Unit 24 Sound Editing Task 1

Learning Aim A: Understand the reasons for editing factual and fictional digital recorded sound.
Task 1
To compress and summarise a sound recording to fit a specific space.
The need to compress certain sounds and summarise certain sounds can be found in film trailers. This is due to lots of clips from the film needing to be shown in a small amount of time, so lots of editing needs to happen within trailers.
Example 1:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLPJSmUHZvU
 For the trailer of Reservoir Dogs, certain sound effects or lines of dialogue have been changed in make the trailer itself more appropriate for certain audiences, which include the exclusion of certain uses of profanity by the characters. Since the trailer itself is also only a certain length of time, this means certain parts of dialogue and music within the film with have either been cut or compressed in order to make the sure the trailer itself reaches it's allocated time slot.
Example 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN-1Mup0UI0
This 40th anniversary re release trailer for Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (1971) has had various lines of dialogue or sound effects changed in order to make sure the trailer itself is appropriate for the intended audience. This includes the compression of certain sounds within a particular scene in order to make sure the part of the scene in the trailer is trimmed down so that it meets it's allocated time slot and does not run over. The need to compress certain sounds is also important for trailers as it helps the intended flow of the trailer and makes sure no sounds or sound effects used in the trailer drag on for longer than they should.


 To eliminate flawed, repetitive, superfluous, uninteresting, irrelevant material from a recorded clip.
Example 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSdxbBsShak
This clip involving Josh and Benny Safdie in the Criterion Closet has obviously been edited in order to get the most important and insightful clips from the Brothers talking about the films themselves instead of more uninteresting material. Dialogue in which the brother's themselves may have made mistakes in their speech or talked over one another for prolonged periods of time has been edited in order to make sure the clip does not lose it's sense of pace and sticks to the usual timeframe a "Criterion Closet picks" video has. This is noticeable throughout the video as the use of quick edits between the Brothers talking is extremely noticeable.

To enable recorded speech to remain legal.
Example 1:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_trSpg99yc
This interview from CNN in 1999 involving Mike Tyson has been editing in order to make sure the station itself does not contravene any laws regarding obscene language. This clip was obviously aired before the "watershed" and therefore due to this must have certain parts of Tyson's interview edited, which is done using the bleep technique which is effective as it makes sure that all of the offending word is bleeped out and therefore totally and utterly inaudible to it's audience. The use of a time delay is also utilized here, which means the clip has had time to be edited and any obscene language removed before the clip itself is aired to the audience.

To ensure any indecent or inappropriate dialogue is edited out.
Example 1:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJE-0SuY0go.
This clip from South Park featuring Kyle swearing at the Alien visitors has had profanity "bleeped" out in order to make the clip much more appropriate for the time it needs to be aired and that it does not contravene any broadcasting rules and is generally made more suitable for a family friendly audience. This use of editing to ensure indecent/inappropriate language is edited out is extremely useful as it makes sure the whole offending piece of dialogue is obscured with no chance of any of it becoming audible after editing has taken place.

To change the chronological or logical order of a series of sounds or speech.
Example 1:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdJKm16Co6M
This trailer for Fight Club (1999) will have had the chronological or logical order of the sound and speech in it changed in order to make the sequences shown from the film fit better into the trailer itself and also to make sure the trailer itself has a good pace and does not go over it's allocated time allowance (the traditional length a trailer usually is). Certain violent or inappropriate elements to the trailer will have been edited out of reduced in order to make sure the trailer itself will be appropriate for audiences who will see it, and that it does not contravene any advertising rules through showing obscene or violent content.

To create impact by adding sound effects and/or music between pieces of recorded speech.
Example 1:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOzR5Jnd6bU
This clip from American History X (1998) is a brilliant example of the effect sound effects and music can have on a scene. For example, the use of dramatic music and the build up of tension within the scene help the scene have much more of an effect by using the sound effect to build the scene up to an extremely unexpected conclusion for the audience. The soundtrack to the scene also goes completely silent when the sound effect of the "curb stomp" itself is used, which helps the audience hear the full effect of the "curb stomp" itself.

Unit 24- Sound Editing

Mood and Atmosphere- Sound can be used within film to create mood and atmosphere within a film which can be used to draw the audience in. Good examples of this particular use of sound in films is in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976), Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Danny Boyle's Trainspotting (1996). All of these films uses particular pieces of music in order to get the audience to feel a particular type of emotion. In Reservoir Dogs for example, the song "Stuck In The Middle With You" is used to make the audience feel contradictory emotions. What the scene itself portrays is torture, but the torture itself is committed to upbeat music which defies normal audience expectations.

