Editing Audio
Renaming the Audio files
As I mention in my Editing Video Section, what I always do when I am about to start editing anything is I go through and rename all the video files to have meaningful names. I still keep the number in the order of filming that they were, at the beginning of the name, since this can be very helpful for sorting them and finding clips, since I tend to remember when I filmed things.
When I was researching Storyboards, I found out that Christopher Nolan, who doesn’t like to use storyboards, said that he can kind of see the film clips in his head after he has watched them through. He said that he can do an edit all in his head, then go to his Editor and if the Editor has one clip, Christopher Nolan will often say, no, I remember we have this other take of that, from this slightly different angle, and we shot it at this time. I’m not sure I can go quite as far as a whole edit in my head, but I can see my clips in my head pretty much in order.
Once I have renamed all my video clips, I then go though and listen to all my audio files and rename my audio files to match the video files that they relate to. I started renaming my files in Year 1 and it makes such a difference to workflow, and time is always of the essence.
Clap Clap
Another thing that I learnt to do on this course is that if you don’t have a clapper board, then just clap. Having a spike makes it easier to sync up the audio with the video, because you can do it visually by looking for the spikes in Adobe Premiere Pro in both the audio and video files.
Soundscape
Songs for Opening Credits and End Credits
I knew that for the both the Opening Credits and the End Credits I wanted 2 songs that include the word “Time” in them somehow and are appropriate.
Opening Credits
My Opening Credits have Sam (from the present) walking through the woods, wearing a pair of headphones and listening to music. There is no dialogue in my Opening Credits even though they are part of the action.
When I showed Nick (tutor) my rough draft of the opening sequence he immediately suggested the following song by Culture Club, “Time (Clock Of The Heart)”. I listened to it and agreed that it is perfect. I had wanted a song about Time for the Opening Credits, and I had found several (see further below) but none of them had quite the right vibe for the Opening Credits until I heard this one.
Culture Club – Time (Clock Of The Heart)
Culture Club – Time (Clock Of The Heart)
Don’t put your head on my shoulder
Sink me in a river of tears
This could be the best place yet
But you must overcome your fears
Oh, in time
It could have been so much more
The time is precious I know
In time
It could have been so much more
The time has nothing to show
Because
Time won’t give me time
And time makes lovers feel
Like they’ve got something real
But you and me
We know we’ve got
Nothin’ but time
And time won’t give me time
Won’t give me time
(Time, time, time)
Don’t make me feel any colder
Time is like a clock in my heart
Touch we, touch was the
Heat too much
I felt I
Lost you from the start
Oh, in time
It could have been so much more
The time is precious I know
In time
It could have been so much more
The time has nothing to show
Oh, in time
It could have been so much more
The time is precious I know
In time
It could have been so much more
The time has nothing to show
I also found an instrumental version in case that was useful when I was editing my soundscape
Culture Club – Time (Instrumental)
End Credits
I found a few good options for songs with Time in. Once I sorted out the Opening Credits music, I decided that I will need to wait until I had finished editing the visuals to see what kind of vibe I want the end of the film to have. These songs all have different vibes. “Time Song” is gentle and contemplative. £This Time tomorrow” is quite quirky. “Time Will Tell” is a bit 60s Psychedelic, and I’m not sure the words work quite as well, but I’m keeping it in as an option for the moment.
Song 1 – The Kinks – Time Song
The Kinks – Time Song (Official Lyric Version)
Time lives our lives with us
Walk side by side with us
Time is so far from us
But time is among us
Time is ahead of us
Above and below us
Standing beside us
And looking down on us
When we were young
And our bodies were strong
We thought we’d sail
Into the sunsets
When our time came along
Now that we’re nearing
The end of the line
Time has changed
Time would heal
Time will mend and conseil
In the end everything will be fine
And if we concentrate
Time will heal all the hate
All in good time
We go on
Drifting on
Dreaming dreams
Telling lies
Generally wasting our time
Suddenly it’s too late
Time has come and can’t wait
There’s no more time
We go on
Drifting on
Dreaming dreams
Telling lies
Generally wasting our time
Suddenly it’s too late
Time has come and can’t wait
There’s no more time
I couldn’t find an instrumental version of it.
Song 2 – The Kinks – This time tomorrow
The Kinks – This Time Tomorrow (Official Audio)
This time tomorrow, where will we be?
On a spaceship somewhere sailing across an empty sea
This time tomorrow, what will we know?
Will we still be here watching an in-flight movie show?
I’ll leave the sun behind me
And I’ll watch the clouds as they sadly pass me by
Seven miles below me
I can see the world and it ain’t so big at all
This time tomorrow, what will we see?
