Assignment Description: 

“The purpose of the final project is to show what you can do within a multitrack production environment. Create a professionally mixed & mastered project. There are two different "options"—pick one.”

 

Option Chosen (Option 1 - Soundtrack for Existing (short) Film: 

Take a 4- 6 minute clip from an existing film (prefer public domain, or it could be a short scene from an original film* ). Strip away the existing soundtrack, and create your own multitrack production. Include at least 2 voices (could be narration, or two voice actors), a non-diegetic music cue, at least 3 sound effects or foley effects, background(s) ambiance. Include a diegetic music cue if possible (not all films will have this).

 

Project Description: 

The option I have chosen will be to create a soundtrack for an existing (short) film. In that, I want to challenge myself with an original film rather than a pre-existing one as it would regulate copyrighted material used and enforce training in combining two mediums I have learned to create content for (Video Production and Digital Audio Recording and Editing). *While planning this project, I was inspired by multiple ideas: 

 

1. Story based on planning to move from Florida to Massachusetts

   1. Copywrited music used: Roundabout by Yes

      1. Reasoning: Massachusetts is where I’m originally from, so I wanted to create a project reflecting the fact that I was literally doing a roundtable by moving back into the place I was from, progressing my soon adult life. 

      2. Conflict: Licensing fee & Writing
          

2. Story based on the loss of a friend and trust in Christ

   1. Copywrited music used: Lillies by Cade Kellam

      1. Reasoning/plot: I wanted to create a project correlating to the lyrics, specifically to “So I won't worry when I know You're in control,” that the person can be healed from the bad news and learn peace, even bringing comfort to the friend’s family in the process. 

      2. Conflict: Time restraint and flow
          

3. Story based on nature 

   1. Copywrite music used: Lilies by Cade Kellam

      1. Reasoning: I wanted to create a story where a person walks in nature and shoots photos of birds

      2. Conflict: Shrugs, I honestly don’t know where I would start with this idea.

 

Side Note for an idea I want to try, not sure if this is gonna be the final idea: 

1. Narration about conflict 

2. Phone call with two people

3. B-Roll of XYZ, as the phone call plays in the background 

4. Phone call shot (scene c -> scene d -> scene c (L-cut editing )) 

5. “Scratch that, Ima do this!”

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Final Choice: 

A person is home alone and says he’s gonna have a huge party. He talks to his friend on the phone, claiming that there’s gonna be tons of food, a lot of girls, and craziness overall. As it turns out, it is all a lie. He makes food for himself, plays a little piano, and spends some time reading a book. He ends the night as he goes to bed. 

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Final Choice Resources:

• Script Writing: Studio Binder 

• DAWs: GarageBand (for MIDI and music) | Audacity (for simple edits) |
  Adobe Audition (Experimented with)

• Video Editing: Premiere Pro | OBS 

• Storyboarding: Procreate 

• Sound Effects: Myself! ​

*At the time writing this & constructing this project, I had little knowledge on copyright usage. 

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Process: 

First off, during this whole endeavor, I had to balance multiple finals, there are much I would change from the final product, should I have time to reinvent this idea. With that out of the way, here is the proper process written out: 

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Week 1: Planning 

During this week I wrote a treatment of my idea, a script descripting the idea for the scene, and finally some concept storyboards that would be relied on for filming. 

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Week 2: Narration Voice over from Lucas Olivera 

We had a hang out session as he offered to narrate a part of the scene for me. I pulled the script on a monitor and had the recordings saved to Audacity. I offered to pay Lucas for his services (as a honor) and we had a 2 hour session voicing the narration.

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Week 3: FAU Recording

During this week I assemble a few friends and recorded all scenes needed on FAU Campus. I decided to keep MOST filming on the Pocket 3. 

Note to self: Lighting on the Pocket 3 is a challenge. 

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Week before Due Date: 

Finding a time where the house would be the most silent and "alone" was a difficult task. I waited for the week where everyone in the house would be out. In the span of three nights I recorded the home scenes. I During the day of these moments I worked on an animatic "dream" sequence that would serve as the ending of the scene.  I also learned how to incorporate GarageBand to OBS through a digital interface that served as a multiple output station that would allow me to record my desk through the pocket 3, through OBS, while having audio play from GarageBand.  In GarageBand I also learned more about different MIDI modes I could utilize for the piano. I settled on a synth to demonstrate a dream like mode the story would go in the dream and utilized a remixing feature on Premier Pro. 

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4 days before Due Date:

In the post editing process, I learned more about editing audio through Adobe Audition. It would serve as a handy tool as all the audio would be replaced in Premier Pro after edits. I made three sounds through my voice: A clock ticking, bubbling water, and an Animal Crossing-esk like voice for the dream sequence. 

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Final Thoughts: 

While the video is (personally) something I could have done a lot better if given proper time, I am still proud of learning what I did. For future practice, I now learned more on audio manipulation through Adobe Auditions, how to manage a team, and how to adapt to a changing script/storyboard due to time. Where I need more training is the following: 

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• Audition as a whole 

• GarageBand as a whole 

• Advancement in Music Theory

• Advancement in OBS 

 

I believe the phrase "With practice comes improvement". And so, that is where we step off this train for Digital Audio Recording and Editing and where I continue my journey in other projects!