Peer Feedback

Photo folder labelled

Composing music for Film

Things you need for a music in a film: To compose music for a film, you need to know what sort of music it is that you need, the genre, the tone, the instruments and beat, whether or not lyrics are needed etc. You need to know the tone that you want, whether or not it is to create a good or bad atmosphere, or if it is suppose to be spooky or even happy. You also need to make sure that your music choice and creation is what the director or producer wanted for the piece. You also need to make sure you know the piece well, and that it is perfect and that you as the music composer are satisfied with what you have created. The equipment is important aswell, you need to make sure you have all of the correct equipment to make the sound, sound good, this can also be helped by constantly listening to it to make sure that there are no mistakes or blips.

Describe how Hans Zimmer and Christopher Nolan worked together to create the music for 'The Dark Knight':
They started with the music from 'The Joker', and then Nolan gave Zimmer stills of the clowns and also the joker which is what inspired the character. Zimmer then contacted Nolan about the atmosphere he wanted to go with the tense scene in the film 'The Dark Knight'.
The process that Hans Zimmer came up with to get the music:
Zimmer chose minimal music, which would tell what he wanted to show in the film without the music being to over whelming.
Hans Zimmer's intentions when making the soundtrack:
They wanted to make

What was Hans Zimmers intention when making this soundtrack?

 He wanted to make the music uncomfortable to listen to, showing the character elements of the joker well, which provoked the normal image the audience relates to a joker.

What qualities did Hans Zimmer want the music to have (try and find at east three)?  
With a very minimalistic piece Nolan wanted there to be a lot of tension, he went for the rock and punk influential style to suit the Joker's character.

How do you feel about the final score and explain why you feel it works/doesn’t work? 

I think the final score works went well because it leaves the listener/ audience at the edge of their seat as it creates suspense of danger to what will happen next. The minimalism of the character that links to the music is clever as it really draws you to the creepiness of the joker. 

Research into recording Foley Sound and Sound Effects

What is a Foley Art?
Foley is the reproduction of sound effects which are added in post - production to increase the quality of audio for films etc. The sounds can be any sort of sound wished for such as footsteps or winds blowing etc. It creates the sounds so that they sound as realistic as possible, therefore they are needed to make the clip as a whole to look realistic. It can be used to cover up unwanted sounds, and also to enhance sound. 
What is a Foley artist?
A Foley artist creates realistic ambient sounds that match the film that the ambient sound is being created for. They create the sound themselves in their own way by recording themselves doing something.
How do the Foley artists create Foley?
The artist will be in a recording studio by themselves alone, and they have a microphone and many other recording methods around them, they then move the equipment so that it is close to what ever it is they want to record so that nothing else is heard other than that, for example if the sound needed in a film was an actor running the foley artist would record themselves running around in a recording studio, then they would dub that sound over the actual recording.
What skills do Foley artists need?
The main skill that  foley artist needs is to be creative and have a good ear, for they need to be able to see some items and notice that if they use that item it will sound like something completely different, for example for a bird flapping its wings they would use two leather gloves hitting each other, and the artist needs to have the talent to recognise that this unusual item can create that sound which  is completely different.
What is the advantage of using real objects rather than computer generated?
The advantage of using real life objects is that they sound more realistic, and can be easily accessed and recreated if they do not sound good enough, rather than having to find and download and pay out millions for softwares to create the noise intended.

Research into recording Ambient sound and Dialogue

Ambient sound is sounds that occur in the background, for example the ambient sound of a classroom would be other students chattering underneath the main speach, or the teacher teaching, it could also be the noise of the heater, or cars passing the window from outside the classroom. This is importanr because it makes films seem more realistic and also adds detail to the scene, and would make the shot seem natural. In reference to this I give the example of in "Catching Fire the Hunger Games" they went out a recorded the rainforest and also the ocean, and used that for ambient sound in the final film, so that it sounded natural. "Hard Cuts" are ill advised to use in a film because they are very sudden, and it is believed that the film will be better when the osund leads to the next scene rather than just cuts, for example a forest to a city, it would be best to have the forest sound lead in and mix as a sound bridge rather than just cut and the city sound starts. The advantage or recording on location is and advantage rather than relying on the sound library, because that way you know for a fact that the sound will match up to the film, and will not have to worry as much about matching up the sound to footage, it also works better this way because the sound will sound more natural.

