#11: Start Anew!!! March 23rd 2009

During today's double-period lesson, we mainly watched the remaining groups' videos and documentaries, and evaluated them accordingly. Although I was ill last lesson, I still managed to view the final exported product of my group's video and documentary, and I loved watching every single second of it. Not to sound conceited but I truly believe that my group's video and documentary were the best of all (Ms. Wong said it herself! or so I heard..). Now back to business.

The first group that presented their stuff today was Group 4, which consisted of Clare, Stephie, Benny and Kevin. The video was very mediocre. There was a very limited array of sound effects utilized, and the ones that were were used too repetitively (such as the hawk's cry and the rocks falling) , destroying the intended desolate, lonely atmosphere of the first half of the scene. The narrator's voice did not fit the video's setting, the voice was too calm, girly, and immediately made the video seem amateur.  I am really unable to recall much of the video but I do remember that there was no background music to compliment the dialogue and atmosphere of the video, which of course left the video to rot in its dullness due to the lack of foley effects, effective dialogue and more. Plus, there was no foley effect of the assassin walking, panting etc, and his voice was not realistic either. It sounded so much like that of a teenager, which of course makes the video unbelievable and thereby eradicates the illusion of film. To sum it up, the video was a waste of 1 and a half months.

After watching the comic video, I was hoping that the documentary was of somewhat better quality in terms of demonstration of knowledge and enjoyability. However it was not. The documentary only starred Clare and Stephie, and they did not present well either. They were both just sitting in front of the camera, fidgeting around, neither composed nor looking like they know anything about the process of creating foley effects and sound design. Their demonstration of knowledge was very limited, only illustrating and displaying briefly on how they created 1 or 2 of their basic foley effects (not the cool ones like the hawk cry either). Plus, they did not use an array of different methods of communication. There was a little bit of voiceover when they were showing how they created the foley effects, but that was it. The documentary was boring and not informative enough. I did not gain any insight from it.

After watching the documentary, the group's main justification for their obviously lackluster products was that they did not have enough time, among with "Oh it was Benny and Kevin's fault!" and "Others have more experience than us". I found this actually quite deplorable because all the other groups had the same amount of time to finish what we had to do, and some of us did a fantastic job. It is no excuse to say you did not have enough time to create something that is half the quality of someone else's creation when you had the exact amount of time and manpower. 

Moreover, Clare said that others had more experience than them, which was why their group's products were appalling and ours was not. However, for almost all of us, this was our first time creating foley effects or intensively editing sound. This also applies to Film students. The reason why ours was better than theirs was because we did our research, we asked Ms. Wong and Mr. Chang on how to improve our film project. We asked them if we could do this or that to our sound. We took initiative. That's the difference.

After the bombardment of comments and criticisms, Ms. Wong introduced us to our new project, which is to do with a student film competition. This project is mainly a filler between what we just did and our upcoming major task of creating a documentary, since we would like to deviate from creating the same thing twice. The requirements of entering the competition is to create a 30-second video that promotes intellectual property rights (copyrights). We were to stay with our original groups and create 5 30-second videos in them, with a different person playing a different production role for each video, but never fulfilling the same role twice. Each person has to be a director of 1 video. Immediately upon learning of this task, I had an idea in my head. A brilliant one. Now it is up to my earthly capabilities to bring it to fruition.

#10: Double-Time...March 16th,17th,18th 2009

This reflection will cover the 3 days that I had to work in the Multimedia Lab on the video and documentary outside class time. During those 3 days, I primarily worked on really just finishing up the video, making sure that it is perfect, all the audio tracks are in the right place and to make sure I am not missing anything. However, time seems to fly so fast when one is editing and before I knew it the day was over and I had to continue working the next day. On Monday and Tuesday, I managed to complete editing almost all the audio tracks so that they are all distinct and realistic towards their characters. For example, for the Daemon-Queen, Lucas and I added some reverb effect to Joanna Fu's dialogue so as to make her seem mystical. For the Assassin, we had to make sure that each and every single one of his lines were spoken at around the same pitch, and same went for the Charioteer. Also, for the fight scenes, I had to make sure that all the fighting sounds such as the punches, the cracks, the grunts and moans, all had to occur at the right times and have the right volumes, speeds, pitches etc. On Wednesday lunchtime, I worked with Joanna Fu to add the songs onto Final Cut Pro and into the video. We did not manage to complete the whole thing but at least we got some progress. Now all that needed to be done is to make sure that the songs go in the right places, which is fairly easy for Joanna and I already did some of the work. I was planning to work after-school, but since Lucas,Josh,Justin and Joanna were already working on the computers, I did not really have much to do and so I took the opportunity to go home and rest before my rehearsal later that day. I hope this does not reflect me as not contributing as much as my peers for I have, I just realized that I could not really contribute as much when everyone already knows what they are doing.

