TMF Film Project Critical Evaluation and Reflection
For this project I aimed to create a polished and complete version of the given scratch audio which accompanied this segment of film. In undertaking this project I captured audio in multiple workflows depending on the situation, mostly foley recording sessions for the auditory FX and atmosphere, as well as ADR recording sessions for the dialogue, and finally mixing sessions to complete the piece.
In the opening scene to the film I started with retrieving samples of traffic from local roads, as well as from online sample banks to blend together and create various noise tones to shift between dependant on camera distance to the scenic busy city highways shots, I think this worked well as ambience for behind the intro track. For which I imported and replaced the given track from a cleaner downloader, California by Donald Glover was given in the original scratch audio and as my approach was with taking this project which having existing scratch audio as desired by the film producers to direct in what the final segment should contain.
If I was to of not interpreted the existing scratch audio for this as a guide, the song choice would have likely changed here however I believe it dropped into the contrasting prison scene well. To exaggerate this transition I faded in some layers of chains which are high register and harsh, reverb stretching the sound out into the empty corridors to contrast against the lush intro track and highlight that comparison between inside the prison and the outside world. I think this was effective however the chain sample could have perhaps been layered with many more of different thickness / timbre and stereo scattered to really drive that subtlety more.
With the backing ambiences throughout the piece I knew that I’d need lots of noisy room tone to fit with the prison interior. I think this was applied well and that although the levels are slightly exaggerated compared to being present in a noisy room, I wanted a somewhat claustrophobic mix so the slight increase would make unnoticeable difference but hopefully a convincing effect, emphasizing the emptiness and stark setting on-screen. This then meant for real focus on the actors lines, I believe I implemented the lead dialogue well, sitting it in balance with the other two vocal tracks in conversation. I’d have perhaps re-recorded the other character dialogues if I was to do this again, within the same room as the lead in an ADR session to get cleaner lines, however I wanted to challenge myself with keeping the original lines here as the voice acting was well suited.
Some sections of the original scratch audio and recorded dialogue did require some cleaning up, after some feedback from our lecturer I went back to the audio regions and ensured all had appropriate fading so that the change in backing noise tone was minimal. Also with this feedback there was some pointers on where to try sync dialogue better, I agreed with this as this was an area I’d came back to a few times during the production, as the lines were tough to sync to the leads mouth after a few more attempts I managed to get it in better timing.
Out of all aspects of this project I was most satisfied with how I got the voices to move through the scene during the walkthrough visitation room bit, this required automating EQ shelves and peaks to emphasize the walls between the camera and the audio source while still maintaining a clear and audible yet muffled dialogue against the backing ambience, I think I executed this scene well and that the backing room ambience here was suitable. Finally again if I was to redo this, I would likely work further on the door opening sound as it locks into place, this was aimed at being impactful but it’s sonic qualities could be better improved to place it more convincingly in the room.
Overall I am satisfied with the final production for this project, with these areas of improvement in mind when I went forward with the following project I believe it was a great undertaking to improve on the various aspects of film audio and my approach to its production.
