Audio pro forma

1. Audio

2. Research- If you are unable to find your own examples, you can use the ones
below.
• The Archers (audio drama)
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qpgr/episodes/player
• Short Cuts (documentary/factual)
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mk3f8/episodes/player
• Lore (documentary/factual)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3RGz7Q_qlI
• Doctor Who (audio drama)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA50biqUB-8
• Soundscapes
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIUTO4gx5Eg
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JVm2IZ3ChU
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc5YHodcXpM
DELETE THIS SLIDE WHEN DONE

3. Existing Products Research
• The Archers
The episode I listened too involved a couple renewing there
wedding vowels. Although it’s a series, you cant see anything so
the creators have to embrace sound effects so the listener
instantly knows what’s happening. For example at the beginning
of the episode the generator stalled and you heard the sound it
made with the lights turning off and I instantly knew before any f
the dialogue from the characters that there was a generator that
just failed, and its important when recreating audio story's that
the sound effects are obvious and clear so the listener is fully
aware of what's happening.

4. Existing Products Research
• Dr Who – Audio Clip
This snippet from an episode of Dr Who plays some very intense
sounds with an effect over the dialogue of the characters to
show the danger of the situation and how powerful the Dr really
is. The different selection of sound effects for different moments
through out the clip make who ever is listening understand that
the Dr is punishing others for the harm they have caused and it’s
a good clip to use when planning for my own project as the
sounds were really effective for what they were used for and it’s
a good goal to use sound effects to create the same intensity in
my own project.

5. Existing Products Research
• Haunted House Soundscape
The video progressed from someone walking outside into them
walking into a haunted house. You heard sounds get more
intense as the audio progressed. What started as floor boards
creaking turned into intense sound effects playing till it calms
back down again with the outside ambience. Its important that
the sound used make who ever is listening more tense as they
make there way to the climax where loud sounds play until it
eventually calms down again along with the listener calming
down from the moment. Otherwise you fail the objective of
making the listener feel creeped out.

6. Ideas

7. Idea
Generation/Initial
Reaction
Theme
Target
Audience
Story
Sound Effect’s
Stressful
Scary/Horror
Creepy
Discomfort
Teenagers and
Young Adult’s
They don’t
make it out the
house alive
Someone wonders
into abandoned
house
Creepy things
happen causing
faster heartbeat
Mythical
Creatures
Young Child
Humming
Priority on
Age’s 14 to 16
Foot
steps
Both
Gender

8. Experiments

9. Foley
https://youtu.be/4cQufs3FifA

10. Foley
I used premier pro to put my audio clips in line with the video clip from
Shawn of the Dead. This meant I could gradually increase or decrease the
volume of some sounds, trim the clip and change how fast or slow the clip
lasted. Aspects such as changing the speed of the audio helped with effects
such as the gate opening as we couldn’t find anything squeaky enough to fit
the clip how we wanted it. It also allowed me to layer clips so I could have
multiple effects playing at once. This was useful when someone ran past
Shawn so I could have both the slow steps from Shawn inline with the man
that ran past Shawn on the way to the shop. Areas that I could have improved
on was the recording of the footsteps for inside the shop. For example as
Shawn gradually came to a stop to open the fridge, the sound effect from his
feet didn’t get slower or quieter like it should have sounded, however I'm
really happy with the outcome of the project.

11. Recording
We recorded in different places to get the audio clips the way we wanted
them. For example we went to one of the quieter stair cases in the college to
record indoor footsteps for when Shawn was walking around in the shop. We
also took advantage of the quiet area to record sound effects such as
coughing and sniffing as it was important to us that we had minimal amounts
of background noises interfering with what we wanted to record. We chose to
go to other location such as Tesco. This meant we could go to quiet isles in
the store to record sounds such as background music for the shop, opening
and closing freezer/fridge doors and rummaging around metal cans. We
considered recording this in the college shop however there was too many
people talking in the background for us to get clean audio recordings. We also
recorded outside of the college where the wasn’t any people to get audio
clips such as the outside walking and tripping, the gate sound effects and
someone running past.

12. Garage Band
https://soundcloud.com/user-953066571/garage-band-test-creepy-music-for-
college?si=922e51413234491a82c77c47ee772dcf

13. Garage Band
I used Garage Band on my MacBook to test making my own music clip and
since I already had some familiarity using it from using the software in high
school, I knew basic things such as lining up a note and how long I wanted it
to play for. I tried to go for a creepy sound playing at different pitches and
chose the Ghost Voice piano sound effect for that. And I used a drum kit in
the background to create the sound of a quiet heart beat to embrace the
uncomforting feeling I was aiming for. I also added a Noisy Plucked Synth
piano to quietly play in the background with the heart beat because the audio
felt too plain before. Considering I only know the basics or garage band and
struggle to make something I like the sound of in the software, however the
audio I managed to pull together turned out better than I expected.

