Final Result/ Evaluation of Transitions Project:

I am happy with the final outcome of this project overall. However, there are a few problems that I faced during working on this piece.

Positives:
The first half of the project I feel has been mostly successful. I have managed to create what I feel to be a believable atmosphere in the setting of the Space Station. The use of directional sound editing means that the sound overall appears natural to the scene itself.

I also feel that the score during these scenes is successful. It takes aspects from modern TV scores such as modern Doctor Who but also feels like it would comfortable suit the old version of the show just as well. My editing of the score into the piece overall was mostly smooth and transitions into each piece very well.

The edits that were made for the footage itself, including picture quality and colourisation, were also successful. These changes allowed for me to differentiate this version from the original version.

This is the aspect I feel that is most successful, making the project feel as if I have put my own mark on it to make it feel like my own piece of work.

Improvements:
I mainly have a problem with the second half of the project. I spent much more time focusing on the first half so that, when it came to working on the second half, a lot less time was spend creating, sourcing and editing the sound effects and score. This resulted in the sound feeling rushed overall as I simply just reused a lot of the sound effects and score from the first half due to lack of time.

Upon looking at the final edit, I noticed that some areas which required sound were audibly missing as a result of oversight, this means that some parts seem empty in comparison others.

Due to lack of finding any voice actors to perform 'ADR' work, I ended up cutting most scenes that contained characters speaking. This had left some moments that appear awkward as characters sometimes appear to interact without any speech. I should have made more of an effort to find voice actors to help with this problem. This also lead me to re-edit entire sequences, using p more time that should have been spend creating and editing the sound.

I ended up cutting the last couple of minutes due to the sound being very unpolished at the last minute. Thankfully, this did benefit the project seeing as the it now ends in a place that I am more happy with.

Overall, this project was mostly successful with a result that I am mostly happy with. However, I feel that self-imposed time constraints overall diminished the quality of the project.

Website:
https://aja3097.wixsite.com/shadatransitions

 

Original, Pre-Edited Version:

Here is a video roughly edited together showcasing the original sound as it was presented on the original DVD release. Music in this version was composed by Keff McCulloch.

Please note- The sound shall be out of context, thus conversations present will make little sense as this cut was edited to be familiar to how my own version has been edited.

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This video is to be used as a comparison to my own version in order to compare what I have changed.

Final Edited Transitions Project:

Here is the final edit of my Transitions project:

Voice Over Script:

Here is a script that I made for my voice-overs. Some parts, including when a Dalek was going to briefly appear, did not make the final cut.

Editing The Score

The editing of the score proved quite difficult. A problem I had found was that I had not timed the pieces of music to the sequence as well as I had thought, and so some pieces of music had to be cut and re-sequenced to fit in a cohesive way. This has lead to some instances where one piece of music ends in a place that sounds unnatural as another piece begins.

To overcome this, I have been able to disguise some of the edits with extra sound effects placed where a piece of music would transition into another. This way the sudden change is not so obvious. This is most notable when, during the sequence, an alarm is sounded and the music becomes more dramatic and bombastic. I used the sound of an engine powering down and turned up the volume in order to mask the sudden transition. I feel that this strategy is successful and has been used during various parts of the sequence.

In future I feel that I should plan these aspects a little more carefully than I had done during this project in order for me to not make sudden compromises. Overall, however, I feel that the end result works, if not necessarily how I had originally intended.

Creating The Score

Creating the score is the aspect I was most looking forward to when planning for this project. However, when it actually came to creating the score, I found that it was a lot harder than I had thought it would be.

Firstly, I am having to adapt and work around footage of which is not my own and was not intended for me to create the score. These means that the timing of the music is will obviously be harder as the timing would not have been pre-planned during the filming of the sequence.

Secondly, I had first tried creating something reminiscent of Jerry Goldsmith's work on the film 'Alien' (Scott, 1979) with a more realistic space-horror aesthetic. However, when pairing this style of music with the somewhat dated visuals, there lacked consistency and the music simply did not suit what was shown on screen.

Therefore I had to find a way of creating a score that still retained the sci-fi horror aesthetic of a more modern type, whilst making it still suitable for the dated footage.

I started off my just creating several simple tunes. I tried to give some of them a more sombre feel so that they did not seem to happy and animated, otherwise they would not have fit with the horror aesthetic. After choosing which ones I liked, I then started to add more instrumentation to them.

As I realised that creating a completely modern horror score would not work, I thought about how I could make the score my own. In previous projects where I had created a score, I used synthesizer sounds and instruments quite heavily in oder to create more impact, while creating some more quiet pieces in a similar fashion. I decided that this be incorporated into this particular score. After adding all of the instruments, I then experimented with the different amplifiers for different sounds to much success.

The most notable pieces are as follows

'Opening'
This piece starts off reminiscent of 'Alien' with a heavy wind sound starting off. This then fades into two simple, deep notes from a synthesizer. This sequence carries on for much of the opening, aiming to set a dark and mysterious tone to the opening few minutes.