In Martin Scorsese's film, Taxi Driver, mood and atmosphere is created through the use of jazz type music is used to reflect Travis Bickle's inner emotions. This helps draw the audience in for the 1st half of the film and makes them emphasize with Travis's loneliness and social anxiety. However, their is less of this music in the 2nd half of the film in which Travis's mental state collapses. This is due to the audience being totally disconnected from Travis now due to his unhinged mental state.

Music and sound is used to great effect in Trainspotting, in which both are used to symbolize the highs and lows of drug addiction. In the scenes in which Mark Renton and his junkie pals are happy, loud pop music plays such as Iggy Pop's Lust for Life, but when Mark is at an all time low, humdrum music such as Sing by Blur plays. Boyle's very clever use of music helps bring the viewer into the life of a drug addict, and this is the reason why Trainspotting remains the most iconic of films.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbvWoruvf5c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt5LHP_TRog
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xerx80SWgkA

Sound Fades- A good example of a sound fade would be found in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather (1974). At the end of the film, a sound fade is used in order to let the poignancy and emotional power of the film sink in, and it also reacts a point of reflection for the audience after the events of the film.

Dialogue- A good example of the use of dialogue in a film to set up the mood and atmosphere would be Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. The scene in particular which in which dialogue helps set the mood would be the opening diner scene between Pumpkin and Honey Bunny. The dialogue between the two sets up the criminal environment of the film perfectly, and allows the viewer to get into the mood and mindset of the criminal characters they are following.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jomr9SAjcyw

Voice Over- A good example of voice over in a film would be in David Fincher's Fight Club (1999). Edward Norton's excellent narration helps the viewer understand his various predicaments in the film, extremely similar to Travis Bickle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4c6W5TWCf0

Ambient Sound- A good example of ambient sound used in a film would be in Hector Babenco's Pixote (1981), in which ambient sound is used to contrast against the much more aggressive use of sound in the earlier stages of the film.

Soundbridge- A good example of a soundbridge would be in the Wachowski's The Matrix (1999) in which club music from one scene carries over to the next, making the scene much more impact and effectual.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJZ-gPQ0ew8

Foley Sounds- Foley artists create sounds effects through a variety of different ways such as stomping on the floor wearing boots. An example of a good use of foley in a film would be in Tony Kaye's American History X (1998), during the scene in which Derek Vinyard curb stomps a burglar attempting to break into his house. The use of foley within this scene makes this scene all the more impactful due to it's graphic nature.

Synchronous/Asynchronous sound- Synchronous sound is a sound used in film that matches up with what is happening on screen. For example, in Harmony Korine's Gummo (1997) a character plays an accordion whilst sitting on a toilet, and the sounds from the accordion are being projected. Asynchronous sound is when a sound is not matched with a visible source onscreen. An example of Asynchronous sound is in Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (1948), in which police sirens are heard offscreen at the film's conclusion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LlPUxI8QYs

Sound Motif- A good example of a sound motif in a film would be in Fritz Lang's M (1931) in which Peter Lorre's character Hans Beckert always whistles whenever he appears onscreen, which works to add a certain level of tension to the film and to put the audience on edge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNUQINczgt0

ADR- ADR (Automatic Dialogue Replacement) is a way of changing dialogue in a film to alter it in some ways. An example of when ADR is used in certain types of films would be in Anime, in which character's voices are dubbed over to make the films more palatable to western audiences.

Bibliography

Phenakistoscopes (1833)- The Public Domain Review
Juxtapoz Magazine- A Short History of the Phenakistoscope
Stop Motion- Wikipedia
Frame Rates: A beginner's guide- TechSmith
Auguste and Louis Lumiere- Wikipedia
Thomas Edison- Wikipedia
Edward Muybridge- Wikipedia
Willis O'Brien- Biography- YourDictionary
Ray Harryhausen- American Filmmaker- Britannica.com
Jan Svankmajer- Out of my head- The Guardian
Where to begin with the Quay Brothers- BFI
Where to begin with Tim Burton- BFI
Nick Park- Wikipedia
Meet Nick Park- WallaceandGromit.com
Charley Says- Wikipedia
King Kong (1933 film)- Wikipedia
Joe and Petunia- Wikipedia
Early Man- BFI
WallaceandGromit.com/NPower
Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel song)- Wikipedia
Donkey Kong- Wikipedia
www.aardman.com
Creature Comforts- Wikipedia
Timelapse Photography- Wikipedia
Plasticine- Wikipedia
Clay animation- Wikipedia
Found Object- Wikipedia
Cutout animation- Wikipedia
Puppetry- Wikipedia
Stop motion- Wikipedia.