14. Proposal
Working Title: Oldfield Avenue
Audience: I want to interest those who like to get creeped out. The most popular age
demographic for that is teenagers and young adults, and I want it to target both
genders rather than one.
Project Concept (approx. 200 words)
I want to make a soundscape as I believe I will find that the most fun and interesting to make, which
will also push my motivation to output something better. I want to theme it on someone exploring a
haunted house as there are many aspects I could choose to cover throughout my project and so my
options won’t be as limited allowing me to push my creative boundaries. I have learnt from past
projects that research is a key part and should not be skipped over. To try figure out what I need to
make mine good, I will analyse over other soundscapes to see what would be best fitting to make mine
as spooky and professional as I can make it. And I will also explore other horror stories, because even
though they won’t follow the same structure as mine, They will cover a similar theme and it’s an
opportunity to also get inspired for my own project too.

15. Planning

16. Story
I want to make a story based on someone daring decides to
explore a haunted house one evening. Once entering, everything
seems to be normal however as they progress through the
house, more and more weird things occur such as suspicious
sounds, clock chimes and what sounds like other people
speaking until things get really intense and they release one final
scream before silence again, suggesting they didn’t make it back
out of the haunted house.

17. Script (Soundscape)
A daring man decides to explore the local abandoned house on
Oldfield Avenue which people have claimed to be haunted for
years. In order to try prove a point he approaches the house with
a camcorder to prove that there is nothing haunted about this
house. It will begin with him approaching the house on a windy
evening where you can hear the wet grassy foot steps with leaf's
crunching. You can hear him shiver as he lets himself into the
house. After walking in, the door slams shut which startles the
man but he walks on trying to act confident Infront of his
camera. You hear the wind blowing against the house from the
inside as he wanders the ruined corridor’s where every step
causes a creak from the wood floor. Suddenly a loud bell clashes
as an old clock strikes 9pm in one of the surrounding rooms.

18. Script (Soundscape)
This causes the man to release a worried groan out of fright. His
foot steps become slower as his breathing increases. Not long
after the bell what sounds like a girl humming in the distance
plays calmly. This causes the man to fall backwards which make’s
the young girl giggle. Rummaging is then heard upstairs' as the
girl simultaneously continues to hum. Scratching is head on the
floor but its unclear where from, the girl starts laughing harder
now yet still humming in the background. The clock started to
chime again however it wasn’t stopping this time. And out of no
where a creature shrieks loudly rapidly heading towards the man
as he lets out a scream till silence strikes. Drops of blood can be
heard leaking from the man as the sounds gradually zone out to
signify the man was attacked and didn’t make it out alive.

19. Sound Effects
Sound Effect Needed How I Will Create the Sound
Walking outside I will walk along a field while also stepping
on some crunchy leaves
Crow I will try find a crow chirping outside one evening
Door Opening I will find a heavy door to open that’s creaky
Slow Breathing I will breath into my microphone
Camcorder Beeping Record the sound of a go pro recording
Wooden Floor Footsteps I will record me walking on a wooden floor at different
speeds for different moments in the project
Clock Chime Record Church Bell Chime’s
Heavy Breathing I will breath into my microphone
Young Girl Humming I will get my sister to hum away from the microphone

20. Sound Effects
Sound Effect Needed How I Will Create the Sound
Young Girl Giggling Will get my sister to giggle away from the
microphone
Falling onto wood I will record me falling on my back on a wood floor
Distance Rummaging Put my microphone outside the storage
room and
Shrieking Creature I will shriek into my microphone and edit
the audio to my liking
Young Girl Laughing More clear and obvious laugh than
before, also from my sister
Scratching Will will grind my nails against a rough
surface

21. Actors/Locations
Actor Role Location for recording
Alex Elsworth Sound Effect’s for Man Bedroom
Charlotte Elsworth Young Girl Kitchen (For a small echo)
Alex Elsworth Man Made Sounds (EG
Scratching Effect)
Local Field, Bedroom, Kitchen,
Hallway and Living Room
Alex Elsworth Shrieking Creature Bedroom

22. Resource List
Resource Owned/Cost What sound effect will it be
used for?
Rode NT USB Owned Capturing High Quality Audio
MacBook Pro Owned For Editing & Recording Onto
Premier Pro Software Owned For Importing Audio Clips Together
Garage Band Owned For Creating Sound Effect’s
Clock Owned For Clock Chiming Inside The
House
Go Pro Owned For Camcorder Beeping

23. Production

24. Daily Reflection 1
I spent today recording audio effects in college. I
recorded sounds such as walking along gravel,
walking indoors, falling sound effect’s and more.
I now know that I need to record some clips in
my free time as not everywhere was silent in
college and I did not have access to everything I
needed such as a creaky door. So that is
something I can work on tonight.

