AS Media - Heartbeat SFX Practical Experiment

The Brief:

-To make my own heart beat SFX

Different ideas:

In my sound effects research of the old radio days, I understand that to create heartbeats, they placed the arm of a record player on a towel or other kind of soft fabric – with the needle actually touching the cloth. Light taps on the fabric translated as low-end thumps when amplified through the record player. The “heartbeats” could then be performed as needed. I don’t know how “good” they sounded, but it’s certainly one method.
– Steve Lee

A buddy of mine created a very nice heartbeat using a large plastic trash can. The plastic popping in and out was very controllable and created two distinct in/out “pumping” sounds.
– Bob Kessler

Take a piece of fabric and hold it with a loose grip. Then quickly stretch the fabric for a pounding, heart-like sound.
– David Filskov

Bare your chest (!), position a microphone pointing at your shoulder region and then make a quick inward pull with your arms and hands and stop abruptly. Keeps you warm as well :)
– David Filskov

Any kind of thump run through a lowpass filter sequenced in a reasonably rhythmic sequence will give you the effect. It might be fun to throw in some “flushing blood” kind of liquid.
– Jamey Scott

Anyone try contact mics on a pulse point? This might work well if you also employ a BP cuff (don’t try it on the one in your neck :)
– David Steinwedel

I double the heartbeat with a kick drum. Filter anything below 60Hz, add an insane amount of mid frequency.
– Jerome Boiteau

Sourced from: http://www.epicsound.com/sfx/

Due to my lack of equipment, the availability to much of the methods previously discussed is limited. Therefore, I decided to use one of the methods, being making the noise with my mouth.

After doing the experiment the sound created are linked below:

-

Evaluation Percussion Noise (made with my mouth)

Pros;

- The right sound levels

- The right volume

- The sound was a deep sound that didn't need any distorting or manipulating

Cons;

- Slightly unrealistic

- The quality of the sound was not up to standard

- No increase in the rate, making it harder to use

Further evaluation:

In my opinion the sound created was useful in portraying a rested heart rate, however to a lesser extent. I feel it would be more useful to have an external professional sound effect as it would make the noise, one more realistic and two, more conventional as it would create a more suspenseful effect as that is the purpose behind the professional sound effects.

AS Media - Filming Evalation 2

The Brief:
- To evaluate the time that we spent filming for our final piece

Prep:

Our preparation for filming was positive as we organised a shooting script which clearly stated what time we were supposed to meet and what we were supposed to bring equipment wise. We were able to equally share responsibility between the four of us, as we all had a relatively equal amount of equipment to bring and be responsible for. We fortunately all brought the correct equipment, props and costumes and had no problems arise due to this.

Meeting Time

We arranged our meeting time on our shooting script and all of us were on time this hindered the timings slightly as we were a bit early getting to the location although we did manage to get the shots in the same form of lighting as previously partially due to the absent change in weather that day meaning that the lighting and setting looked very similar throughout the both of the filming sessions.

Availability

We set a date that everyone was free and chose a location that is public and gives lenient guidelines about filming so that we were able to actually film in the area we wanted to film in.

Time Management

As previously mentioned all of us were on time which did shift the time frames that we anticipated and hindered the time we arrived at the location to film however we acknowledged this and were more careful with our shots managing to do all of the shots with similar conditions as previously experienced. This again shifted all the time frames forward and enabled us time to discuss what shots we had left and how much time we needed to film them in. However we still managed the time frames that we had changed and got everything completed.

Achieved?

Yes. We managed to do what we set out to do and complete our filming in one day. We got all the shots that we wanted.

Timings

We got our timings near perfect per shot however we were hindered by being early which didn't change much but the lighting did get a bit brighter.

If I did it again would I do it differently?

No because everything was planned for and went into place.

AS Media - Heart Beat Sound Effect

The brief:

-To find a heartbeat sound effect

Originally we had the idea of making our own heartbeat sound, this would consist of someone vocally making the noise or using percussion to emulate the feeling of a heart beating. However after some discussion and evaluation, we decided it was best to find one as although making our own would work, it would be more effective to get a more realistic one for the context of our film.

After listening to all of the sounds there was a noticeable difference between most of the synthetic ones made and the actual sounds recorded.