Over this 3-day period, I learnt how to utilize audio effects to make one's voice seem less normal and more extraordinary. I also learnt how music can totally enhance the atmosphere of a video, making it seem so much more epic. Last but not least, I recapped over the fact that in order to achieve a goal, nothing can stop you except yourself.

#9: Switcharoo! March 12th 2009

During today's single-period lesson, Josh and I worked on the comic strip together, whilst every now and then I would come over and facilitate Lucas on the documentary. Over the last 2 days, I managed to capture all the needed sound effects such as Box Crashing, Sword Flying Through The Air and Horses Running and Neighing. This marked the end of our quest to attain all the required sound effects. Josh and I worked on fitting the sound effects into the video by changing the speeds, re-arranging the volume, the placing, the transitions etc. It did not take long. Now that all the effects were set in place, Josh and I worked on perfecting every single aspect of the video whilst Joanna was on a separate computer searching for her set of music tracks which could be used in the video. I came up with my set over the week, which included soundtracks such as The Last Battle, Target Mission, Storm Intro and Dim Horizon. 

Right before the end of the single-period, our entire group came together to film the closing scene of our documentary, which is basically just us expressing our gratitude to the viewer(s) for watching our documentary. It did not take long, but Joanna and Justin kept on messing up their lines, so they gave them to me instead. After numerous attempts, we successfully filmed the closing scene and thus finished the filming process for our documentary.

Today I did not learn much, but I did recap over the importance of self-contribution, and how it is always necessary to make compromise between group members so that everyone should feel satisfied with the product. The reason why Josh and I never really argue much when we are editing the video is because we both know what is best, and we trust each other's judgments and decisions.

#8: Alone Time... March 9th 2009

Today Josh,Joanna and Justin were out capturing more foley sounds so it was just up to Lucas and I to work on the documentary and the comic strip. I took responsibility of adding in and editing all the sound effects and dialogue in the comic strip. During this double period, I managed to perfect the first half of the comic strip whilst already adding in the dialogue and the majority of the sound effects into the second half. Before I knew it, the hour and a half of class were over but I was able to work very productively with no one distracting me or causing a fuss. Now all that I need to do is to add in the music and a couple more sound effects, which will be done so over the week. During editing, it is good to use audio transitions every now and then because sometimes an audio clip ends abruptly or suddenly follows in to another audio clip which sounds quite different. By utilizing audio transitions between audio clips, the change from 1 clip to the other is smoother and less surprising. This will therefore enhance the realism of the video.

This week, I will go onto Freeplaymusic.com to search for more music tracks that could be used in the video. Joanna Fu will be doing the same.

#7: The Ugly Side... March 5th 2009

Today I continued my task on capturing foley sounds around school. This time I,along with Josh who was filming for the documentary, concentrated on capturing the sounds of walking/running/sliding on mud, and sword fighting. We went to capture the sounds concerning mud first. Firstly, I went to the Science Department to get some gloves, then I took a large box (those lunch trash boxes around school) and filled a part of it with soil. After that, I added water to it and then brought it down to the Lower Gym Changing Room for recording. When soil is added with water, the result is mud, which is why I performed that whole dirty process. Oh and it gets worse! I then took two large stones to act as shoes and stomped on the box of mud using my hands. During recording, I experimented with the speed and power that I laid on the stones, making sure that I create realistic sounds of walking, running and sliding. After about 30 minutes of re-enacting sounds by placing my hands into a box filled with mud and ants, we finally captured what we wanted and the gruesome ordeal was finished. 

To capture the sounds of sword fighting was very simple. We went to the DT Lab and used saws and an array of tools, and experimented with clashing them together to re-enact the sound of swords clashing and scraping across each other. We finished the task within about 15 minutes.