My Test Animation

Techniques and Formats:

Timelapse: The benefits of using Timelapse are that the resolution of the image looks extremely clear and picks up extremely minute and small details of whatever it is that is being filmed. The drawbacks of using timelapse is that because the resolution of the image being used on timelapse is so clear, it means that more data is taken up because of it, which means that more footage has to be deleted in order for new footage to be filmed.

Plastescine: The benefits of using plasticine are that it can give off an extremely vivid and unique look and since the technology surrounding plasticine stop motion animation has developed so much, a lot can be accomplished using it. However, the drawbacks to using plasticine are that it does take a lot of time to get right, and if not edited correctly, footage using plasticine could come out extremely choppy. Making plasticine models can also be extremely time consuming as it takes a lot of time for a model to be realistic and lifelike. 

Claymation: The benefits of using claymation are that clay models can be relatively easy to make and can be moved to the desired position extremely easily without any major problems. The drawbacks to using claymation however are that the models may still look extremely unrealistic and the lighting/heat from light equipment may dry the models out, making them much harder to work with. Some prominent examples of Claymation include Morph, as well as many Aardman productions including Wallace and Gromit and their latest offering Early Man (2018). 

Found Objects: The benefits of using found objects are that they can create a unique and striking object from the simplest items, such as kitchen cutlery or old mechanical equipment. The drawback to using found objects however are that they can be extremely time consuming to produce which may be difficult when they need to be used in a small amount of time.

Cut out: The benefits of using cut out are that they can give off a unique and striking look using very little material. TV shows such as South Park have achieved very striking and iconic images with very little material. However, like found objects this approach can be extremely time consuming and takes a lot of patience, as it can be hard to get right. South Park is an example of a cut out animation that has achieved worldwide success, showing that cut out animation cut be an extremely popular method of animation in order to create tv shows and other forms of media.  

Puppetry: The benefits of puppetry are that the variation in which puppets can be made is extremely large, ranging from classic (Punch and Judy) to more disturbing and surreal (Spitting Image). The downsides to Puppetry are that they can be time consuming to make and operate, which means there needs to be lots of time spent learning how to operate them. A TV show like Spitting Image is an example of a TV show that has achieved moderate popularity through its use of puppetry. 

Human Stop Motion: The benefits of human stop motion are that a unique and wacky look can be made from using it, which can make this technique stand out among other similar techniques. The downsides to it are that it needs to be edited extremely well otherwise, it may look messy and choppy when finished, and not have the original effect it was originally intended to have. An example of Human Stop Motion Animation would be the music video for Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" (1986), which was extremely progressive and almost unheard of for it's time.

TV: An example of a TV show that uses stop motion animation is Creature Comforts, and this TV show in particular really is ground-breaking for the time it was made. The reason why Creature Comforts is considered so groundbreaking in terms of its style and execution is because it marked a cultural shift in the way advertising was used in UK Television. It showed a shift from the consumerism and egotism of the 1980s to what was deemed a more sensitive and caring approach in the early 1990s and Creature Comforts has always been considered a prime example of this phenomena. It's use of humour is also to be noted as well, mixing surreal and bizarre events with mundane characters to create extremely amusing results, and it is here were Park's work takes a different turn and caters not only to a young audience but also an adult audience as well.

Websites: An example of a website that uses stop motion animation is Aardman.com, and since Aardman is a company that specialise in stop motion animation, their website explains a lot about their company and how they operate. It also explains a lot of the processes of stop motion that go into their films and how the creative process works. It’s use of colourful animation shows that it is aimed at children.

Computer Games: An example of a video game would be Nintendo’s “Donkey Kong.” Released in 1981, the video game was and remains extremely ground-breaking to this day, partly because it used animation in video games in a way that was extremely ground-breaking and unheard of for the time, the other most famous animation is video games up to that point being the rather primitive Pong 1972). The video game used fully animated characters that the player could control fully, and for this very reason it remains a turning point in animation in video games history. Many games that are being made even today are influenced by it, so it’s importance and influence cannot be ignored. It’s colourful and vivid nature meant that it was targeted towards a teenage audience.

Music Videos: An example of a music video would be Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer”, released in April 1986. The reason this particular music video works so well and is so effective was because at the time nothing like this had been done before. While there were certain early stop motion animation films, nothing like this had been done before in the form of a music video, and for the year 1986, it is really quite groundbreaking to see something this advanced being accomplished so early on in the life of Stop Motion Animation. The audience for the music video would have been Peter Gabriel fans, so around the age of early 30s to early 40s, and the reason this video works so well for that particular audience is because at that time that audience would not have seen anything like this before, and this video in particular really showed the power of stop motion animation and what it could do.

