Stuart's Evaluation

Soundtrack Evaluation

Regular evaluation updates are required, as with every unit. If you have been keeping an evaluative journal on your blog as recommended, please use this document as a checklist to ensure your evaluation covers all essential criteria.

Alternatively, you can complete this document and upload to Moodle by Wednesday 28^th of March

LO1 – Research and Understanding the Brief	Complete this with as much detail as possible
What have you been asked to do?	To begin this entire project, our main focus was to successfully create an interactive video. Throughout this process, it got shortened down into smaller and individual segments so it was easier to understand. The first thing we was expected to do was create our soundtrack for it. This consisted of gathering enough sound effects that were needed for our film through either Foley or found effects via YouTube. The sound effects that I used part of my soundtrack was: door slamming that I created as Foley, dripping water which I also created as a Foley sound, people talking as a found sound through YouTube in which I had to convert through an online software called YouTube Converter in order to convert it into an MP3 file to use as an audio for the video, footsteps as a found effect and lastly a heartbeat as a found effect also. During this process, we used a lot of picture and sound that wasn’t sometimes coming from the same clip. The relationship between both of these is that the viewer focuses more on the visuals rather than the sound of where it’s coming from. So the same imagery with different sound could mean totally different things to the audience such as: dialogue, sound effects and music. We had to produce a sound bank for the production in which we was needed to gather all our sound effects together and add them into individual folders for each sfx. This way, it created an easier access to view all the sounds, to do so this was informed by our scripts that we did earlier on to keep track of what sounds were needed and where. Lastly, we had to create a soundtrack for our production in where we was needed to put all of our Foley and founded sound effects altogether and add them to our production clips that was being edited on via Adobe Premiere Pro. This is where we would edit all our filmed videos and once we successfully did that, the next step was then to act upon the sounds to sync in with the videos. During the soundtrack, we used different editing techniques for this so each sound effect seemed realistic and believable and wanted to make sure it worked well, by coming in at the right time and slowly fading as the video moves on… a range of effects were used during the process of the sound track such as: sound gains which specifies the amount by which to increase or decrease the band & the high pass which removes frequencies below the specified Cut off frequency and the low pass eliminates frequencies above the specified Cut off frequency I have been asked to collect a range of different ‘Foley and ‘found’ sound effects that I will be using within my Interactive video.
How did your soundtrack report and audio report help to prepare you for the task of producing your own soundtrack?	My soundtrack report and audio report helped prepare me for this task by producing my own soundtrack as it gave me a level too boost off from. This was because it gave me ideas to of what mine had to be like and how we could create our own sound effects and what things they was looking for. An example of my sound track was that I used Foley and found sound effects that I wished to use within my production to include onto my filmed videos. I used walking upstairs which illustrated the use of one of our team members walking up the stairs while walking. We used this sound instead of the sound it naturally would’ve made, was to create it more dramatic and louder by doing this. However, in some cases in using sounds like a heartbeat, we couldn’t make ourselves so we had to find one via YouTube to make this work. I decided I wanted my soundtrack to show tension as it was based on a genre that was quite mysterious and darker so I could then look back onto my research and reports for help in doing so.
What soundtrack techniques (this can include editing techniques) did you identify in the above tasks and how are those techniques used within your production?	The soundtrack techniques that I used within my production was by including a range of different sound levels for the audio track during editing that I added so my found sounds would seem mostly realistic and creating some sounds increase in sound and decrease in sound depending on what that sound is representing within the production – so it doesn’t come in so hard or softly (fits in nicely).
What, because of this reflection, will you change in your production and why?	My group and myself will be insisting on using the techniques that i had listed above as we all personally think that by using them will create our production to be as best as possible.

