Adding Sound.

Once I was happy with the overall storytelling from a visual perspective, I decided to focus on adding any, if applicable, sound effects and music. Honestly, I struggled to add sound effects or music to the project. I don’t consider myself to have the same relationship with audio that I do with visuals from a creative standpoint and as a result, I found myself in unfamiliar territory.

I started by trying to incorporate sound associated with the movement of the characters. An example is when Lights face is stretched from side to side. I used a sound balloon effect to emphasise how elastic the character could be.

My biggest issue was that because my environment was bare, it was difficult to suggest its atmosphere and associate environmental sounds. So, although I may have saved myself any concerns or issues with backgrounds from a visual perspective, I had inadvertently made matters more complicated for myself from an audio standpoint. I researched how other animators and filmmakers had combatted this issue. I noticed from the film that the sound incorporated isn’t just used after an action but during a movement. Considering this, I went through my animatic and decided to add sounds to the activity if necessary.

Adding sounds proved to be complicated. However, it made me think about what sounds could represent specific actions and how sound can suggest the presence or absence of movement in a shot. Only when I incorporated sound into the animatic did I realise the audio is as powerful a tool as visuals to suggest action and support/ structure the storytelling.

It was a strange predicament I found myself in because the pace and intensity of the story were evident without sound effects or music; however, once they were incorporated, the animatic needed slight refinement to ensure the sound and the visuals were harmonious with each other.

Regarding music, I found it challenging to find a piece that had a similar intensity rate and could help support the animatic. Additionally, as a contributor, I don't believe having an audio sequence throughout the entire project would be beneficial but having it within certain sections. I explored different variations of music but wanted a sound that reflected the visuals and the dark atmosphere. I ultimately found a dark ambience soundtrack which, at the moment, is a rough guide as to what music I want to be incorporated.

Reflecting on the process, I struggled with this part due to concentrating more on storytelling from a visual perspective rather than audio. Although I had an idea of what sound effects and music I wanted to incorporate into the project, it could have been more specific compared to the visuals. This conclusion is apparent within the animatic. However, I know this is an animatic, so accurate sound effects are not necessary at this stage.

Reference:

Vson8 (2022) Balance - animated short film (1989) Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFH6yRYOI54 (Accessed: 12/05/2023)