LO2

My brief:

For this task my brief was to be able to produce a soundtrack that included SFX and voiceovers to a moving image. The chosen advert was decided by our teacher. We had a few lessons preparing and brain storming our ideas and what we wanted to record using what software and equipment. My peers and I knew that before we did anything we would each have to learn how to use the software properly I decided to put together a 'step to' guide to help if i ever forgot later on in the production. 

Here is my 'how to' guide for Cubase and a H2 Zoom

SET UPS

Zoom Set Up

1. Start with the zoom, before anything else (configure to an output/input device)2. Press Menu. Using the fast forward key, move through the options until you get to usb mode.3. Press the centre red record button, press fast forward key again to select audio IF then press red record button again.4.Press the fast forward key to select the connect option.

(connection must be made round the BACK of the computer, at the BOTTOM usb socket)

Cubase Set Up

When quebase opens...

1.Devices – Device set-up

2.Set video player to QuickTime

3.Set vst audio bay to zoom

4.All audio input and output goes through the zoom

5.Headphones in the zoom to hear your recording.

(If you do not have a usb cable; set vst devices in the audio bay to m-audio. Connect the zoom to the external sound card (round the back!) connect the 3.5 mil jack to the phones line out in the zoom)

If the zoom does not have any batteries then you may connect the zoom via usb or the supplied power supply.

Here is the original advertisement for Swiftcover

Original video 

Script 

TIME	CHARACTER	SCRIPT
0.00 – 0.03	IGGY	So little guy you ready for our big road trip
0.04 – 0.05	IGGY POP	Chyeeaah
0.06 – 0.09	IGGY POP	And I got me some new wheels.. Yeahh
0.09 – 0.12	IGGY	With swiftcover.com we’ll give you a car insurance quote in just 60 seconds
0.13 – 0.14	IGGY POP	Wohoo
0.14 – 0.18	IGGY	And it’s totally online so you can print them when you need em’
0.18 – 0.20	IGGY POP	Ahh I can’t reach
0.22 – 0.24	IGGY	I see you’ve got some rockin’ new drivin’ shoes
0.24 – 0.25	IGGY POP	Rock n’ roll man
0.27	BOTH	Let’s do this
0.28	IGGY	Get a life
0.29	IGGY POP	Get swift covered

After writing out the script I realised I needed to know in advance who I was going to record as I couldn't use two people as their voices would sound completely different and that would mean a lot of editing would have to done which I wouldn't have enough time to do. My peers and got together and each agreed on helping each other out with the recordings. We went to the college studio and used a H2 zoom for the outdoor SFX recordings and used a dynamic mic for the voice overs as the quality was much better.




Here are my recordings 






The process involved 


For these recordings I used a zoom which at first I found confusing but as I had used it before this exercise I had the experiance needed to create an advert soundtrack to prefessional standard. We recorded in a studio as we couldn't have any background noise that may interfere with the recording. This meant again that the work was to prefessional standard. The editing didn't take much work as we had recorded in a studio so there wasn't any interference to get rid of. I changed the pitch a lot as I wanteded to get the voise actors as similar to iggy pop as possible.


Screen shots of my production 

Here is the link to my final swift cover advert. I could not embed the video due to server error, so the link is below. 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=87j6GjRr1OU



Different types of sound being used throughout the advert;


- Voice over
Voice overs are used so the audience can hear them more clearly, 

-  Diegetic and non diegetic sound
Both diegetic and non diegetic sound are used throughout this advert. I could hear several real life sounds like cars driving past, tapping of the hitting the ground etc. 

- Narration
No official narration is told however the main character does talk in second person which is unusual for a TV advert. 

- Sound effects
Sound effects are used frequently throughout the sequence, from listening to the original video I can hear several popping noise, car speeding, and ignition starting. 

- Music 
You can tell it is upbeat and as the character starts to speak the background music fades out and gradually gets quieter


Evaluation 

Throughout the duration of this project I believe my end product turned out a success. Admittedly I did find this task extremely challenging as there was a lot of new things I had to learn in a short amount of time. I now feel comfortable and confident to work with Cubase again in further units. In this process I had to produce my own diegetic and  non diegetic sound, voice overs, my own SFX. This I did not have a problem with, I struggled with lip syncing it to the video. I tried this several times and could not get it spot on. I found this moment stressful and irritating, I couldn't understand why I could not get it right. I looked over my pre production and realised my script and timecode could be completely wrong, in which it was. I spent about an hour and half working on my script again because it was so important the voice overs were on point, I wanted it to be near professional standards. When I had finally done this I then started to record. I recorded four of my friends and gave them several lines to say, which they all said in strange accents. I uploaded the recordings and imported them into cubase and lip synced them. After that had been done I started to think about what sound effects I could use and if I wanted to create them myself using a keyboard that connects directly through to Cubase. I used a lot of SFX from youtube and copyright free sites which I again imported into cubase and trimmed them down and placed them in the appropriate places. When the sound effects were done I noticed the speech was a little low and wasn't clear so I altered the volume and speech, it now sounds very high pitched. I have learnt a lot of new skills working to this particular brief, I have learnt how to use and cope with challenging professional softwares, time management and how to work independently.