Field full of houses, endless rows of crowded streets
I don’t know where I’m going, I don’t want to see
I feel the world below me looking up, looking up, up at me
Leave the sun behind me
And I’ll watch the clouds as they sadly pass me by
And I’m In perpetual motion
And the world below doesn’t matter much to me
This time tomorrow, where will we be?
On a spaceship somewhere sailing across an empty sea
This time tomorrow, where will we be?
This time tomorrow, what will we see?
This time tomorrow
I also found the following versions
This Time Tomorrow (Stereo) (2014 Remastered Version)
The Kinks – This Time Tomorrow (2020 Stereo Remaster)
This Time Tomorrow (Instrumental) (2014 Remastered Version)
Song 3 – The Kinks – Time Will Tell
Time Will Tell
Time will tell if I will live eternally,
Through life instead of being someone.
All of my life, you are the one, you’re on my mind.
Have a good time, do what you want, but you will find,
Time will tell if I’ll survive.
I’d rather be dead than just pretend I’m alive.
Time will tell, it’s just a matter of time.
It’s just a matter of time.
Time will tell if we will be the same as now,
Or not, if not, then never mind.
All of my life, you are the one, you’re on my mind.
Have a good time, do what you want, but you will find,
Time will tell if I’ll survive.
I’d rather be dead than just pretend I’m alive.
Time will tell, it’s just a matter of time.
It’s just a matter of time.
Time will tell if dreams become reality,
For you got me, as long as you want.
All of my life, you are the one, you’re on my mind.
Have a good time, do what you want, but you will find,
Time will tell if I’ll survive.
I’d rather be dead than just pretend I’m alive.
Time will tell, it’s just a matter of time.
It’s just a matter of time.
It’s just a matter of time.
I also found this Instrumental version
Time Will Tell (Instrumental)
I had originally liked “The Time Song” because I really like the words particularly at the start
Time lives our lives with us
Walk side by side with us
Time is so far from us
But time is among us
Time is ahead of us
Above and below us
Standing beside us
And looking down on us
If I use a fade out of the song, then the opening words are what will be heard, and they make the point that Time is everywhere, it is a fundamental element of our whole existence. That is what I am currently thinking of. However, if I want to finish the song properly (but make it shorter) then it is the end words that I need to consider, and in “Time Song” they are a bit sad.
Nick (tutor) also liked “Time Song”, and so did my parents when I asked them for feedback. But Nick (tutor) had very wise words of advice. He said that now that I had a number of options, the best thing to do is finish my edit, then see what kind of vibe the film has, and what kind of vibe I want it to have, and then make a choice. That is what I had been planning on doing and it was good to have it confirmed as a good course of action.
And when I got to the point of putting the End Credit music on, I found I had changed my mind. And interestingly, when I showed it to Nick (tutor) so had he, in the same way. We both now prefer “This Time Tomorrow”, which has a more upbeat vibe. When I showed it to Simon (tutor), he also preferred “This Time Tomorrow” and he put his finger on what I was thinking but I didn’t know how to express.
And that is that “Time Song” sounds like you are wrapping everything up nicely at the end of a story. But Simon saw a key element that I had been working on, which is that I’m leaving the ending of the story a bit open – does Sam time travel or not? Before the music starts, we see him staring at the Multicoloured hat thoughtfully. I wanted to leave the audience wondering whether Sam P time travelled or not.
Simon (tutor) got this and said that it didn’t suit the “Time Song” song because that had a “tying everything up neatly at the end” vibe, and he, like me and Nick, preferred “This Time Tomorrow” because it has a more upbeat, anything could happen vibe. The words at the start are also very appropriate:
This time tomorrow, where will we be?
On a spaceship somewhere sailing across an empty sea
This time tomorrow, what will we know?
Will we still be here watching an in-flight movie show?
So, this time tomorrow, where will Sam P be? What will he have done? Where will he have been? What will he know?
I really like the words in “This Time Tomorrow” because they enhance the open-ended ending idea.
After the End Credits there is a Post End Credits scene, where we see Sam P, now wearing the Multi-coloured hat suddenly appear out of nowhere on the bench. But is it actually Sam P or is it Sam F3 who was wearing the Multi-coloured hat? Simon (tutor) pointed out that it could be circular. I am really pleased that he saw this.
We both agreed that “This Time Tomorrow” was the correct song.
Levelling out the Audio
I have also gone through the film levelling out the audio, using the audio gain feature in Adobe Premiere Pro. This wasn’t as bad a job as if I had been using the audio from the camera. One thing that I have most certainly learnt from this UAL course is always, always use a separate mic. I really wouldn’t ever even think about filming without a separate mic now.
I used the College Sennheiser Shotgun Mic with a Mic Muffler (or dead cat, as it is known) and E-Image Boom Pole. I recorded the sound on a Zoom H5. I have found this to be a good combination in the past.
