Blog written by Ann Michel and Phil Wilde, coprincipals, Insights International

A field production story

Back in the days before digital file recordings, back before camcorders, your field recording equipment consisted of a 20 pound video deck separated from a 10 pound video camera by a long thick cable. 

The mics were plugged directly into the deck.   Usually one had the luxury of working with a sound man (and in those days, alas,  they were mostly men) to monitor and run the sound side of the shoot. The camera operator stood apart, focusing on the picture.   

Our Big Problem

This arrangement works very well. Until the day someone neglects to attach the camera to the recording deck.   

When this happened to us, our once-in-a-lifetime interview with two famous glass sculptors speaking to each other for the first and only time ever consisted only of sound. 

Very good, clean, properly mic-ed sound, but no picture. Now what?

Our Solution

Fortunately, the two glass artists had plenty of artwork we could shoot after they left town.

In the finished show, we shot their sculptural works. We then cut back and forth, as if the sculptures were having a conversation. 

In this way, they "spoke" to each other quite well. 

Sound had saved the day.

Blog written by Ann Michel and Phil Wilde, coprincipals, Insights International

Why should you bother to create a sound track from scratch and mix together audio tracks into a sound track, a soundscape? 

Is it worth the effort? 

Sometimes less is more. 

What about silence? Try it.

Nothing challenges our busy brains more than to fill this silence, this void. 

A little silence can go a long way. 

Musicians know this. Without a rest note, there is no syncopation. Syncopation adds interest, as do many other musical forms. 

 

Go ahead. Get your viewers to work a little. 

Creating a good sound track requires great subtlety. And it is subtlety and nuance that separates competent, good work from great work.

Blog written by Ann Michel and Phil Wilde, coprincipals, Insights International

Is the sound you capture with your flipcam or your camera mic good enough?

Rarely. Why?

Because your ears are incredible filters.

Suppose you are out walking in a park. Your ears will pick out the sounds of birds chirping in the trees, but your mics will pick up the sounds of the cars driving by, the cell phone conversations nearby, your hand, the wind, somewhere a bird, and plenty of other ambient noise. And then mix it all up.

The mic lacks the benefit of your brain's audio filter. Your brain has said to you: those are birds out there. Tune in to only the bird sounds. Everything else is irrelevant.

So, to reproduce the soundscape of the park, the way your ears heard it, and your heart felt it, you go back to your studio. 

And then, you perform a myriad of fascinating manipulations to the sound – re-manufacturing and re-creating what your brain remembers hearing in the park. Sometimes, you end up starting from scratch and playing with sound effects, and music, and crazy digital sounds.
 
It's another world.

Mix, and re-mix. And re-mix. Then you will have a show.

Blog written by Ann Michel and Phil Wilde, coprincipals, Insights International

Which comes first, the picture or the sound?

For me, it is often a song or sound that catalyses a show. I love to edit to music. I love to find the rhythm and flow in images and their sequencing based on a great song.

In a production, finishing up the audio track is usually done last.

Many musicians scoring a soundtrack for you will require a "picture lock" version, a completed, edited show to work from.

This can leave you editing the picture with only your brain—and not your heart.

However, if you know and trust your collaborators, this reverse process can work.

Sometimes, you can get early versions of music to edit to, to set your moods and rhythms.

This creative exchange between editor and sound designer can be the best part of production, going back and forth, editing and mixing with your heart as well your brain.

Blog written by Ann Michel and Phil Wilde, principals, Insights International

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