SVCTE Film/ Video Production

Why are A/V cables wrapped over/under and power cables wrapped over/over? Why is this an important skill for a beginning filmmaker? Wrapping cables correctly is an important skill for a beginning filmmaker and any filmmaker in general because it shows professionalism and attention to detail. If a cable is wrapped incorrectly, it can ruin wires inside the cable which will ruin the film being produced. 

What are three essential things that this article mentions to keep in mind? Why might each of these be important for video production? Three essential things that this article mentions are capturing the action, mixing, and moderation. After filming, getting all the diegetic sound while the production is running is rare. Capture the action during breaks just as backup or for future reference. Mixing can enhance the Foley effects. Sometimes they can be really underwhelming when first made, but with some alterations, you can have an amazing soundtrack to go with the film. Moderation is key when making Foley effects. It is not necessary to go full out in one take and have it be garbage when playing it back. 

Without music, how does the scene feel to you? Why? What aspects seem missing? How do you think having music change this scene? Without music, it is much less dramatic than what the movie should be. I haven't seen the movie with music but I assume it is a very dramatic scene. The different angles and shots of people with guns looks overused and it gets boring without music. It probably goes with the music when it is there. Having music probably makes it way better and adds dramatic effect to keep the viewer on edge. 

Use what you've learned about sound in the keynotes and readings. Describe 3 things that you notice about the before and after sound effects mix vs. the final mix. How are they different? How would you describe each of the differences? Before sound effects, it sounds very lame. After altering voices and adding different things to the audio, it adds more character to the audio and makes it fit the film more. Even with foley, there is still editing that needs to be done. 

What happens to this scene when the music is removed? How does it affect the viewer's experience? Without music, the scene from ET really lame and weirdly quiet. It loses its mystical feel and rather than being fun and amazing like how I remembered it, it was funny. I remember it being such a breathtaking moment when I first watched it. Seeing it without music was really weird.  

What are three interesting things that you learned from this video? How could you begin to start thinking about sound design in future video projects? From this video, I learned that sound designers take many different sounds and alter them and layer them in order to create the desired sound effect. He took his desired style of sound effect and looked for objects around him that gave off the same nuance. For my future video projects, I think I should put more thought into the sound and think about the nuance and its effect on the sound. 

What is the foley artist's role in crafting sound effects? Explain in detail three different things that you learned in this video and how they effect the final film. Foley artists create sound effects using objects that aren't what is on screen. They are sent around 15 minute videos of edited footage without added sound effects. They make their own noises to try to portray what the subject is doing. 

What is the status of your Silent Film? What was successful? What were some challenges? What did you feel were the biggest flaws of the final product? I am still not yet finished with my Silent Film. I found that some of our costumes were successful but I don't think they were well thought out. Some challenges we faced as a group were communication and planning. Members of our group did not contribute as much as we had hoped. People flaked out last minute on our project on days that were important. The days we did end up filming turned out to be much harder seeing as we did not plan things out in detail. Finding a location was also difficult. Our first location was the one we were most excited about but we came off as disrespectful to the people at the location and we did not have everything planned out as well. My biggest flaw in this project was contributing my input on how we executed our project. This leaves me with a product that I am not fully proud of.  I also feel lik...

What are each of the different categories of sound that are explained? In detail, explain the role of each of these categories of sound in film and how they enhance the story. There are three different categories of sound: the human voice, sound effects, and music. The human voice is spoken dialogue on and off screen. Dialogue is used to tell a story and express emotions from characters. Sound effects help the film seem more real and it gives a more in depth experience for the viewer. There are two types of sound effects. One is synchronous sound which is sound seen on screen and the other is asynchronous sound which is sound off the screen. Music helps set the mood for the film. It can foreshadow what is about to happen in the plot or create a tense tone to leave viewers on the edge of their seats. 

What is the difference between diegetic and non diegetic sound? What is an example of each that you can think of from a film? Diegetic sound is where the subject that's making the sound is visible on screen such as spoken dialogue between characters. Non diegetic sound is where there is audio but the subject making the sound is not on screen such as narration or music. An example of diegetic sound would be in a fight scene where we see the punches being thrown and we hear punches accompanying it. An example of non diegetic sound would be for example, when Gollum and Bilbo are playing games and Gollum disappears but we still hear his voice taunting Bilbo. 