'Skagra'
There are several versions of this piece of music, all of which vary with instruments being added or taken out. This is supposed to be the theme for the villain 'Skagra' who features prominently during the sequence. The quieter variations mostly consist of just a simple drum beat reminiscent of 'The Terminator' (Camera, 1984). However, the more bombastic versions contain piano, synthesizers and even some brass and string instruments. The orchestra style instruments are reminiscent of those used in the scores for Doctor Who from 2005 onwards, acting as a call-back to those pieces of music while not being as heavily used here. I feel that this achieves a style that is more reminiscent of modern Doctor Who, yet can just as easily be used for the original series, acting as a sort of compromise between the two.

'The Doctor Who Theme'
Though this isn't an original piece of music, it is synonymous with the show and I had looked forward to recreating the theme for this project from the start. I actually tried to keep my version as close to the original as possible as I feel it doesn't really need updating, aiming to create a cleaner sounding version. This includes heavy use of piano, bass and synthesizer. I also tried to emulate the echoes that featured heavily in the original.

Overall I am happy with the music that I have created and feel that they suit the sequence already in place while adding a more modern aesthetic.

Here is a video which shows the original pieces that I made for this video including some which did not get used in the final edit. The Doctor Who Theme does not feature as i did not compose that piece of music originally:

Editing Sound

I have managed to successfully edit most of the sound into the sequence with relative ease. Some of these were rather simple, only requiring me to match the sound to what was being played out during the sequence. This included the flicking and pressing of switches and buttons as well as a low hum ever present during the parts set on board a space station.

However, some sound required more than this. I needed to make sure that I had set the direction of some non-ambient sounds the correct place. This was mostly simple except for certain instances. During the sequence, some shots move so that a source for a sound would change position through the shot.

One particular instance of this is a beeping timer coming from a computer screen which changes position drastically during a shot. In oder to tackle this, I put the sound into the sequence but then separated parts of the track into smaller parts. I then would change the direction and volume of each part in correspondence to where the computer screen was on screen and then cross-faded the parts into each other. The end result sounded as if the the beeping from the computer screen was gliding smoothly from one channel to another without sounding forced. There were multiple occasions where this was required.

A small problem I found was a clicking sound whenever one track stopped and another immediately followed. I was able to resolve this, however, by adding a very short cross-fade effect which cancelled out the clicking sounds.

Overall, I am happy with the sound effects present in this edit so far.

Sourcing Sound

Unfortunately I was not able to re-create all of the sound effects that I needed so I have had to source these elsewhere as I could not properly emulate them with the programs I had used for other effects.

I have used the website 'Freesound' in order to obtain the following sound effects:
-A running river
-An engine starting and stopping
-A car driving past
-A gate opening and closing.
-A sounding siren.

Given more time, I would probably would have been able to recreate some of these myself. However, I shall credit the creators of these sound in the credits of the final edit.

Sound Design in TV

Sound Design involves the creation of sound and sound-tracks for various different needs. This includes the creation, sourcing and use of sound effects. This can be done digitally with uses of various programs and equipment such as musical instruments to create the desire effect and sound. This can also be done physically such as performing actions in oder to recreate certain sounds (a practice known as 'Foley'). Sound design can also involve the editing of already existing audio in oder to be used for a particular need.

A common use of sound design is for the creation of atmosphere. This is especially important for any type of medium, be it Television,  Film or Audio in which atmosphere is key for creating that piece of media's identity among other similar media.

Television in particular requires the use of sound design to create atmosphere. This can be used to either help create a surrounding that appears realistic, using sounds that are natural that a certain setting, or in oder to evoke emotions. This often requires emphasis on certain aspects of the sound which tells the audience how they should be feeling about certain events or a certain location.

However, sound design can also be applied to music. Pre-existing music can be used in order to emphasis the atmosphere or a show's overall themes. However, the creation of music for that particular medium itself can have an overall great effect on the emotional weight or atmosphere, often serving to help further emphasise what is being shown on screen. This is why many creators of these mediums often look towards music composers to create music that would best serve their storytelling.

Research: Composers

Murray Gold:

Murray Gold served as writer and composer of music for Doctor Who from 2005 to 2017. This meant a departure from the earlier incarnation's synthesizer heavy themes. Instead, this was dropped in favour for more orchestral scores. This change in direction arguably made the modern show feel like it had more presence as the scores could very easily have been made and included in high budget films. This helps to elevate the show and keep consistent to the more grand scale that the writing of the show has catered to during this time (with arguable success).

A significant composition from Murray Gold is called 'I Am The Doctor'. This first appeared in 2010 for the episode 'The Eleventh Hour' which introduced viewers to the Eleventh Doctor. The composition was utilised as a heroic theme for this incarnation of the Doctor. The piece starts with a quiet string section which steadily builds into a crescendo which usually signifies that the character is doing something heroic. The theme also utilises several rock instruments such as an electric guitar as well as utilising a choir which gives an almost fairytale-like feel to the music.

I feel this type of music can be utilised in order to create the illusion of the project having a somewhat grander scale than what was originally intended. Particularly, I feel that including sections using a choir might help to achieve this. However, I feel that I would need to restrict this aspect somewhat as there is a danger of the music becoming unsuitable for the existing footage.

