Attempting to reduce wind sound

This failed.

After looking at tutorials and other students' work, I discovered that the sound of wind can be reduced in audio files. However, the sound of the wind was still audible in the clip, so much so that it was distracting when it occurred. It is now urgent that I use foley sounds to replicate the sound, with no wind.

Focus Group Audience Feedback

After showing the initial Teaser Trailer in front of a small focus group, I have received some improvements:

• The fight scene acting is fairly poor because the actors are smiling and are too happy
• The wind is loud when filming outside
• The characters' names should be added
• Credits at the end of the film

To overcome the problems I shall cut the fight scene to minimise it, I can reduce the audio in the windy scene, but I need the amplified sound of footsteps; I may have to foley the footstep sound and add that later. In the close up of each character, the names can be added during the close up scenes at the end of the teaser trailer. The credits from the film poster can be added to the teaser trailer.

Editing Sound

To fix the previous problem, as seen in a previous blog post, I have copied the introduction to my second audio file called 'Rumble', this is how it looks in Final Cut Pro:

This has made the overall flow of the soundtrack better in quality. I will upload the audio file for the first draft later on my SoundCloud.

Royalty Free Music

 The introduction sound is called 'The Machine Stops'.



Another song which I will include in my media is from Bensound. It is called 'Rumble', the sound represents a sense of anarchy and builds the mood with a powerful drum introduction.



Under the Creative Commons License, I am allowed to use the music in a multimedia project as long as I credit Bensound, for example stating 'Royalty Free Music by Bensound'.

Reflective Comment

The layout of this post is interactive with the help of Soundcloud. The viewer can easily listen to the songs on the blog page.

Editing

I have put my filming from Thursday onto Final Cut Pro and began editing. I have not used Final Cut Pro properly before, so I will need to look at tutorials online for some help.

The Apple Support Website provides forums and tutorials on how to complete tasks, this will be very beneficial to me.

Creating Visual Text Message Effects

After watching a tutorial on YouTube, there is a plug-in for Final Cut Pro called mMessage, it costs $69 but there is a free demo version on motionVFX. To use this plug-in I need authorisation from the administrator; if this is not possible, another student who has a Macbook could download this plug-in to use and allow me to use it.

I have previously done a blog post talking about the visual effects.

Foley Sound

For my AS Media course I completed some research on Foley Sound, here is what I completed:
What is 'Foley'?

The technique is named after Jack Foley, who established the basic modern techniques still used today. Like most terms that are named in honour of a person; it is customary to spell Foley with a capital "F".

Foley effects are sound effects added to the film during post production. They include sounds such as footsteps, clothes rustling, crockery clinking, paper folding, doors opening and slamming, punches hitting, glass breaking etc. In other words, many of the sounds that are needed are avoided when they naturally occur and they are then artificially added later on.
Foley is usually performed by Foley artists. Ideally they stand on a Foley stage (an area with a variety of possible surfaces and props) in a specialised sound studio. The Foley artists can clearly see a screen which displays the footage they are to add sound fx to and they watch it to get the timing perfected.

Why use 'Foley'?
When watching a film, the audience needs to hear the little sounds (such as the movement of clothes) this is for the picture to come alive. However, these sounds need to be controlled so the dialogue is clear and not obscured.
Foley can also be used to enhance comedy or action scenes. In most comedy films many of the sounds are enhanced for comic effect, and sometimes the Foley sound is the joke. As for action, most fist fights do not involve the actors really hitting each other, and even if they did a satisfying punch sound would not be included. By punching and variously molesting such objects as cabbages, celery and sides of beef, Foley artists can record unique and much more 'realistic' action sounds.

I researched this information on the website http://www.sound-ideas.com/what-is-foley.html



This is a short video showing Foley artists at work.

Some foley sounds I may use in my production is artificial footsteps

Change of Camera

After my post on the camera that I plan to use, I have decided to change my choice.
This is because I do not have enough storage on my iPhone 6. I have 'Zero KB'. The tripod that I also purchased to fit an iPhone is completely pointless as I will just use one to fit the Canon camera.

Artificial Lighting Tutorials

Credit to mediacollege.com, which includes tutorials for different aspects. I will refer to this website during the production of the film as it is very helpful.

Light is the "raw material" for creating visual images. Everything related to vision is related to light. Whether the medium is still photography, motion film, video or computer-generated images, light forms the basis of everything you see. The information 

Three Point Lighting

This uses three lights, the key light, fill light and back light.
The key light is the main light; it is the strongest and has the biggest impact. The light is placed to one side.




The Fill Light is the secondary light and is placed on the opposite side of the key light. It is used to fill the shadows created by the key light. The fill will usually be softer and less bright than the key. 




The back light is placed behind the subject and lights it from the rear. Rather than providing direct lighting, its is used to provide definition and subtle highlights around the subject's outlines. This helps separate the focus from the background and provide more of a three-dimensional look. 

Text Message Visual Effects

To modernise my production, I am going to try to replicate exterior phone notifications as seen on other productions such as Hollyoaks and Sherlock.

Here is a video tutorial produced by the animator at Hollyoaks on how it is done:



Although it will be a struggle to replicate something like this, it will benefit my production by making it appear to a higher quality and modernised. A teacher has stated that it will only be possible to complete this on the 'After Effects' by Adobe; however, it may be possible to do on iMovie or Final Cut Pro through superimposition. I will definitely need to allow myself time to experiment this.