Below is the listed sources along with its type (synthetic or actual)
Sources used:

YouTube - Actual
Sound Bible - Synthetic
Sound Snap - Synthetic
Sound Jay - Synthetic
Audio Blocks - Actual
Free Sound - Actual
Free SFX - Synthetic

After hearing all of them I decided to go through the pros and cons of each sound:

YouTube - Actual:

Pros:
- realistic
- good sound quality
- good sound clarity
- the change in heart rate fits what we need

Cons:
- change in heart rate is quite sudden and "blocky"

Sound Bible - Synthetic

Pros:
- good sound quality
- good sound clarity
- the change in heart rate fits what we need

Cons:
- change in heart rate is quite sudden and "blocky"

- highly unrealistic and sounded off

Sound Snap - Synthetic

Pros:
- realistic
- the change in heart rate fits what we need

Cons:
- change in heart rate is quite sudden and "blocky"

- bad sound clarity

- poor download quality

Sound Jay - Synthetic

Pros:
- good sound quality
- good sound clarity

Cons:
- change in heart rate is poor and unprofessional

- unrealistic

Audio Blocks - Actual

Pros:
- good sound quality
- good sound clarity

Cons:
- change in heart rate is quite sudden and "blocky"

- the change in heart rate didn't fit what we need

- slightly unrealistic

Free Sound - Actual

Pros:
- realistic
- good sound quality
- good sound clarity

Cons:
- change in heart rate is in sections and is noticeably and significantly different

- heart rate did not fit what we needed

Free SFX - Synthetic

Pros:
- good sound quality
- good sound clarity

Cons:
- there is no change in heart rate

- unrealistic and slow

After further analysis, I came to the conclusion that the YouTube clip was the best as it also had a good resulting downloading quality and wasn't distorted once place into Final Cut Pro X

Below is the final sound effect that we used:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2_uxjALgdE

AS Media - Transition Experiment

The brief:

-To experiment with the transition of our typography

I started by searching for an appropriate transition for the clip pressing the icon below and decided on the Zoom transition in the bottom left of the screenshot below.

 

 

 

After this I needed to import, using CMD + I, the typography. This brought me to the screen below where I selected the file I needed.

 

 

 

After finding the file required I then imported it pressing the button below.

 

 

 

After this in the footage part of the screen the typography appeared so I selected it as seen below and then dragged it into the new project.



Here you can see I have placed the transition over the original clip in Final Cut Pro X

Here you can see the close up of the bladed (CMD + B) clip along with the transition placed on top of it, equating to a timed amount of 4 seconds.

Whilst watching over the footage I realised that it faded to black. to combat this I right-clicked the transition and clicked on the option below to stop it from doing so.

 

After this I then exported the file using the button below to both YouTube and the desktop.

 



The video link(s):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQqF8nwnrGg

AS Media - Adjusting Typography

The Brief:

- To amend the current typography of our film to compliment the transition and lighting of our film.

Initially, I used this photo:

For the amendment of the typography I used this screenshot of our opening clip:

Following the same steps as my previous blog regarding typography (as seen here) implementing the new picture as the background, I completed the typography.

However, I noticed that the text was not 'popping' as much as it should have in certain areas. So by following the same video I used to create the typography https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S893jAVHP3Y, I was able to make the text be more prominent.

I did this by copying the layer by pressing CMD + J as seen below. After this, I pressed CMD + I to invert the layer mask, illustrated by the black box next to the copy of the layer.

Then by using the brush tool below, making sure that the white colour was my foreground colour. As seen in the screenshots below.

Using the dimensions below of 400 size and 25% opacity, I brushed over the area highlighted in the screenshot below to make that part of the text pop more and become more visible.

After doing this the adjustments were completed.

THE FINAL OUTCOME WAS THIS:

AS Media - Mask Creation

The Brief:

-To create a mask using a burlaps sack

My initial ideas:

Utilise a zip in some way
Use stitching to create an eye with a cross on it
Use a noose around the neck
Use fake blood to make it permanently crying
Stitch the head into a better shaper by cutting the top off and sewing it back on
Make the mask stuck in the shape of a face by getting it wet and full of PVA glue
Use nails and hooks as added features to the mask

First Experimentations:

I tried to make the material of the sack stay in a position and make it mould to the shape of my face by soaking it in water with PVA glue mixed in and the results were minimal as the material dried out and the PVA glue had little to no effect on the integral structure of the material. After these findings I discarded the idea of moulding to the shape of a face. End result below

Secondly I used two types of fake blood one being a spray and the other being a thicker liquid on the material to make the mask more gruesome. I simply just applied them both to separate sections of the material so that I could gauge what one would be more effective.

The results of this clearly show that the thicker liquid is more effective as the spray was not as strong as I had originally thought. The thicker liquid being on the right and the spray on the left.

Next I created the back of the mask with hooks and nails. Layering them alternatively in opposite directions facing different ways.

I continued to administer this technique down the whole back of the mask creating a quite punk metal feel, and helped the mask to contribute more towards the genre conventions of horror.

Next to heighten the feel of horror, I tied a noose and threaded it through slits I had cut into the trim of the bottom of the mask. This is illustrated below.

Next for one of the eye holes, I cut into the material as a test to see the effect of the cut. This is illustrated below.

After this I decided sew over the the cut to make the effect more threatening, playing on the primal fear of the unknown embedded in the audience. The resulting effect is illustrated below.

Simultaneously I had the idea of having a cross on one of the eyes. I began by testing this out on a scrap piece of material.

This ended up looking as it does below alongside the incision made for the other eyehole.

After sewing up the eye hole it looked like the following illustration.

After this I decided to sew on a half opened zip, on the mouth of the mask as it gave the mask a sadistic smile and charm to it. This is illustrated as seen below.

After this to add an even more gore to the mask decided to use the remaining spray and liquid to cover the rest of the mask in key places such as the noose tie and the neck of the mask.

Evaluation:

- The overall outcome of the mask to a large extent fulfilled what I had in mind for the mask

- There was no real shape to the mask which would have been made by the top which did not comply an attach how I wanted it to.

Peer Feedback:

- The mask could have been improved by adding dirt and mud to really add layers of depth to the mask

- The noose colour could have been better as it is a neon green colour

AS Media - Storyboard

The Brief:
- To create a storyboard for our media 2 minute film.




Location[s]

As a group we were originally going to film at Boughton Mount Centre, which is an abandoned school, however recently it has been cautioned off by police and trespassing laws now abide in that area so we had to relocate. We then came up with the idea of filming in Loose Valley instead, in specifics nearby the stream that is located in that area. We also chose Loose because it was still just as suitable to the storyline and we could make even more creative shots in the location due to the appealing landscape that surrounds the stream.

Here are the listed locations we will use:

- Loose Valley
- Forest

These two locations are both near to us and each other making it widely more accessible for the whole of our group making them convenient for us all.

Actors

The two listed actors we are going to have are:

Myself [Josh] - as the killer
Lucy [Group Member] - as the victim

Due to Lucy and I being A-Level drama students this made the choice of actors much simpler as we were both comfortable playing the roles we were given, also this meant that we would be more reliable than someone else outside of the group who is giving up their spare time whereas we are required to be there regardless.

Props

Here are the listed props we will require:

-Fake Blood
-Animals Blood
-Twig
-Replica of victims top
-Cushion
-Blood Packs
-Knife
-Earphones
-School bag
-Un-smashed phone
-Smashed Phone

Costume[s]

Here is the listed costumes we will require:

[Killer]
-Walking Boots
-Baggy Joggers
-Baggy Jumper/Sweatshirt

[Victim]
-Casual Clothes
-Clothes with stab wound and blood on

Sound

Here is the listed sounds we will require:

-Music (uncopyrighted and manipulated to sound more eerie)
-Distorted Ringtone
-Sound effects of walking/twig snapping

Film Titles

These are the film titles we came up with:

-Silent Killer
-The Watched
-EYE-SPY

These titles are all relevant to the stalker idea portrayed in our film opening however some are less conventional than others such as "EYE-SPY". Due to the genre of our film being slasher we thought involving the word 'Killer' into a title such as "SIlent Killer" would lead to the title conforming to the conventions of the genre and man=king it a successful film title.

We then decided that "Silent Killer" was indeed the prefered option of the group as a whole and stuck with that option as it is far more conventional than others and captures what the film is about in a simple two words.

AS Media - Conventional Slasher Film Names

The brief:

- To research, evaluate and come up with conventional slasher film names

Names in the past 20 years:

Scream 4
House of wax
Cherry Falls
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
High Tension
Scream 3
Hatchet
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
Freddy vs Jason
Urban Legend
Scream 2
I Know What You Did Last Summer
Scary Movie
Friday 13th
The Nightmare on Elm Street
Sorority Row

Conventional Aspects:

- Very short and concise
- To the point
- Representative of what happens
- Self explanatory
- Simplistic
- Explicit (in regards to telling what will happen)
- Explanatory of the narrative
- Usually shows what type of murder/killer is involved in the movie

Our own title ideas:

- EYE Spy

- Watched

- Silent Killer

Evaluation:

- EYE Spy

+ve's

Supported the idea of someone being watched or stalked
children's game - contrapuntal
makes something innocent into something sinister
the use of the word eye makes it a play on words which is very conventional

-ve's

can be seen as unconventional as it is not as explicit as other titles
more so appeals to the spy genre than a slasher sub genre
doesn't allow for much experimentation with typography due to the shape of most of the letters
doesn't work with the content in the opening scene as it isn't directly linked to the action on screen

- Watched

+ve's

Simplistic and one word
is useful for epigraphy manipulation and creation as the letter shapes allow for a lot more creativity such as an eye in the "a" "e" or "d" making it more versatile
Conventional as it is short
the word links to the idea of predatory or stalking motif

-ve's

slightly tenuous link to the killer type and method of killing
isn't explicit enough for the method of killing or killer type
doesn't describe the narrative as well as it could
is a bit limiting in terms of "doing what it says on the tin" which is what most slasher films do

- Silent Killer

+ve's

Simplistic
explicit
does what it says on the tin
helpful with letter structure for the smoke effect/idea (image)
genre specific - slasher
conventional as it describes the killer/ his method of killing and narrative is linked into it
describes what you will see and hear in the film

-ve's

isn't as short as we would have liked
not too outstanding of a name/is quite plain

AS Media - Stabbing Evaluation

The Brief:

- To create an effective way of portraying someone being stabbed

List of ideas;

- show the stab into a pillow or other object beneath the same clothing as in the film
- don't show the actual stab, show a reaction shot
- show the aftermath of the stab

Evaluations:

- 1. The use of a pillow would make the whole thing much safer and more ergonomically sound, also everyone would be happy by being safer and more precautious as no one would get hurt and we would still be able to do the scene. The down side is the it may not be as gory or as explicit as we want it to be as there will be less realism to the piece which is what we are trying to replicate. The pillow will also not look as life like as a persons actual body making it loose its effect whilst also making it look unprofessional and bland. This does somewhat conform to the conventions of a slasher film because the stabbing is actually happening in frame however using a pillow as a body replacement is something that isn't usually seen as there is normally a fake body which we unfortunately do not have access to.



- 2. Not showing the actual stab would be much easier to film as there wouldn't have to be a shot of the knife going into the victim leaving it much easier for us to make the wound look better. Therefore we would be able to make the two shots look better and more seamless to the storyline and to the conventions of horror. However the slasher genre heavily includes seeing the death happen as you would if you were in front of the action. This poses a problem as we don't have the resources to show the knife entering the victim as we would require movie grade props which unfortunately we do not have access to. This is quite conventional as there are many films that just show the reaction of the stabbing and possibly the aftermath of it and I feel that this would be the most suitable to the film as it would be more aesthetically pleasing.



- 3. The aftermath of the stab would be the easiest of the three and enable the most focus to be centred on the wound incurred by the victim. Although this would not be as interesting and creative it would effectively portray the victims death and enable for the wound to be perfected and the blood that gushes out of the wound to be perfected. The problem with this is that we would have to work a lot to perfect one shot that could potentially go wrong and make the whole preparation of the scene and camera shot a complete waste of time which is something that we will be limited to due to our shooting script. This would be less conventional yet very effective if pulled off correctly and perfected so that it is seamless.



Conclusion;



To conclude I found that the second option would be the preferred method to approach the film with as it makes the stabbing part easier yet still maintains its effect, the pillow idea I have fond to be a good back up plan as it is still easy to pull off and look good.

AS Media - Blood Pack Experiment

The Brief:

- to create a blood pack for our final filmed piece

To start off with I acquired the blood by visiting a local butchers and asked for some animals blood.

After recieving a bag full of blood I poured it out into a sandwich bag and made it compact so that when pierced it would almost spray out to allow the blood to come out realistically and for it to look more gore like

After pouring it into the bag I then twisted the unused part of it and tied a knot To prevent and spillage form occurring whilst I was stabbing it.



