audio research, planning and evaluation

1. Audio
Gemma Nicholls

2. Story
• Bodmin Jail, Bodmin
• Bodmin Jail was built by prisoners in the 18th
century on the order of Henry VIII. It now houses
a museum packed with artifacts about the jail’s
rich history.
• A ghost named Selina Wedge glides through the
jail in a dress at night. Selina was believed to have
killed her youngest son in exchange for marriage,
only to be jilted at the very end as the man didn’t
want her after all. It is said that her loud cries
echo through the walls.

3. Existing Products Research
• This clip of audio uses multiple layered sound effects to
completely immerse the listener into the surroundings of a
dark awake forest. This is done by many different
nocturnal creatures howling and rustling around like
crickets and owls. Along with ire music playing in a low
pitch slowly in the background. Further along you can hear
leaves being stepped on and monsters growls at different
distances giving an impression that the person walking is
not alone.

4. Existing Products Research
A quite place ( a movies ending scene)
• A quite place is a movie about mutated monsters who
have impaired eyesight but have extraordinary hearing.
The movie focuses on the sound aspect using the less is
more in some scenes to create a dramatic effect. You are
able to hear every foot print and rustle of leaves as they
have to make as little sound as possible. Soft music is used
this clip before the oncoming tragedy to create a false
sense of security, before no music is played at all as a
sense of loss.

5. Existing Products Research
The Bourne Ultimatum (fight scene)
This clip doesn't have any dialogue and relies heavily on
sounds to set the scene. It is an action scene full of loud
sounds like grunting, punches, kicking and smashing. Along
with loud heavy beat music to bring a fell of fast pace and
danger. You can hear breaths and footprints clearly and it is
very clear that the actor has some distress and anger at some
points. This close listening experience pulls the listener in
putting them in the actors footprints making them feel how
the writer intended during the scene.

6. Bibliography
1. . A quite place ( a movies ending
scene)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIrbkT-
1y5A
1. . Haunted forest
soundscapehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W
xu_WxO3suI
1. The Bourne Ultimatum (fight
scene)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLt7lXD
CHQ0

7. Proposal
Working Title: Bodmin Jail
Audience:
My target audience I am aiming my audio project towards is teenagers and adults. This would
appeal to there age range as they are more likely to seek thrilling and scary entertainment than
younger audiences . In more detail people who enjoy horror and haunted places would enjoy this
haunted ghost story. Along with people who enjoy history and factual stories. It will be directed
towards both genders and all social statuses as it doesn't effect the enjoyment of the story.
Project Concept (approx. 200 words)
The concept for my audio project is going to a factual ghost story in the setting of a podcast
reading. It will include dramatic aspects from edited in eerie sound effects to make the listeners
feel more involved in the story. The story will be a re-read of a true historical event making it
based on a true event, this making it more believable an more influential to my audiences. I will
be telling the story of how the ghost became a ghost in the first place and the tragic events up to
that.
The research that I would need to look at would need to be on ghost stories and what different
soundscapes have done to there audio to make it appealing and the after effects.

8. Planning

9. Idea Generation/Initial Reaction
• Haunted ghost story, a lot of easy to recognise sounds chains,
crying, laughing
• Jails, pubs, churches, forests
• Local stories :
-york dungeon
-york ghost walk
• out of york stories :
-Cornwall- Bodmin/ Bodmin beast/ Bodmin jail/ Bodmin moor
Charlotte Dymond
-Gisborough – churches/temples -black monk

10. Selina's story
• *sound of chains*
• Introduction “hello and welcome to ‘unfortunate’ the podcast where we tell you creepy, sad and scary stories of ghosts and ghouls who
where unfortunate and still haunt places till this day ”
• today we have another unfortunate story sent in, its from down south in a place called Bodmin Cornwall. It is of a women called selina a
ghost who haunts Bodmin jail. Now lets begin
• Selina was 28 years old ,poor and an unmarried mother with two illegitimate sons called henry and john aged two and six. Henry was
partially crippled and could hardly walk and due to her poverty and inability to get work whilst raising two small children she often had to
ask for permission to enter Launceston Workhouse, this was a very stigmatising thing for a woman to have to do at the time.
• Selina had claimed to be in a relationship with a former soldier named James Westwood although it is not thought that he was not the
father of the boys. According to James he had met Selina just twice previously, in December 1877 and again in March 1878. He had
written her a letter telling her that they could meet in Launceston on Saturday 22nd of June and then another telling her that he would be
unable to see her that day because of work. However on Friday the 21st June 1878 Selina and the children hitched a ride towards
Launceston with a local farmer.
• On Saturday morning Selina was recognised near Mowbray Park and by mid-day had reached the workhouse but by now only the older
child, John, was with her. She told her sister who was also an inmate and the work house master that henry had died at a village called
Altarnum. On the Saturday night John told the work house nurses that Selina had put Harry into a “pit” the work house master
questioned Selina about this on the Sunday morning and she told them that her boyfriend had taken Henry from her and drowned him in
a well on the Friday evening and threatened to kill her and John.
• Police where immediately called out and thy question selina and she repeated the story directly implying James in Harry's disappearance.
The police then went to search the area and discovered his body in three feet of water at the bottom of a 13 foot deep well shaft in
Mowbray Par.
• She confessed to someone at the work house that she had committed the murder in front of john and the police then took her into
custody She told one of the constables that James Westwood had persuaded her to kill Harry on the promise that he would marry her if
she did.
•

11. Selina's story
• She came to trial at Bodmin before the judgeon the 27th of July 1878 and the prosecution outlined the story above, calling the
workhouse staff as witnesses to the confession evidence and reading James Westwood’s letters out. James assured the court that he had
no ill feeling toward the children. She was found guilty by the judge and sentenced to death
• “Prisoner at the bar you have been found guilty upon evidence which it was impossible to resist, of throwing the body of your child, two
years old, down a well. That could only have been done with one intention”
• Selina was close to collapse on her last morning. Her terror at the thought of her execution is not hard to understand. It is unlikely that
she would have known about Marwood’s newly introduced method of hanging and probably expected that she would strangle at the end
of the rope in front of witnesses as most people previously had. Hers would be the first private execution at Bodmin and also the first to
employ the measured drop. William Marwood calculated her drop at eight feet.
• 7.15 on that morning until the end and she was reported to have sobbed on her last walk from the condemned cell. Selina’s last words
were “Lord deliver me from this miserable world”. She held a handkerchief in her hand during the execution although by this time would
not have been expected to drop it as the signal that she was ready. Marwood made the usual preparations and operated the lever
plummeting her down in front of the entrance to the tunnel where her lifeless body dangled for the next hour. After the formal inquest
she was buried within the prison grounds. The Liverpool Post newspaper reported that those who witnessed the hanging, including the
chaplain and the under sheriff of Cornwall were deeply affected by it. How they obtained this information is not stated. Their article also
stated that she “died without a struggle” so even the press had not realised the change Marwood had brought to the process of hanging
by this time
• Her ghost still haunts the prison and tries to reach out to small children and instil feelings of guilt and remorse on pregnant women. Mark
Rablin, the paranomalist at Bodmin, reports that children have been known to ask who the lady in the long dress crying was and that
pregnant women get very emotional on the 3rd and 4th floor. Selina’s ghost is seen as a full torso manifestation.

12. • *Into music*
• Hello welcome back to dark planet a place where all the weird, mysterious and paranormal come back to life for one night
only. Tonight I'm going to tell you about one story in particular, the story of Selina wedge. *eerie music*
• Selina Wedge, she was 28 years old, poor and a single women with two illegitimate children called John and Henry
*(murmurs of young children)*. Henry was a young partial cripple who was tragically killed by his mother. He was drowned
in a well *water /boy crying* in exchange for marriage with an ex military man called James Westwood, whom’st she had
fallen in love with, however this act ended up being a waste of time*(shattered glass (heart broken)* as the man didn’t
reciprocate her feelings and didn’t want her after all. *women crying*
• She was convicted (police sirens) guilty and prosecuted to death at Bodmin jail *jail doors closing*, shortly after the body of
henry was found in a well. a statement from the judge that convicted her states *judge hammer slamming down* “Prisoner
at the bar you have been found guilty upon evidence which it was impossible to resist, of throwing the body of your child, two
years old, down a well. That could only have been done with one intention” Selina was the first inmate to be hung privately
with the new system of measured drops for hangings of which Selina had an estimated drop of 8 ft. *hanging sound effect
pulling on a rope / dropping body*
• Her ghost still haunts *(women wailing sounds)* the prison to this very day and tries to reach out to small children and she
instil feelings of guilt and remorse upon pregnant women. Mark Rablin, the paranormalist at Bodmin, reports that children
have been known to ask who the lady in the long dress crying *(sobbing sounds)* was, also the fact that pregnant women
get very emotional on*(crying women)* the 3rd and 4th floor. As she glides through the jail *(chains and dragging clothes
sound)* at night in a dress; her loud cries echo (echo women wailing)* throughout the walls, grabbing the attention of
people who stay over night .
• *Jail doors closing / outro music*
Script

13. Script (without sound effects)
• Hello welcome back to dark planet a place where all the weird, mysterious and paranormal come
back to life for one night only. Tonight I'm going to tell you about one story in particular, the story of
Selina wedge.
• Selina Wedge, she was 28 years old, poor and a single women with two illegitimate children called
John and Henry. Henry was a young partial cripple who was tragically killed by his mother. He was
drowned in a well in exchange for marriage with an ex military man called James Westwood,
whom’st she had fallen in love with, however this act ended up being a waste of time as the man
didn’t reciprocate her feelings and didn’t want her after all.
• She was convicted guilty and prosecuted to death at Bodmin jail shortly after the body of henry was
found in a well. A statement from the judge that convicted her states “Prisoner at the bar you have
been found guilty upon evidence which was impossible to resist, of throwing the body of your child,
two years old, down a well. That could only have been done with one intention”
• -Selina was the first inmate to be hung privately with the new system of measured drops for
hangings of which Selina had an estimated drop of 8 ft.
• Her ghost still haunts the prison to this very day and tries to reach out to small children and instil
feelings of guilt and remorse upon pregnant women. Mark Rablin, the paranormalist at Bodmin jail,
reports that children have been known to ask who the lady in the long dress crying was, also the
fact that pregnant women get very emotional on the 3rd and 4th floor. As she glides through the
jail at night in a dress; her loud cries echo throughout the walls, grabbing the attention of people
who stay over night.

14. Sound Effects
Sound Effect Needed How I Will Create the Sound
Chains swaying/hitting Metal items clanging of things
Crying children Crying child
Female crying/ sobbing /wiling* Women crying
Rope rope
Body dropping Dropping something heavy on a pillow
Police sirens * A toy police car
Glass breaking* Smashing a glass object
Clothes dragging Heavy clothes dragging on floor
Water (walking/ dropping/splashing) