READING AND WRITING
After all the excessive planning for a podcast, video, or whatever it may be, the next steps is to record and to edit. Along with recording for the project, there are decisions to be made. These decisions can include the location to record, the type of microphone and equipment to use, and even what type of software to use.
We see celebrities and even non-celebrities using professional equipment and they are at some kind of studio, whether it’s somewhere in the area or it’s a makeshift one in the house. However, the equipment and the studio can become really expensive really quick and not everyone has the money for it. Especially during this time in quarantine, people are getting creative with how and where they record the project. Makeshift “studios” are where it’s at right now. Filippo Gaetani states in his article, “7 Secrets for Getting Pro-Sounding Vocals on Home Recordings“, that in order to have the record sound great then the location (vocal booth) needs to be staged right, even if that means bringing in old blankets, curtains, mattresses and pillows into your bedroom. Also, just like when you plan a project, there are always aspects to it that are changed and improved or removed completely. Well the same goes with the recording process. There should always be multiple takes being done. No one is ever satisified with the first outcome, and there’s always improvements to made that will lead to a much better outcome. Once everything is done the next step is to edit the recording.
Recording and editing the audio to go with a video and without video is very important and if done right can create a captivating piece. In fact, Hal Robertson states in his article, “Sound Advice: Editing Audio for Video“, “… tell the story in the smoothest, most logical manner, complete with a beginning, middle and end.” By doing so the audience will be able to follow along easily and it flows smoothly. No one likes when a story is missing pieces or gets cut off, we want to know every detail and what happens from beginning to end. Without some of the details, the audience can’t follow along and lose interest real quick. In order for this not to happen, is to make sure there is a beginning, middle, and end and every detail is accounted for.
RESEARCH TO INFORM
BLACK PANTHER:
In an early scene of Black Panther, T’Challa has to become worthy of being the king of Wakanda by accepting and challenging those who wish to do so. Since Wakanda is broken up into five tribes, there is one tribe, the Jabari Tribe, that didn’t accept the way Wakanda was being run and escaped into the mountains where they live and are very rarely seen by the rest of Wakanda. Well in this scene, the Jabari Tribe comes so the leader can challenge for the throne. However, their entrance doesn’t sit well with everyone else. We can hear them chanting out of frame and getting louder and louder as they appear in the frame. We can tell that their presence frightens everyone because everyone suddenly becomes scared and their facial expressions show that fear and concern for T’Challa the entire time they are there. As the leader of Jabari Tribe, M’Baku (Winsten Duke), talks to everyone we can hear the rushing water that they are surrounded by and the sound the weapons make when he gets to close to T’Challa’s sister. Other than those sounds it’s dead silent showing just how intense the situation is.
In this scene of Black Panther, Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) holds the power and is in the process of shipping out vibranium weapons to the spies that were placed in other countries to secretly help wherever they can. No other country in the world has weapons like these and he wants the weak to defend themselves in order for chaos to begin and for Wakanda to be on top. As for audio and video, you can hear Killmonger talking to W’Kabi (Daniel Kaluuya) as well as some of the background noise like the aircrafts taking off and other sound effects so even without the video you can still tell where they are and what is happening. Also, even though it’s out of frame we can here and aircraft be hit and shot down before the camera pans to it. Music comes into play shortly after, and by the sound of it you can tell something big is about to happen and it’s also seen by the concerned facial espressions of everyone in the frame. The music ramps up slowly and continues to do so as T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) is steping into frame showing the importance of T’Challa in the moment.
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN:
Within this scene of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Jack Sparrow and Will Turner meet for the first time and battle each other. As the scene begins, it’s focused on Will Turner and off camera we can hear what sounds like a machine running and other sounds that you would find in a workplace that makes swords. Right away we can tell what the location is and what’s happening there before we see the entire place. Throughout this scene the sound the swords make when they hit each other or anything else and the “swoosh” sound as it cuts the air is very prominent. There is a moment in the scene where Will throws a sword at Jack and it hits the door making an interesting sound effect as it moves side to side before Jack tries to take it out of the door.
What’s really interesting is how the music is played throughout the scene. At the beginning of the battle there is no music, but as they start to battle the music starts. Whenever they suddenly stop in the beginning and do some dialogue, the music suddenly stops as well and then starts up again when the battle starts back up. After a little bit, the music is then what we hear the most has it goes hand in hand with what’s going on in the battle. The music also reacts to the fighting, in that as the fighting becomes more dramatic, the music intensifies. If there are funny moments in the battle the song will play off of that. So the song choice in a way lets the audio know how the fight is going. Then at the end the music gets more and more dramatic and intense as Will frantically tries to find a weapon and then turns to see Jack with a gun aimed at him.
HIDDEN FIGURES:
(START: 0:21 – END 1:18)
Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson) begins her new position in the NASA space program, and in this scene we see her setting up her new desk and checking the work of Paul Stafford (Jim Parsons). As she sets up her desk we can hear the people working in the background, phones ringing, and the sound of papers, books, and other items going from the box to her desk. With all of the sounds we can automatically tell that we are in an office of some kind and people are frantically doing their work. Also, as she is setting up her desk, we see Paul Stafford blacking out any important and/or classified information before handing it off to Katherine to check his work. As he is doing it we can clearly hear the sound the marker is making and not much of anything else except for Katherine moving a stack of paper and binders, showing the tension between Paul and Katherine. The music doesn’t come until she is writing out the math on the chalkboard and this type of song creates that feeling of “oh yeah she is right” and “she is smart”.
CREATE
Through all of the planning, prepping, and editting, it finally came time to record and edit my podcast. I created a 10 minute podcast diving into three animated and live-action Disney movies to see if they are worth watching. I recorded and editted the podcast using Adobe Audition 2020 and with the built-in microphone on my Macbook Pro laptop. Tracks from each movie are included to get transported back to your childhood. Feel free to listen to a fun conversation about Disney movies, I mean who doesn’t love Disney! Enjoy!
Michaela Ganezer 