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Critical Analysis & Reflection - Liam Gage

There were various roles and tasks I needed to undertake in order to complete my major project. First and foremost, I needed to finish writing the musical composition itself. The basic idea of the song had been written, but it still needed refining before we brought it to the studio. I needed to finalise the structure of the composition, finish off the lyrics, and add in synth and keyboard parts. In terms of the other aspects of the musical side of the project, I needed to organise a producer, mixer, and mastering engineer.

Firstly, I got in contact with an old friend of mine, Ben Irawan, with whom I had discussed working with in the past, to produce and record the track. After I had negotiated rates and locked him in, I contacted Sydney-based mixer and audio engineer, Natasha Newling. Because we were working on a deadline, I had to ensure that whoever was mixing the song could do so within a period of 2-3 weeks. Natasha said she could do this, so we came to an agreement and confirmed her services. Lastly, I looked into mastering services and found a few options. I ended up contacting Tim Paterson of Satori Mastering, who offered a fair price and a quick turnaround time, so we locked him in too. Other aspects of the music I had to manage included setting up studio times with everyone and relaying information back and forth between the band and Natasha during the mixing stage for feedback and revisions. We also had an issue with the original drummer, who was meant to play on the song a few days before our studio session, so I had to organise someone else from the band to take over on short notice.

Regarding the actual film side of the project, Angus and I needed to draw up a storyboard and create a visual treatment for the movie in order to convey our vision to others. Once this was done, we had to confirm crew members for the shoot (including the actor), which gear we’d be using, prop development, locations for filming, and shooting dates. We originally had my brother lined up to play the main protagonist, but as time went on, it became harder to confirm dates with him, and we were running out of time to shoot. We ended up agreeing that Angus should play the main protagonist, as he knows exactly what we want from the character and because we thought it would be fitting for one of the band members to play the role. This also worked to our advantage in terms of the flexibility of shooting dates, as Sean would have been flying down from Sydney had he taken on the role, and we would have been severely limited in which days we could film.

We also confirmed our friend Sarah to do camera work for the project, which was a great relief, as she is well-versed in filmmaking and had a far better idea of the technical side of things than we did. Sarah was also able to direct Ethan (the bassist in the band) with lighting work on the days of the shoot. In relation to prop/production design, we reached out to our friend Jack, who has past experience in graphic design. We set up a day with him to create the parody movie posters for the film and went out with him to select the other props we’d be using. I contacted my girlfriend, Radha, regarding makeup and hair services and sent her the basic idea of how we wanted Angus to look for the shoot, so she was well prepared on the day.

One big issue we had was confirming which camera we’d be using for the shoot. We didn’t have access to anything suitable for filming in high quality, and we had already spent a lot of money on the music side of things, so hiring a camera wasn’t ideal. Thankfully, I was able to find someone through Sarah who had access to a Black Magic camera, and we were able to use that. In hindsight, we definitely should have had the camera confirmed well before the day of the shoot so Sarah had more time to familiarise herself with it.

Editing on Adobe Premiere was a fairly new skill both Angus and I had to learn during this project. We had some prior experience with the programme during our Immersive Video classes with Shaun Wilson, but we still had much to learn. The editing process was likely the most time-consuming aspect of the project, and it took a lot of trial and error before we got into the flow of things. Overall, though, I’m very pleased with how it turned out, and I’ll be far more confident in my abilities moving forward.

Something I would have done differently if I had the chance would be to organise one more day for extra shooting. The reason I say this is that originally we had an alternate ending planned that required dialogue to be recorded outside, but it was severely windy on the day we shot these scenes, and there was nothing we could do to salvage the audio despite Angus’s best efforts. We ran into issues during the colour grading/colour correction process too. At first, we were going to try doing it ourselves, but we weren’t happy with the outcome. It was quite late into development before we decided to outsource the role, which meant we didn’t have a lot of wriggle room during negotiations with the person we hired. This meant that we ended up paying a lot more than we had originally agreed upon. I’m still very happy with the job he did, but the whole process was more stressful than it needed to be and could have been avoided if we had just given ourselves more time.

Now that the project is complete, I know that we’re capable of producing content to be proud of with the right amount of planning, organisation, and time. I aim to develop more music and visual content for the band in the near future with the skills I’ve learned and the connections I’ve made during this process and my time at RMIT.