After this there was still a bit of air trapped in the bag however t combat this and give more pop to the blood bag I squeezed the bag so that it was not only easier to pierce but also easier for the blood to come out quicker and more immediately so that it seems realistic.

AS Media - Production Company

The brief:

- to create our own production company for our final filmed piece

Idea:

Burning a Polaroid picture with the name of the company in the frame of the Polaroid.

The picture above showcases the Polaroid picture that I edited to show my production company's name "Silent Productions".

After letting it dry I then decided to teabag stain the picture to make it seem old also I decided to burn the edges slightly to make it seem more battered.

After this to make it a video I decided to burn it on the floor and make a time lapse of it so that it looked faster than it was and so that it wasn't too long whilst maintaining the same effect of it burning.

AS Media - Typography Evaluation

The Brief:
- To evaluate the different typographies created by me


Pros:

- The background picture behind the window pane is where the film starts
- can be added into the opening of the film
- the window pane and text is clear
- the font is somewhat conventional as it has some element of horror to it
- the streaks on the main body of text are realistic

Cons:

- unconventional
- not as intricate
- simple in design
- top of the image is a bit too bright
- font isn't the one I wanted to use

Pros:

- original design
- can be implemented into opening of the film
- smoke effect was successful
- highly conventional

Cons:

- Some of the text is not as visible (KILLER)
- Harder to implement in the opening of the film
- Would be less relevant to the film

Conclusion:

I have decide that the first piece of typography is the one to use as it is not only much easier to implement into the opening sequence but it is also more relevant as it contains a picture of the starting established setting. Alternatively there is a element of simplicity that makes it seem intricate which can attract audiences more so than the just extravagant 2nd piece of typography. Overall they both do serve their purposes as conventional and non conventional titles, and are both relevant in some way shape or form, however through the first being more suited and more tailored to our movie in specific it makes the title more relevant and significant. Where as the 2nd piece is almost universal to any movie with any setting and background.

AS Media - Film Title Manipulation - Silent Killer

The brief:

- To create a new typography for our film that is somewhat related to the scenery

My inspiration was whilst on the bus thinking of how the foggy window panes could be used as a basis for the typography for our film

After searching for a picture I found the one below and chose it for my experimentation.

After this I chose a new background for the window pane so that it add more colour and depth to the piece.

The help video that I used was - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S893jAVHP3Y

I chose the picture above also because it is an establishing shot of where our film starts.

First I started off by opening both of the photos (above and below) in Photoshop.

After this whilst holding SHIFT I dragged the photo of Loose Valley onto the picture of the window frame, keeping it centred on the page.

After this I resized the photo using CMD + T to go on the free transform and holding SHIFT whilst resizing to keep the pixels from blurring.

Then I selected the layer of the photo of Loose Valley and added a Gaussian Blur filter onto it.

After selecting the filter I changed the pixel blur to 10 and pressed ok to set the blur.

Then by clicking the icon (Right hand side) I converted the layer into a 'Smart Object'

Then through the blending option box I changed it to an overlay so that it would sit behind the window pane.

It ended up looking like this after.

 After this by using the text tool and parameters below I typed in the title of our film.

It ended up looking like so.

After this by using CMD + T to go to the free transform tool and I slanted the wording by rotating it slightly.

After this I went back into the filters and chose the Liquify filter.

After this I needed to rasterize the type.

Then it brought me to the Liquify page where the smudge tool is automatically set.

I changed the brush size to suit the size of the font to the parameters below.

After moving several parts of the text around it came out looking like this

Then I turned the blending settings to overlay so that it would, like the picture of Loose Valley, sit behind the window pane

After this I felt that the green of the grass in the background seemed too vibrant so I changed the opacity to 80%

After this the text then seemed a bit too prominent so to even it out I changed its opacity to 85% so that it looked more correct.

The final outcome is below:

Self assessment:

Positives:

- The design is original

- The photos and text blended well together

- The streaks made with the Liquify filter are realistic

- The water droplets on the window pane make the photo look more authentic

Negatives:

- I didn't get to use the font I originally planned to use as I was not able to download it as a font into Photoshop

- The top part of the image could be said to be too bright

Below is the font I wanted to use: