Audio effects are a massive part of the finished product and, like all effects, they are successful if the viewer doesn’t notice you’ve done anything at all. And that certainly includes the often overlooked world of sound design.
Everything has to fit just right. Why? So that you truly believe that a certain object on the screen is making that particular sound. If the audio doesn’t fit, it bursts the bubble, therefore destroying the audience’s experience.
A great example of how powerful audio can be is the binaural soundscape entitled ‘Virtual Barber Shop Haircut’. Click on the video above to listen to it. But be sure to wear a decent pair of headphones to truly enjoy its brilliance.
Audio effects in Distant Future’s work
Founder, Bill Beaumont, tells us, “I’ve always been interested in sound and music. When I was a teenager, I was in a band for 3 years and I’ve studied sound design for film. The band has split up long since, but I’m often involved in audio work and music editing for our client work here at Distant Future.”
“The sound and music are 50% of the entertainment in a movie.
Occasionally we do get outside help for larger projects or where there are specific custom sounds that need to be made. And through this, I recently had the opportunity to visit Andrew Cleaton at Epiphany Music. Andrew was brought in as a supplier to help us with the sound design for one of our upcoming films. And the experience of working with him was rewarding on many levels.
More about Andrew Cleaton
Andrew Cleaton is a composer, producer, sound designer, educator …. you name it! If it’s got something to do with sound, chances are he is capable of doing it.
When I arrived at his studio, he finished up recording some extra-crunchy guitar riffs. We then set down to watch the film through from start to finish, to listen to what he’d contributed to the footage so far.
We focused on a scene that takes place in a fridge to make it sound like an Arctic environment. And we did this using a combination of techniques from Adobe Audition and Logic Pro.
The right tools for the job
Andrew explained that Adobe Audition is generally better for sound effects editing and collaborative work. Whereas Logic Pro is primarily music editing software. We found an Arctic wind recording and used it along with Logic’s Space Designer Reverb plug-in. This way, we made it seem as though the sound was coming from within the fridge.
The plug-in has a multitude of settings for an array of environments and you could easily spend an entire day playing out with the different sounds it can generate. It really opened my ears as to just how much of a powerful effect reverb can be.
Something else I learned that day is the difference between diegetic and non-diegetic sound. Diegetic is sound which comes from an object or a source within the film (for e.g. character voices, objects or music coming from an object like a radio). These sounds should be directly affected by their environment.
Non-diegetic sound is generally a music score, or a narrator, i.e. anything that is clearly not coming directly from the portrayed world. These sounds would typically not be affected by the environment that the film is set in.
More about audio effects
Andrew also showed me how he has previously recorded a large library of car sounds by setting up multiple microphones around the engine and exhaust whilst the car lifts off the ground (safely at a garage!). The car moving through the gears is then recorded with the different sounds of the engine and exhaust (from the differently-placed microphones) being then used together to create a much fuller overall sound. Another technique shown was to turn the bass down and treble up on one sound, then the reverse on the music. This way, the sounds layer together nicely rather than all of them blaring over the same frequency.
For me, sound has always been one of my favourite things about animation. Many people focus only on the visuals and think if it looks good, it’s done. But visuals only make up 50% of the movie-going experience. The same is true for animated and filmed marketing materials.
If you want to ensure your animation is as effective as possible, ask us how we can use sound design to help. Call us on 01535 357475 or contact us via our Chat Box facility at the bottom of your screen.