Today I learnt of the dirty, grimy side to the foley process, and also of the lengths that one must go to in order to capture the perfect sound. By the end of it all, I felt pleased that we managed to successfully capture 2 vital sounds in our comic strip. However, one thing that really bugged me was that Josh, who was there the whole time, did not help me with anything. I had to do all the grueling work myself while he just stood there and did nothing. He did not need to record for the documentary the entire time, he could have at least helped me carry the box, or put mud inside it. I felt used in a way, and that he would still attain the same credit as me for capturing the sounds of mud when actually I did all the hard and dirty work. Oh well, what's done is done. Hopefully he would contribute more in the future. 

#6: Raindrops are falling on my head... March 2nd 2009

Today Justin and I focused solely on capturing foley sounds of rain and punches. First sound we captured was that of rain. Rain is plausibly the most important sound in our entire video since the presence of rain is evident throughout the entire comic strip. Because of its importance in setting the atmosphere, we had to capture it with total focus and awareness of the presence of other sounds, because in order to make the sound of rain seem as authentic and realistic as possible, all other sounds should be omitted so as to retain its realism and make our video seem less amateur. 

We captured the sound of rain by heading to the Lower Gym Male Changing Room to record the sound of water from a shower tap. Justin and I first made a test run by experimenting with distances between the Boom Mic and the Shower. This is so that we are able to pinpoint the optimum distance which gives us the closest-to-perfection sound of rain. During the test run, we realized from hearing through the headphones that we could hear drainage noise coming from the water entering the drain. In order to prevent this from happening, I placed a lot of tissue on top of the drain so as to mute or reduce the sound of drainage. It turned out to be a success.

To capture the sound of punches, I brought cabbage and celery to school so as to act as body punching surfaces. Since I only brought a limited amount of cabbages and celery, Justin and I had to make sure that every punch or crack we make is absolutely vital and perfectly executed. It turned out to be a success too. I managed to punch the cabbage 3 times so as to create 3 different sounds. For the celery, we had to place the Boom Mic really close so as to capture the cracking noise as I break it apart. There was no option for test runs due to the limited availability of resources.

Today I learnt that test runs are of great importance and can prove to be extremely beneficial in terms of sound quality and time consumption if carried out properly before the actual recording.

#5: Strepsils please.... February 23rd and 26th 2009

This reflection will cover 2 double periods of my group recording dialogue for the comic strip. Since my voice is quite deep and raspy, I took on 2 roles from the comic: the Charioteer and the Assasin. For the Charioteer, I just went with my normal voice. However, for the Assasin, I had to make my voice even deeper and raspier, much like how Christian Bale creates his Batman voice. Joanna Fu played the Daemon Queen, and Lucas and Josh assisted me in creating fighting noises. Justin was in charge of handling the camera for documentary purposes. We did the recording in a music practice room because it was private and much quieter than any other room in school, which thus reduces the amount of inane background noise able to picked up by the boom mic.

We recorded by scene, starting off with the pre-fight scene between the Assasin and the Charioteer. Since I was the voice of both these characters, what I proposed to do was to record all the lines for one character, and then the same for the other, starting off with the Charioteer. The way we recorded the dialogue was that the speaker had to say his or her lines for a specific section of the script at least 3 times perfectly, each time experimenting with different ways that the line could be said. Once that is done, the speaker would move on to his or her next line and repeat the same process. Because I have done acting extensively and have also done voice-over work before, it was easy for me to get into the characters for recording. However, this also resulted in myself creating many weird or funny facial gestures which were unfortunately captured by Justin's cinematography.

What we realized during the recording process was that it was very tedious. Sometimes we had to repeat the lines numerous times either because he/she messed up the line or was not saying it right. Each group member constantly gave comments on how to improve the speaker's lines in terms of getting more into character. As a result, we tended to waste a bit of time and often got quite rowdy due to conflicting opinions. Nonetheless, it was great fun and we all had our share of laughs. The other thing I realized during the recording was that our voices got really sore after awhile. Especially mine, since I had to put on a really deep and raspy voice which of course strained my vocal cords. We often had to go out to fetch some water and rest because we simply did not have the vocal energy to continue to shout, scream, grunt or even talk in front of the mic.

