On 28th October 2015 Stewart Whitworth decided he no longer wanted a narrator for the trailer. Therefore I have discarded the original plan of finding a voice actor who can imitate the voice of Don LaFontaine aka‘trailer voice guy’ to reflect the over the top commentary often found in 1980s action films and video games. Stewart wants to create a more serious tone by using text instead of dialogue for the intro/outro logo and description of gameplay mechanics/environments.
With regards to Anahid Kassabian’s ‘attention continuum’ she writes how ‘In each specific case, the rest of the soundtrack and other aspects of the film define the limits of the music’s prominence’ (Kassabian, 2001, 55). In my case the dialogue has been removed allowing the music to be more prominent and receive a greater level of attention from the audience. Furthermore the same applies to sound effects and video.
This week me and my 3rd year Audio production course received a guest lecture by Bryan Rudd. Bryan is a Principal Lecturer in Media, radio, music and sound production and has worked closely with many audio production students. The purpose of this lecture was to understand a range of deep lessons from the reflective process of Bryan’s project ‘Chronicles of Freedom’ and apply the reflective criteria to our own projects.
‘Chronicles of Freedom’ was a 5 part radio drama originally broadcast on BBC Radio 7 about the life journey and conversion William Wilberforce towards ending slavery in Britain. Bryan’s role was Producer, Co-director, editor, technical production and music composer. Bryan highlighted that we should be sure of project criteria like the Idea/story/narrative, Audience/market and Timeframe with research that underpins all of the project criteria.
In terms of Bryan’s project management he approached ‘Chronicles of Freedom’ by identifying the problem, options and decisions. In terms of problems the project had a 12 month schedule which Bryan came into 9 months in so certain problems like the budget not being large enough and already chosen actors had been established. For Bryan’s options he made swift decisions given the limited timeframe. One example is Bryan wanting to record in one of the original buildings where the drama was set however Hull council requested a non-negotiable £1,500 which wasn’t possible due to the under budgeting of the project. As a result, Bryan recorded the scene at a pub in Lincoln which had noise issues from a loud drinker. To deal with the loud drinker Bryan simply payed him £5 to move away from the scene which allowed the recording to commence. Bryan put emphasis on having a plan B for your options due to unforeseen circumstances that can hinder the progress of our projects.
Bryan gave a critical reflection of his technical and creative skills that were either done well or had an area of weakness that could have been improved. Bryan finished his presentation with all the details that were kept after completing the project to support him in the reflection process.
I learn’t a range of lessons that I have and will continue to apply to ‘Timeline X’ such as underpinning all of my project proposal criteria with research, having a plan B and keeping all of the production and research details. I will keep these lessons in mind when doing my viva voice.
This week me and my 3rd year Audio production course received a guest lecture by Lol Hammond. Lol Hammond is a music supervisor at Vertigo Films and music producer. Lol has worked on films such as Bronson, Monsters and It’s All Gone Pete Tong and released records with the Drum Club, Roger Eno and Chris Coco. Lol began the lecture by introducing himself and talking about how he was a DJ and club owner and was approached to do a cameo for a short film. The cameo allowed Lol to network with indie film directors and supervise music for various indie film projects leading to his role of music supervisor at Vertigo films.
Lol pointed out various terminology within his job including the 2 different types of tracks when working on a film. These two types of tracks are source tracks and composed tracks.
Source tracks are finished songs and if Lol wants to use finished songs for his soundtrack he will typically find the master recording through the record company and negotiate a price for the song. Lol stated that songs typically cost £1500-2000 to £4000 each side of the record. When Lol negotiates for source tracks he makes sure they are ‘in perpetuity’ meaning they last forever. Lol makes sure his source tracks are in perpetuity to avoid any copyright issues that only allow use of a source track for a select amount of time.
Composed tracks are original pieces of music that are made to accompany a film and Lol let us know that the same principles of negotiating a fee and in perpetuity apply to composed music. The negotiating cost for composers is typically cheaper than source tracks. Lol usually watches the film to get a feeling then hears a composer that comes to mind and, as a result, never usually works with the same composers. For many films Lol has worked on he told us that composers tend to work around source tracks.
Lol explained that when it comes to choosing music he goes on set and watches a 2 hour assembly cut of the film without music to get a feel. Getting a feel for the film then allows Lol to make creative decisions.
