Here is my Semester A project proposal, in blog form. I have taken the suggested proposal structure from the Module Guide, and used it here to maintain parity with the Proposal my group will be doing in Week 4.

1) The working title of the film is Cognition.

2) The project will consist of research and creative discussion with clients, recording the Location Sound during film and also completing Post Production Audio for our clients (Media Production students).

3) My Aims and Objectives are as follows:

• Produce one advanced concept led audio project, in this case, a short film for a client.
  • Research necessary equipment, techniques and other information pertaining to both Location Sound and Post Production Audio, and use that knowledge effectively to improve the quality of the project.
  • Plan my work; attend group, client or tutor meetings accordingly; and ensure that I do not fall behind with any work that needs to be completed.
  • Document the project meticulously, and present this information in a blog format.
  • Develop the necessary skills to work professionally with an outsourced client, in this case Viewfinder Productions.

4) The project will be a Short Film (Fiction – Drama).

5) Timescale/planning:

After meetings, hannah has created a rough timescale of events for the project:

• October 29th – Begin shooting.
• November 3rd-17th – Filming schedule.
• November 18th – Edit begins.
• December 2nd- Sound team receive picture locked film and accompanying OMF/AAF.
• December 16th – Final hand in at 4PM.

6) Roles will be quite dynamic due to the small size of the team (relative to feature films), so Rob, Sam and myself have decided to assign ourselves a different role each day we are recording on Location, and to pick a section of soundtrack to focus on in Post Production. Sam will be spending most of his time on Dialogue and Music, Rob will work on Foley editing and mixing, and I will tackle SFX and possibly the final effects mix, with Foley as well. We don’t want to be too strict with these roles, as we all lack experience in areas. For instance, Sam and I are both quite unacquainted with iZotope’s excellent RX5 suite of noise reduction and restoration programs, so would both like to work with it if time permits. We will all be working on Foley recording, as it requires at least two people to work efficiently; also because it’s rather fun and engaging, and we all want to gain some more experience with Sound Design.

7) Clients Requirements:

Production Responsibilities:

• Prior to shooting, to come to the set, and professionally assess the acoustics of the performance area.
• This also involves the assembling, operating and later removing of the necessary equipment.
• To consult with the Producer (Hannah Darby) and cast to determine the sound requirements, and what is needed for the best possible output/input.
• To select, position, adjust and operate the equipment used for amplification and recording on set.
• To apply technical knowledge of sound recording equipment to achieve the artistic objectives of the Director (Lauren Taverner).
• To record sound to the highest quality possible on set.
• To monitor audio signals to detect sound-quality deviations or malfunctions.
• To anticipate correcting any problems. To maintain and repair sound equipment where needed.
• To answer any questions that the cast or crew has in terms of the understanding of the audio and what their role is to ensure its quality.

Post Production Responsibilities:

• To integrate and synchronise the pre-recorded audio (dialogue, sound effects and music) with visual content.
• To re-record and synchronise audio (post-synching) if necessary.
• To mix and balance speech, effects and music (where necessary).
• To create and alter sound effects for use in films, television etc.
• The final deadline for this submission will be the 15th December at 4pm.

8) I have purchased several books in order to effectively research for both sound disciplines we’ll be exercising in this project (Location and Post), and will be reading through these, as well as other texts in the library. The current texts that I own are:

• Theme Ament, V. (2014) The Foley Grail – the art of performing sound for film, games, and animation. 2^nd New York: Focal Press.
• Viers, R. (2008) The Sound Effects Bible. Studio City, California: Michael Weise Productions.
• Viers, R. (2012) The Location Sound Bible. Studio City, California: Michael Weise Productions.

9) Individual Learning Outcomes:

• Improve my post-production tracking, mixing and recording abilities, specifically in regards to sound effects, foley and background ambiences.

I’ll accomplish this by working with my group to define roles in post-production, and focus on non-dialogue audio, leaving that to another member of my group. I intend on editing, sourcing and mixing the sound effects and ambiences on the soundtrack for Cognition. In previous projects, I mainly worked on dialogue editing and mixing, and so wanted to gain experience in a different area of the post-production process.

• Develop greater knowledge of location sound recording techniques, especially those involving plant (radi0) and boundary mic techniques.

I will be using library resources and also texts I have purchased myself to gain a better understanding of the techniques required to quickly and effectively rig up plant and boundary microphones on location. This should reward us with some well-recorded, clear and usable on-site foley, which won’t require as much processing to seat it into the film.

• Work to become more professional in all aspects of audio production throughout this project, streamlining my workflow in order to gain efficiency and save time.

In order to gain information about this outcome, I will be consulting library texts to understand more about efficient workflow on location and in post-production. I’ll also ask my peers, both from the visual and audio side of the group, for feedback on my behaviour throughout the project, with the use of a feedback form. From this I hope to gain helpful information about what I have been doing right and wrong, and then take steps to address the problematic points.