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Major Project: Process Blog - Liam Gage & Angus Hough

Week 3:

This week we have started our storyboard and have written a timeline of important moments in the track. We have also locked in studio time on the 22nd of August with Ben Irawan, a producer and engineer, in Abbotsford to record and finalise the song. We have spoken with Sydney-based producer, Natasha Newling in regards to having the tracked mixed. 

Week 4:

This week we have confirmed the actor for our protagonist. We have also been in contact with a location owner about potential shooting dates for the week of September 16th. We've spoken to a friend who has agreed to help us with props. We've also created a rough timeline of the short film which can be viewed here. We have also finalised the structure and instrumentation for the track for next week's studio recording session.

Week 5:

This week we headed into the studio to record the track. We were lucky enough to get a full day session (10am-6pm) with Ben Irawan and were able to complete the recording of the track. We are currently waiting to receive the finalised stems. Once we do we will them send over to Natasha Newling for mixing. 

Week 6:

This week we put together a treatment for the music video. The treatment delves into the narrative of the film and describes our intended shots. We also ran into an issue with our actor who can no longer make it to the shoot. We are currently looking into other options.

Week 7:

This week we have sent the final recording stems of the song to Natasha Newling for mixing. Once that is done we will send the track off to be mastered. We have also locked in locations on the Mornington Peninsula for filming. We’re currently planning to film in either week 8 or week 9.

Additionally, we have decided that Angus will take on the role of the actor in the film, which will help with scheduling.

Week 8 + 9:

We’ve been busy over the past few days preparing for the shoot and coordinating dates with the rest of the crew. It took some time to find the right camera, but thanks to Sarah, we managed to secure a Black Magic, which delivered excellent results. Our friend Jack also helped with prop creation and set design. We spent a day with him shooting photos in front of a green screen, which we later edited into movie posters to decorate the set. The shoot spanned three days, and we're really happy with the outcome.

As for the music, the song is nearly finished. Natasha, our mixer, is polishing a few final details, and once that’s done, we’ll send it off for mastering, which should be a much quicker process.

Week 10:

We are currently in the editing stage of the project. A rough cut has been pieced together and we are looking into colour correction/grading options. We have tried doing this ourselves but we are inexperienced with the craft and are considering outsourcing this to a professional. In regards to the music, we still wanted a few minor changes in the mix which Natasha is currently working on. We have confirmed mastering services with Tim Paterson of Satori Mastering and will send the track to him as soon as it's finalised.

Week 11:

The final mix of our track has been completed and we are extremely pleased with the end result. We have sent the final mix to Tim Paterson and have been told that the master will be finished by the end of the week. The film is almost finished in terms of editing.

Week 12:

We have received the final master from Tim Paterson and everything is sounding great. That finishes the music/sound aspect of the project. We have also completed the editing of the film. We decided not to pursue colour grading ourselves and have out-sourced the role to a freelancer we found on Fiverr, named Jawad Ather, who has positive reviews from other users on the site. We gave him Fontaines D.C.'s Here's the Thing music video as a reference.

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Assessment 4 - Blog s3840808

Week 1:

I found the introductory class to AudioVision very interesting. We had a look at a unique instrument created by Canadian composer Mark Korven, called the Apprehension Machine. It features multiple components; some metal rods, a single string with an attached ebow, metal rulers, etc. From what I’ve read, it was designed for writing horror scores and was actually featured on Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse and The Witch. I’d be very keen to play and experiment with it in the future. We also had a look at the Japanese concept, ikigai, which translates to ‘ a reason for being’. The ikigai states that your purpose in life should consist of what you love, what you’re good at, what you can be paid for, and what the world needs. Darrin also recommended Sweet Anticipation, a book by David Huron on psychology and music, which I’ll definitely have a read of.