Lol expressed how working with colleagues requires diplomacy because there can be creative decision clashes between Lol and colleagues such as the director, actors and mates of colleagues. For Lol to make his creative decisions he prefers outsiders or anyone who doesn’t have expertise working with music for film to not get involved. Lol gave the example of a friend pushing a reggae track onto an action movie which from Lol’s perspective didn’t fit the feel of the film whatsoever. Lol made it clear that diplomacy is essential to putting your points across colleagues without being too pushy, laid back or condescending.
In terms of editing source tracks Lol talked about how an artists can be repulsed if different elements of the track are split for the film. Lol continued to say how when the vocals and instrumental elements are split and queued for select parts in a scene that sometimes the artist is offended that their complete track has been misused by their standards.
Lol pointed out that as music supervisor he has worked on a range of film project and, as a result has had to be versatile with unfamiliar music areas. One example Lol pointed out was having to work with Latvian Jazz which seemed daunting but is ultimately part of the job.
Lol ended his lecture by stressing the importance of working from the ground up by working on small projects like pop promos and short film and really utilizing web 2.0 as a distribution platform. Lol quickly opened up to any quick questions. I asked Lol how he works out the balance between composed and source music to avoid clashes between the two. Lol responded that the focus tends to be on composed or source music and that whatever the focus is the other music component supports that. Lol continued to stress the importance of choosing composed or source music as a skill that requires creativity. Another student asked what Lol what he does if a client asks for a song. Lol responded that 95% of the time he goes to Universal, Warner or Sony to negotiate a fee.
I learnt a range of valuable advice,terminology and insider knowledge that applies not only to working as music supervisor but any other job within the cultural industries. In terms of advice I learnt that it’s essential to be versatile with unfamiliar areas eg Lol working with Latvian Jazz, To be diplomatic to a point where your colleagues or outsiders aren’t doing you job for you and to begin building my portfolio by working on small projects like pop promos and short films then distributing it via web 2.0. In terms of terminology I learnt the term ‘in perpetuity’ which is essential for negotiating a track that will last forever. In terms of insider knowledge I learnt that choosing music for film is a skill and creative decision making process that requires you to get a feel for the film and be diplomatic amongst colleagues.
Project Title: Timeline X Gameplay Introduction Trailer
I’m going to produce a gameplay introduction trailer for an alpha version of Stewart Whitworth’s video game ‘Timeline X’, a top down action adventure game currently in development.
Outline of Plot and gameplay features as described by my brother
Plot – ‘Timeline X – A story of two brothers in the year 2084. In an industrial retro future, two brothers rob a crimelord blind of his gold, the common currency ever since imaginary currency failed and sent the world into disarray. They use these riches to pay a controversial corporation to send them back into their own universe using a service known as Timeline X. It’s a one way trip and the brothers can take whatever they want with them; vehicles, drugs, weapons, renewable energy sources. The brothers decide to go to South England in the year 1640, where they can build their own empire based upon their technological advantage.’
Gameplay – ‘Timeline X involves inventory management, simple town building, story based choices which affect the various outcomes that the path can take, and the main focus, combat. Combat will take place on a large battlefield, where players must customize either one of the brothers or a selected “knight” to take over a castle or an area. A win will add that “territory” to the players total land.’
Overall aim – To produce a gameplay trailer for Stewart Whitworth that highlights the story, gameplay and atmosphere of of Timeline X. Stewart will then use this trailer to promote his game on a range of platforms like Youtube, Steam, Xbox live and PSN. Timeline X will be in alpha stage for the trailer.
Objectives
Research gameplay trailers and existing academia related to sound for film and video games
Keep in contact with Stewart Whitworth and his work associates Daniel Scott and Paul Barrass to monitor the progress of the game
Produce the soundtrack for the trailer including sound effects, music and narrator dialogue
Produce video effects including the intro/outro logo and 80s VHS style filter
Manage video files sent by my brother
Edit and complete the trailer
Learn from online tutorials and work associates of Stewart on Adobe premiere, after effects and FL studio
Format
The Timeline X gameplay introduction trailer will be 1:30 minutes long in MP4 at 60 frames per second. Reason being is that 60 fps reflects the true frame rate of in-game footage and in recent times many game developers are uploading their gameplay/trailer content in 60fps.
