Pre-shoot sound ideas

My role in the group is sound designer/editor.

Contrary to common belief my work actually starts while the film is in preproduction. It is important to read the script, and also collaborate with the director to decide what type of style is needed for this film.

For example, if the film was a horror, then I would need to get a multitude of special effects which would grip the viewer; door creaks, wind rushing through trees, of camera screams, etc...

The film we are producing, however, is a comedy. The planning doesn't stop there however as it is important to decide how much effect sound has on the audience. If the film is an in-your-face comedy (eg. the majority of children's films), then sound effects have a great importance. Boings, car horns, and squelches would be commonplace. However, if the comedy was very subtle with the humour coming from dialogue instead of visuals then the effects would be kept to a minimum. Our comedy choice would be from the latter.

During the shoot I need to stay on the ball constantly. If we film a scene and the audio isn't acceptable, then we would either have to re-shoot the scene which would be a great amount of extra work for all, or have to rerecord all the dialogue in post which would also be a considerable amount of work for the actors.

Also you have to keep in mind the boom; if you are doing an exterior shoot and the boom faces the wrong way then you could end up with quiet dialogue and a booming traffic sound. Lets not even get into the chance of the boom being visible in the shot (which unlike before cannot be fixed in post without some clever visual editing).

Again, after the shoot, the work doesn't stop. It is vital to get the correct atmosphere tracks to place under the dialogue so that the scenes don't sound choppy. Foley work is also essential so the correct bangs, steps, crunches, key drops, etc... which could not be captured on set can be added.

Many people see the sound-men as quite unimportant, but as you have just read, a massive amount of work has to be done. Whats important to remember is that if the sound isn't good enough, then the audience will notice. If the sound doesn't work then the audience *wont* notice, and will hopefully be more immersed.

Wish me luck.