What is the difference between stereo and mono recordings? What are 2 things that you found interesting in this article? Why? Mono sound is usually used for conversational reasons like telephones and radio talk shows. It requires only one mic and it isn't super costly. Stereo sound is for music, theaters, and radios dedicated to music. It requires two special microphones and is super expensive. I found the fact that Mono is compatible with and usually found on Phonograph cylinders interesting. I also found that Mono and stereo are both found in MiniDisc interesting.

How did the musical first develop in hollywood? Why do you think it play such an important role in the history of filmmaking? Why do you think there has been such a revival of the musical in pop culture in the 21st century? Musicals first developed in hollywood after The Jazz Singer came out. Film studios were competing with each other to create a unique film that would attract the most audiences. Forty Second Street created by the Warner Brothers sparked the popularity of musicals as a form of narration. It was a new and refreshing style for audiences and was a great escape from the harsh reality of the Great Depression. Musicals like Hamilton  and Dear Evan Hansen  are popular musicals today that are not on film but they are sparking new interests in younger generations. 

Why do you think this film was so successful when it was released in 2011? Why do you think this film won the best picture oscar for that year considering that sound has been around in since the 1930's? I think this film was so successful when it was released in 2011 because the concept interested film historians as did it interest the common people with it's humor and style. The idea of making a silent film in 2011 was nostalgic and brought people together to see what it felt like to watch a film without spoken dialogue. It was an old experience for older generations and it was a new experience for younger generations because they had had sound their entire life. 

According to this article, why did hollywood switch over to "talkies" so fast? Why was 1928 such a pivotal year for silent cinema? When The Jazz Singer came out, people were intrigued by the scene where Al Johnson started speaking. People wanted more and wanted filmmakers to make more films with sound. 1928 was a pivotal year for silent cinema because it was the last of their kind in the industry. More and more people wanted to watch and listen to films. The silent film fad ended. 

What was the effect of Star Wars on the movie industry? How did it affect the audience at this time? What were the long term historical trends that Star Wars set into motion after this? Stars Wars changed the movie industry's use of special effects and it expanded how far people can go in creativity. It was life changing. No one had ever seen anything like it. From the visual special effects to the plot, it was almost surreal for the viewers. It gave the sci-fi genre a whole new standard and broke many barriers. 

Why was Hollywood threatened by television? What where three key reasons it became a threat? As television was introduced, prices got lower as more people purchased them. Television was more convenient compared to movies in the theaters. All viewers had to do was stay at home to be entertained. The only cost was the set itself; the programs that aired were free. As less and less people went to movie theaters, ticket prices got higher which made television even more appealing. 

What caused the end of the golden age of hollywood? What was so significant about this change in it's history? The end of the golden age of hollywood was caused by the Supreme Court's decision to control movie distribution and exhibition. Though it was first applied during the Great Depression, it was not fully enforced until the economy started to improve. The movie companies and the supreme court reached a compromise that allowed the studios to keep ownership of theaters, but inhibited block booking.

What were some technological issues that came up when it was first being implemented? What was significance of "The Jazz Singer" in film sound history? Some technological issues that came up when sound was first being implemented was that it was expensive and movie theaters did not want to pay the expenses to show the Warner brothers' films.  "The Jazz Singer" was significant in film sound history because it had improvised dialogue in it which changed audience's views on incorporating sound into film. It made people want to hear more music and dialogue in their films. 

How do you think these technological advances affected filmmaking? Which 3 of these advances do you think are the most important to video and film? Why? These advancements in audio affected filmmaking because it was able to enhance the viewers' experience in movie theaters and at home. I think stereophonic sound, different kinds of audio manipulation, and multitrack recording are most important to video and film. Stereophonic sound helped the quality of the audio so it gave a new feel to the films. The different kinds of audio manipulation could give different effects to audio which could switch interchangeably between different genres. Lastly, multitrack recording made the people's voices clearer when they were recording which also added a clarifying effect to films as well as the audio. 

Take a moment to write down 2 questions about the history of sound at the movies that you would like to learn about. What do you want to know about these aspects of sound history? How was sound first recorded? What was the science involved in keeping sound waves and being able to play it back? What was the first form of playing recorded sound?