Natalie Milidoni

The student film ‘Rolling’ demonstrates how a simple, worldly concept can still be humorous.

The film is about a young man who has a crush on the local supermarket girl. He goes there to ask her on a date, but becomes tongue-tied and says that he is there to buy toilet paper for a charity he supports. The girl is impressed and orders a large amount for him, which he is then stuck with. She goes to his apartment to tell him about his delivery and he won’t let her in (otherwise she’ll see that he was lying). The conversation is awkward as she then leaves.

The simple concept of a boy trying to ask a girl out is something that most people can relate to. The filmmakers succeed in conveying the nerve-racking feeling that people can identify with as the young man blunders and humorously puts himself into a ridiculous situation.

The camera movement in the supermarket works well to show how he is trying to build up his courage to talk to her. It follows him as he walks towards camera and towards the girl – his facial expressions showing just how nervous he is. The harsh, bright lighting in the supermarket provides a feeling of exposure – demonstrating how naked he feels.

While most of the dialogue and delivery by the actors works to show the awkwardness of the situation, there are times when it comes across as being too obvious or not natural enough. When the girl arrives at the boy’s apartment, her part of the conversation doesn’t flow and doesn’t feel natural. This could be because throughout the whole film she has kept an unwavering smile on her face, and doesn’t show any curiosity or change in her facial expression.

The film ‘Clown Train’ succeeds in presenting a dark and creepy tone through it’s particular use of sound. The film presents a young man on a train, who asks a quite scary looking man dressed in a clown outfit why the train has stopped. As the conversation continues, the tension increases as the clown’s responses frighten the young man, who eventually escapes the train.

The opening of the film immediately sets the tone and mood. There are no visuals – only a black screen; while the layered sound effects deliver suspense, gives an indication of the setting, and peaks the audience’s interest of what the film may be about. The sounds heard during this time are a high-pitched creaking, rumble of the train on the tracks, creaking brakes, the grinding of the train tracks, and then a quiet hum of the lights that then illuminate and reveal the characters in an empty carriage.

The combination of sounds typical to a train setting indicate to the audience that the film will be in an urban setting, at a train station/platform or the train itself. While they provide important information for the audience, the sound choices also deliver a creepy and unhinged tone. For example; choosing to use the sound effect of the grinding train tracks, rather than the hustle and bustle sound of commuters demonstrates the isolated and dark sense of feeling the sound operators/designers wished to convey (and did successfully).

Throughout the scene during which the two characters converse, sounds of rushing wind passing the train, the electric buzz of the lights, creaking and an echo of tapping is present. During the parts in which the vision/train lights cut out, a sound of electrical interference is heard. When the lights return, the creepy clown has suddenly moved closer to the young man. The sound demonstrates tension, and the threat that the clown is posing becomes clearer.

At the final moments of the film; a faint, but deep sound of knocking, then a sinister sound crescendos to the moment of the young man deciding to escape the clown and the train. The carriage doors creak as he opens them, and his footsteps can be heard.

What I noticed about the use of sound in this film was that while each sound was different in it’s own right, layered together they made an ominous, creepy and suspenseful tone. They all fit together, and only stood out to emphasize important actions or dialogue. They all created a world that was clear to the audience and served the film in the best way possible.

The crime drama ‘In the Line of Fire’ makes great use of sound as well. The scene that we listened to in the lecture, and then watched in the tute is when Eastwood is returning home and then receives a threatening phone call by Malkovich.

A sinister sound opens the scene, then the sounds of city traffic, the rustling of Eastwood’s trench coat and his footsteps are heard. We can hear him dropping his keys, then turning soft blues music on as he wanders his apartment. The shrill sound of the telephone ringing interrupts the calming music and makes the audience feel uneasy. As the threat of the phone call increases, Eastwood turns the blues music off, which makes the audience focus on the tense conversation occurring.

An ominous and sinister sound effect is used as Malkovich describes his plan to kill the President. Eastwood then hears the sound of sirens through the phone and then hears them directly – Malkovich is nearby as it’s the same siren. The sound of coins in a payphone is heard, giving Eastwood and the audience the information that Malkovich is calling from a nearby payphone and the threat of him possibly watching Eastwood at this very moment becomes evident. A door slamming and Eastwood’s running footsteps as he leaves his apartment to investigate ends the scene.

When used properly, sound effects can not only provide information about setting, character, and plot, but can provide a variety of tones to add drama to scenes.

Coming from the Screenwriting program and having had experience in writer, director and producer roles (and continuing to do so for web-series projects I’m a part of), I decided that I would take on the challenge of being a part of the technical team for our production group. I definitely feel like I’m a bit out of my depth, but I know that if I work hard and put in the extra time and effort, I can be a great asset to my group.

That’s why I decided to examine the sound readings this week and do further research in the area by collating definitions of sound terminology. The reading that really stood out for me and will be one that I definitely refer back to is ‘Sound Recording’.

An important point I took from it is that in order to ensure sound recording is at it’s optimum, doing a lot of planning and tests well before shoot day is a must. Being comfortable with the equipment and understanding how to fix potential problems on the day, means that practice and doing tests before shooting is important. Doing site checks before the shoot will ensure that you plan to have enough cable length and that you recognize any potential noise disruptions so that you can plan for a slightly different location or shooting at a different time of day to prevent interruptions.

On shooting day, recording a test and listening to playback to hear if sound quality is being affected before recording a take is important. It is too difficult to try to fix sound in post-production, so ensuring that playback is of high quality on the day is the best way to go. Another tip is to test the actor’s speech beforehand so that you can adjust the levels for when they are performing the scene (and ask them to perform at the same volume).

Another important point is to have a fantastic understanding of the equipment you are using. This means ensuring that the audio limiter is switched off whilst testing and setting record levels, then switching the audio limiter on during recording. If the audio limiter is kept on whilst setting the levels, it won’t give a proper indication of whether sound will be distorted, as it will never go into the ‘red’ zone. Making sure that you aren’t being confused by the volume levels of your headphones is also integral as you may think that the sound coming through is loud enough, however your levels may show that they are too low (or vice versa). Trusting your levels and recognizing that your headphone volume may be a problem is important as if you don’t fix it, you will end up with bad sound that can’t be fixed in post.

Overall, the knowledge I’ve gained from all of the sound readings have been very helpful in helping me to understand the problems that you can be faced with and how to go about avoiding them. Performing tests, and understanding how to use your equipment and how to negotiate potential problems are important in ensuring that the best sound is recorded for your film.