Sound Design

Sound Design:

What is Sound Design?
-Sound design in film and television essentially describes the process of capturing, layering and mixing of individual sound elements to create one single soundtrack for the project.
-Just as you shoot and edit the image part of the project, you also shoot and edit the sound part too.
-Sound design occurs at all stages of a production, but it is essentially a post-production stage.
-Originally completed by a sound editor.
-1970s: demand for increasingly complex soundtracks create the need to have creative input for the film.

Sound Layers:
-The job of the sound designer is to assemble a number of layers or tracks of sound which are then picked together to create a whole.

7 different types of tracks:
-Dialogue
All the recorded dialogue from the actual shoot.

-Sync
This is the recorded sound that is not dialogue (walking across a room/ getting into a car)

-ADR
Automatic Dialogue Replacement. This is all the dialogue re-recorded or dubbed, after the shoot.

-FX
Certain sound effects for elements such as a car engine, a computer, or an explosion.

-Foley
Making your own sounds.

-Atmos
Sound elements that make up atmosphere for a particular location.

-Music
All of the music in the film. Diegetic, music on the radio or someone playing an instrument in a scene. Non-diegetic, the soundtrack/ score.

The Sound Edit:
-Sound is cut just like the picture and ca be done in Final Cut Pro.
-Larger productions require a larger team to handle individual racks.
The Sound Designer ensure that all of the editors have the same vision.

The Mix:
-Created once the sound is compiled and edited.
-The sound designer and a mixer mix all the separate tracks together to create a single sound track.

The Art Of Sound Design:
-To add depth and emotion to the picture. Audience would believe the sounds.
-Even if a story is set on an alien world, it should sound right.

Keeping it real:
-Making the image come to life.

Atmosphere:
-Adding depth/ emotion to a scene does not necessarily mean adding a piece of music.

Production might spend 7 weeks shooting a film/ programme, but double the time is often spent on sound design.
If you have a thin soundtrack, all the work of the actors, director, editors and cinematographer would be undone.