The Executive Summary

 This post acts as The Executive Summary of the whole blog so far and also is the last post before Christmas. This Executive Summary will cover points on the Pre-Production of the Dissertation Project. Topics will include:

• Ideation of the Dissertation Topic
• Research Undertaken to Support the Project
• Identification of Skills required to carry the Project
• Identification of Skill Gaps that need to be addressed
• Supporting Evidence

 The coming up with the idea for the project and its ideation was a very long process. Those ideas had a long journey before the current project idea was formulated - it took almost 3 months. This has its disadvantages, mainly because of the time spent thinking of ideas for the project, instead of doing a focused research and creating practical based research and supporting evidence. Nevertheless, this is something to look for in future projects - better time-management is advised, but also being more confident about my ideas and sticking to one plan instead of chopping and changing and general all over the place thinking.

 The very first idea for the project topic stemmed from research done for Year 3 Audio Production Methods module. During writing of the blog for that module extensive research and film analysis was carried out and some interesting concepts were discovered, mainly the 'sound modality'. Having the advantage of all the leg-work done last year and also because of a huge interest in this concept an idea for the Dissertation Proposal was developed:

Modality in film sound.

 Some of my big problems that I have had this year was coming up with rationales for each of the different project ideas. In academic writing and in academic research on a scale of a Honours Project one has to think very carefully why a project would be considered academically viable research. Pretty much all of my project ideas had a big problem with coming up a well formulated rationale.

 Over the course of those three months I have had a slew of different ideas ranging from film sound design, video game sound to creating a plug-in. Some of my ideas were not very thoughtfully thought out and looking back I can see I wasn't thinking clearly and not thinking about the bigger picture. My idea of recording gun-shots at a military base for the reason of it being "cool" and a "great photo opportunity" seems rather silly now.

 At early stages of project ideation I have created a reading list of books pertaining to my first idea of doing a project based on sound design. A list of fourteen books was developed as basis of research for the project and in order to carry out the Literature Review for the Dissertation Proposal. However, in the first two months my research into the dissertation question was rather fruitless. "Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound" by David Yewdall, while a really great book, it didn't provide me with an idea that I could base a Dissertation around. It is a book filled with anecdotes, stories and history of film sound and old technology like tape-based recording and cutting facilities. While I was doing dialogue editing duties on my latest film "Jam" I started reading a book called “Dialogue Editing for Motion Pictures” by John Purcell. It is an amazing book on the well under appreciated part of sound design - the dialogue editing, yet it is filled mostly with practical based approaches and didn't offer anything I could expand in a Dissertation Project. 

  While I was in this limbo and finding it really difficult to come up with a really thoughtful Dissertation topic I did run a couple brainstorming session. Some were rather silly and centered around having fun in the studio recording foley for a horror movie. I then had an idea of recording a realistic gun-shot and comparing that to a gun-shot from a Hollywood movie. However, as noted before, I rejected that idea because of silliness of its rationale.

Possibly my most out-of-the-box idea was sound design tool/plug-in, that also came about as a result of an all-night brainstorming session. The idea behind this project was to create a tool that would randomly generate sound effects based on a pre-recorded sample library. However, after an extensive email discussion with the tutor, the project took a very unexpected 360 degrees turn and it seemed like I was back to square one. Instead of my original project idea of 'Modality in film' the new idea was to look into "The Principles of Sound Design in Film."

After the rather fruitless research done before, the biggest breakthrough in terms of ideas came after reading "Film Sound". The chapter in the book entitled "Fundamental Aesthetics of Sound in the Cinema" provided me with enough ideas and is the basis on which the current Dissertation Project idea is based on. Together with film analysis done last year and with the ideas form the books like "Audio-vision" and "Analysing Popular Music" a Dissertation Project was developed:

"The Fundamental Principles and Aesthetics of Sound Design in Film" 

 I have a very big interest in cinematic sound design for film and also have some experience in this field having worked as sound designer/editor on a couple of film productions. Identifying skills required to carry out this project should be fairly straightforward. A big part of this project will be film analysis according to existing sound theories. Then, an analytical framework on how to approach film sound design analysis will be devised. I have already read substantial amount of publications on the subject, but the hunt will continue for any books that might have been missed. Also, more practice in analysing film soundtracks would also be a good idea to get even better at unpicking little details and nuances in sound design in film. Lastly, studying current case studies on film sound analysis would be a good choice as well.

