Just like last year at this time, as you are reading this I will be in the middle of a lake, in a boat, with a line in the water and a beer in my hand. Since last year I posted something fishing related to mark my annual May long weekend fishing trip and caught less than nothing all weekend this year I figured I’d focus on the sound of a boat.
In particular the sound of a bobbing on the waves. This sound is clearly of a small aluminum watercraft rather than something larger. As each small wave hits its hull you can hear the hollow metal reverb. I certainly associate this sound with the most quiet, relaxing of days sitting on a dock somewhere – a boat tied to it waiting for me to take it out for a spin. As it’s a very quiet sound not many films are going to feature it.
Something like Jaws, Piranha or any kind of movie with a water-based creature is most likely the best place to hear it. A character will wander out onto a dock or be stranded in a boat when his/her motor cuts out. They will be yelling something that will echo into the empty quiet around them. They’ll stop and we’ll hear the gentle rocking of the boat on the waves and then the monster will leap from the depths to grab the character in its massive jaws and dragging them to their watery grave.
Now that I’ve written that I’m sure those images wont come back to haunt me when I’m on the water.
There’s a great site called the SoundWorks Collection that creates short videos about different aspects of sound work in the film industry. They’re fantastic and I’m disappointed in myself that I haven’t featured them on here before.
The video above is focused on the creation of some of the foley and other effects in The Avengers. A particularly interesting part is when Sound Designer Christopher Boyes details the steps he had to take to get the Hulk’s voice right.
Whether you liked, loved, disliked or disloved The Avengers take a look at the video – if only to hear the same things I’m always going on about but from a paid professional! You can also visit www.soundworkscollection.com for even more interesting stuff.
I’ve certainly said it before and before and before and before. I clearly don’t mind seeming repetitive because I’m saying again. The Avengers comes out today and even if you’re not a fan of comic book/superhero movies you have to respect what a landmark of a film it is. They took superheroes (and the actors that played them) from several other films and put them together into one crossover event. This is pretty commonplace in comics but in movies? I could be wrong but I don’t remember that happening before. By the set up alone it really is the comic book movie to end all comic book movies.
With that in mind I have recorded the flipping sound of comic book pages. While I was mainly inspired the Marvel Studios logo (which features the sound of flipping pages) there are plenty of plain ol’ action, comedy, drama, romantic movies that utilize the sound of pages being flipped – mostly because paper books and magazines are still widely used. I know it seems primitive to me too but we have to suffer through for another few years at least.
Until that day though, make sure the type of paper you record for foley matches the one on screen. Modern comics are more like magazines and use a heavier, glossy stock while a phone book (what the hell is a phone book?) uses the thinnest paper that wont simply disintegrate once its touched possible. It sounds like I’m joking but I’m deadly serious. Knowledge of paper stock and paper stock recordings is the first thing you learn when you become an official comic geek. I’ve got a certificate printed on 81/2 X 11 28ld stock white parchment paper to prove it.
I’m off to see the Avengers (again), I’ll assemble again next week.
Welcome to Foley Fridays “Karaoke”. Much like you going out with friends to sing sloppily otop hit pop songs once a month my friends and I will take a scene from a movie, remove all of the dialogue/sound effects (foley) and sloppily record our own live. No editing or mixing involved! No bouncing ball required!
When I work on set as a sound recordist my most hated scenes are any that feature extended bouts of kissing. Imagine the slopping, slurping and sucking of mouth against mouth and tongue against tongue magnified several times and up close. Take after take after take after take. It’s soul crushing. So when my friend approached me with his idea to do the food scene from 91/2 Weeks I felt it was time other people felt my pain.
It’s pretty awesome when someone you respect likes what you’re doing and when Michael Hurlbut came to me with this idea I wasn’t going to turn him down – plus he was beyond enthused to do it. Mike and I met at Ryerson University like many other members of Made By Other People. He’s made some epic short films since that time like Every Day Is Music and Waterbabies. His encyclopedia-like knowledge of film is beyond impressive and intimidating – a point I think that his posts (or should I say immense thesis essays) on this site more than proves.
I also wanted to mention that Mike expertly executed the acute impression of Mickey Rourke and the idea to have Mr. Rourke mumble the titles of other movies he’s been in was all his as well. Mike told me the inspiration came from the 6 months he spent living with him in Tibet – where Mickey never once uttered/gargled a word that wasn’t featured in a title of a movie he starred in.
I’ve recently come to realize how a fuck up during a take can make a scene even better. Now I’m not talking about the blooper reels you see at the end of Jackie Chan movies, I’m talking about a cough, stumbling on or repeating a line, a character tripping over themselves, over falling asleep on camera. All of the above have been edited into Rainbow Connection and have made the film that much more interesting/better. The real stuff. Like so many others, I was always about finding that perfect take, even if it meant shooting 7 takes of a wide master.
As a side note: That’s why it takes over 6 days for me to shoot a short film.
With a mistake comes something genuine. The actor is no longer acting, they are reacting to the moment. That, to me, is the most interesting thing about performances. Sometimes they react in character, sometimes they look at the camera and sometimes they stop and say “sorry”. But sometimes, just sometimes, they float somewhere in between, where you’re not quite sure if the mistake is intentional or not. Those are my favourites.
I actually started to think about incorporating flubs in the edit while we were filming. The original opening to Eugene’s first scene with his mother had him waking her up and lighting a smoke for her. Dylan (Eugene) was not familiar with using a lighter. The 3rd take in he burned himself and the moment/tone of the scene instantly changed. Even Deborah (Eugene’s mom) changed and for a slight moment you saw a side to her character that isn’t in the rest of the film. That one little fuck up showed more about her character and their relationship then the rest of the film. Ok maybe I’m stretching, but you learned a lot in a little bit of time, which too me is also key to filmmaking, especially shorts. When I was working with Patrick, who has autism, every take was a flub in a sense. Nothing would ever be the same and I had no idea what to expect one minute to the next. Some of Patrick’s reactions in the film were from me coaxing him, a lot came from exterior sources (ie. someone opening a door off screen) and some came from a place you and I know nothing about. No matter where they came from, they work. And although his reactions to certain scenarios may seem odd, they’re real.
This is what comes up when you search Auteur Filmmaker
Now that I’ve started to look at mistakes in a different light I’ve been going through all the footage again, keeping my eye out for gems. Vandewater may have found the ultimate fuck up/awesome moment the other day. I don’t even want to give it away. Leave it more as a Where’s Waldo type of thing. I don’t know how much more I can really say about this. It’s pretty straight forward, just be open as a director. Being stubborn or staying focused on making the movie you want, even if you don’t have it, doesn’t make you a auteur. It’s makes you an asshole.
