary where it is standard to have a set number of days for an edit then picture locking it for the sound to take over. This factor was useful as in later projects where I am editing sound, I will know to talk to my group about picture lock and how vital it is to sound editors.

We looked at soundtrack for films and were introduced to Logic. We talked about the opening to A Clockwork Orange, composed by Wendy Carlos, an electronic artist. The opening is striking as it is a classical piece playing "Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary - March" by Henry Purcell" that has been electronically edited to still have the presence and tone of a funeral march but to bring into the future it is set in by enhancing it electronically. 

Neil talked about how Carlos had used a moog synthesiser for this piece and other pieces in the film and had also influenced her work in TRON (1982) where she also used a Moog synthesiser while fighting with Disney as they thought she couldn't finish the score on time so had a orchestra record a score for her which she then had to incorporate into the score. I like the way the orchestral sounds and electronic and heavily mooged orchestra sounds play around together, creating a very layered but ultimately 'futuristic' and computer generated soundtrack.

We compared it to TRON: Legacy which was scored by the electronic, house duo Daft Punk. I feel like this soundtrack represents the world of inside the computer better than Carlos' previous soundtrack although the duo didn't have the setbacks that Carlos did. The complicated electronic beeps that go up and down the scale really give the impression of a computer and the bass pounding below it helps to create the right kind of tempo for the pace of the film and the games which the users have to partake in. 

We talked discussed films such as Eyes Wide Shut, composed by Jocelyn Pook where a simple minor piano notes are played but manage to create a very eerie, suspenseful scene.  In the scene we watched, shrill, high octave notes are played to create an uncomfortable tension as Tom Cruise's character is being followed. Because the notes are so unnerving to listen to, it creates a world where it is uncertain what will happen next, as the notes are introduced quite suddenly and shrilly. 
We also discussed other simple score like in The Thing, composed by John Carpenter that uses one bass note throughout the action, which acts as a pulse to keep you in suspense the entirety of the film. 


We next moved onto Logic which we used with the midi keyboards. Logic is like the grownup version of Garageband which is incredibly useful to me in my various sound work as Garageband is so limited to work with. We went through the various plug-ins and the effects, like on Soundtrack pro, that you can use to alter the plug-ins you use. As the library was vast, it was hard at first to navigate around it but after spending a few hours practicing, it was easy to pick up. We learnt briefly how to use automation on the programme and I tried a little panning.
We were then taught how to export correctly - export - region as audio file -AIFF - 24 bit - SAVE. This was especially useful to me because I tend to export files wrongly on soundtrack pro and other programmes, either because it was hard to find the information to do so on Blackboard or we weren't taught.

Learning how to use Logic, albeit briefly, was incredibly useful for me as for my sound editing, I like to create original soundscapes and last year, only being able to use Garageband, my work was very limited. 

Sound to record for Lost in Translation

I found the previous session very useful - in reading a script and then imagining then writing down which sounds were needed for it, so I decided to find the script for the Lost in Translation scene and then write down what sounds are needed. 

 EXT. KYOTO - DAY

               Charlotte walks through a beautiful garden. She's a small 
               figure in the landscape.

               She approaches a temple where she stops to watch a wedding 
               procession. A young bride and groom in traditional kimono 
               walk under a parasol with their family.

               Charlotte looks as- the nervous, young bride clutches her 
               mother's hand. The young groom walks along with them.

               Charlotte is moved by the whole scene, the beauty of the 
               temple and the wedding party. Her eyes well up.

                                                                    CUT TO:

               She walks up a narrow path, surrounded by red maple leaves.

               At the top of a little hill, she comes up to a shrine.

               At its entrance she sees a tree covered in little white pieces 
               of paper tied to its branches. She sees Japanese people 
               writing on the paper and tying them to the tree. Charlotte 
               writes her wish on a paper and ties it to a branch.

The atmos of a tranquil garden is be needed, one that I can record or get from the network, preferably one with birds twittering melodically in the background, I need to record Charlotte's footsteps on varying surfaces through the garden and take into consideration what her footwear is like. I also need to take into consideration what her clothes sound like when she is walking. The footsteps sound needs to be changed as she walks into the temple as the environment where her footsteps reverb has changed. 
The individual people in the wedding procession footsteps will need to be recorded and their clothes, traditional kimono wear will need to be recorded as they walk. 
As Charlotte's reaction to the scene is evident, her breathing could be recorded to show outwardly her emotion to the procession.
In the next scene, her footsteps on another surface needs to be recorded and as the environment has changed i.e. surrounded by maple trees, I need a different atmos to use. Trees make sound so I need to record the sound of trees, perhaps with rustling wind through them. The trees covered with paper needs to be recorded too, as it will make a different sound of it's own in a wind. The sound of her writing on paper and then tying it on the branch also needs to be recorded. 