One thing that really bugged me today was my peers' refusal to get into character or even say his or her lines properly. This mainly applies to Josh and Joanna. Josh only needed to scream "Mother!" in front of the mic in a youngster's tone of voice which he could do quite easily by accessing his falsetto, but yet it still took a lot of persuasion and inane begging to ask him to do it in front of the microphone multiple times. Joanna is the voice of the Daemon-Queen, so we told her to sound more royal, with more authority. However, after giving her tons of ways to improve, it still took her a long time to actually say the lines the way we wanted her to. She always either laughed during the recording of her dialogue, or was saying it too fast, stuttering, sounded too girly and adolescent, or just fooling around. No matter, in the end, we got what we wanted.

After about 2 double-periods of recording and straining our voices to the max, we went on to capture the tape onto Final Cut Pro. However, just as we were about to relax and rest, we found out that our tapehead was dirty and thus all of our footage was CORRUPTED. NOOO!!!!! This meant that we had to record again. However, this time, we know exactly what we had to do and thus are able to complete it much more efficiently.

#4: Comic Huh? February 19th 2009

During today's Film lesson, Ms. Wong briefly introduced us to our new double-task Film Project! First task was to create sound effects and dialogue for a comic strip. Second was to create a "The Making Of" documentary displaying how we created the dubbing for the comic strip step-by-step. My group for this project consisted of the same members as last lesson: Justin Cheung, Josh, Joanna and Lucas.

Since this lesson was only a single period, we did not have much time to do anything except create a plan for the Whole Create process of our project. We separated our group into 2 divisions: 1 would be formally in charge of the dubbing for the comic strip, the other would be formally in charge of the documentary. Josh, Joanna and I were placed in charge of the comic strip, Lucas and Justin were in charge of the documentary. 

During the last 30 minutes of class, I wrote down all the sound effects that were required in the comic strip, which included Mud Slides, Rain, Thunder, Wind, Sword Swooshing, Box Crashing, Horse Running etc. During this time, we also used a camera and filmed ourselves discussing our objectives so as to include in our documentary. During that discussion, we talked about what materials we could use to create these sound effects. For example, in order to create the sounds of horses running and neighing, we unanimously agreed to head over to Denise Chan's (a friend of ours) stable sometime within the month.

Today I managed to work very closely and co-operatively with my peers, and through that I discovered a bit of their potential in contributing to the success of the project. Lucas and Josh have had much experience prior to this project in working with Final Cut Pro (2 years they say), I have only ever worked with Final Cut Pro for my last CT project. Justin Cheung has had experience in post-production from creating a short film "ANA" in Focus On Film. I have great initiative, enthusiasm and am hardworking, so I know that I can contribute greatly towards this project. We're going to do great. Definitely.

#3: Sound-Expression! February 9th 2009

At the beginning of class, Ms. Wong presented us this video she found on the topic of Foley. Basically, Foley is the process of creating sound effects in post-production in order to enhance the soundtrack or plot of a video, film, video game etc. The video that Ms. Wong showed us talked about how to recreate particular sound effects such as a car driving on gravel, a T-Rex chomping down on another dinosaur, a large animal running across snow and more. This video really gave me deep insight and understanding on Foley and provided me with a basic knowledge on how I could create my own post-production sound effects. For example, I learnt that a leather pouch stuffed with corn starch can recreate the sound of an animal running across snow.

After the presentation, we were given a task to record sounds throughout school that adhere to a specific theme such as Joy, Time, Silence, Water etc. My group consisted of Joshua, Lucas, Joanna, Justin and myself. When we had to record a sound effect for Joy, we went to the Primary School Playground and used a Boom Mic to record a bunch of children running around and having fun. For the theme of Time, we stuck the mic underneath a ticking clock. Because the ticking noise was so faint, we had to ask the entire class to be absolutely silent during our recording. It did not end up to be as successful as we hoped for there was still some discernible background noise in the audio footage.

Today I learnt a lot about the basics of Foley and how it is used to recreate specific sounds in videos and films. I also learnt about different ways to create my own sound effects which could fit under various situations. This lesson really provided me with inspiration on the limitless diversity of materials that I could use to re-enact all the sounds of my choosing. I will definitely put my newly acquired knowledge to use for our next Film project which does involve Foley.