Our final meeting with David was relatively straightforward. We talked about the Viva Voce, and David recommended we take a look at the marking sheet before we return in January, and we told him a few of the issues we’d had with the Sound Theatre and audio de-sync. We also spoke a little about the evaluation, how it should be structured, and why we write it, which will help me when I come to write my own.
We had a short tutorial this week, mainly talking about the viva voce that will take place in January. We also spoke about the importance of defining our learning outcomes, and also referring back to them throughout the blog to show where and how we are meeting them. This is where we can pick up a lot of marks, so I will need to firm up my learning outcomes and make sure to address areas where I’ve contributed to them, like during the film shoot for instance. There is one more tutorial on the final day of the semester, which we’ll attend as well, just in case we have any further questions.
We had our proposal with David today, which went well. We’d organised our first blog post using the structure in the module guide, so describing our project was easy enough. David asked a few questions regarding our Aims & Objectives, told Rob and I that we should tighten our Learning Outcomes up slightly, making them more personal and perhaps put the important points in bold. We also cleared up some lingering issues we had regarding research for our course, and David had a look at our blogs, before we left at 11.30.
We then met up later on in the day after lunch, and had a very quick meeting purely to organise our time over the next two weeks, as we’ve taken on a couple of extra-curricular projects. One involves sourcing ambiences and atmospheres, and also doing some Foley work for the film Callback, which Matt North, an Audio Production graduate, is editing and mixing. The other is the short film Agroculture, that Tom Price, the editor of Cognition, co-wrote, directed and shot over the summer, which we will be doing post production sound for. We’ve prioritised Callback, as the deadline for the first few scenes is 30th October, and also because Tom hasn’t set a deadline. That doesn’t mean we’ll rest on our laurels, just that we’ll spend the first few days working on Callback to ascertain how much work will be required. Unfortunately our arranged hours of 16.00 to 19.00 most evenings wasn’t possible to book, because Media Loans has implemented an odd three hour block booking system, I would guess in an attempt to allow more people to use the facilities. The only time we can book is 15.00 to 18.00 though, which conflicts with several other things we have on, and 18.00 to 21.00 is too late, so hopefully something can be done about this.
This meeting was a rather simple one, and it was nice to meet Mikey and sit in on some of his discussion with Lauren about the script and what it needed before it was complete. The opening flashback looks to be removed, and Mikey liked the idea of setting the film predominantly in one location. I suggested using the two already in the script, as we could use audio creatively to transition between the two spaces, and attempt to foreshadow the film’s bloody end using sound. I suggested something simple like having birdsong and a relaxed, calm atmosphere in the first space, Susan’s bedroom, which would then fade out as we transitioned to the basement. When in, the door could shut with a loud metallic clang, and perhaps a bolt could be thrown as well, shattering the atmosphere of the previous space. Then the noise of the basement, machines clicking and whirring, the claustrophobic atmosphere would rush in as Susan descends the stairs. I like it.
Aside from this, I was quiet for most of the meeting, as Mikey spoke to Lauren about using crowdfunding to gain some extra money for the film, tentatively set a budget of approximately £1500. We then headed off, and Mikey mentioned that until the script was finalised, it wasn’t necessary for us (Sound Team) to attend all of the Film Crew’s meetings with him. I expect we’ll attend in a fortnight.