Sound Design

After music comes sound.

Sound design allows for dimension within any production and heightens its quality by a longshot. For my film opening, I will use sound to produce a realistic soundscape of a television set. In order to create this believable soundscape, it is essential to find good sound effects or create your own as foley. For this production in particular, I believe I will be focusing most of my time getting these sounds online since what I need is much more about creating an atmosphere than replicating a specific sound of an action or object. To be specific, here are examples of the sound effects I will need once I begin editing the film opening:

• Distant chattering
• Movement of the crew members on the set
• Old TV show opening sting

As you can see, these will be sounds to layer in the background and to give the impression of the set being alive and active right before they record. In other instances, such as Cole flipping through his work binder and Keith opening his flask, foley would probably be the best route to take to perfectly match the sounds they would make. All of these sounds I have just previously mentioned are diegetic, but there are also opportunities to implement nondiegetic sounds of dramatic and psychedelic cues to reinforce Keith’s lack of sobriety. With whichever sound I might need, I will have to have excellent sources to get them efficiently when it comes time to edit. Luckily, I have had some previous experience with various websites through my time researching and developing soundscapes in class.

Freesound

The home page of Freesound.

Freesound is a collaborative sound database with users across the globe uploading their own recorded sounds for millions to use. The benefits of downloading these homemade sounds versus from a professional library is the practically limitless amount and variety you can find by simply typing into a text box on the top right of the page. Each sound is specifically identified with a creative commons license, therefore I would be able to apply them into the film opening without any trouble. Here I’ll definitely be able to find any type of sound effect I might need, especially the harder ones such as the opening sting for the interview.

YouTube Audio Library

The search screen for the YouTube Audio Library.

The YouTube Audio Library is a service provided by the video platform YouTube to its content creators to access a feed of free sound effects and music that they can use within their videos. The advantage of this service is that the sounds are all high quality and that it has a vast library to choose from. Each sound is extremely easy to extract, with a simple download button to its right side that instantly installs without any hassle. All sounds are explicitly indicated as free on the pages subheading, so this will also not be a problematic source. The YouTube Audio Library will be great to use for creating the sense of movement on the set, whether it is footsteps on the floor or a crowd talking.

Conclusion

With two useful sound sources that each have their own respective uses, I am going to be ready to make a convincing and dynamic soundscape to make this film opening more alive.