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Part: Audio

It is a requirement that audio must be included in my interactive. So lets use it to my advantage. There are 4 routes I can take in using audio and they are voice acting, Foley, ambient noise and music. I need to incorporate sound in my interactive, how I do it is down to me. In my interactive, I have already made layouts experimenting with old technology such as 1930s to 50s radio and 50s to 70s TV. An old radio sound effect will be very useful in my interactive, since the template of each technology has already been implemented. Foley sound effects will be good for any user interaction such as switches buttons, record players or any clickable interaction. My character himself will require a voice to interact with the user. Software's such as Stream Labs OBS, Sony Vegas 14, Audacity and Adobe Audition are software's useful for recording and editing sound. Hardware wise I will use a combination of my Blue Yeti Microphone and PC or my mobile phone for outside my bedroom. I want to record sounds created by me, using these software's and hardware's. With the introduction of voice acting, I can use YouTube as my main source of information. Then through experimenting with Audacity, I will be able to make a villains voice. Small interactions will be enhanced with Foley sound effects. These sounds could even be combined to make ambient locations (background noise) to amerce the user. That is my plan going forward.

Voice Acting - 10/2, 15/2

Rough Notes

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step 1 - stand in front of a mirror. don't be afraid to pull stupid faces and sounds. big and wild, be imaginative.

card exercise, pick random characters and make voices. take inferences and design a voice for it.

90% acting, 10% voice. Need to imagine your character, how they would act ,laugh, cry...

focus on the entire background, school ,childhood...

need to understand what a character says, don't get too messy to the point of being unrecognisable.

what you hear in your head is different to what it actually sounds like.

listen to the directive, he will explain his vision and you adapt to it.

don't sound too cartoony or too realistic, find a middle ground

over exaggerate facial expressions - definitely helps - dont be scared to make gross faces

certain people like certain voice direction - multiple voice ideas (experimentation)

study your character, find stuff to help guide you

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jack de sena

tara strong

christina pucelli

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preform the character physically and the voice will follow

push the distortion up as well as down (show tonal range)

don't push too hard - find a middle ground

Khare, M., 2018. I Learned How To Voice A Cartoon. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAc8_NKJuPo
[Accessed 10 February 2021].

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Jazza: Voice Acting Tutorial

Rough Notes - draws with jazza

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register control - how high or low your voice is (low to high r's) - higher, middle and lower register

ascent - master and understand the accent of the character

expression - emotion, contortion (altering) - most important

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decide register, then accent, then expression

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warm ups - voice is a muscle - needs to be taken care off. loosen vocal cords (need to be stretch). go up and down the scales (arrrs to AAAAs) - go  down scales for deeper voice

equipment - quality of sound must be good

make sure to have a demo reel - full range of expression, voices and ascents

expect to be told no for jobs many times

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Studios, J., 2011. Voice Acting Tutorial!. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hylrH__HunA
[Accessed 10 February 2021].

3 main areas to preform voice

register - upper, middle, lower

accent

expression - emotion - contortion

warmups - up and down scales constantly for a few mins - move chin up and down whilst doing so (chest to complete up)

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experiment with audacity

research professional processess

Audacity Attempt 1 - My First Experience - 10/2, 15/2

buff man 1Callum H
00:00 / 02:13
my vocial range and emotionCallum H
00:00 / 02:59
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The plan was to use the new information gathered from the 2 videos above and apply them to my own voice acting experience. However I would of never voice acted before until this day - so it came out horrible.

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My two attempts are above and can be played for the viewers of this website. The task was to try and create a voice for the character sheet given below - handed to us in lesson.

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I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING REGARDING THE CHARACTER SHEET SCREENSHOT BELOW, ALL RIGHTS GO TO THE OWNER.

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I merely used it as a reference to try and create my own voice. It was a lot of fun, although the hardest part was to stop feeling self conscious about my own voice. You don't want to sound like an idiot in front of everyone. The trick was to not care and commit but the throu8ght was stuck in the back of my head the whole time.

When doing this again I need to not worry what others think and go for it, don't hold back.

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Positively, the experience taught me just how hard voice acting is. As fun as it looks to do, I was made aware of how much skill, practice and dedication that goes into it in order to be good. My attempt is mediocre at best and absolutely dreadful at worst, to be expected on my first attempt. It's not really something I would take for a career, I'm naturally too self-conscious for such a thing, but I see how valuable of a skill it would be to have.

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The main issue with my voice; it is very monotone. My natural talking voice has little variation unless I deliberately make an effort to change it. This meant that trying to convey emotion was very difficult for me. It also meant that, as a muscle, my throat got very strained very quick. I would of only made attempts at accents as jokes before in the past (therefore they were inaccurate and incredibly incorrect). Also due to my monotone voice, I also lacked a range of register. My voice is naturally deep. It can go deeper but I found in my own experimentation that it also goes much rougher and more gravelly as a result. High notes are very hard to mimic as well.

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What I plan to do going forward is to experiment with audacity more. It is still a brand new software to me and I want to learn what all the buttons do. It will also give me more editing options to hopefully make my voice sound better. More research needs to be done in terms of voices, accents, register and emotion. I now know the definitions but I need to delve deeper into each area. Find out what I'm doing wrong and learn new techniques to expand my range in all senses.

I also want to look into specific examples. I would of experimented with an old radio in my interactive. It therefore opens up the route with experimenting with old radio sound.

And lastly I need to connect all of this back to my own interactive, to improve my own character.

Audacity Audio Editing - Clean Up - 15/2, 16/2

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123, T. R., 2021. 15th blog + video exper, how to make audio better. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6n01sOZ8Rk
[Accessed 15 February 2021].

Russell, M., 2016. How To Make Your Voice Sound Better in Audacity. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQCB72S64L4
[Accessed 15 February 2021].

This is the beginning of my experiences in Audacity. I would of briefly used it when creating voices for the above characters in lesson. Now it's time to do some research and experimentation. The selected videos were given to us as a start for our own work.

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The video above me taught me how equalisation, amplify and compression work. My experience was also documented in the above video, showing my first reactions, feelings and first hand experimentation of the given instructions. I did have an issue with the equalisation. Turns out it is not in the newer versions of audacity. Instead I found out (in a forum) that it's functions are split across 'filter curve' and 'graphic eq'. This was the main problem that needed solving. 

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Positively, I learnt a lot. Almost everything to do with Audacity is brand new to me. This video taught me a method in improving my audio quality. Amplify adds/removes sound (making it louder or quieter). Filter curve boosts the highs and lows (in this case) and the compressor reduces the range of the audio.

no 0 startCallum H
00:00 / 00:03
no 1 filter curveCallum H
00:00 / 00:03
no 2amplify and compressCallum H
00:00 / 00:03
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Audacity, 2019. Equalization effect replaced in Audacity 2.3.3. [Online]
Available at: https://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?t=107833
[Accessed 15 February 2021].

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Google, 2021. Amplify. [Online]
Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/search?dcr=0&source=hp&ei=VLuSWu6QI9KP0gXg_YXoDg&btnG=Search&q=define+amplify&oq=Mark+Lazenby&gs_l=psy-ab.1.4.0l8j0i22i30k1l2.2147.4946.0.7973.14.13.0.0.0.0.148.923.9j2.12.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..2.11.919.0..0i131k1.165.fXjg80QJyo
[Accessed 15 February 2021].

There is not a lot of negatives when it came to this. I do need to do more experimenting with the tools shown to see what effect it has on the audio. As I mentioned in the video, how would it change if my voice was deliberately higher or lower. What if I amplified it more? If I boosted higher? If I changed my voice? My next step is to experiment with the above and to learn what I can from the next videos. In conclusion, it went really well but I have barely scrapped the surface of the potential of Audacity.

Audacity Audio Editing - Pitch Changing - 15/2

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123, T. R., 2021. vid 2, pitch and speed and experimenting. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEPrj4Vdgu4
[Accessed 15 February 2021].

Russell, M., 2016. How to Change Pitch in Audacity. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYxP5Ktm-F0
[Accessed 15 February 2021].

Changing pitch works by either increasing or decreasing the speed or raising/lowering semitones in 'change pitch'. The Pitch does not change speed in the 'change pitch' setting.

What I found in my own experimentation that it doesn't layer the changes linearly. For example if I lower the speed to -20% it will be slower and lower. To get my original audio back I would have to raise it to + 20%. As the 2nd change 0 (neutral) level would in reality be the -20% audio. Its an increase/decrease of your last edited clip, therefore clicking on it would create a 20% increase of a -20% original.

I also experimented with several percentage Increases in my above video. Positively, I done a lot more experimenting in this section than the first video. I played with speed changes, adding/removing tracks and changing specific areas. The only negative I have with these tutorials is that they are essential instruction manuals. They tell you what to do but don't explain what the features are. It assumes you know what pitch is or what equalisation is. It tells you what to do, not why your doing it or even what it is in some cases.

What I plan to do now is to watch the final video and experiment with these new tools outside of these video tutorials.

no1 originalCallum H
00:00 / 00:07
no 2 pitch changeCallum H
00:00 / 00:07
no 3 speed changeCallum H
00:00 / 00:08
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Audacity, 2020. High-Pass Filter. [Online]
Available at: https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/high_pass_filter.html#:~:text=High%2DPass%20Filter%20passes%20frequencies,to%20reduce%20low%20frequency%20noise.
[Accessed 15 February 2021].

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Wikipedia, 2021. Hertz. [Online]
Available at: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hertz
[Accessed 15 February 2021].

Audacity Audio Editing - Old Radio Effect - 15/2

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123, T. R., 2021. old radio experimentation. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja8qEdPvSZo
[Accessed 15 February 2021].

Franco00007, 2020. How To Make Old/Vinyl Effect With Audacity. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azxiEXwcGRs
[Accessed 15 February 2021].

If I'm being honest, this one caught me by surprise. I did not expect for the audio to be so warped so quick. The very first step transformed the audio. The project rate (frequency) was lowered to a 1/4 of what it once was and the quality dipped drastically. Amplify was used to increase the sound in various stages. High pass and low pass increased the peaks while lowering their counterparts. And finally a track of white noise (what I interpret as TV static) was added over the top. The results are staggering.

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Positively, it achieved its mission very effectively. It sounds like an old radio! My previous interactive work relied heavily on radios. The visual element was created but the audio was unfortunately missing. This is the first audio element that will be applied to my interactive.

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Negatively, and a bit ironically, the audio of the tutorial video was lacking. I checked my settings and PC but the issue was with the uploaded YouTube Video itself. The mic the speaker used to record picked up his voice very quietly. To fix this, I had to go into my volume mixer to turn everything down. That way I could turn my master volume up without breaking my ears.

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This particular tutorial however yielded the greatest results of the 3. This video I can translate directly to my interactive project. The new Interactive plan will rely greatly on the audio aspects, rather than the animatic ones of the previous draft. I plan to experiment with the sound more, make my own version using a variation of the method.

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no 1 project rate 8000 hzCallum H
00:00 / 00:09
no 2 high pass filter 12bd, was 6Callum H
00:00 / 00:09
no 3 amplify 11Callum H
00:00 / 00:09
no 4 low passCallum H
00:00 / 00:09
no 5 amplify 11 part 2Callum H
00:00 / 00:09
no 6 add track and white noiseCallum H
00:00 / 00:30

Experimenting with Vid 1-3 Methods, 16/2, 17/2

Franco00007, 2020. How To Make Old/Vinyl Effect With Audacity. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azxiEXwcGRs
[Accessed 15 February 2021].

This is further experimentations of the methods learnt above> I decided to experiment with the buttons more and made slight variations of the video instructions to see what impact it has.

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In doing so, I learnt how to select, zoom in/out, move and cut audio. I broke down a 30 second long audio track to 6 separate tracks. I experimented with export quality, project rates and several effects.

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Positively, it got me a lot more comfortable with using audacity. I feel like I can use it more confidently and have enough knowledge to purposely alter audio.

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Negatively, there is still so much I don't know. Even if I can press the buttons I don't understand what they did. If anything #it showed me what I need to do next.

I need to go away and find the definitions of all the key terms I don't know. What they are, their functions and some examples of their use.

I also need to start progress towards my interactive. The old radio effect will directly tie in but I need to establish location and research how the sound is warped by it. I also need to design my characters voice. Now this would be similar to my own, being an alter-ego of me.

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However I can't outright use my own voice. All the reputation surrounding myself would be imposed on my alter-ego if I did that. I need to make it sound similar to me but change it enough for it to become it's own identity. Make it sound off, sound dangerous. The character personality will play a huge part (making the profile and backstory my greatest influences). The aim is to make him sound cocky. Boost the ego to a superiority complex with the skills to back it. Likewise I want to make it suddenly change when he becomes serious. That's would be when it gets low, monotone, heavily controlled. Likewise when in violence I would want the voice to start loosing control. In the purest moment of joy.

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That is my future plan. Find out what the effect actually do, get examples and use it to start creating my characters voice.

broken originalCallum H
00:00 / 00:27
broken 1Callum H
00:00 / 00:27
broken 2Callum H
00:00 / 00:28

Character Voice Experimentation PART 1 - 19/2, 25/3

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TFcon, 2018. The Secret to an Evil Character - Voice Over Tips. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cV66lYW5wc
[Accessed 19 February 2021].

Stone, R., 2016. Tom Cavanagh Explains How to Nail a Supervillain Voice. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjGZsU_3sqY
[Accessed 19 February 2021].

These videos were my first point of research in learning to create a villain voice. The word document below contains all my rough notes that I took at the time of watching the video. Everything now will be a reflection/reaction to an old experience. A lot of them said very similar stuff. The biggest standout was how the villain believes he's right. The villain needs to believe his/her point of view, including the actions they take, to be the right thing to do. The iconic villain laugh was also brought up. I found in my own voice experimentations (the big video below) that just having fun and not worrying how you looked/sounded was the most effective (and enjoyable) way. Something I wasn't aware of going into this was what Tom Cavanagh said about the low registry issue. When you make your voice deliberately deeper, it becomes increasingly hard to raise the volume (making everything on the same monotone voice - unless you shout). These 2 videos above gave me some key tips in what to look out for when making a villain voice. It made me clear of a handful of issues to look out for and some of the core fundamentals of creating a villain, which will directly help my own character creation. I will apply what I know here to improve my villain voice further.

BuzzFeedVideo, 2018. Voice Actor Shares Secrets To Changing Your Voice (ft. ProZD). [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zg3bdspvIiQ
[Accessed 19 February 2021].

BuzzFeedVideo, 2019. I Hired A Speech Therapist To Fix My Boring Voice. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLDRQYeYQJg
[Accessed 19 February 2021].

These next two video were slightly different from the two before. A major issue I found when attempting to voice act was my complete lack of experience, therefore leading to a very flat (one-note) voice. My register is limited and I have little control in pitch. Low voices just became a rougher version of my normal voice. If anything I had more success going higher (however that doesn't fit the character I made). I needed to improve my own voice and the methods of altering it. The proZD Video gave me a crash course in creating a handful of voices. From a powerful God to a snooty posh person, I was shown several example and quick methods of mimicking voices. This exercised my throat and gave me some ways of altering my voice, getting used to going up and down the register, examples of accents and greater emotion. It overall improved the capabilities of my own voice and voice acting methods. This video was invaluable to me as it gave me a much more versatile range to test out for my character.

The last video was more different still. Instead of teaching me a specific (villain) voice or giving overall tips on the art of voice acting as a collective, it broke down the very basics of talking human interaction. It follows a person learning to talk all over again. Simple, everyday things like, giving compliments, talking to strangers, giving feedback, small talk and getting others to open up. Very simple everyday practices that most don't take notice of. My voice is naturally very monotone, I have to make a physical effort to vary my voice in day to day life. If the proZD taught me how to voice act better, this video taught me how to use my own voice more effectively. Honestly, this video is useful beyond the project, it will have a positive impact in most aspects of my life. All the above was teaching me how to improve and gain more control over my own voice. And without them I wouldn't of made as much progress as I have. It will leave positives effects beyond this project. The only negative I really have is the lack of videos compared to animating or other creative areas. I had to do more work finding the information, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. 

Rough Notes of the 4 Videos Above

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123, T. R., 2021. 19th blog - villain voice research - character voice experimentation. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-q1Il-ENgg&feature=youtu.be
[Accessed 19 February 2021].

This hour long video contains A LOT of information. In it I have my 19th blog (what I've been up to the last few days). It contains all my reactions to 3 of the 4 videos above. It also contains the 1st draft of my villain voice (and laugh). I reflect on my character's current profile and backstory as a bonus. Honestly, doing these blogs and videos documenting my experimentation has greatly helped. It has reduced the amount of writing needed for my wix site (although I probably still do too much) and allows me to get my unfiltered thoughts to the viewers of this site. My voice acting and my voice in general improved greatly from my first experiences in the field. I found out the best way was to just have fun with it, be less self-conscious. It made be feel great and got me truly laughing, which hasn't happened in a long time due to lockdown. In this you can see my many experimentations with my voice, all in an effort to find my characters voice. And about 40 minutes in I got there! The first draft of my characters voice. More work has to be done to refine it of course. In conclusion this experience was invaluable and without it I wouldn't be at the point that I am of writing this.

Character Voice Experimentation PART 2 - 20/2, 25/2

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123, T. R., 2021. 20th blog - character voice exper reaction. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGJNgsq9J4c
[Accessed 20 February 2021].

123, T. R., 2021. 20th - reacting to reaction. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCxyNVu9BRw
[Accessed 20 February 2021].

Now the video above was about an hour long. And I know not everyone will want to sit through it. So I decided to go back and find the new villain voice 1 day later. This session was spent adapting and developing the voice. I reacted to my draft attempt, then reacted to the reacting. I needed to familiarise myself with how I achieved the voice, the method I took to get there any possible techniques I used. To look back and see how I really sounded. Accents were another big issue, I was very bad at them. So I got my brother, my nearest available source of feedback. Although his words may not carry the same weight as someone in the industry, he has more experience than myself with making accents. We sat down and played around with it and I created the video below (the best attempts). This is purely experimentation and I'm still not to sure how I will incorporate an accent into my character, I just knew my accents needed a lot of work. I could of done more accents, rather than just the 3/4 in the video. The experience was a lot of fun and I would definitely do it again.

123, T. R., 2021. Primary Research - Finley accents - character voice fun. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2Blpr0mFlM
[Accessed 21 February 2021].

experiment 5Callum H
00:00 / 00:11
attempt 1 20thCallum H
00:00 / 01:11
attempt 2Callum H
00:00 / 00:10
attempt 3Callum H
00:00 / 00:59
experiment 4Callum H
00:00 / 00:29
no6 ogCallum H
00:00 / 00:12

Above, I have recorded and kept all my new experiments in audacity regarding my character voice. There was six attempts in total. Each time I learnt something from it and took parts of the experience into the next attempt, while learning what did not work. When it came down to it, a major issue was that it sounded to much like me. My character was aged up about 15 more years than myself, a middle aged man. My voice is deep but not deep enough. I decided the change the pitch on a slight variation of the gravelly voice from before and it resulted in the voice below. It definitely gave me military vibes. A voice that's very sharp, very battered. A voice that has seen and gone through some rough times. At the time, I was happy to let this be the final voice, it wasn't until much later that I decided to change it slightly. Essentially I made it deeper, a -40% pitch of my original voice. Negatively, I got comfortable with what I had rather than pushing for better. This meant that it would not develop and unlock it's full potential. I need to remind myself to constantly push forward, not to be satisfied with what I have as I can always achieve better. Of course giving the time restriction, I have a lot more to balance than my characters voice. I just need to improve as much as I can and not get lazy, that was what I learned from this experience.

no6, pt 2, pitch change -20Callum H
00:00 / 00:12

Location PART 1 - (15/2 - 21/2), 25/2

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The next step is to establish a location. I already had the idea of some kind of mountainside in my backstory, as well as somewhere underground in my interactive. What I need to do now is brainstorm and develop it. To see what I can come up with and create a sound that reminds me of that place. The mind map above was created in word, using a method learnt in the interactive (creating a mind map/flow chart out of shapes). This gave me the most freedom in terms of spacing. I can put what  I want, where I want it. There are 9 broad ideas (9 themes of the top of my head). I then took each 1 and explored in in multiple layers, getting more specific each time. This forced me to think much more, looking into greater details, asking myself much smaller questions...

It honestly helped me formulate my thoughts in an understandable form in which I understand it better. Having all the crossroads and branches layered out in front of me allowed me to consider much easier the route I want to take. This method is a huge help, with the only downside being the amount of space available. No matter how big I make the page, or how thin the boarder, I always run out of room. This made me feel much happier in myself and more relieved to see many of the routes I could go down. I I was to do this again in the future I would make the writing (and the boxes) smaller to try and fit more, to explore it deeper. What I intend to do from this point is to replicate some of the examples above and use them in my interactive as a background sound. In conclusion, this was vital in deciding in my next avenue to explore for my project and without it I would of just picked the first thing that came in my head.

SoundEffectsFactory, 2014. Underground Tunnel Atmosphere Sound ~ Free Sound Effects. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWk69hf-pYY
[Accessed 21 February 2021].

Noise, R. W., 2016. Water Sounds In Cave | For Relaxing, Sleeping, Studying, Meditation | White Noise. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mgItFDSQMk
[Accessed 21 February 2021].

Because of the success I have had so far in using YouTube videos as a source of information, I first looked there to find out how I was to create this effect. The issue I found was that there was no concrete way of recreating sounds for these locations. It largely came down to interpretation. Meaning I would have to imagine what they would sound like and how I would recreate it. What sound reminds someone of a desert, a jungle, the ocean, underwater, a cave? I looked for tutorials on how to recreate the sound for these location and came up extremely short. The video top left and bottom left were the closest I got to this. How to alter my sounds as If I was under water (where the trick was to add variations of a lowpass) and someone interpretation of the underground. So instead of trying to find tutorials, I decided to look for examples (other people interpretations) of locations. I had a good one for a cave and another for an underground tunnel.

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Newman, A., 2017. How to Make An Underwater Audio Muffle Effect | Premiere CC 2017 Tutorial. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jChCHZvaAxQ
[Accessed 21 February 2021].

Scott, T., 2018. Testing The World's Longest Echo. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLUcOFwZvyY
[Accessed 21 February 2021].

On the right was my attempts at creating an underwater sound effect. It essentially muffles the sounds. I'm not too happy with how these came out, its barely noticeable the change in audio when I added the effect. My problem was I was looking for a tutorial - expecting someone to have the answer for me and copy their work/idea. I needed to get creative, to experiment and make my own interpretation. It was the interactive idea all over again, taking existing technology and just reusing it (not making something new). If there is one thing I learnt in this project is that I need to explore my own ideas. 

underwater attempt 1Callum H
00:00 / 00:11
underwater a2 - AnaCaptainslogue - Noir Callum H
00:00 / 00:15

To create something new. It doesn't have to make sense or even be possible. Just the fact that I tried to make something new and explore it to improve. To not be afraid to fail, to not play it safe or look for a checklist of stuff I have to do. It's simple to most but a complete new mindset to me. I spent most of my education looking for the answer. To find methods made by others that I had no choice but to use to get the marks. Art in secondary school was a release from this path, then I spent 2 years in college doing maths and physics. Coming into Animation after doing two heavily academic subjects with fixed methods and answers you were forced to use, apply and memorise. I was trying to reduce a creative course into facts, methods and answers. It offered benefits that would not of been possible otherwise such as the mindset to break anything down, to learn the methods shown to me very quickly. To instantly pick up on the writing formats and the structure of research. However it limited me greatly. I was too busy looking for an answer, for someone to tell me what to do and how to do it that the moment I got free rein... The moment it was up to me to create my own method, experiment, answer, I was at a loss. The amount of freedom thrust upon me was completely alien. I was so worried of screwing up, of getting the wrong answer. Of not completing all the needed points of a sheet that basically didn't exist. Of getting the wrong answer to a question that lays unanswered.

I need to make my own method, to find my own answer. Create something completely new out of the building blocks scattered around me. You cant screw up when there isn't a set final destination. That, in my eyes, is the way of creativity. In exploration, in development. Something that through most subjects is stamped out of you. What became a game of memory, set methods, set answers, facts, formulas, structures and checkpoints/check boxes to get a good grade, has now turned into something much broader. What was once a tight rope is now an open world with no set path. The game is now about trial and error, experimenting, develop and analyse the outcome, more experimenting, exploring, restructuring, finding answers out of a path you created. It became about your own experiences, sources of knowledge and how you used it to make something new.

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From this point on I will strive to fulfil what I talked about above. It took many talks with multiple teachers, many failures in my own work. Many issues I had to overcome and many different perspectives and examples. I am aware of what I must do from this point, the trick is to put action in my words.

Charlie Interview - Audacity Experiment - 21/2

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It was time to get another perspective. I turned to a fellow student and mate from college. Charlie showed me a complete new method in editing my voice. A path I had not even seen up to this point. He introduced me to the 'reverb' and 'reverse' effect in Audacity, tools I had not currently experimented with before. The reverb created an echo of the reverse audio clip. There the new clip was re-reversed to go back to normal. This created an huge echo in the original voice, as if you was standing in a cave or a wind tunnel. It is basically a reverse echo, which I don't know the extent of how this effect compares to a normal echo. This method I want to adapt in my own locational experiments. It offered me a new direction and a new perspective on what Audacity is capable of. A negative I would say is how exaggerated the echo came out, however this could be solved with some setting changes. Another fact is that Charlie got this from Mark so this method isn't original by any means. It was refreshing to talk to someone again, and helped me in my own experimentation. If I was to do this again I would experiment with the settings to create my own variation, rather than just a copy and paste of someone else's idea. However, |I plan to make use of the new effect settings in my later works. This method will be merely a point of inspiration going forward.

123, T. R., 2021. Reverse, reverb, reverse charlie interview. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBMY8YDp_l4
[Accessed 25 February 2021].

reverse,revertb,reverseCallum H
00:00 / 00:16

Sound Experiments And

1st Taste of Foley Sound Effects- 22/2, 25/2

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Instead of looking for a tutorial to tell me how to do it (in which there is very little to begin with), I decided to make it up as I go along. The first step was to create my own sounds. I already had a bunch of video files from my time exploring Richmond Park. With a reformat, I can use the audio to help my own locations. On the day of record, there was extreme wind. I used this to my own benefit to add some more "outdoor" noise to my indoor sounds. 

It was then time to record new sounds. Foley sound is basically sound affects put over the top of your video. Footsteps, movement and Spot effects to be more specific. So I went round my bedroom and bathroom and collected many sounds. From water in the bathroom sink, to the clothes on my body, to wooden items, stationary, coat hangers, garden noises, furniture 

​

The sounds below are the unedited versions. I would of took the video recording of each, converted it to MP3 and uploaded them onto the wix site.

123, T. R., 2021. 22nd blog - 1st attempt at Foley Sounds. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh6urmZpho8
[Accessed 25 February 2021].

water sounds 1Callum H
00:00 / 01:21
book dropCallum H
00:00 / 00:35
water sounds 2Callum H
00:00 / 03:00
door handleCallum H
00:00 / 00:32
pri right.png
water sounds 3Callum H
00:00 / 01:14
bathroom window - guarden noisesCallum H
00:00 / 00:35
water sounds 4Callum H
00:00 / 00:45
metal necklace against wood desk and penCallum H
00:00 / 03:10
water sounds 5 - plugCallum H
00:00 / 00:35
mouse against deskCallum H
00:00 / 00:23
hitting noises and wet flannel - bathrooCallum H
00:00 / 02:48
keyboard and keyboard drawCallum H
00:00 / 00:32
towel noises and shower hitCallum H
00:00 / 00:56
jumper zipperCallum H
00:00 / 01:00

This is my first true experimentation of Foley sounds. It was a lot of fun. Definitely made me happy just playing around and seeing what noises I could make. If I was to do this again, I would try and collect sound in other rooms. All my sounds were out of items in the bedroom and bathroom. If I went outside I could of got a more diverse range of sounds to play with.

Also all the sounds above are unedited. It would make more sense If I broke down each clip into several smaller clips for each attempt at the certain sound effect. Positively, I had enough sound to create 3 different locations. Due to covid I was limited to only a handful of locations to get my sound sources. Although it wasn't an issue in the end. Positively it gave me invaluable experience in Foley sounds. I intend to do m0ore experimentation in Foley in the future before I start collecting for my interactive. There are many more ways I can experiment with Foley and I intend to do so.

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Avenir Light is a clean and stylish font favored by designers. It's easy on the eyes and a great go to font for titles, paragraphs & more.

Location Experiments - Ambient Noise - 23/2, 25/2

123, T. R., 2021. 23rd blog - audio issue and solution. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGukipDqixo
[Accessed 25 February 2021].

Now it is time to take the collected sounds from yesterday and start creating my locations. Many of my water features came from the bathroom, so I intend to experiment further in creating multiple locations involving it.

Although it didn't come without it's issues. For starters I found out that video files were not compatible with Audacity. I originally assumed I could just drag the video clip into audacity and only loose the visual. However the file was unsupported.

​

I solved this by throwing it in Sony Vegas and reformatting it to an Mp3. This also allowed me to cut up the clip and take small sections to edit into audacity. It did take some experimentation getting the right re-format. Honestly, it was an issue I was expecting and did not come to any surprise when it didn't work.

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loactional sound combination.png
locational effect.png

Location Experiments - Audio Files - 23/2, 25/2

slimy monster ,reverb, reverse, pitch -2Callum H
00:00 / 00:24
swamp 1Callum H
00:00 / 00:34
swamp 2, light wind, drip 1Callum H
00:00 / 00:29
swamp 3 , filter curve, compressorCallum H
00:00 / 00:29
swamp 4, highpass, amplify, graphic eq, Callum H
00:00 / 00:29
outside 2Callum H
00:00 / 00:28
waterCallum H
00:00 / 00:28
water reverb times 2Callum H
00:00 / 00:28
water no 3 -20 pitchCallum H
00:00 / 00:28
water reverb times 3 and amplifyCallum H
00:00 / 00:28
water no 3 reverseCallum H
00:00 / 00:28
outsideCallum H
00:00 / 00:28

In total, I created 3 ambient sounds (3 locations). My first experiences with Foley were created with items round my bedroom. The majority of these sounds were made out of the noises in the bathroom and old park videos. The Richmond videos added some much needed outside, background noise to the indoor sound effects (wind effects). My bathroom sink was responsible for the majority of my water clips. I edited them down and grouped them together in Sony Vegas, then edited them again in Audacity. Each section of my Audacity experiments are documented above. The noises labelled "water" are a personal favourite out of the sound created. It truly sounds like a cavern with rushing water and dripping. If I was to do this again, I would collect more outside noises. I have a good combination of wind and a single bird noise, thus limiting my experiments in the "outside" location. I plan to use the water/cavern effect in my interactive. I will use what I learnt here to directly impact my interactive. Although this is great for water, it does not take into account the other effects of my lair. For starters (as of writing this) I know fire will play a big part in location design. I need to experiment with fire effects and combine them with the cavern sounds created here.

Foley Introduction - 24/2

Play as the character helps create the sound - like acting. The voice is also used alongside objects. They are also reacting to the screen. They can see the picture as they are preforming the sound. A streamer was used to locate the exact timing of the action. Breathing was minimised as to not interfere with the sound. Combinations are used to layer and add to the effects.

​

Try to exaggerate sounds, make it sound better than life. Editing just as important. Breathing is a separate track.

​

Music, dialogue, ambient sound.

Foley Process - 24/2

Foley - the art of creating sound. Recreate what's on screen. Footsteps, movement track and the spot effects (main areas). Track the movement of their body, for example the swish of clothing. Spot effects is everything else that isn't footsteps or movement track.

Surfaces, clothes, objects, environment. Constant experimenting and perfecting.

​

Start with footsteps. Mic the gravel/dirt. screens around it to trap the sound, get in time with footsteps. Cloth, jumpers and jackets to mimic the clothing. Then deal with the spot effect (object interactions for example). Look for details, pick up on all the small interactions.

Don't be afraid to do multiple attempts to finetune the sound.

Mix all the sounds together. Finetune the sync.

​

Sound barriers are used to bounce back the sound, keeps it close together. Combine materials and tools to get the right sound. Think about where the sound is coming from on screens (angles). Prop house. Mimic what's happening in the film.

Originals, A., 2016. Foley Artists: How Movie Sound Effects Are Made. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_tqB4IZvMk
[Accessed 24 February 2021].

Audient, 2017. Recording Foley Sound Effects for 'The Night Manager'. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZbCY-PrH5Q
[Accessed 24 February 2021].

Movies, B. F. K. C., 2017. Mickey Mouse,Minnie Mouse The Karnival Kid. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kiz96fYL-sk
[Accessed 24 February 2021].

Foley Attempt - 24/2, 25/2

After watching the 2 videos above to get the basics of Foley, we were put into groups of 3 to create our own. We decided to do Foley for an old classic Micky Mouse Animation. The old style sounds are very experimented and whimsical. Our task was to completely redo the sound effects for 30 seconds of the video. We managed 34. I done the first 7 seconds at (3:33). David then done the next 14 seconds (50% of the footage) and Ayo done the last 7 seconds.

 

I then grouped our video bits together in Sony Vegas. I made adjustment to when each bit started and ended to flow frame perfect. Sound was increased/decreased and their locations slightly altered to improve the sync with the video.

Our group efforts resulted in the video at the very bottom of this section. It is my plan to reflect back on our experiment and see how I can apply it to my interactive at the end.

knife impact and slice, attempt 1 - bangCallum H
00:00 / 00:55
bun goes up - voice sound effectCallum H
00:00 / 00:34
cloth shaking 1Callum H
00:00 / 00:45
wooden spoon impact - desk, board, knifeCallum H
00:00 / 00:34
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20210224_121540.jpg
breath in whistleCallum H
00:00 / 00:33
knife slice attempt 2 - big knife- sizzoCallum H
00:00 / 02:01
micky calling over hotdogCallum H
00:00 / 00:52
micky pick up knifeCallum H
00:00 / 00:27
wood against wood, spoon vs boardCallum H
00:00 / 00:39

Now here I have 2 sets of about 10 sounds each. 10 original sounds were created for this particular Foley sound experiment. In it resides multiple attempts at creating the same sound. When showing these to my team mates and the tutor of the session, it was decided that individual clips would be easier to edit down. So I then selected the best out of each and aligned it in Adobe Premier with the first seven seconds of footage. That, in a nut shell, is my method.

​

All the sounds used was either created by my own voice or the kitchen appliances that I scavenged from the kitchen. It really just boiled down to trial and error. See what I liked about each sounds and experimenting with variations to try and improve it.

Of course safety was considered in all my actions. For example I was creating sound out of an 8 inch kitchen knife, scraping it against wooden and metal surfaces, hitting items against it and even dropping it form a small height on the wooden board. I was careful in my action and took the necessary precautions in dealing with any potentially dangerous equipment.

​

Honestly it was a lot of fun. Voice acting put a strain on my throat and although fun, it pushes my physical limits regarding my throat (resulting in mild pain on occasion). Foley sounds are a lot of fun to produce and have very few limits. I have the entirety of the house to gather sound and explore their interactions. My only negative would be that lack of recording studio. Any outside sound is affected my other interfering noises such as weather people and traffic. Even inside the house the other people can make noise that interferes in my recording. Having access to a sound studio would greatly benefit my Foley experiments.

The specific kitchen equipment can be seen above in a few photographs I took. I essentially hit them against various surfaces as well as each specific tool to see what sounds I could create. Definitely made me happy. If I was to do this again, I would record and document my sounds more specifically. Not just what I will use them for but how I specifically created them. There are many ways to hit a spoon against my hand. I want to say which way I did in order to replicate it in the future.

​

Now the sounds below and to the right are the vest picked pieces of the original recordings. Although Audacity would of been able to get this job done, I ended up using Sony Vegas 14 Pro to cut down and select the audio. Audacity was used to record each track due to its enhanced quality and effects. Sony Vegas was used in the editing of the length and position of each track. However, Vegas was used in the final edit of the video. In the production of my section of Foley, Adobe Premier was the primary software.

​

Consider the many attempts necessary to get the best version of the needed sounds. A comparison between all my attempts was used to narrow down these effects. They were played against the video and through the process of elimination, I grouped these final Foley sounds.

wood vs wood bangCallum H
00:00 / 00:01
reverseCallum H
00:00 / 00:04
micky picks knife up 1Callum H
00:00 / 00:01
knife slice 3Callum H
00:00 / 00:01
knife slice 2Callum H
00:00 / 00:01
pri right.png
bun goes up 2Callum H
00:00 / 00:01
bun goes up 1Callum H
00:00 / 00:01
breath in 3Callum H
00:00 / 00:04
knife slice 1Callum H
00:00 / 00:02
hotdog call overCallum H
00:00 / 00:02
breath in 2Callum H
00:00 / 00:04
foley group 5 sheet.png

My Video section - The 1st 7 Seconds - 24/2

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Now it is essential to plan out what is needed, how I will solve my issue, before attempting to actually solve it. The issue is we had no sound for a clip that required sound. To solve this, as a group, we created the sound above. We had to plan out who was making what, create our sections, add to our video sections and collate it into a single video.

It was essential to plan and designate who was doing what. What type of sound we are creating, how we will make the sound and what we would use it for. So I went away and experimented (the sound above). The other 2 gave me feedback during production, hence why I made shortened versions. It was honestly really fun. You have to have an eye for detail. Every little interaction creates sounds.

​

My particular section can be seen on the right. Adobe Audition was used in the sound editing of this clip. Audacity edited the sound effects while Audition matched it with the video.

123, T. R., 2021. Callum Section - Micky Mouse Foley Sounds. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT-nilFDymg
[Accessed 24 February 2021].

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Feedback from the tutor suggested that some of the sound clips didn't line up properly. Also we had the issue or making our clip into a whole, rather than3 pieces. So I had about 10-15mins to collect our work together and make the necessary changes. I altered the locations of some of the sound clips, as well as added/extended many.

The response from the class and the tutor over the final product was very good. Many loved it. The old experimental sounds played well with the overall themes of the era of origin. It was a lot of fun and I honestly wouldn't mind going into Foley sounds as a possible career in the future. In terms of negative, we needed better communication as a team. So of the time deadlines were tight. Most of the work done was separate with little/no communication. Given the time to make it, it really shouldn't of come own to the wire, although we did finish with minutes to spare. I intend to use Foley in my interactive product, along side voice acting and ambient noise. Although these particular sounds will not be used (due to the whimsical nature of them) it provided me with a lot of experience in this field. I now know how and where I will gather my sound. I need to get sounds for fire, impacts, further develop my cave sound effects and record all my audio lines.

Group Final - 24/2

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123, T. R., 2021. Micky Mouse Foley Sounds - All 3 After Editing. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftQYo8nEOhU
[Accessed 25 February 2021].

FOLEY ROUGH NOTES- KEY AREAS TO KEEP IN MIND

 

Foley - the art of creating sound. Recreate what's on screen. Footsteps, movement track and the spot effects (main areas). Track the movement of their body, for example the swish of clothing. Spot effects is everything else that isn't footsteps or movement track.

Surfaces, clothes, objects, environment. Constant experimenting and perfecting.

Start with footsteps. Mic the gravel/dirt. screens around it to trap the sound, get in time with footsteps. Cloth, jumpers and jackets to mimic the clothing. Then deal with the spot effect (object interactions for example). Look for details, pick up on all the small interactions.

Don't be afraid to do multiple attempts to finetune the sound.

Mix all the sounds together. Finetune the sync.

Sound barriers are used to bounce back the sound, keeps it close together. Combine materials and tools to get the right 

Parameters and Requirements - 10/3

I have already spoke about certain requirements and parameters through out the audio section, however this will summarise all my points above. Audio must be present and must be created by myself. I can't borrow someone's else's audio and I cant not include it at all. Add that to the fact that my interactive idea with the music discs is heavily reliant on audio to function, it is a requirement. All my audio experiments must be documented on wix and have to be written up by the 22nd of March 2021 (the project deadline).

