Category: Benchmarks

In my initial meeting with the animation crew, we discussed the types of music scores that we could use and what would benefit the animation. The crew would like a dated music score at the beginning of the feature, when the rocket ship sets off. This will set the time period of the animation. However, the crew stressed that the animation is not to be heavily musically driven and that the atmosphere and the SFX must have a large presence within the mix. So I need to find a futuristic music score that can play underneath the full sound mix.

Looking at the game Fallout 4, the use of old era music in a futuristic game works incredibly well and is iconic to the franchise. The music resembles a mixture of old-time swing and and big band jazz. Me and the crew discussed the possibility of using a music score much like Fallout’s for the rocket station in Time Capsule. 

To comply with the targets set by the animation crew, I need to look at examples of futuristic underscores for Time Score. This can’t drive the narrative nor cloud any of the ambience or SFX, so I need to be careful when sourcing music scores. I believe an underscore that resembles Native American tradition will be suitable for the new planet in Time Capsule as it has the ability to represent a new world untouched.

Whilst undergoing my academic research, I came across multiple techniques of ways to record professional sound effects. It gave me a sense of what microphones I need to use and the kind of objects that I will need when recording my own sound effects. I decided to watch multiple animations, specifically space/future themed features, which could also point me in the right direction in the way me and the animation crew would like Time Capsule to sound. Out of the features that I have watched, I came across an animated short called AZARKANT. 

AZARKANT is a SciFi animation set on a space ship. The reason for exploring and observing the SFX heard within the film is because of the futuristic electronic sounds contained within the surrounding of the space ship. This would be a fantastic benchmark to adhere to when undergoing layering the electronic sound needed for Time Capsule. The SFX heard when doors open in AZARKANT are a great mixture of steam and mechanical churns and I believe this type of sound would be great for the opening of the time capsule in Time Capsule.

Another more well known animation that I would like to focus on is the film WALL-E. The film is about an isolated robot on a barren landscape we know as Earth. Of course I can only ever achieve the professional standards provided by sound designer Ben Burtt by having a career of 20+ years within the industry but I felt that looking and experiencing this film purely sonically would help me in being creative when it comes to designing the sound for Time Capsule. The way in which Ben Burtt applies the sound effects for the rocket are ideal for the sound for the rocket in Time Capsule. When both taking off from earth and when in space are a great benchmark for me to refer to when undoing the post production sound for Time Capsule. The electronically sound found within the ship in WALL-E are perfect examples of what I believe the rocket station in Time Capsule need to emulate.

As there is a character that requires sound within Time Capsule I need to come up with animal like noises that can identifies it. The film Up uses an array of animal sounds for each its non-human characters; Whether that being a dog or a bird. Since the creature in Time Capsule resembles a dog like creature, I would like to focus on the sniffs and scratches that I could apply to the character. The dog/s in Up all have unique sniffs and scratches and with each one carries out a different meaning, such as happy or aggressive. The main dog in Up is a happy and curios one, having close similarities to the character in Time Capsule. Therefore, I would like to use this technique when recording for the alien creature, giving us a light hearted and happy feeling towards the character.

 

My initial meeting with the team established what type of sound the animators were expecting from me. The film Avatar was one of the biggest benchmarks I needed to be taking influence from, especially when it came to the soundscape of the planet the animators were creating.

Christopher Boyes was the Supervising Sound Editor, Sound Designer and Sound re-recording Mixer and played a massive part in creating the sound of Pandora; the planet where Avatar is set.

‘Pandora was a rainforest 10 times over. I mean you have bioluminescent plants and fireflies and all sorts of life that was just vivid in its colorisation and it just kind of gave you a licence to be very specific with different elements. Whether it would be insects flying by or weird animal like sounds but not like any other animal you’ve heard in the background’

(SoundWorks Collection, 2016)

To start off by looking into what I heard in the rainforest of Avatar, I chose three separate scenes where the sounds of the rainforest would be different. These were:

• The first encounter in the rainforest
• Rainforst at night
• Luminous rainforest at night

I decided to use these three scenes in particular because they all had unique soundscapes and even though it was still in the same rainforest, they each had different personalities. This will come in useful when I decide what personality I want to give to the animators planet.

The first encounter in the rainforest (0:25:30)

Scene description: Exploring the jungle for the first time. Immersive, unique, new and a subtly sense of tension.

Background Sound: Generic rainforest background

Animal like sounds:

• Bird Crying
• Monkey Calling
• Insects flying
• Incests crawling
• Big animal yells
• Ominous calling
• Generic bird song/calling
• Animal type whistling

 

Rainforest at night (0:33:35)

Scene description: The dark side of the rainforest, scary, isolated and intimidating.

Background Sound: Generic rainforest background

Animal like sounds:

• Menacing monkey howls
• Territorial bird cries
• Taunts
• Growls from wold like creatures

 

Luminous rainforest at night (1:21:00)

Scene description: Romantic and enchanting 

Background sound: Subtle rainforest background and swamp like sounds

Animal like sounds:

• Frogs
• Crickets
• High pitch flocks of birds
• Bird calling