Lesson 1: Why is audio important?

Objectives:

• Be able to identify examples of Amateur and Professional Audio

• Understand why Audio is at least 50% of your production planning and process

• Know how audiences respond to poor audio

• Use subject based terminology for sound elements

• Debate and explore literal and implied meaning of audio elements

Task 1

Compare the two examples below in class with your lecturer and join in class discussion on audio quality. Consider what is good and not so good about both examples

Embed the two videos in your BLOG and answer the questions below.

Task 2

In the short film below, Ben Osmo, Sound Recordist for Alien Covenant, talks about some interesting aspects of his job working with producer, Ridley Scott. I hope you find this interesting and start to see the work that goes into procuring good sound. In the last 30 seconds of this YouTube, Ben talks about what happens when sound is poor.

Watch the video in class; discuss the questions below; embed it in your BLOG, and use the outcome of the class discussion to answer the questions in your own words.

Identifying Sound Elements

Listen to the following Trailer with your lecturer without the visuals. Using the worksheet below, populate the left hand column with descriptions of what you can hear.

Repeat the exercise while watching the visuals and see if your answers are the same. 

Discuss outcomes as a class

Your lecturer will help you to understand the main audio elements you would expect to encounter in a cinematic movie, along with their purpose and meaning.

For example: If you hear Thunder in a movie; is it purely coincidental or is it there for another reason? 

By the end of this class you should be able to fill in all three rows of the worksheet below.  Complete this by next week and embed in your BLOG. This worksheet is available on Teams and Moodle.