25. Daily Reflection 2
Today I tested different effects in premier pro. I
tired things such as reversing sound effects,
creating an echo, gradually altering the audio
gain and more in order to try and be more
creative during the editing process. Make what
was a mediocre sound effect more interesting
for the soundscape

26. Daily Reflection 3/4
I spent today placing the audio effects I had in
premier pro. I also download some audio clips
online as well to get sounds I was not able to
create myself. For example the pitch of my
younger sisters voice did not work with what I
wanted there for I searched online to find
something I believed to be more appropriate to
what I was wanting

27. Daily Reflection 3/4
In Premier I used some of the sound effects I
messed with on day 2 to try make it more
interesting. I ordered the effects to how I
wanted it when in the planning phase also
making use of having layers so I can play
multiple sound effects at the same time. Once
finished and tweaking it, I exported it and
uploaded to YouTube.

28. Evaluation

29. Research
• When I was creating my soundscape, I was able to reflect on other
soundscapes and similar themed audio projects that I had used to inspire
mine and analyse to make sure what I was creating was authentic to what
it needed to be. It allowed me to physically hear what would and would
not create fear and tension to who ever is listening and that was a good
way for me to prepare for the order in which sounds should be played and
the volume that it is played at. I often referred to back to what I had
gathered when creating my soundscape as it would help guide me when I
was unsure

30. Planning
• Unlike my last project where I found my planning was lacking as I believed
I had everything in my head and it just seemed so easy to produce a video
(where I soon found that I was wrong), I made sure to put more effort into
the planning of my audio project and It definitely paid off. When I was in
the production of my audio project and ever got confused or stuck. Every
time I could look back on my planning and I knew exactly where to
continue on from and made the production phase so much faster than it
would have been without the planning I had. Although my planning made
the production more clear, It still lacked in area’s. I used more sound
effects in the final piece than what I had on the effect list and the actor list
was also inaccurate. Although I did use them, I did not include everything
that I intended to originally because it did not sound as good as I planned.

31. Time Management
• My time management was much more consistent than the previous
project. It still was not perfect however did improve. The planning stage
was flawless. I completed it to a detail I was happy with to make my
project easier to create and at a pace fast enough to start production
when planned. I managed to record audio clips both inside and outside of
college when planned ready for when it came to the editing process
however when it came to the editing process and I put everything
together, I realised that I was not happy with the outcome of some of the
audio clips. This resulted in occasionally having to go back to record audio
clips and drop them into premier in the middle of the editing phase which
was delayed the planned pace of editing. However I was still able to create
something I was happy with, just at a more stressful pace towards the end.

32. Technical Qualities
• I used technical quality's to my advantage in premier to make audio clips
sound more accurate to how I wanted. I even spent time testing with the
audio clips seeing if I could make something unique that I was happier with. I
tried tactics such as reversing audio, creating an echo effect and gradually
increasing/decreasing the volume of audio and this was able to let me create
experience where you could tell the character was walking away from
something, or something was approaching the character. Having the ability to
tweak the audio like this was a huge advantage to my project. I did however
get carried away with messing around with audio which then crated messy
areas in my project that felt like they were there just because it sounded ‘cool’
and ended up going back and making things more basic because it fitted with
the story more. I used my phone to record the audio as it was something with
a decent microphone that I always had at hand. I also had the benefit of
airdropping audio clips to my MacBook which was much faster than having to
plug my phone in and fight with iTunes to recover audio file’s, leaving me more
time to spend in other areas and made recording one off audio clips in the
middle of editing less time consuming and stressful

33. Aural Qualities
• I was really happy with the outcome of my audio project. It is easy to
envision creating something that is unrealistic leading to disappointment
when you have your final piece however I think it is clear what is going on
at each point of my project and even leaves the audience questioning
what happened to the character walking through the house at the end.
Having access to high quality equipment both at home and in college
made the final piece feel more premium such as the audio quality and the
editing phase was also more speedy as I did not have to worry about lag in
the software. However I did use more clips from online than I would have
liked due to the limit of what sounds I could and could not make. In the
future I would dedicate much more time to creating the audio clips and
finding good compromises that I would be happy with so the project was
more home made.

34. Audience Appeal
• My target audience was set towards both genders with an age range of
young teen to young adult. This is because people at that age like the thrill
received from something scary and that made it important to create
suspense and solvable questions to get their minds thinking.
Discomforting sounds can create a twisted feeling in the audience and
loud sounds playing right after silence can also make them jump which
was the feeling I was aiming for. I believe I did a good job at reaching the
target audience by implementing those sounds into my project.