Advertising: An example of advertising would be the Npower “Insheepulation” advert, made for Npower by Aardman. The audience of this advert is the British Public, and the reason it works so well is because Npower have used 2 characters (Wallace and Gromit) who are so ingrained in British Culture that it makes them so utterly recognisable. The company who produced the advert, Aardman, also play a big role in the reason why the advert is so effective, again being so highly regarded in British Popular Culture that makes them so recognisable. The swift and fast moving pace of the advert is also extremely important to note, as it is here where the advert itself succeeds. The advert is advertising gas and water, which under the circumstances could normally make for quite a boring advert, but here due to the wacky nature of the advert and the fast pace, it works really well here, and certainly grabs it’s intended audience’s attention.

Uses and Audiences:

Feature Film: An example of a feature film would be Early Man (Nick Park, 2018), it’s audience being small children. The reason why Early Man caters to this specific demographic is because, like Aardman’s other work, it’s animation style is extremely wacky and unique, which will make it stand out from other different types of animation and make it appeal more to younger audience. The look of the film is also extremely important in this area as well. The film itself is extremely colourful and vibrant, using a lot of vivid imagery throughout (a trademark of Aardman as a company and recognisable throughout their other work including Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run and Creature Comforts. The reason this look is adopted for the film is because it not only helps to make the film come to life in, but also makes it interesting for its target audience to look at and keep their attention. The run time of the film is also important to note as well. The film is only 86 minutes long, which is quite short for a feature film, but it does this so that the film itself does not feel too overlong or drawn out.

Inform: An animation, which would be used to inform viewers, would be the Joe and Petunia series, particularly the “worn tyres” film. The reason why this animation was so effective at inform the audience was, like the Charley Says series, the use of bright colours. This would be used not only to gain the audience’s attention but also to make the film interesting to watch. The Joe and Petunia films in particular was also so effective because while not outright horrifying, they still got their messages across in an effective way, informing the viewers about the importance of the green cross code.

Entertain: An animation which is required to entertain would be the original 1933 version of King Kong, and the reason why the main purpose of King Kong is to entertain is because of how the effects at the time were so groundbreaking, leading the audience into complete and utter awe at what they were watching, the stop motion performance of Kong even stealing the show from the human actors also on screen at the time. The complex use of camera movement is also important to note here, mixing stop motion with live action using the extremely influential “Dunning” Process, which was achieved by passing two reels of film through the camera gate together. The process was extremely stunning and the time, and the influence that the original 1933 King Kong has had is really staggering, giving birth to a number of spin offs which have not seemed to match the raw talent of the 1933 original.

Task 2: Characteristics of stop motion

Educate: An animation which is required to educate its audience may be that of a P.I.F. (Public Information Film), and one of the most famous series of British Public Information films was the Charley Says series. The reason this series of films were so effect was because the films were aimed at a young audience, and got their message across in such a age appropriate yet effective way. The Charley says series has become a staple part of British Popular Culture, becoming so popular as to be revived in 2014 with a new set of adverts. The colourful and wacky nature of the adverts would also make the films extremely appealing and interesting to younger audiences, lending even more power to the cautionary tales the films would be telling.

Nick Park is a British stop motion animator and perhaps one of the most famous and influential in Britain, along with Gordon Murray (Camberwick Green) and Peter Firmin and Oliver Postgate (Bagpuss). Nick Park is responsible for a number of productions including Wallace and Gromit, Creature Comforts, Chicken Run as well as his latest film Early Man. The reason Nick Park is considered so influential within the world of stop motion animation is that his work is so utterly ingrained in the world of British culture. Wallace and Gromit are such well known characters that they spawned a series of films, and have also appeared in adverts, video games and other similar types of media. Park has also won many awards for his work including an Oscar and a CBE 1996. Park’s work is suited to a young audience, as is evident through the use of bright colours and weird and wacky characters in his work, and this is reflected by the fact that most of his films are all contained at the same BBFC age certificate category.