Timescale/planning
Weeks 3 to 6 – Stewart will be learning from game maker tutorials and creating some rough level design with the support of work links and associates Daniel Scott and Paul Barrass. I will contact Stewart, Daniel and Paul twice a week via skype and Slack to check progress with Timeline X and to discuss the structure of the trailer. In the meantime between these discussion I will undertake a range of tasks. Firstly I will be doing a range of research methods to have a more clear idea of my final product. I will look into a range of video game trailers and breakdown the structure/editing style to better understand how games are marketed to their audience. Furthermore I will draw key concepts related to video game and film trailers from academia such as ‘Hearing Film’ by Anahid Kassabian. Secondly I will begin producing a storyboard for the trailer and rework it based on my brothers progress with Timeline X. Finally I will be using a range of software’s like FL studio, Adobe premiere and after effects to experiment and produce draft versions of music, sound effects and intro/outro logos for Timeline X. For the music I will download and get a feel of free VST Plugins that emulate that classic 80s sound and 1600s baroque . For the sound effects I will learn from online tutorials/guides that show how to create 8bit sounds and experiment with it myself. I will discuss these tasks with Stewart, Daniel and Paul in Slack to support me with links, guidance and online tutorials.
Weeks 7 to 9 – I will complete the final version of the storyboard which gives Stewart clarity on what parts of Timeline X to work on. Stewart should have some draft levels and characters of Timeline X created. Me and the group will run through a list of all the sound effects required for Timeline X parts to be featured then I will begin producing them in FL with the help of the group throughout the following weeks. I will be sending the complete sound effects back to Stewart which he will import into game maker. Stewart will be sending me draft video clips and I will begin editing them together in Adobe Premiere to match the storyboard. In terms of video editing I will be utilizing certain effects like fade ins/outs and applying a VHS style filter to contribute to the atmosphere of the game. Adobe premiere will be the main software where I combine video, dialogue, music and sound effects.
I will continue working on the music for the trailer keeping in mind key concepts from books related to video game trailer/film trailer sound and receiving feedback from the group. For the intro/outro logo myself and Paul will be sharing project ideas in Adobe after effects which I will finalize in my session. In terms of the narrator I will seek a person who can imitate the voice of Don LaFontaine aka‘trailer voice guy’. The ‘trailer voice guy’ will reflect the over the top commentary often found in 1980s action films and video games. With the above tasks the group will continue to give me feedback, links and general guidance to improve the components of the trailer
Weeks 10 to 12 – Stewartwill be completing the parts of Timeline X required for the trailer then sending me recorded video clips that match the storyboard. I will record the narrator’s voice in the sound theatre and capture at least 3 takes per line to listen and choose which recording sounds most fitting for the trailer. I will finish the song in FL studio and import it into adobe premiere. Once I have imported all the trailer components into Adobe premier I will edit them together based on the complete storyboard. I will send the trailer to the group in Slack and improve components of the trailer based on constructive feedback. Finally I will submit my project.
Roles
Lewis Whitworth – I will be producing the trailer involving a number of tasks including
Researching existing trailers and utilizing key concepts related to video game and film trailers
Creating a storyboard
Creating the soundtrack including sounds effects, music and recording narrator dialogue
Communicating every week with Stewart, Andrew, Daniel and Paul to discuss the development of the game and trailer
Compiling every trailer component into adobe premier and editing the complete trailer
Stewart Whitworth- Creating Timeline X and the video component required for the trailer. My brother will be…
Learning how to use game maker via online game maker tutorials
Keeping in contact to discuss progress with Timeline X
Helping me develop the storyboard
Recording and sending me video clips
Managing sound effects I will have sent
Daniel Scott and Paul Barrass – Assisting me and my brother in both game and trailer production
Discuss and work on artwork, coding and soundtrack elements.
Openly critique each others ideas and produce constructive feedback
Send each other useful links and resources towards the development of the game and trailer
Requirements
I need to provide Stewart Whitworth with the following components
Storyboard
Soundtrack including sound effects, music and dialogue
To underpin my video game trailer analysis I will apply the notion of the ‘attention continuum’ as written by Anahid Kassabian.