Week 2:

During the second week I worked on assignment 1 which involved creating sound for an animation of Gina Moore’s. It was fun composing for visuals again - I haven’t done it since 2020 when I was studying sound production. It was interesting seeing everyone’s approach to the assignment. Despite being completely different from one another, I can see why each person went the direction they did. I watched an interesting interview with Hans Zimmer where he discussed the creative process of scoring Dune. He made a good point in saying that it’s odd that almost all sci-fi movies like Star Wars, Alien, 2001: A Space Odyssey, etc. feature european orchestral sounds despite them taking place in other worlds and cultures. Zimmer set out to create a unique sound that mirrored the dark atmosphere that the Dune universe encapsulates. It was also interesting hearing how he described what kind of sounds he was going for, for example, he’d tell his celloist to play the cello like a Tibetan war horn or his flautist to play the flute like it were the wind whistling. It was a fascinating insight into how he operates as a composer and it gave me a lot to think about moving forward as a sound designer/composer.

Week 3:

During week 3 we had a guest lecturer, Mark Hooper, who has done sound design work on multiple films/tv shows throughout the years. I found his lecture very engaging and gained alot of insight on his thought process when it comes to approaching a new project. A useful piece of information I picked up from Mark was how to effectively fade in and out audio between scenes; Fading audio for scene A out one frame after and fading audio for scene B in one frame before. Mark also emphasized the importance of prioritizing time when working on a project, saying its better to focus more time on impactful moments - themes, motifs, signature sounds, etc. , as opposed to getting caught up on less important details. This is something I often struggle with myself. I find myself obsessing over tiny details and then begin to stress out when deadlines grow closer. This is something I’ll need to work on continuing on in the future. Mark also recommended a book by Walter Murch called In the Blink of an Eye, which focuses on the art of editing in filmmaking. I intend to look into this in the near future. I recently watched Justine Triet’s, Anatomy of a Fall, and really enjoyed it’s approach to sound design. From memory, all sound is diagetic and I assume they went for this approach in order to keep the audience’s attention on the dialouge as it plays the most important role in the film. The sound feels extremely grounded and realistic - you really get an idea of the tone and character of each space in the film, whether that be interior or exterior. There are a few recurring songs that play throughout the film, serving as important plot devices. I wont spoil anything but I enjoyed how they used sound as a pivotal factor in driving the plot forwards.

Week 6:

These past two weeks I've begun working on the soundtrack for my collaborative project. The soundtrack will complement a horror game featuring elements of traditional Chinese folklore and Taoism. My collaborator, Yue, wants the music to be eerie, atmospheric and slow burning rather than grandiose or jump scare orientated. In terms of instrumentation, gongs, vocal choir chants, droning synthesisers and bells are being utilised. I recently watched a Japanese film called Kairo, directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. I found the film's sound design particularly interesting; dialogue often sounds extremely close in proximity and white noise can be heard in almost every scene creating quite an unnerving atmosphere. Additionally, the soundtrack itself is rather minimal for the most part, often revolving around some droning sounds, which lends itself to the dark atmosphere of the film.

Week 7:

This past week I've made some significant progress in my collaborative project. I created a few different demos of potential soundtracks and sent them to Yue to get an idea of what direction I should be heading for. They were very happy with one demo in particular so I've been working on refining the idea and creating two other pieces with a similar essence. I’ve been reading Karen Collins' Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory, and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design and have been picking up a few ideas and tips from it. Collins speaks of the importance of experimenting with different variables to ensure that a composition gets a “longer shelf life”. One of the aforementioned variables includes rhythmic changes - in a major key a sudden rhythmic change can create a sense of positive anticipation, whereas in a minor key it can create a sense of dread or fear. Collins also states that avoiding harmonic resolutions can make a composition more adaptable to gameplay changes, allowing the music to flow in multiple directions. I've also been reading Michael Chion's Audio-vision: Sound on Screen. Chion states that there are two ways in which music and sound can establish a specific emotion: empathetic effect or anempathetic effect. Empathetic sound correlates directly to the emotion being shown on screen, while anempathetic sound is indifferent to what is being shown on screen. The juxtaposition of anempathetic music and on-screen visuals has the effect of intensifying an emotion.  I recently watched a Japanese psychological horror film called Cure by Kiyoshi Kurosawa and noticed it utilises the anempathetic effect multiple times during its runtime. For example, during the opening scene quirky jovial music plays as a man murders someone in cold blood. The music being played is emotionally detached to what is being shown on screen and made the scene seem far more disturbing as a result. Perhaps this is a technique I could try to incorporate into my collaborative project.

Week 8:

This week I’ve been developing my collaborative work further. Taoist and Buddhist themes are a key element of the game I’m working on and my collaborator has expressed the importance of including traditional Buddhist instrumentation in the compositions. As such I researched what instruments are involved in Buddhist rituals. As Zhang states, Buddhist instrumentation and music differs depending on region but a few notable instruments include gongs, the Gu drum, di and xao (two different flutes) and chimes. Vocal chanting is also prominent in Buddhist music and is an element I’ve utilised heavily in one of the compositions. I read Tibetan Tantric Buddhism: Envisioning Death by Kathryn Coster to get an idea of the instrumentation used for Buddhist funeral ceremonies, as a major scene I’m composing for in the game is set at a funeral. I discovered that the kangling, a trumpet made from a human thighbone, representing death and impermanence, is commonly used. The kangling produces a haunting sound and fits in well with the themes of the game’s narrative.

Week 9:

I’ve made further progress on my collaborative work this week. Presently, I’ve been focusing purely on the musical composition of the project but I’m beginning to prepare myself for the sound effect aspect. To gain further insight into horror sound design in video games, I’ve been reading Sound and the diegesis in survival-horror games (2008), a paper by Daniel Kromand, and have picked up a lot. Kromand (2008) states that sound design in horror games often create “a framework of uncertainty that constantly holds the player between knowledge and ignorance”. Horror games purposely confuse and mislead players by making it uncertain which sounds are diagetic or not. The inability to locate the source of these sounds causes unease in players. As Kromand (2008) puts it, “collapse of the barrier between the diegetic and non-diegetic soundscape is a strategy to build a horror atmosphere”. Kromand (2008) also brings up an interesting sound design technique used in the game, Bioshock (2007), in which crescendos, which often are used in horror films to create fear and symbolise impending danger, are instead activated by how much time has passed. This preconceived notion of the traditional use of crescendos (in a horror context) causes constant confusion in players and puts them on edge as they begin to anticipate conflict that may not even happen. 

I’ve also been reading a paper by Mark Grimshaw called, The audio Uncanny Valley: Sound, fear and the horror game (2009), which goes into the utilisation of the uncanny valley phenomenon in relation to sound design. Grimshaw (2009) states that by defamiliarising an everyday mundane sound through use of different processing techniques, you create an unnerving uncanny valley-like feeling. An example of this can be seen in Ringu (1998), in which the sound of the ringing telephone is actually a combination of four different phone rings at once. 

I look forward to putting these different techniques to use for my collaborative work.

Week 10:

This week I did further research into video game-based sound design. I came across a really interesting youtuber called Marshall McGee. His videos often break down specific games, analysing how they've approached the sound design and how they've achieved it. He also interviews industry experts from time to time, which is rather insightful. A recent video of his I watched goes through a trending sound stylisation being frequently used in the industry at the moment. The sound I'm referring to is a low mid-range rumble. The sound is achieved by using an envelope follower which opens up a filter, creating a sense of movement, and by focusing in on 180hz -400hz. The sound is then ran through various modulation effects and multi-band compression. I've also been watching another youtuber, David Dumais, who makes similar videos. He has a video providing tips on creating a sound design demo reel which I've found useful as I'm in the process of creating one at the moment for an internship application.

Week 11:

This week we all uploaded our works-in-progress to Canvas and gave each other feedback. For Angus' project, I suggested some extra harmonies could slowly be introduced for the sadder song as it progresses to add some extra emotional weight. I also recommended utilising more percussive elements to the happier-sounding song to bring more energy to the composition. I really liked what both Hugh and Ryan were able to accomplish in the Us! animation. I think the score and sound design match the style and tone of the animation perfectly. One thing I suggested though was to cut out the music from 1:36 to 1:48 to enhance the comedic effect of the situation on screen. Also, I think adding a large, spacious reverb to the sound of the character's movements during the outer space scene would work well to reflect the sense of the environment. I was a big fan of Nick's work on the Worm's Memoirs score. The gradual transition from playfulness to horrific was well-executed and I loved the piano tone of the ending rendition of the main theme. One piece of criticism I had though was the tone of the flute; it came across as quite jarring and 'pokey' sounding. I suggested using some subtractive EQ to mend the issue.

I was very pleased with the positive feedback I received from my peers. I feel that I've been successful in accomplishing what I set out to achieve. Regarding criticism and suggestions, Nick feels that the synth tone in one of the songs is too clean sounding and suggested using downsampling or modulation to help it flow with the rest of the instrumentation. Dylan echoed something similar, pointing out that the synth's timbre is quite different from the rest of the organic-sounding instrumentation present in the soundtrack. This is something I'll look into mending. I've already begun playing around with downsampling, saturation, and modulation and it's already sounding a lot more fitting. Erin suggested adding more bass melodies to fill out the sound on some of the tracks which I agree with. Some sections of the songs couldn't definitely use lower-end elements to add more depth to the compositions. Angus liked the whispers present in one of the tracks and would like to hear them come in more often. He also suggested making an alternative version of one of the songs when the camera mode is activated which might be difficult to achieve this close to the deadline, especially considering that camera mode is a key mechanic of the gameplay and reoccurs constantly throughout its entirety. This would mean I'd have to create an alternative version of each of the tracks. I do think it's a cool concept though and it's something I'd like to experiment with in similar projects in the future.

Overall, I'm happy with the feedback and suggestions I received from my peers and found this exercise very useful. I'm really excited to see everyone's final projects!

Final Entry:

I've finished my project for the semester and I'm pleased with the outcome. I was glad to receive feedback from my peers and implemented a few suggestions. I ended up downsampling and saturating the synth's lead line, which both Nick and Dylan said sounded a little out of place, and it definitely made it fit better in the mix. I experimented with using different instrumentation altogether but it didn't feel quite right and my collaborator was already sold on what I had previously delivered and I didn't wanna alter too much as the deadline approached. In response to Erin's suggestion, I implemented bass notes from a piano and boosted around 100hz to add more low end to one of the song arrangements. Although I'm happy with how the soundtrack worked out, there are a few things I'd change and add if I were to do it again with the insight I have now. Firstly, I liked Angus' suggestion to make an alternative version of each track depending on which camera mode is activated. I would have worked on it if I had more time, but unfortunately, I was too close to the deadline to make this a reality. I also would have liked to have worked on more of the SFX for the game. Yue (my collaborator) ended up doing a majority of it as she wanted me to focus more on the music and already had her heart set on a lot of the specific sounds. It's a shame as I had a lot of fun working with more SFX-orientated work for my Sound Design class, where I reworked all of the sound for the opening sequence of the game, Bioshock. Here's a link if you're interested in checking it out. After all the projects I've worked on this semester in both AudioVision and Sound Design, I know that working in sound design is definitely the career I want to pursue moving forward.

Bibliography:

Chion, M. (1994). Audio-vision: Sound on Screen.

Collins, K. (2008). Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory, and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design (1st ed.). MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/7909.001.0001

Coster, K. (2010). Tibetan Tantric Buddhism: Envisioning Death.

David Dumais Audio. (2020, December 14). How To Make A Video Game Sound Design Demo Reel | 10 Tips [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VTG6zTyZpg&ab_channel=DavidDumaisAudio

Grimshaw, M. (2009). The audio Uncanny Valley: Sound, fear and the horror game.

Huron, D. (2008). Sweet Anticipation: Music and the Psychology of Expectation.

Kromand, D. (2008). Sound and the diegesis in survival-horror games

Kurosawa, K. (Director). (1997). Cure [Film]. Daiei Film.

Kurosawa, K. (Director). (2001). Kairo [Film]. Daiei Film.

Marshall McGee. (2023, August 2). The “Secret Sauce” In Modern Sound Design [Video].https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T14Er_xHRRo&t=387s&ab_channel=MarshallMcGee

Murch, W. (2005). In the Blink of an Eye.

Nakata, H. (Director). (1998). Ringu [Film]. Rasen Production Committee.

Triet, J. (Director). (2023). Anatomy of a Fall [Film]. Les Films Pelléas.

Vanity Fair. (2022, March 18). How 'Dune' Composer Hans Zimmer Created the Oscar-Winning Score [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93A1ryc-WW0&t=2s&ab_channel=VanityFair

Zhang, J. (2023). Buddhist Music as a Contested Site: The Transmission of Teochew Buddhist Music between China and Singapore.

2k Games. (2007). Bioshock.