Script took from http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/lost-in-translation-script.html

Initial ideas soundtrack - Lost in Translation

I sent an email to Neil about soundtracks, as in reviewing the video clip, I feel that the piece would work so much better with an ambient soundtrack milling in the background, just to give a feel to the place it is set in and the mood and tone of the overall piece. As the actress doesn't say anything in the film and without sound, can only convey her emotions with expression and motion, we can interpret and enhance that with the soundtrack.

Sound workshop 8/11

In the session today, we talked about how sound tells the story, noting important story-telling factors down such as:

• mood / tone
• pace / drama / emotion / mood
• location / atmos
• foley / FX
• dialogue / actors / type of voice / V.O
• music / non-music / designed sound
• style
• genre
• period
• technical 

We were made to choose a script in groups and then note down which sounds would need to be created for a scene and how the sound would emphasise and tell the story.

We chose Lost Highway, a film by David Lynch and chose a scene located in a prison.

We took into account that as it was set in a prison, there would have to be distant sounds reverberating in the mix to show the size of the building and to give it that usual prison atmos, of sound of prisoners shouting reverberating off of cold, hard painted walls and metal bars. 

The script stated that the prisoner Fred was made to exercise for an hour by himself in an 'narrow yard'. The atmos for the narrow yard would be needed, the sounds would be minimal, the atmos low in the mix, as the emphasis of the scene is to show that he is alone, not allowed to mingle with the other prisoners, walking slowly up and down a yard by himself. The footsteps of the man, Fred, would echo to show his isolation and as it is noted that there is a guard watching him, the guard's breathing or clinking of keys could be sounded to show the guards dominance over him.    

In the next scene,  it says:

There is more activity on the row tonight than usual. A

COUPLE of MEN in suits walk through with an air of authority.
 

There is a building murmur among the prisoners.       

The atmos of the prison would have to be evident, the echos and chatter of the various different male prisoners would bounce off of the hard walls and metal, echoing drips throughout the large facility. The men who are suits who are described as having an 'air of authority' would be sounded with heavy boots or business like shoes that make a echoing sound on the floor and echo through the row. The murmur of the prisoners would be recorded and manipulated to sound like they are in a prison with EQ.

The next scene details how the prisoner Fred is shaking in his cell, the crescendo of the prisoners voices would be needed to show a sense of claustrophobia and dread. Also to highlight his evident distress, he could be breathing heavily and sporadically.

The next scene highlights the procession of a man who is walking to his death.

Several of the men in suits, along with several GUARDS, and a 
CLERGYMAN, a PRISONER in the middle of the group, enter the 
hallway.  They proceed past the guard station down the hall.  
As the procession files by, DEATH ROW INMATES come to their 
doors and talk to the prisoner.

The different footsteps of everyone in the party would need to be recorded, especially as guards and clergymen would have different shoes so they would make different sounds on the floor and then EQ'd to sound like they are in a prison again. Also the material of the suits and the clergyman's robes would need to be recorded and added.

The following dialogue from all of the prisoners would be recorded on set as a guide and then replaced by ADR in edit. 

The next scene highlights the condemned man journey to the electric chair. The sound of a strap being tightened and being wrapped around a body, the sound of the people murmuring behind glass would be muffled so would need to be recorded then EQ'd, 

There would need to be a lot of foley work for this scene, the sound of a strap being tightened around a body, the witnesses murmuring behind the glass would be muffled so would be recorded and then EQ'd, the sound of an old telephone being picked off of the receiver and then being hung back up. The dialogue would again be recorded as a guide then ADR'd. The sound of metal being clamped forcibly against skin would have to be recorded, the sound of metal halo being lowered and put on a head, and being made to sound like it is in the room it is in, the quiet, low in the mix sound of ointment being smeared on skin. Also the footsteps of everyone in the room would have to be recorded, and the breathing of people, especially the condemned man should be recorded to hear at the tense moment. And finally the sound of a door being shut and then locked. 

The final scene of the script we reviewed was Fred in his cell listening to the condemned man being killed.

CUT TO:

INT. PRISON - FRED'S CELL - NIGHT

Fred sits frozen at the edge on his bed.

A distant but LOUD ELECTRICAL HUM begins.

Fred's head jerks upward to the light on his ceiling.  It has 
dimmed to almost nothing.

Fred sits in the humming darkness.

All that would be needed for this scene would be an loud electrical hum would need to be created or recorded but manipulated so it sounds distant. And perhaps the sound of Fred's breathing to show his fear.

The session was useful in that in really helped me to consider everything audibly that is needed for filmic scenes, and was useful in helping me to create the sound for Lost in Translation.



Script took from http://www.lynchnet.com/lh/lhscript.html

21 Swings

http://vimeo.com/40980676

The installation in Montréal which is erected every spring brings music and cooperation together through everyday city life. The swings play an individual note but when played together i.e when swung together, they create a piece of music.  

A boy says 'I find that it adds to the beauty of life because a single sound isn't really nice but together they make a beautiful melody.' I really like the overall message the installation gives; cooperation. The installation brings together people of all age, race, gender in the city to work and enjoy music together. 

Somewhere - inspiration for Lost in Translation

Somewhere is another film by Sophia Coppola, like Lost in Translation and is incredibly similar in her style although Lost in Translation was filmed first it that it is incredibly minimalistic and poignant with long takes that almost make you believe that you aren't watching a film, you are watching a man in real life. 

The sound design in the film is again, minimalistic apart from a soundtrack from the band Phoenix at moments, there is hardly any soundtrack, just relying on foley that emphasises sounds that are not usually heard on film, but are in this mix such as a scene where the sound of the cigarette burning as it is being inhaled which I thought was such a great technique to use, to put sounds that aren't usually heard like breathing or the touch of hand, really high in the mix so that that an audience can connect even more deeply with the character. 

I want to use this technique in my scene from Lost in Translation as the scene is quite minimalistic too and I want to emphasise these normally forgotten sounds in the mix.

Inception score

http://issuu.com/reverbmagazine/docs/issue55/47

I thought that this snippet of a magazine was really interesting, as it talks about iconic soundtracks which we previously discussed in sessions. It references Inception which I feel has a very iconic soundtrack, the deep bass notes repeated to create a sense of dread and anticipation in the film was incredibly striking to me, I remember, upon watching it in the cinema. Upon reading further into the soundtrack on the internet, I discovered that a recurring song they use in the film, 'Non, Je ne regrette Rien' by Edith Piaf is the basis for the memorable deep brass notes used so that the film's score is interlinked throughout without the viewer even realising. 
Another thing I liked about the film was the mixture of orchestral and electronic undertones as the elements of music played off each other extremely well, the orchestral music helping to emphasise the epic cinematic visuals of the film and the electronics helping to highlight the almost surreal and dream-like feel to the film.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jul/29/inception-soundtrack-edith-piaf 

First project initial ideas - Lost in Translation

From the films clips given to us, I chose Lost in Translation because given the simplicity of the scene, I felt that managing to create the correct balance of noise level would be hard. Also, having already watched the film many times before, I knew that originally the scene relied heavily on a track called 'Lost in Kyoto' but I wanted to use foley work.

For the scene, I will need to record up to 10 people's footsteps on varying surfaces, an atmos of the temple it is set in, paper rustling in the wind, breathing and a foley of tying a paper note on a tree branch. 

Workshop 1/11

Today we were discussing and putting into practice equalising on Soundtrack pro. We were given many examples of EQing in film such as The Godfather scene where Michael is in the hospital with Vito. We noted how the stuck record playing in the scene is a story telling device, showing that people have gone and the place is deserted. The scene is famous for the ominous footsteps coming up the stairs which we discussed was used by automating the reverb on the track which is applying the effect on the track then taking it off gradually. The footsteps get quieter as they move away from the camera which gives a sense of three dimensional space. There is a low drum sound under the mix, to create a sense of urgency and almost like a funeral toll to further create the sense of panic. When Michael talks on the phone, the other end of the telephone sound has been equalised. We talked about how the other end of the telephone was recorded straight in a studio then was EQed. We also talked about how the dialogue in the corridor was slightly EQed to enhance the fact they're in a corridor.

We then looked at the party scene in David Lynch's Lost Highway and focused on how the atmos and the music tones used fade into one another, changing the mood of the film immediately. The film used a technique where the tonal music becomes distorted as the man becomes more confused and scared. We also looked at Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and discussed how the black space at the beginning of the film sets the mood before we even see the space.  We talked about editing tricks relating to the first scene where the music is playing quite loudly on a radio but it is miraculously turned down when the dialogue is introduced. The scene also has many layers to it such as the faint sound of the rain. We viewed the city scenes in Istanbul and noted that there would have been no sound recorded on location and will have been all atmos sounds. The sound ebbs and flows throughout to keep the viewer entertained.
We then learnt about how to use the various EQ effects on Soundtrack pro concentrating on automation.