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SILENT FILM SOUND TASK

Editing this film was actually a lot harder than I anticipated. I had never done a film like this in my entire cinematography 'career'. It was challenging for me to figure out every little sound I needed to make the film as good as I could get it. One aspect of that which was difficult was getting the footstep sounds to line up correctly or the horse and carriage sounds. Since I found all of my sound effects off of YouTube, there wasn't going to be a clip where the sound would be 100% lined up. I had to make the walking slower or faster to make it line up correctly. What I found interesting when editing this short film was that I was using sound effects that weren't exactly what the object that makes the sound was. For example, when the man in the film is throwing down the $5 sign and puts on the jacket, I used the sound effect of a cardboard box being dropped. Or when another man is putting a bed spring on the wagon, I used heavy metal being lugged. This challenge was difficult for me at sometimes because I had never done or edited a film like this before. If I were to do this challenge again, I would probably be able to do a much better edited sound effect film but I think for the first time, I did a pretty good job at grasping what I needed to succeed.

My Process for the film

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I got my sound effects off of YouTube and copied the link into ClipGrab which brings the clips to my desktop which I can then put into Final Cut Pro X.

While editing I had to speed up or slow down some of the clips so that they matched up to the men walking in the film or the horse trotting with the carriage.

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Slowly, my project came together and I had to constantly rewatch it so that I could see what I missed and had to make all of the sounds line up again.

And finally, I was done! It was a tough challenge because I had never done anything like this film. I learned a lot and if I were doing it again, I know that I could continue to learn more things.

tascam and sound PRODUCTION notes

Tascam

       - The battery is in the back

       - To format hit quick and delete

                  - Menu scroll to others and scroll to system                           and quick format enter and delete

       - Check record most first, usually MONO (one mic)     and source external IN 1

       - Plug mic in the bottom

       - Mic pre (input level) to change sound level

       - File name when recording is at the bottom of the     screen

       - Hit home to stop recording NOT RECORD AGAIN

       - To hear what you recorded use left and right             arrows and turn on speaker in menu

       - To shut off hold down home (button home if on         won't turn on Tascam)

       - ALWAYS record 16 bit 48 wave (menu record               settings format 1648)

Sound Production

       - Each actor has a body mic on them but there is also a boom mic in the background to pick up the other sounds

       - There are different mic patters that are each important for different settings and scenes

       - Sync sound and video production before editing so that the sound and video match up

       - ABC is film

       - 123 is audio

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