Now I have many option in what kind of audio I will include. I will explore the many types of audio such as Voice Acting, Foley effects and ambient sounds. Music is another route I could of explored but I decided not to as it would have to compete with the ambient sounds. Software's include Audacity (which I have experimented with excessively) and Audition, which I have used but not explored as much.

Hardware like my phone and microphone was essential in collecting my sounds. My PC was used to edit and combine sound with pictures. My phone was necessary to record outside my room. My PC created to much noise to record good quality audio. Sony Vegas was also used (software) in reformatting my videos to MP3.

​

FINAL SOUND DEVELOPMENT

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20210304_174450.jpg
20210304_174509.jpg

Method Summary:

 

The water effect was already created in past experimentation with Foley sound, it was just a matter of layering it up with the fire effect. Only a simple volume adjustment in Sony Vegas was needed. The sound recording was done a bit differently this time, for a full version watch the video. I attempted to use my microphone for the sound when capturing the fire sound. However fire is very quiet and the computer hum interfered too greatly. So I then ended up recording the sound with my phone (as close to the candle as possible). I used multiple sources of flame as well. A crackling candle, matches, paper burn indoor and paper burn outdoor. With these 4 tests using 2 hardware's I was able to capture enough fire sounds for my fire crackle.

​

Instead of the raw sound fires, I show my many attempts and stages of editing my clips together. I originally created 2 combinations of fire sound in Sony Vegas. These 2 effects (labelled 1a and 1b) ere then further edited in Audacity - each filed labelled with the applied effect. A 3rd effect was later introduced and combined over the top to get the final fire effect. After this it was a matter of overlaying the original water effect to get the complete sound. A 30second version and a 10 minute version was made depending on how the PowerPoint import goes.

​

The rest:

​

The editing itself wasn't the issue. That just required patients and experimenting to get the desired effect, which I enjoyed greatly. The problem was creating the sound to begin with. Fire is very quiet unless created in great quantity. I don't have the facilities or the safety in place for such a blaze. The first issue I ran into was how quiet it really was. It was quiet enough that the fire sound competed with the PC hum. This made any sound recording with my mic useless. The 2nd issue was external noise. Every time I tried to record the family would make lots of noise on the stairs or in other rooms (getting picked up by the hardware).

edit 1Callum H
00:00 / 00:34
edit 2Callum H
00:00 / 00:34
fire 1a, normalise, reverb, highpassCallum H
00:00 / 00:34
fire 1a, distortionCallum H
00:00 / 00:34
20210304_174500.jpg
20210304_174503.jpg

123, T. R., 2021. Project 2, Year 1 - SOUND - fire experiment and arm punch sound, bowl break. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqc0IgZzves
[Accessed 10 March 2021].

fire 1b part 3, echo times 2Callum H
00:00 / 00:34
1c issue, cutCallum H
00:00 / 01:08
fire 1c longCallum H
00:00 / 03:15
fire 1c, 1a and 1b combineCallum H
00:00 / 00:34
fire 1b, low pass, amplifyCallum H
00:00 / 00:34
fire 1b part 2, filter curve, reverbCallum H
00:00 / 00:34
ambient 1Callum H
00:00 / 03:15
ambient - 10 min editionCallum H
00:00 / 09:37

The 3rd issue was safety, I was not. Safety should always come first in any experimentation, If it puts me or other at risk then it shouldn't be done. So I set a fire in my bedroom. The candle was far to quiet so what would happen if I burned something instead. So I lit another match and recorded the strike. Then set fire to A4 paper. The sound it created was exactly what I was looking for. However half the paper broke off and landed on my floor and blanket(from my desk). The results of this can be seen in the photo taken above (that and my room smelling of smoke for a day after). I had to stamp it out and remove all oxygen from the flame. It melted my floor and could of possibly set fire to the blanket. The floor itself could of caught fire and burned down the house.

I could of seriously harmed those in the house, including myself and caused major property damage. Positively, It produced results but shouldn't of been risked, the main negative to all of it is the danger I put everyone in. I followed this action by cleaning and reducing any damage (wipes, hoover and air freshener), using eye protection and taking it outside. When recording outside the fire could barely be heard. It was by dramatically increasing this sound through amplification in Audacity and increased volume in Sony Vegas that I was able top use what I had. I also went down 2 separate routes in the fire sound. The constant rumble undertone and the crackling. When combined I finally created a good fire sound, using real sources of fire.

sound issue import.png
edits.png

The water effect layered amongst all of this was the cherry on to pin finishing my ambient sound effect. Originally produced out of Foley sounds (the source being my sink) and finished as an ambient effect using real fire. I intend to use this sound throughout my PowerPoint to set the tone of my interactive. I also want to fire or water effect to slowly disappear when the button to turn them off is activated. The ambient effect created is the result of all my sound experimentation. This is what it all lead to. The Voice acting area is a completely different area. All the Foley sounds, recordings, attempts, cave videos... was for this. Overall I am satisfied with the result. I could always develop it further. You can always make art better. But for this project, I am content with the result.

PowerPoint Sound Tests - 10/3, 22/3

The fire was produced using actual flame. The water effects produced by running water. By using the origin of what my art is based on, the sound generated is much more realistic than any substitutes. Apart they were merely Foley sounds. Sound effects for singular actions. I built them up. Layered multiple sounds, adjusted the volumes, heavily edited them with multiple experiments in Audacity to create the final effect. Positively, the sound was exactly what I aimed to create. The fire and water sounds realistic, due to the fact because it is fire and water. 

​

Of course once the original ambient sound was made I needed to experiment with how to import it into my interactive. I wanted to see how it would be paired with the template visuals (vid on the right) and how both ambient sounds would combine. The ambient fire and ambient water were created at various stages of development. I had no idea how they would mix. After combining the baser visuals with both sounds, the bottom right video was the result. Honestly, seeing it all come together was amazing. This was the first instance of sound being present alongside visuals (for the interactive specifically). Micky Mouse was the 1st test. This was the second. If I was to do this again I would create more variation in the mix. Create huge spikes in the fire sound, make extra splashes of water. Have both simmer down or level out. Create variation. Nature isn't linear, I would introduce a bit of chaos. Although, in my defence, having the 2 sounds overlap already creates this varying effect - but this would elevate it. Furthermore, I would want to match the movement of the animation (the fire specifically) to the sounds of the background noise. When peaking, have the fire roar. When quieter, make the fire much smaller. In the end, I am happy with the result. This is my second favourite sound in the interactive and I feel proud listening to it. To know I created it from scratch out of recordings I created.

All this will directly go into the interactive. More experiments have to be done though. I can import the sound directly into PowerPoint, or have it as a part of a video like I did here. I will need to come to a conclusion in that regard before the Interactive is complete

​

123, T. R., 2021. test 1 fire gif. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyvWcDzvZtEhttps:
[Accessed 13 March 2021].

123, T. R., 2021. fire test 2. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUGduCl2rtM
[Accessed 13 March 2021].

Foley Sound - Breaking Glass - 10/3, 20/3, 21/3

glass smash distort, amp, reverb 1Callum H
00:00 / 00:04
glass smash echoCallum H
00:00 / 00:04
glass smash distort, amp, echoCallum H
00:00 / 00:04
glass smash-10 pitchCallum H
00:00 / 00:04
glass smash distrotCallum H
00:00 / 00:04
glass smash distort, amp, reverb 3Callum H
00:00 / 00:04
glass smash distort, amp, reverb 2, phasCallum H
00:00 / 00:04
glass smash distort, amp, reverb 2, filtCallum H
00:00 / 00:04
glass smash distort, amp, reverb 2Callum H
00:00 / 00:04

My third favourite sound. The main piece of Foley sound in my interactive - the glass smash. The opportunity actually came by chance. A bowl from the kitchen (the source of my previous Foley "Micky Mouse" experiment) was being thrown out. So the same day I created fire, I smashed up a china bowl with a rock. Originally I was going to use a hammer, although decided against it. The hammerhead would of got damaged, a risk of shattering it lingered and the fact I don't own one were all factors. And if I damaged by brothers of Dads hammer I would of been in big trouble. Anyway it was a lot of fun smashing kitchenware with a rock. The sound was more natural (rather than metallic), the rock got damaged (which wasn't an issue [unlike the hammer]) and the results were staggering. I had MANY sound clips to play with. The sheer possibilities of experimenting...