Tim Burton is an American animator and film director. His films contain an extremely gothic and dark look and feel to them, and certainly contain similar themes. He is well known for film such as Frankenweenie, Nightmare before Christmas and Sweeney Todd. The reason why Tim Burton is such an influential director is the endless use of techniques he uses in his films and the effect he uses them to. One of them is mise en scene as well as extreme colour contrasts, and the reason these effects work so well in Burton’s work is because they allow the viewer to instantly be pulled into whatever world his films contain, and to also allow the viewers to really become emotionally involved with his characters. This is evidenced by the fact that his films are perhaps more popular today than ever before. The Nightmare before Christmas took an extremely long period to make and included 227 puppets to use in the film, which show the true extent of the creative ambition he has as a director. His work appeals to a young audience as while his films do have dark and surreal content they usual have comedic undertones to them as well.

Contemporary

The Brothers Quay are identical twin brothers and influential stop motion animators. Their films, like Jan Svankmajer’s, contain surreal and dark content. Their influences include Walerian Borowcyzk, Jan Lenica, Franz Kafka, and Bruno Schultz. Their most notable short film is “Street of Crocodiles” from 1986. This film in particular has influenced many filmmakers today, including Christopher Nolan, who even produced a documentary on the work of the brothers simply entitled Quay. Terry Gilliam selected Street of Crocodiles as one of the best-animated films ever. Aside from stop motion animation, The Brothers Quay have also showed their work through many other means, such as music videos, adverts and set design, which truly does show how creatively diverse they can be as artists. The reason they remain so influential is that they explored American gothic before artists like Tim Burton came to prominence, which means that their works itself set the standard for more mainstream efforts such as Tim Burton. The Brothers Quay audience is that of an older one, as their work tends to consist of much darker themes such as those shown in Street of Crocodiles, and they have less of a “family friendly” approach to their work than someone like Burton.

Jan Svankmajer is a Czech filmmaker whose work takes on an extremely surreal style, and has influenced many well-known filmmakers today including most famously Terry Gilliam and the Brothers Quay among many others. Svankmajer’s earliest influence was a puppet theatre he was given for Christmas as a child. Svankmajer’s early work was not as surreal as his later work, but still played an important part in developing his artistic styles. One of Svankmajer’s most famous films is Alice (1988) which is a surreal retelling of the classic story. Svankmajer’s style is that of an extremely surreal and hallucinatory style, which really does make his films stand out among others. An example of this is his short film Down to the Cellar (1983), which has disturbing and even aggressive content but is shown from a child’s perspective. In 1972, the Communist authorities banned him from making films, and many of his later filmmaking efforts were suppressed. He was unknown to the West until the early 1980s. Today he is celebrated as one of the best and to a certain degree iconic animators in the world and is responsible for influencing other similar artists such as The Brother’s Quay. His films have even begun to work their way into the mainstream, with films such as Little Otik (2000). Svankmajer’s work would appeal to appeal to older audience’s as his use of dark and surrealistic imagery would suit this particular audience, particularly in film such as Little Otik (2000).

Ray Harryhausen was an American born British visual effects creator who was widely recognised for his work on iconic classics such as Clash of the Titans (1981), The 7^th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) and Jason and the Argonauts (1963). His passion for visual effects started at the age of 13 with viewing of Merian C. Cooper’s and Ernest B. Schoedsack’s 1933 classic King Kong. Harryhausen would watch this film a further 80 times over the course of his life. The reason Harryhausen’s work remains so influential is because it showed what could be accomplished at a time when special effects were still extremely primitive, and future visual effects artists would look at this and be inspired to produce their own work, such as Nick Park and Tim Burton. Extremely similar to the way Quentin Tarantino would look at someone like Scorsese and his body of work and be inspired to produce his own work. Even at the relatively young age of 29, Harryhausen was shown to have extreme potential and passion in his work, particularly in the film Mighty Young Joe (1949), which won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. Harryhausen’s audience would be suited to a much younger audience, as his body of work whilst intense at times is not as dark as animation similar to it, and it always borders on the fantasy genre rather than horror.

Developers

Willis O’Brien was an American special effects creator and stop motion animator who is widely remembered for his revolutionary work on now classic films such as The Lost World (1925), King Kong (1933) and Mighty Young Joe (1949), the latter for which he won the 1950 Academy Award for best visual effects. The reason O’Brien’s work is so influential even in today’s world of animation is because it transformed what was possible and what could be accomplished in terms of special/visual effects in films, paving the way for future films such as Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975) or Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979), and O’Brien’s work did for special visual effects what George Melies or the Lumiere Brothers did for modern cinema, in that they all pioneered to create something is taken for granted today. O’Brien also helped influence Ray Harryhausen in his earlier years, suggesting that Harryhausen study anatomy in order to bring more character and life to his creations. Harryhausen’s work is suited for a more younger audience, as his work such as King Kong (1933) consists of a much lighter visual style than someone like Jan Svankmajer.