Sound Effects and Foley Sounds
I made a list of the Foley Sounds and Sound Effects that I wanted to add. After discussing my Foley and Sound Effects ideas with Nick (tutor), and getting additional suggestions from him, I refined my list. There are 4 main places that I am looking for them, which are BBC Sound Effects (2021) SoundBible (2021), freesound (2021) and YouTube. The two I find have the most useful sounds are freesound (2021) (which I am registered with) and YouTube.
My discussion with Nick (tutor) about how to enhance the opening credits where the music is playing was helpful. He gave me feedback on my ideas so far, which he said were appropriate and insightful. He picked up on a couple that I hadn’t thought of such as a twig rustle by the “Anna played by Ellie Simpson” as Sam P pushes a branch out of the way.
He also said that an important thing to do is to let the sounds enhance the music, almost viewing it as towards a mini music video. I have discussed his feedback in more detail in my Journals, but it was very helpful.
My list is a rough list, based on what I was already thinking and my conclusions from my discussion with Nick (tutor) since I know where each of the sounds will go, but I wanted to show this part of my process.
- Bird Song at the start
- Scrunch Feet Leaves (maybe not so scrunchy though since more woodland floor?) as Sam P then Sam F1’s feet walk past. The footsteps are in time with the music so the crunch needs to be too.
- Phone text message notification
- 1st Phone text message bubble appearing
- Typing a text message on phone (line up with his fingers tapping)
- 2nd Phone text message bubble appearing
- “Swish” sound as Sam hits the “Jack (Quest) Harper as Sam” credit which appears to be hanging from the blue rope
- First Twig snap
- Bird song in right ear only when Sam P takes his right earbud out
- Wind “swish” sounds (not sure about this, I’ll need to try it and see)
- Small tree branch rustling as Sam walks past it by the “Anna played by Ellie Simpson” credits
- Second Twig snap
- Sam F1 footsteps as he steps into shot for the reveal Spinning Pan and Tilt shot
- Mysterious Sound as Sam F1 is revealed
- Sound for black bars appearing (swoosh)
- Dramatic Music when the black bars are on the screen and there is blue tint on screen
- Sound for black bars disappearing (ding?)
- Sound for black bars re-appearing (swoosh)
- Dramatic Music when the black bars are back on the screen and there is a blue tint on screen
- Sound for black bars disappearing again
- “ding” as Sam F1 winks
- Instant Time Travel leaving “blip” (Sam F1)
- Time Travel arriving, to put on top of wobble? Or instead of? Test out (Sam F2)
- Sound of leaves blowing onto Sam F2’s feet
- Sound for pan shot of Sam F2’s coat
- Fancy light sound effect when showing inside the hat
- “Boom” sound effects Time Continuum (Sam F2)
- Instant Time Travel leaving “blip” (Sam F2)
- Time Travel arriving, to put on top of wobble? (Anna)
- Sound over Anna Pan round
- Sound for Anna removing red paper from under twig. (Could use one from white paper?)
- ” Boom” sound effects Time Continuum (Anna)
- Music over “personal future” lines
- Instant Time Travel leaving “blip” (Anna)
- Time Travel arriving, to put on top of wobble? (Sam F3)
- Leaves blowing onto Sam P’s feet sound
- Serious music for “Don’t pick up that stick” and for hat on chest
- Instant Time Travel leaving “blip” (Sam F3)
- Swoosh for transition from Main woods to Bench
- Whoosh for Whip Pan from Hat to Sam P
- Sam P looking right swoosh
- Sam P looking left swoosh
- Start End Credits music while the multicoloured hat is still on screen
Comments on a few key sounds
Birdsong
The birdsong right at the start and when Sam P takes his right earbud out is real birdsong that I recorded. When Sam P takes his right earbud out, I stopped the right ear audio music and added the birdsong in the right ear only. If you listen with headphones on, then you can hear that. I checked that it sounds OK when listening without headphones too. I like adding little details like the right/left ear differences.
Right ear/ left ear
Regarding right ear / left ear, the sound effect that I have used for the time travel effect, as each Sam and Anna arrive, also alternates between the right ear and the left ear. As I say, I like adding little details like that. I feel it adds a slightly disorientated feel for the audience.
Leaf scrunch
At one point I tried using a Foley sound for woodland footsteps that my 90%Bloopers Group and I had recorded in the woods near College. It would have been nice to use a Foley sound that I had created. However, I felt that it was too “scrunchy” since there are not actually that many leaves where Sam P is walking.
One of Nick’s comments had been that he liked that I had lined up the opening footsteps with the beats of the music. He said that was the right way to do it, as it kept the beat of the music for the audience, which was exactly my intention. He agreed with me when I explained that I didn’t think I should be adding footstep sounds everywhere else in the opening since they would be out of sync with the music and thus be distracting to the audience.
Wind sounds in the opening
Nick had suggested also adding in some “swoosh” sounds of the wind in this opening section, but only if I felt it enhanced the music, the music is key at this point. I tried it, but it didn’t work and just sounded like noise, and didn’t enhance it.
Human sounds
Also, Nick explained that often you get “human” effects added like children playing or dogs barking. I tried this too, since I have certainly seen it in big films. However, it just sounded like I hadn’t recorded clean audio. I thought about it and tried to analyse my reaction to these sounds. My conclusion is that in a big film the audience know that every sound has been carefully planned, so if you can hear children playing, who you cannot see on screen, then it is deliberate. However, in a student film, I do not get the benefit of this assumption, so it just sounds like I didn’t record clean audio. So, I didn’t add it.
Twig snaps
The twig snaps had recorded quite well, but I felt they needed to be a little bit louder to ensure the audience noticed they had happened since they are key to the ideas that Sam P is being followed. I enhanced the twig snaps by adding a twig snap sound effect.
On the second twig snap I had originally just added one “snap” sound but then I noticed that we see his foot kick the broken part of the twig out of the way, so I added another slight “snap” sound.
Leaf blowing sounds
The sound of when the leaves are blowing for the time travel arrival could be heard on the audio I recorded. However, you can also hear a “wobble” sound of the flexible bread board being used to swoosh the leaves. Nick (tutor), Simon (tutor) and a few other external people who I showed this too all liked the idea of keeping the wobble sound in for the time travel sound and layering it with other sounds. But when I came to try this, the wobble just wasn’t working. I made the decision not to put this audio on, and to add new time travel sound. This meant however that I also needed to add leaves blowing sound, which I did.
Anna removing the red paper
I had a problem here, since I realised that I didn’t have audio for Anna removing the red paper from under the stick. I considered what to do. My solution was to re-use the audio from one of the other Sam’s placing pieces of paper under the stick. It worked well.
Music during dialogue scenes
I wanted to add small pieces of music during certain dialogue scenes to direct the audience to the emotion that I wanted then to be feeling. This includes the music for the change of aspect ratio, to give a more cinematic dramatic feel. You will notice several others throughout the film. One particular piece I am particularly pleased with is for Sam F3 warning Sam P about the splinter. It really builds up the drama of the situation, and then stops when Sam F3 moves back to talking about a mundane splinter. This adds to the comedic effect. It also emphasises the pathos of the mundane, which is a humorous effect that Nick (tutor) had spoken to me about when I was writing my script.
The reason I added the small pieces of music throughout is for comedic effect, to add to the emotion that I am trying to get from my audience. One slightly different effect I am going for is when Sam P is talking to Anna, asking why everyone is so obsessed with getting money when there is so much good that could be done with the time travel hats, and so much to see. This is the point where the audience really get to see how he has changed from the other Sam’s, who are who he could become had this not happened. This is a key point in the story, and my research has shown me that even with comedy you still need a story arc. My research showed me that in comedy dramas you still get to see more serious moments of character development. So, I chose slightly more serious, contemplative music for these 2 speeches since it is important that the audience feel the change in mood before going back to the comedic effect.
Whip Pan of hat to Sam P
I enjoy the Whip Pans in Edgar Wright’s movies. I did a lot of research into Edgar Wright, and how he uses them for comedic effect. This research informed my decision to include a Whip Pan, at an appropriate place, which I felt was from where the hat drops to Sam P looking at it. I had filmed a version with Ellie in as part of my Practical Research Test Filming, and everyone who I asked for feedback on it loved it. I added a sound effect to this, like Edgar Wright does, to emphasise it.
I added all the sound in my list, except the wind and human sounds (which I explain above)
J-cuts and L-cuts
I have also added in some J-cuts and L-cuts, for example a J-cut when as Sam F2 says “yeah” while we still see Sam P, then I cut to Sam F2 continuing with “so due to…” when Sam P and Sam F2 are talking.
This diagram shows what J and L cuts are. With an L-cut you cut to the next visuals while the first person is talking and while the first person’s audio is still running. It looks like a letter L. The J-cut is the opposite, you cut the audio before you cut the visuals.
I added these because they break up the conversation a bit. It can get a bit boring just cutting between 2 people talking. J-cuts and L-cuts help keep the pacing tight. I have also added reaction shots during some of the longer pieces of dialogue for the same reasons.
In this project I really wanted to get to grips with the way that all the sound can significantly improve a film. By considering the Soundscape as a whole for this project I have considerably developed my skills in this area, which I look forward to taking forward with me, including for next year for Level 4.