In ‘Hearing Film’ by Anahid Kassabian she introduces notion of the ‘attention continuum’ by asking the question ‘How much attention do viewers/listeners give to the music, in comparison to the dialogue, visuals and other elements?(Kassabian, 2001, 52). Anahid continues to explain how ‘Attention to music depends on many factors, including the volume of the music, its style, and its “appropriateness” in the scene’ (Kassabian, 2001, 52). As you go further along the attention continuum music demands less attention from the audience whilst other soundtrack and visual elements demand more. Anahid summarises a range of examples along the attention continuum when she writes ‘In each specific case, the rest of the soundtrack and other aspects of the film define the limits of the music’s prominence’ (Kassabian, 2001, 55). In conclusion the ‘attention continuum’ focuses on the the level of attention the audience gives to music which is determined by other aspects of the film.
Kassabian, Anahid. Hearing Film. New York: Routledge, 2001. Print.
Power Drive 2000 Pre-Alpha Teaser Trailer
Power Drive 2000 is an 80’s themed arcade racer that succesfully reached its kickstarter funding goal of $52,114. In terms of video the fast paced cutting gives the audience a view of the different gameplay environments and emphasis on high speed chases.In terms of the soundtrack the music is the only component present in the trailer. The music is tailored to the video by matching the action on screen for example the hi hat crash when the light flashes and the toms that act as a transition for the intro and outro.
Overall the music and visuals work symbiotically to create intensity and reveal the neo 80s atmosphere to the player. Multiple gameplay environments are shown as a taster of what the player can experience. For the Timeline X trailer I aim to draw the music matching picture aspect. In terms of the ‘attention continuum’ the primary attention throughout the entire trailer is the visuals and music.
Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon Official Trailer
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is a comedicfirst-person shooter that parodies 80s action movies. In terms of video the trailer uses different types of video clips from real world footage to cutscenes then gameplay. A VHS style filter is used throughout the trailer to reflect 80s technology and intense VHS blurs act during transitions between clips. The fast cutting to different types of combat reflects the fast paced action of the game. In terms of the soundtrack the music fits the atmosphere but isn’t tailored to the action on screen. The sound effects include VHS static/interference, lo-fi 80s soundds during cut scenes and in game sounds for the gameplay. For the dialogue the 80’s ‘trailer guy voice’ is narrating the story aspect whilst the characters from the cut scenes and gameplay also speak. Summing up the trailer using a range of 80s conventions to parody 80s action movies.
For Timeline X I aim to adopt the use of the 80s ‘trailer guy’ voice to describe the story and the gameplay mechanics. Furthermore I intend to apply the 80s VHS video filter to contribute to the atmosphere of Timeline X. In terms of the ‘attention continuum’ the primary attention in this trailer is the visuals and dialogue with less attention on music and sound effects.
Red Dead Redemption Gameplay Introduction Trailer
Red Dead Redemption is an open world, westernaction-adventure game. In terms of video slow motion shots of the scenary act as establishing shots to introduce the viewer to the world of Red Dead Redemption. The video shots tend to be 3-5 second cuts howing a range of gameplay activities with in game and cinematic shots. In terms of the soundtrack the music provides a western atmosphere but, like Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon, doesn’t tailor to the action on screen. The sound effects are all in game. The dialogue is mainly from the narrator. The narrator’s voice has a low pitch, well spoke western character to it that describes and matches the gameplay activity on screen. In conclusion the trailer gives the player an idea of what they can do in the world of Red Dead Redemption by giving a balanced cover of story, gameplay and the game world.
For Timeline X I aim to adopt the structure of this trailer by showing the player a balanced view of story, gameplay and the game world. In terms of the ‘attention continuum’ the primary attention in this trailer is the visuals, dialogue and sound effects with less attention on music.
For ‘attention continuum’ in the Timeline X trailer my aim is for the audience’s attention to shift between music, dialogue, visuals and sound effects as opposed to all of these aspects overwhelmingly battling for the audience’s attention at once.
Research to be done
YouTube tutorials on producing, mixing and mastering in FL studio.
Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio – Mike Senior
Learning Outcomes
Build new areas of creativity like producing music that’s tailored to the action on screen, Creating sound effects with an retro 80s arcade feel and producing a storyboard.
Electronic music production and mixing skills
Video editing and video effects production skills
Developing my communication skills – Openly expressing each others thoughts/ideas and finding a common ground to move forward
Developing organisation – Sticking to deadlines and timescale/plans in a consistent and disciplined way
