Alien 1979- Ship Sounds

The all time classic sci-fi film. This film is over 30 years old, yet the sound track is still relevant today, especially in relation to my Solaris project. There are so many subtle little noises and effects, drones, beeps, whirs, clicks and hums that make up the sound of the Nostromo spacecraft. Much of teh sound design was done by Jim Shields, who has built this incredibly complex, yet subtle ambience that runs, even when other key sounds are more present (e.g. alien breath, heartbeats, scuttling, acid etc), maintaining the background noise and adding believability to the scenes.

The beauty is no-one has ever been on a space craft like this, so Shields can take full creative control, and makes something that we all instantly believe a space craft should and would sound like. This is something I shall explore in creating the ambience and atmos within the space craft of my own chsoen Solaris clip. If the location can be made believable and absorb the audience, the other sounds and effects will fall more easily into place. A jarring, un realistic atmos would thrown the whole film out, and greatly alienate the audience from the piece.

Hints and Tips- Chris Scarabosio

Just a short video of very basic, but nonetheless useful advice from Chris Scarabosio, the sound designer for There Will Be Blood, who works at the prestigous Skywalker Studios. Though much of the information he gives is simple, it is certainly helpful in avoiding basic mistakes.

Much of what he says is reiterated by Ric Viers in 'The Sounds Effects Bible' which helped me enormously, especially in my script to screen presentation but also in the practical recording elements of the two later assessments.

Perhaps the most interesting thing Scarabosio talks about is the perception of sound, and how objects can sound like pretty much whatever you want them to be. This is particularly relevant to Solaris, as it is a sci-fi genre film, so there are no set rules as to what things may or may not sound like. this leaves sound designers with a much greater creative scope. It has also become true that since starting this module, I can't watch anything without analyzing every sound I hear, wondering how it was made and what from. This new obsession also carries into day to day life, as now I analyze everyday objects, thinking what effects could be created from tehm, and what they could be shaped to sound like.

Dead Space- Musical Inspirations

Here are a few examples of the Dead Space videogame soundtrack. Though the entire game was a subtle influence to the sounds of my piece, the music (by Jason Graves) was of particular interest. As you can hear, it creates tension and feelings of creeping isolation. During actual gameplay, the soundtrack is perhaps the most terrifying part, it amplifies the mood so well. This was a driving influence/inspiration behind the musical parts of my soundtrack, referenced by low, throbbing, fluctuating bass ends and shrill, unsettling high ends.

 The game also uses lots of signature sounds and motifs for key moments, espeically for moments when added shock is needed after long periods of tension (Lewton Bus in a way). I also attempted to replicate this during the acid/face reveal sequence.

No Country For Old Men- Musical Inspirations

Here are a few examples of a few music pieces and clips I listened to whilst editing the first Sound to Screen project

The first is a piece by Johnny Greenwood, the composer for There Will Be Blood. Though very little score is used in both No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood, this piece evokes the kind of chilling tension that Chigur creates throughout the clip I worked on. This type of music was an influence as the the slow, inexorable build up of fear after the protagonist discovers the transmitter adn realises hes not alone. 

The second is an amateur musician playing country/western style blues. It is in no way perfectly produced, but its limping, lonely quality fitted well with the situation the protagonist finds himself in. This was an influence to the guitar score I composed myself for the piece but ultimately decided to leave out.

By far the most influential piece was Dustbowl (find via link below) which instantly conjures up images a great dry plains and small hillbilly type Southern towns, exactly the settings to No Country For Old Men. This was a useful grounding influence throughout the whole edit, and especiall during the composition of my own score. . http://www.audionetwork.com/production-music/mood-emotion/ambient-textural-feels/hot-desert-tropical/results.aspx

Sound to Screen Project 3

A list of sounds to be found/recorded for my Solaris project:

• Screams (female)
• Alert siren
• Alert voice (mechanical/female- contamination alert?)
• Footsteps- metal stairs- down
• Bubbling acid
• Hissing acid
• Steam
• Body movement (on bed- thrash)
• Bone creak
• Bone break
• Electronic bleeps
• Metal object drop
• Breaking glass
• Signature sounds (e.g. for face wound)
• Music (futuristic, unsettling)
• Healing sound (reversed breath, zips, hiss?)
• Pnuematic Doors