Recording Dialogue:

Recording Dialogue is difficult because you have to make sure that it matches up to the actors or actresses mouth when speaking, if you are dubbing over, you also have to make sure that the mic is at the right distance and it is clear and easily understood to the audience, that there is no crackling, or fuzzy noises, or any loud noises in the background blocking your intended recording. Things that could help when it comes to recording are things such as recording on location, and also at the same time you are speaking for example holding the mic next to the camera, because that way you get the exact sound to match the actors/actresses lip movement, and also it sounds properly because it has all the same ambient sound etc. Looping is when the piece of music is played over and over again automatically, I did this at the beginning of the clip I also used a sound bridge. Shooting ambient noise is important when shooting a conversation is important because it makes the shot realistic and also has soem background to the conversation, and seems more natural to the audience.

!!!!!! LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS !!!!!!

!!!!!! RIGHTS OF USE !!!!!!

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PUBLISHING RIGHTS AND RECORDING RIGHTS?

Publishing rights are only considered when the lyrics of the song have either been written down on paper or have been recorded by a music artist. Recording rights are from the actual performer of the chosen piece for example... Sound recording copyrights only exists in a pianists recordings of Beethovens sonatas.

HOW WOULD YOU GO ABOUT CLEARING A PIECE OF MUSIC FOR USE IN YOUR FILM?

You should apply to them for clearance in use of music. Tjis will make it easier to obtain where the musicians are unsigned and the music unpublished, because the film could also be a good use for the artist to publish their work.

CAN YOU USE MUSIC IN A SEQUENCE IF THE COMPOSER HAS DIES?

If the composer of the song has been dead for over seventy years then the original copyright has expired, although the owner of the rights still needs to be considered.

WHAT IS INCIDENTAL MUSIC?

Incidental music is when the music has been used in a film or a play as a background to create or enhance a particular atmosphere.

!!!!!! CREATIVE COMMONS !!!!!!

WHAT IT CREATIVE COMMONS?

Creative commons is a non - profit organisation headquartered in mountain view, California, United States, devoted to expanding the range of creative works.

WHY DOES IS EXIST?

Creative commons exists to release licensed copyrights.

EXPLAIN THE SIX DIFFERENT TYPES OF LICENSE?
1) Attribution CC BY
    - This lets others distribute, remix and tweak, and build upon your work commercially and not commercially, as long as they credit you for your original creation.
2) Attribution CC BY - SA
     - This lets others distribute, remix and tweak, and build up on your work commercial purposes, as long as they credit you and license your new creations under identical terms.
3) Attribution CC BY - ND
     - This license allows for redistribution, commercial and non - commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to you.
4) Attribution CC BY - NC
   - This license lets others remix, tweak and build upon your work non - commercially, although their new works must acknowledge you and be non - commercial, they dont have to license their derivative works on the same terms.
5) Attribution CC BY - NC - SA
    - The license lets others remix, tweak and build upon your work non - commercially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms.
6) Attribution CC BY - NC - ND
    - This license is the most restrictive of our six main licenses, only allowing others to download your works and share them with others as long as they credit you, but they cannot change them in any way or be used commercially.

!!!!!! OUR CHOICE OF MUSIC !!!!!!

We chose this piece because it starts off subtle and then gets more exciting as the music progresses, I used the more upbeat part of the music when the scene with the animals was shown on screen. The genre of music we use is rock. The Image below shows how we created the music, and which instruments we used and how we used them etc.

These pictures below show that we are able to use this music legally.

Screenshot and Explanation of after effects

I did the drownign effect in after effects by following an online youtube tutorial. I firstly took a film recording of me acting to drown infront of a greenscreen, and then uploaded it to after effects, after that I put in a new blank layer behind me of the colour blue, and then used the corner colour so I could turn each corner of the screen a different shade of vlue or green to make it look like a realistic frosty water, I then used the curtain effects and rearranged the corners so that it appeard as if the rays were in the water, I faded abd blended the curtain effect so that it suited well, I then added bubbles in and made it look like the ays were moving to make the shot look realistic.

_________________________________________________________________________________

I did this is after effects, by importing the original filmed footage into after effects and then adding playing around with the brightness, contrast and also colour correcting the footage, to make it appear clearer to the audience.

________________________________________________________________________________

This is the whale riding scene, where Shelby acting as Skye is riding a whale, i did this by green screening Shelby riding a whale, and importing some footage of a sky and whale swimming in the ocean, then cut round each bit of film needed, and put them together as separate layers.