Evaluation

One of the strengths of this film is that the sound was allowed the same amount of thought and attention that the video was. What I mean by this is that the amount of time spent on the sound was roughly the same amount of time taken to produce the video. Often on projects like this, sound can be overlooked, much to the detriment of the film. However we thought that, considering sound was notably used in the film to produce many of the visual effects, we should do the film justice by creating a soundscape that verified the importance of sound as a vital film medium. We intended to add sounds that were relevant to what was taking place on screen to tie the audio and visual together. But as this was a relatively long video we decided to create a piece of appropriate music as well, to carry the audience through with a sense of pace through rhythm and interesting musical textures. 

Through our research into various sound and cymatics experiments we narrowed down on a select few that seemed manageable with our minute budget and limited time. However when it came to filming them, some of the experiments did not work. One of these was breaking a crystal wine glass by playing its own resonant frequency back into it at a high volume. We had acquired a suitable wine glass with a clear resonance but when we attempted to break it, despite playing its frequency though 3 separate speakers at full volume, the glass refused to break. This and another experiment that involved swinging a burning ball of wire wool failed to work. I think this added to a lack of diversity of material in the film which, I believe, is one of its weaknesses.

During pre-production we researched many articles and educational videos to help give us ideas of material we could film. After narrowing down ideas that were feasible in our circumstances we set about finding and collecting various bits of equipment we would need such as speakers capable of vibrating at high amplitudes & low frequencies, plastic tubing and petri dishes. I learnt from this, the importance of time management and allowing enough time to be able to acquire equipment while leaving plenty of time for production. We filmed on two separate days as each experiment required a lot of setting up and time for trial and error. We used a slider to add movement to some of our shots as a track and dolly would have been too tall for the space. The slider wasn't as smooth as expected and as a result some of the shots were slightly jittery. I learnt from this the limitations of the sliders available to us and to not rely on post production to salvage bad camera work.

After completing principle photography the clips were handed over to Aaron to edit. I began work on the soundscape and music. I didn't want to rely on having enough time to create this after the edit was done as I've found you need time to take a break from what your working on to be able to come back with a pair of fresh ears once in a while. I made a rough version of the music I would later use to listened to in a tutorial. My tutor, Martine, said it could get boring if it carried on for five minutes so I decided to add two sections to it. One created with synthesizers and one with samples of a wine glass resonating. I also added more real recordings to tie the audio more to the video and add more of an organic feel.

I took on the role of sound designer for this project as I had the most experience in that area. I think it was important to come to a general conclusion as a group, before filming, of what we were looking for in terms of sound. This meant that we had something to aim to and gave me time to start experimenting with ideas. As I've said above, we decided to create a piece of music to give it pace and keep interest rather than it being a five minute collection of sounds. My main starting point was for a shot of water flowing through a tube so I started with a sudden bass, foreshadowing this footage. I also decided to use the voice of Dr. Hans Jenny I had heard in a video on Youtube to introduce the video as he was the man who coined the term Cymatics. The first half of the soundscape is mainly synth music with sound recordings layered over. The second half consists of recordings I made of a wine glass resonating in various ways, pitched to different notes, to create a tune. As I was not editing the video, I found it challenging creating the soundscape as Aaron was editing because, due to logistical reasons, we would have to work at separate times which meant it was vital to keep in communication and give him up-to-date versions of the soundtrack so he would have something to work with. When I couldn't give him a full length track I would add a metronome to up to the five minute mark so he could still cut to the beat.

In terms of professional skills I believe this project has significantly aided me. Sound design is an area I am interested in working in, in the future. This project has helped hone my sound design skills as it has been the largest sound project I have worked on as of yet. It has helped drill in the importance of allowing time for trial and error. I also appreciate now, the importance of communication with the editor and the sound designer, as it is vital they both know and understand what the other is doing so the project is not at risk of colliding with itself. I think the fact that I have created a piece of music as well as sound effects and the demonstration of being able to use industry standard software and effects will help improve my employability standards.