All my sound edits are recorded above. I had to consider location when creating it. The cave echo of the water droplets had to carry over in the smashing, otherwise it would be out of place. Turns out a cocktail of distortions, amplifies and reverbs did the trick. The hard part was finding the balance.

Overall I am happy with the results. The glass smash is powerful, impactful and frightening. This time round, mentioned earlier in the sound experiment above, I timed the sound with the animation. Each arm punch was timed in Sony Vegas with the animation (from Animate) as a base. If I had any negatives about how it turned out I would talk about the volume. Compared to the rest of the present sound, the impact is incredibly loud (to the point of muffling out any parallel sounds).

glass smashCallum H
00:00 / 00:04
glass smash finalCallum H
00:00 / 00:05

This is an easy fix if I ever went back to improve my interactive. Another issue (and this is small) is the source of the sound. I used fire and water sources to create my fire and water sound. Surely I could of done the same thing with glass? If I had the dedication to set a fire in my bedroom. I could of found a glass object and destroyed it for art. The sound would of likely improved as a result. However glass is extremely fragile. I would only get a single sound shot. The bowl was a substitute but gave me the luxury of multiple smash impacts. It was also conveniently in my possession, while I would have to buy or scavenge glass to smash. Furthermore the mess, health and safety issues and the issue of clean up would all be a big problem. If I was to do this again, I want to allocate more time to Foley in general. This particular Foley is great but is only 1 sound clip. If I was to do my interactive again, I want to include multiple Foley clips. A quick example would be the rustling of clothing, wind and footsteps (although that's a different category entirely). Or I could experiment further with the recorded noise I already have. Or try multiple sources of glass smashing and compare which one fits the interactive better. Overall I am delighted with the result. Having sound timed with animation heightens the entire project. This is something I will definitely want to explore further, whether in this project or a future one.

Voice Acting Intro and Operation Dormant - 6/3, 11/3

full introCallum H
00:00 / 01:51
1. report 2Callum H
00:00 / 01:56
2. responceCallum H
00:00 / 00:40

Csp499, 2020. Making a Radio Effect in Audacity. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX74dyl9rXU
[Accessed 10 March 2021].

report voice 1Callum H
00:00 / 00:23
4th disc - military operationCallum H
00:00 / 02:37

This is the first attempt at creating voice clips for my interactive. The intro and "Operation Dormant" were the first of the many voice acted clips. Positively, I learned a lot from the experience. The nerves at first were only natural, still frustrating none of the less. The old radio effect (learned at the start of my audio research) was valuable in creating these. Although it wasn't quite what I was looking for. It was definitely incredible at the time. My goal back then was just to successfully mimic a radio. Now I want it to match with the setting. The technology is no longer 20s to 50s radio. Now it's a creation of my own (based of a record player). This tutorial was my main source of further research into this. I had many smaller variations of the same effect after following the guide step by step. This was also where the idea that pushed my interactive came from. Before the idea was for the audience to press a button and have voice clips played back to them. A collection of the past with the twist being the 1 on 1 interaction with my character at the end. So what happens if I mash this up a bit? Have my discs act as pre-recorded information for the user. Then have the audience see the reaction from the Plague Doctor first hand. Each section then got a conversation part at the end of each disc, expanding the experience. This allowed me to play with the past and present. A first hand experience with the Doctor mixed in with the perspective of others regarding him. This idea was the driving force of my interactive going forward. All the sound before was in service of existing animation, or to further my skills in the area itself (e.g. voice acting and Foley). This was the jumping point, where my skills developed the most (voice acting specifically). The negatives were really just down to my own inexperience. In the early clips, the Doctor and myself (the negotiator to bounce off of) were too similar in personality and emotion. The voice was different due to the pitch change but it all sounded like the same person talking. However I fixed this with time and practice. Each attempt made the 2 people more and more different. If both start off cocky. One ends up in despair while the other blind rage. If anything this could be a positive. This is an alter ego of myself. And it was me (Callum) who done the interview with some small alterations. Highlighting the similarities at the start could work in my favour. Now the shared qualities are established, the differences will come across much harsh (greater contrasting). Also, another negative, would be the emotion. In these ones specifically, my tone will come off a bit flat. My voice is naturally monotone and that bleeds through in these early recordings. This will only go away with work and practice. There wouldn't of been anything else I could of done about it at this point,. If I was to improve this, I would re-record these lines but with the experience I learnt along the way. Now I have completed all sound bits (as of writing), I have improved a lot in conveying emotion in my voice. The best way to make it better would literately just be re-attempting to do it. I am still happy with the result, although a little disappointed that I don't have time to make it better.

Extras (Intro and Operation Dormant) - Attempts 

intro 1Callum H
00:00 / 00:45
report 2 responce a2Callum H
00:00 / 01:08
intro 1 part 2Callum H
00:00 / 01:06
report 2 responce a3Callum H
00:00 / 00:49
attempt 1Callum H
00:00 / 02:15
report 2 responce a1Callum H
00:00 / 00:32
report 1 - no staticCallum H
00:00 / 02:24
report 2 responce a3 part 2 a1Callum H
00:00 / 00:40
report 1Callum H
00:00 / 02:24

These are the extras from the intro and Operation Dormant. The failed attempts and the edits before completion. |This is to merely show my experimenting and how I adapted as I went along. Almost all my work is on this website and the failed attempts are part of it. I am a bit annoyed with a select few of them. When I loose my train of through, stumble on my words, mis-read scripts and generally screw it up by genuine mistakes, its very annoying and anger inducing at times. Hence why I channeled it in a voice clip below...

help.png

Microsoft, 2021. Add or delete audio in your PowerPoint presentation. [Online]
Available at: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/add-or-delete-audio-in-your-powerpoint-presentation-c3b2a9fd-2547-41d9-9182-3dfaa58f1316#:~:text=In%20Normal%20view%2C%20click%20the,controls%20appear%20on%20the%20slide
[Accessed 10 March 2021].

Villain voice and Anger

3. angry outburst 1Callum H
00:00 / 00:45
-30% pitchCallum H
00:00 / 00:12

The above is how I fixed a major problem of mine. I had no idea how to put Audio into PowerPoint, this was the article that told me how. Simple as that. The 2 sound clips however go deeper than that. The "-30% pitch" was a late alteration to the voice of the Plague Doctor. After gathering some feedback in a Discord call (hence why there is no evidence of it on the site as I wasn't recording at the time) I realise something. Many had the association of it being military (on the -20% pitch) but not evil. It was Luke that suggested a solution. Darth Vader voice is warped to the iconic sound that it is by his mask. The mask muffles and alters the voice. My character also wears a mask, so take inspiration from it. In doing so I altered my characters voice to a -30 pitch and this was the result. I didn't want to do major changes, as I would be mimicking this every time my character spoke, but it was worth it. Luke's feedback transformed the voice of my character, figuratively and literately.

The other voice clip was when I was fuming at my work. It didn't make it into the interactive, but made me aware of the emotion issue discussed earlier. It was also good to let of some steam. That was the first time I truly went for it, in my own moment of rage. This ties into the paragraph above when discussing the intro and Operation Dormant. I'm glad I did it but was definitely embarrassed after. Negatively, I shouldn't loose my temper with work. This has a lot of mental strain and could lead to accidental injury of me. At this point, the smart thing to do is to walk away and take a break. If I am aware of one aspect as a result of this project is that my mental health matters. Project 1 exhausted my mental state, while project 2 took my sanity to the brink of a full breakdown. I have gone through this in the "Bulbasaur section" of my interactive section already. If I was to do this project again (let alone this specific sound clip), I would take better care of myself. Allow me to break more consistently rather than burning out and doing nothing for the rest of the day. To pace myself more instead of a long grind (like the same grind I'm doing on deadline night in writing this).

​

If I was to do this again I would lob my chair down the stairs ;) .

For realism, art and a more realistic impact sound of course.