 The practical part of this dissertation will focus on creating sound design to sequences from movies to demonstrate sound design principles. A practical framework on how to approach sound design in film will then be devised. Having experienced working as a sound editor on films before I roughly know what to expect, however my experience is still limited. Field recording is one field where I could benefit from extra knowledge, skill and experience. Finally, in order to implement and test the principles of sound design like 'worldizing' will require to go out in the field and record so be a perfect way of gaining that valuable experience and also some further reading on this subject could help in addressing the skill gaps.

Practical Research Ideas - Modality, Worldizing and Layering

 While working on the Concept Development Document for the up-coming hand-in I have introduced three concepts about film sound design that I have been of a big interest to me and in the document I expressed that I will be approaching those concepts in greater detail during the Practical Research part of the Dissertation in semester 2. 

 I have some experience with worldizing, as I used that technique to rerecord a music track playing through an old radio in a room, to capture a reverberant version of the track. I have tried using a convolution reverb plug-in for this task, but for some reason the director didn't like the plug-in sound, with the comment being that it sounds too much like a score, and here the track was meant to be diegetic - some music playing in the back of a cafe from an old stereo. This will be interesting to explore in more detail and take it out into the field to capture and compare the results.

 Layering is a fundamental principle of cinematic sound design, and I have used this technique in all of my films that I worked as a sound designer/editor. I have used it mostly for sound effects like punches, gun-shots, explosions etc. and the idea here is that the authentic recordings of those sounds simply don't have the 'weight' and 'impact' of what are now considered cinematic Hollywood standards in film sound design. Again, layering will be explored in great detail in Practical Research part of the Project.

 Modality is a concept I have got least experience with. Before I even knew about this sound design principle I was designing dynamic ambiences and to some extent modality can apply to that. I am particularly interested in interplay between high and low modality, which can greatly enhance the dynamics of the soundtrack, which in turn should make the film more enjoyable for the viewer. I will be exploring the idea of sound modality as well.

Dissertation Proposal Hand-In

 Today, I have handed-in my Dissertation Proposal. Below I present extracts from the document, mainly pertaining aims, objectives and tasks of the project. I also present a timeline of the project.

Proposal Topic:

    The fundamental principles and aesthetics of cinematic sound design in film.

Project Aim:

Even though many filmmakers claim that sound is as important as the picture, the topic of aesthetics of film sound is still not adequately documented and there is a large absence of books on cinematic sound design. Similarly, the few great books on the subject available are decades old now and feature reference to obscure films that, although work great as supporting examples, for a modern reader and sound professional can be hard to identify with. This project aims to explore the existing theories, concepts and aesthetics on cinematic sound design and create a set of outline principles about how sound works in film and reference them with examples from modern cinema. The developed analytical framework will be used to analyse scenes from films to demonstrate key concepts in film sound design. A practical framework on creating cinematic sound design in film will be created that could work as a tool for sound professionals interested in gaining more insight into the subject. Because sound can actively influence how we interpret the image, by redesigning sound in a film sequence we can demonstrate a deeper meaning about the way sound is used in film.

Project Objectives:

1.     Identify and review the existing literature on key principles and aesthetics of film sound design. Find suitable examples of film soundtracks in modern cinematography that could serve as examples to demonstrate the key sound design theories.
2.     Analyse and review the sound theories found in books and create and develop a framework for analysis of sound design in film. Using selected examples of modern film soundtracks analyse the sound design in chosen scenes.
3.     Devise a framework on how sound works in film based on previous research. Using the developed practical framework redesign the sound in chosen film sequences to show how sound affects the way we interpret visuals and use the created soundtracks as well as the original clips as supporting evidence.
4.     Analyse and evaluate the created soundtracks and reflect on the results. This will involve a selection of qualitative methods, self-reflection etc.
5.     Document the findings and outcomes at every stage of the dissertation which would form the basis for the dissertation, the blog etc. Demonstrate the outcomes of the project at film screenings, end-of-year showcase etc.

Project Tasks:

1.1.    Select appropriate literature.

1.2.    Perform a literature review.

1.3.    Research film sound theories, principles and aesthetics.

1.4.    Identify films that could be used as supporting examples based on certain criteria, e.g. Oscar-nominated, favourable reviews etc.

2.    

2.1.    Research film sound analysis methods

2.2.    Develop an analytical framework for analysing film sound.

2.3.    Analyse chosen clips from films using the developed framework.

3.    

3.1.    Develop a practical framework for film sound practice.

3.2.    Select films to redesign sound.

3.3.    Redesign sound in selected film sequences using the practical framework.

4.    

4.1.    Perform a self-analysis on the created clips.

4.2.    Conduct a qualitative evaluation of the created movie clips and the developed practical framework.

4.3.    Summarise the evaluation

5.    

5.1.    Write the dissertation.

5.2.    Write the blog.

5.3.    Present the current state of the project at progress meetings.

5.4.    Prepare and demonstrate the outcomes of the dissertation at the end-of-year showcase.

Project Timeline:

 

 

"Soundscape" - Another great book with plenty of inspiration!

 "Soundscape: The School of Sound Lectures 1998-2001" is, similarly to "Film Sound", a collection of reflections and experiences of sound practitioners and academics. There are few really interesting chapters in the book that gave some well needed inspiration boost for my Dissertation Project.

 In the chapter entitled "Touch of Silence" Walter Murch, the pioneer sound designer, talks in detail about creation of sound design for a cult film "Apocalypse Now". The 5.1 surround standard was just been invented and the film helped shape and popularise it greatly. Murch takes about a few interesting concepts, like 'worldizing'. This is a concept that Murch helped to develop during his career. The idea behind is to take the sound out of the studio and into the field, and rerecord it capturing the reverberant sound. This technique has been used to great advantage in "Apocalypse Now", for example by recording Wagner's 'Ride of Valyries' through megaphones attach to military helicopters. This technique produces a very realistic sound of the space is trying to capture and has been used a lot since it was created. With the advent of digital technology and high-quality realistic convolution reverb plug-ins it would be really interesting to see how the results between 'worldizing' a sound and using a plug-in compare with each other.

Sick Note and Assignments Extension

Unfortunatelly, I have fallen ill. I have been to the doctors and managed to get an extension fo my assignments. I will need to take a good few days off rest.

"Film Sound" and why it might possibly be the best book I read this semester!

 "Film Sound: Theory and Practice" is a collection of editorials, articles and essays that broadly talk about different concepts around film sound design. The editors of the book complain that film sound design is vastly under researched subject and claim that simply not enough have been written about the subject, especially compared to film msuci scoring. This general consensus seems to repeat itself in other publications on film sound as well. This makes a very interesting point, because it provides me a very strong rationale on why to do a film sound specific Dissertation Project!

 There are many great texts in this book, but possibly the next biggest breakthrough came after reading a chapter entitled "Fundamental Aesthetics of Sound in the Cinema". This is the exact idea that I want my Dissertation to be! In this chapter David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson present us with some very engaging writing. They claim that sound can actively shape the way we interpret images in film. They give an example of an obscure film 'Letter from Siberia' from 1957. The director Chris Maker demonstrates how powerful sound can be and he it affects the way we interpret scenes in the movie. In the film, we see a sequence of scene that repeats three times, each time with a different sound accompanying the picture. A full detailed analysis per-scene is presented in the book and provides a very interesting concept to explore further in the Dissertation.

 Furthermore, in ths chapter, there are presented criteria according to which we can analyse sound in films. Authors make a classification of properties of sound, like Acoustic (loudness, pitch & timbre), and also Rhytm, Fidelity and Space. They also talk about sound diegesis, which is explored in an even more detail in "Audio-vision" by Chion.

All in all, I am very happy that I started reading this book. This is the first time all semester that I really feel like I am making some progress!

Final Reply from Kenny. Back full circle?

 So, I received final feedback from Kenny yesterday and after a discussion this is one of the last emails:

"Why not just study the principles and aesthetics of cinematic sound design and apply them to film?" - Wow, we are back full circle here!

 Yes. It seems that first ideas that I had about film sound design being the best topic for the dissertation for me were indeed right. The shame is that it took me almost 3 months of work only to arrive at the zero point, the point where I was at the start of semester in September. I am really running out of time, and have to think quick. I decided to start reading "Film Sound" to hopefully get those ideas going.