LO2.1 – Planning your soundtrack	Complete this with as much detail as possible
Summarise the planning involved in your soundtrack.	Starting off with how my planning started was when I firstly had to decide what sounds that were needed to create my soundtrack. The sounds that I used was a mixture between Foley and found sound effects from YouTube itself then converted into an MP4 file through YouTube Converter. FOLEY SOUNDS: Dripping water and door slamming FOUND SOUNDS: Classroom talking, walking upstairs, drinking/slurping water After collecting all my sounds together that was needed for my video, I then created a folder within a folder that had different folders for the different sound effects labelled. This would make it clear to where to find these sounds when coming to editing for the video so we knew where everything was based. Adding on to this, we used a cue and Foley sheet which consisted with our sound effects that we had to write in and include what scene is for what sound and why to make it clear for ourselves for future reference.
How did you ensure that your cue-sheets were produced to a high enough standard?	I reassured that my cue-sheets were up to a high enough standard by including as much Foley sound effects as possible so it wasn’t just found effects via YouTube. By doing so, I made sure that the sounds were clear enough to listen too, suitable for the correct clip and to record more than one sound so you could pick the best sound taken to add it to the sound effect folder.
How much work did you complete outside of lessons?	I completed more work within inside the lessons rather than outside of the lessons. So not that much in comparison to inside of the lesson.
What issues did you have what planning your production? How did you overcome them?	The issues my group had when planning the production was getting the right sound effects for the correct piece of clip. This occurred because in some cases the audio wasn’t working, which were the cause in which we weren’t saving as we were going along. This then got rectified after many attempts in noticing what the issue actually was after asking for verbal feedback from a lecturer.
High Grade Tips Look to use these terms in order to improve the analysis of your own work. Relevant and coherent – make sure your research sources are not just the same as the media product you hope to make and talk about how they inform your planning. Sustained – continue your research throughout the 4 week project and don’t just limit yourself. Efficient production against timescales – how is your planning helping you to meet your deadline.

LO2.2 – Recording, Production and Editing	Complete this with as much detail as possible
What practical work have you completed and how helpful was your earlier planning?	The practical work so far that I have completed was recording our soundtrack sounds. By doing this we were needed to look over our script or cue-sheet to go over what sounds that were needed for the production. The earlier planning helped us with this as we could look back onto what sounds were needed and why. One sound we planned to record was the background talking as we got nearer to classroom doors. We wanted to make it seem as real as possible so we did this because as it was filmed and based within the college, we added sound effects that you may hear at an working environment.
How will your planning be useful as your production process continues? E.g. did you update your cue-sheets as you recorded or edited? Why might this be good practice?	The planning will become useful as my production process continues by checking back through past planning for the production so it’s easier to look back on with the cue-sheets with our listed recorded sounds we created and both edited when started the progression of our interactive video. This will be good practise for later years as it will give you a brief idea of what it’s all about within the sound section of things.
How helpful did you find the verbal feedback within lessons from the lecturers and your classmates?	I found the verbal feedback helpful within my lessons from my classmates and lecturers as it brought ideas that we may not of thought about as a group until we discussed different routes into making our production successful with this.  The feedback that the lecturers and classmates gave back to us was their own opinions to what we could’ve made better like the use of colour we originally used for our website which was bright and bold colours that realistically doesn’t match the genre type. We had more in depth feedback comments from our lecturers a bit more than our classmates, which was because they know what they’re looking for and expecting from us. This consisted of using more Foley sounds than found sounds and by exploring the use of effects we could’ve used more when editing our audio clips.
How did you find the recording and editing process?	Personally I found the recording and editing process the easiest when dealing with sounds as we didn’t have to do much to the audio files apart from shortening them down to make it fit between the different individual clips below them as it plays within the background. The software I used to edit from was Adobe Premiere Pro. This software was an easy software to use and was easy to pick up from. You were able to add in different effects to your audio files such as slow motion and changing the speed of the filming clips as well as the audio itself.
Did you encounter any problems? How did you overcome them?	We didn’t encounter any problems during this stage apart from the issues within the production itself, like when we had to render all our clips together, it wouldn’t ever finish off and kept applying a warning to our screen stating ‘issue’ which we didn’t know to of why but thankfully we managed to solve these issues by keep trying over and over again.
How do you feel your soundtrack compares to existing professional products?	I feel like I’ve got a lot to learn about sound and how we can use this as a track as a whole. However, because this is my first ever soundtrack being made, I personally feel that it is a good effort for a first track. But I could’ve used more interesting and in-depth sound effects within this to make it seem more realistic when using the found effects from YouTube.
What area are you looking to improve on in your next production?	The area that I will be looking to improve on in my next production would be the stage in extending my tracks with more length and interesting sounds that maybe used next time instead of the basic: water dripping or door slamming. This can be figured out and sorted for next time by planning more in advance in what I want to include and how I can create an extension onto it so it sounds much better and maybe using more than one sound for just one section (2 in 1) so it doubles…
High Grade Tips Use screenshots to support your analysis – especially when comparing your work to other pieces. Considered and capable demonstration of processes – detailed documentation of your production process – such as annotated screenshots of editing process – including ‘what’ and ‘why’ and not just ‘how’. Specific – be specific! Don’t just say ‘the music was good’ – say specifically where the music is effective and explain why you think that.