Disc File - Diary Entry - 22/3

This is (by far) my favourite sound clip in the entire project! All the sound generated from this point was created on Deadline day. This meant 2 things. 1, my time management was lacking to the point where I'm doing a huge amount of work at the last minute. And 2, I am at my most experience as of this project. This was the point where my voice and sound experienced is at it's best. This meant that my voice was less flat, less monotone and much stronger in emotion. All the issues were solved or at least reduced in these clips, clear evidence of progression and development. The ironic thing is, the diary was created as a failed backstory attempt (the 1st draft) near the very start of the project. The failed diary became the script for this recording. I recycled old material/mistakes and turned it into something new. The diary entry became a part of and contributed greatly into the final interactive. For all those people who mocked me at the start about how this isn't a backstory, I STATE MY CASE. In this voice clip, I document past events that shaped my character into who he is today. Instead of a random person talking about the Doctor, the audience experience his past in HIS perspective. HIS view and opinions and emotions. This wouldn't of worked without emotion and this time round I brought it. I portrayed the anger discovered earlier, the bitterness of being portrayed, the obsession and hate. If anything I used the "lack of emotion issue" at the start and flipped it on it's head. The character was originally intended to be emotionless, heartless and extremely logical/cold. I introduce him as that but let more and more emotion creep into his voice as the events go on. To the point of breaking point and finally the collapse, this also provides some much needed range to keep the audience engaged. Positively, it fixes many of the issues stated before (as said above). In terms of the negative, the biggest would be the shift. The Doctor in the room acts completely differently to the Doctor on the disc. Depending on the order it could jar the audience, disconnect them or confuse them in who the Plague Doctor truly is. This could be seen as good or bad depending on how you interpret it. If I was to do this again, I would adjust the Diary to better suit the development of the character (as my project continued). Being created early on, there are many small areas that won't quite line up. I would of edited the script for a better sync of the current, given the time. The greatest negative in all this would be my patients and time management. Due to how late into my deadline I am (90min left as of writing this), many areas have been scrambled together. This of course would of had an impact on the quality. Much of the research, experiments and ideas are already created. However most of the actual sound clips remained unfinished tell the final day of work. If I had to do this all over again (or later project in general), I would allocate more time for my writeup, sudden issues and a day to patch up any unexpected holes. I feel like due to my time constraint, some of my areas will be lacking, not to their full potential or accidently missed entirely. Overall I am still happy with the result, I just wished I let myself have more time.

exper1.0 originalCallum H
00:00 / 04:07
EXPER 5.0 DIARY ENTRYCallum H
00:00 / 06:31
exper 2.0 -30 voiceCallum H
00:00 / 04:07
exper 2.5 -20Callum H
00:00 / 04:07
exper 3.0 gradual pitch loweringCallum H
00:00 / 04:07
exper 3.5 radio effectCallum H
00:00 / 04:07
exper 4.0Callum H
00:00 / 04:07
respond diaryCallum H
00:00 / 02:22

Disc File - Profile - 22/3

This took MANY attempts to get right, with many vastly contrasting version of words and ideas. My script was the profile itself (created at the midpoint of the project). The "FULL PROFILE" evolved off the idea of conversation between 2 people. Instead of a read out (word for word) of the profile like it was an official report, I had a one way conversation with a new character discussing how outlandish it really was. The issue was the profile was not formatted for an official military report and had some fantisiful claims not in reality. I had little to no time to fix this, so what do you do? You make this your theme. I had my new man, Cornual A. SS Harris (pun intended ;) ) read out and comment on the report. The general was a character made up on the spot. The ending was also completely out of nowhere. However my improvisation had such a great result. 1, I was able to experiment with more Foley (strangulation and the body hitting the floor). And 2, it contributed to the overachieving story. The intro implied that the interrogator (Callum) was in full control. But as the interactive progresses that control is slowly shifted to the prisoner. This all ends in a complete shift of power as Callum becomes t the full mercy of the Doctor. If I had any negatives, it would be the lack of preparation. This was a good idea to avoid the drilling manual of a script (listen below for that). However I can only imagine how good it would be if I planned it out first (like the rest of the others). If anything, this is a good comparison between constant slow planning and fast "wing-it" recordings. The backstory was scripted word for word (with a few key improvs ). While the Profile was only a loose base of the written profile (with the rest almost out of thin air). If I was to do this again, I would attempt to develop these 2 characters more and have them appear in multiple areas of the disc recordings. I would also develop the voices of all the side characters more (the ones who appear in the disc recordings). Give them individual quirks and traits that make them more human. Overall I am satisfied with my progress, although incredibly tired out as a result (watch the 22nd blog).

attempt 1Callum H
00:00 / 02:15
FULL PROFILECallum H
00:00 / 09:27
no 1Callum H
00:00 / 00:57
NO 2Callum H
00:00 / 00:49
NO 3Callum H
00:00 / 01:02
NO 4Callum H
00:00 / 10:05
responceCallum H
00:00 / 02:06
exper 2.0, pitch -10, distortCallum H
00:00 / 07:21
exper 1.0Callum H
00:00 / 07:21
exper 3.0, -10 pitch, distort, compressoCallum H
00:00 / 07:21

Disc File - Back Story - 22/3

no 1Callum H
00:00 / 22:03
backstory read out 1Callum H
00:00 / 15:50
FINAL BACKSTORYCallum H
00:00 / 22:03

Disc File - Escape/Final- 22/3

This is the final audio sound created for my interactive. The conclusion to months of blood, sweat and tears. Although the final slide will be evaluated in much greater detail in the "interactive" section on wix, ill briefly cover it here. I had a few issue to do with format (gif or MP4?) and how to import sound into PowerPoint. The bottom right video shows how sound (Foley, Ambient and Voice) all blends together to create the final scene of my interactive. The result of all 3 areas of experimenting in this "audio" section. While the bottom left video shows my mindset half way through the day of work. The main sound issue I had to overcome (my interactive missing all sound) was solved by adding sound, meeting requirements and sound. The big problem was in placing multiple clips to play automatically, it would only play 1 (with the other requiring a click). I tired to fix it by making all sound manually click, but that messed up the pacing. Or I could make the ambient manual only (letting all voice auto play). However that meant the background noise reset with every slide change, breaking emersion. In the end I had to compromise. 

​

The rest of this specific scenario is in the Interactive section of wix. This next bit is for sound overall. before starting this project I would of never incorporated sound into my artworks. I had background noise and editing for my YouTube videos but that was the closest I got. Voice acting specific character that was not myself was brand new and the most difficult to do. I didn't realise how flat my voice was until doing this. Foley was the most fun I had during the project. It used many of the hard skills I already possessed from 2 years of YouTube editing. However, recording and creating my own from scratch... that was amazing and terrifying. Honestly I learnt so much from this. The sound was my favourite section to work on out of the 3. I do wish that I wasn't limited to my house. Recording in the sets ups at my college, discussing it with friends and the teacher. That would of heightened the experience. Online calls are not the same compared to face to face interaction (as discussed in visual AND interactive). My overall positive on the sound would be how much my skills have developed. These can be applied across all future projects. They will directly feed into the fmp (which in invaluable). On the negatives, I need to stop being so harsh on myself. Having a positive mindset is a skill in itself, I'm naturally far to cynical. That and time management was the biggest issue in this project. Having 3 months of self-disciplining to get through will do that. I became lazy during this and as a result my work suffered (or become rushed in the last few weeks). If I was to do this project again (specifically the sound), I would just give myself more time to explore. I have barely scratched the surface. This area is almost completely new to me. The opportunities it will open up are endless. Overall, I wouldn't really changed what I did. I am proud of what I have created and even know I can convince myself that most of it should of been better, under the circumstances I was in, I wouldn't of done it any other way.

attempt 1Callum H
00:00 / 01:23
DONECallum H
00:00 / 06:35
attempt 2Callum H
00:00 / 06:34

123, T. R., 2021. blog 22 March - Final Blog. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me_ulHDDap4
[Accessed 22 March 2021].

123, T. R., 2021. slide end mp4 no 2. [Online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDv2kLiAohU
[Accessed 22 March 2021].

CH

Welcome to Callum Highfield's Animation Course Work Website. This consists of all year 1 work including both projects and the FINAL PROJECT. Classwork is produced in the project section in order to back up my task work. The Character Development page is for my personal goal to get better at designing characters. Any work in here can be used to back up any relevant tasks, supporting my Project work.

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