Other media Murray Gold has worked on are as follows:
-Kiss of Life
-Death at a Funeral
-Mischief Night
-Casanova
-The Muskateers


Jerry Goldsmith:

For this I will be focusing on Jerry Goldsmith's work on the 1979 sci-fi/horror film 'Alien' (Scott, 1979). This film heavily emphasises the aesthetics of a horror film and thus needed a score to help further realise this. Jerry Goldsmith's score is unconventionally quiet, especially at the time. Where certain other horror films at the time would have chosen to use a more bombastic score to heighten the effect of what is being shown on screen, the score for alien instead chooses to be restrained, slow and often methodical. This allows for the creation of tension.

The opening theme starts with a low rumbling howl which introduces the viewer to the cold emptiness of outer space. Very quite string and wind sections then fade in as we move through space and the titles slowly forms. We are then taken inside the 'Nostromo', a spaceship that acts as the film's setting, and given a brief tour of the dark corridors. The score throughout these scenes create tension the it's almost relaxed nature. There is this feeling of being unprepared if something was to suddenly appear from the shadows and prey on the characters in the film. The music perfectly encapsulates the emptiness that is being portrayed on screen.

This is something I would want to utilise within my own music. I feel that the music itself should be a reflection and exploration of what is being shown to the viewer on shown. I hope to emulate this style several times during my project, particularly during the opening sequence which opens in a very similar way to that of 'Alien'.

Other notable scores Jerry Goldsmith is known for are as follows:
-Planet of The Apes
-The Omen
-Star Trek: The Motion Picture
-First Blood
-Total Recall

Creating The Sound Effects

The first thing I set work on for this transition project was creating the sound effects that I wish to use during the final edit.

These sound effects would include:
-Switches and buttons being pressed.
-Steam pipes from hissing (from inside a spaceship)
-Various electronic devices buzzing and beeping.
-Low hums of machinery.
-Sounds of knocking

To start with, I decided that I would use the program called GarageBand in oder to see if I could emulate these types of sound through various instruments available. Luckily there were a wide collection of synthetic noises that could be used both on their own as well as put in to sequence for the desired effect. Other instances meant that I needed to create a melody out of certain instruments to obtain the sound that I needed. This was most notable where I used an electric keyboard to emulate the sound of an electronic device counting down.

There was one instance where I needed to carefully watch the sequence of events where a character is flicking and pressing various switches and buttons. This meant that I needed to sequence various sounds so that they matched the timing of the button presses. These were created, again, through an electric piano and through an electric drum kit.

Some sound required a little more tweaking, however. GarageBand very helpfully also contains a mode in which I was allowed to play and experiment with various different types of amplifiers for different effects. Some made the sounds feel as if they were playing through an old machine while others gave more experimental results such as a rolling echo filter that gave great ambience for diegetic use. The most use I got out of these was when creating the sound of steam and various other electronic noises, adding an echo filter which drifted from both sound channels which allowed to create diegetic atmosphere and sound scape, particularly in the setting of a space station.

I used my own synthesizer to do some voice-over work. These mainly consisted of voices coming from a machine like from an intercom system. I decided that these should be somewhat robotic as if they were automated which also helps to create a futuristic feel in keeping with the show's themes. This was also done to disguise my own voice which I am not particularly fond of. I first tried using a Vocoder which is often used for music acts, most notably from Daft Punk and Electric Light Orchestra. This would have me speaking into a microphone while pressing on piano keys where my voice would be heard in the tone of the note I was playing in a robot voice. However, the end result sounded too 'sing-song' and lacked the realistic feel that I was trying to create. I then resorted to speaking plainly into the microphone and thus changing the settings through the synthesizer to distort my voice. This work a lot better and I was happy with the end result.

With these sound effects ready to edit, I should hopefully be able to create a good sound-scape for each location.

What is Shada?

'Shada' is an un-broadcast serial of the British TV show 'Doctor Who' from 1979. The serial was written by Douglas Adams who often worked as script editor on 'Doctor Who during the late 1970s and would later find fame after writing 'The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy', the radio show, the book and its many sequels.

The story revolves around an alien genius known as Skagra (Christopher Neame) who has taken control of an orb that can drain people's minds. He uses the orb in order to find an ancient book in the possession of an old man who is accompanied by the Doctor (Tom Baker) and the companion at the time, Romana (Lalla Ward). The book itself hold information on accessing an intergalactic prison where Skagra hopes to free one of the most powerful criminals in time and space.

The story was only partly filmed due to strikes that occurred at the time, meaning that the story has never been fully completed through live-action.

Since 1979, there have been multiple home releases. First was a VHS release which was later transferred onto DVD. It featured Tom Baker standing in and narrating the parts of the serial that had not been completed. This is the version of which I have taken my footage from for this project.

Another is a Blu-Ray/DVD release from late 2017 which featured animation to fill in the missing parts with all surviving cast members providing new material as voice actors for these parts as well as upscaled and re-edited versions of the live action footage.

Planning Sheet

This is a rough plan that I had made before creating the sound effects and score: