Bringing it all together: Animation, sound and music. Part 2
- Dan Evans
- Aug 29, 2023
- 2 min read
It was important for my lecturer, Matthew Gravelle, to look at my progress to identify any serious issues with my audio. As with the visuals, I was becoming desensitised to the audio track, therefore questioning my judgment. After viewing this first draft, we reviewed the entire film and noted areas of concern or needing improvement. The main issues concluded to be the following:
Some sound effects needed to be better edited, i.e. clicking noises from where a piece of audio had been cut were noticeable.
Depending on the circumstance, some sounds need to increase or decrease volume. An example is when a character runs towards the camera. My lecturer advised me to increase the volume in this instance.
Some sounds needed to be replaced as they needed to be more subtle and less cartoony. They did not fit the mood and tone of the film.
Two shots are to be removed from the film as they may have been considered difficult to read to an audience.
The cause as to why some audio may have been cut improperly may have been due to editing the audio without using headphones. I initially relied on my laptop speakers and did not notice these subtle but detrimental issues. Moving forward, I decided to edit my audio track using my headphones instead of a laptop, which ensured greater attention to detail.
Along with my lecturer notes, I scrolled through each audio piece and applied the following effects:
Denoiser - Removes any background white noise which may have been distracting.
Transition Crossfade - Blends audio to fade out instead of a clean cut.
My lecturers' feedback reassured me that I was heading in the right direction concerning the audio and visuals supporting and enhancing each other. Although I do not consider myself an audio editor, the audio needed to be equal to the visuals concerning quality.
Once I had resolved these issues, I continued to search for and produce additional sound effects, which I needed to complete. My skills and knowledge could only take me so far throughout this process. The rest of this process and the film's completion relied on my intuition.
However, regardless of the advice and suggestions others made, I realised I had to trust my capabilities and, more importantly, my judgement. Sometimes, as an animator and filmmaker, you must trust your instincts. This editing process was about believing in my abilities and gaining the confidence to produce the best possible standard of work.
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