NMED 2030

February 5th 2009

NMED 2030

Today’s Class…“Tools of the NMED2030 Trade”

Sound

War of the Worlds (1941)

Sound Design

Derek Jarman’s Blue (1993)

Audio Assignment

NMED 2030

• Tools of the NMED 2030 Trade

Panasonic Cameras

Ainiro Light Kits

Tripods

NMED 2030

• Sound• “My plan was to synchronize the

camera and the phonograph so as to record sounds when the pictures were made, and reproduced the two in harmony”– Thomas Edison 1925

NMED 2030

• The War of the Worlds (1938)– Welles' adaptation is arguably the most

well-known radio dramatic production in history.

– http://www.mercurytheatre.info/

NMED 2030

– The War of the Worlds is an episode of the American radio drama anthology series Mercury Theatre on the Air, which was performed as a Halloween special on October 30, 1938 and aired over the CBS Radio network. Directed by Orson Welles, the episode was an adaptation of H. G. Wells' classic novel The War of the Worlds.

– New York Times headline from October 31, 1938.

NMED 2030

• Sound Design– The term “sound designer” was coined by

famed editor, Walter Murch (Apocalypse Now, The Conversation, The English Patient) in 1979.

– Sound design is an integral part of the filmmaking and film watching experience.

– The appeal to the imagination of the creators and the audience.

NMED 2030

• Foley Art– The use of sound effect technique for

synchronous effects or live effect is called Foley art.

– Foley art is named for Jack Foley a sound editor at Universal Studios who died in 1967.

NMED 2030

• Foley Art– Foley got the idea of projecting the moving

image in a sound stage and recording sounds and recording in sync with the actors movements using different surfaces and an array of props.

NMED 2030

• Foley Art– Did you know that…

• The sound of a smoldering cigarette is made by pressing a thumb into plain dirt?

• The mammoth’s footsteps in the movie The Ice Age was made by dropping a log into a pit of dirt, mud and stone?

• In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon the bamboo sticks used in the balletic fight scene came from a sound editor’s backyard in New Jersey?

NMED 2030

• Foley Art– Did you know that…

• The sound of footsteps crunching on snow is actually achieved by Kosher sea salt covered in corn starch?

• The sound of the dragonfly made memorable in the opening of Men In Black was made using a small plastic fan with gaphers tape stuck to the blades? The tape was made long enough so that when the fan was turned on, it brushed up against the Foley’s fingers.

NMED 2030

• Foley Art– Today Foley effects are done

predominantly without Foley performers.– The sounds are stored electronically and

performed by the post-production team.

NMED 2030

• You will be asked to record a line of dialogue that captures the spirit of your

scene and recreate the environment using sound effects.

NMED 2030

• Homework…• Come to next class prepared to begin

your audio assignment.– The assignment will be given during the

lecture part of the class and you will be set free to begin creating during the lab.

NMED 2030

• Homework…• Bring:

– a miniDV tape– a willingness to use your imagination on

how to use and create sounds to tell a story.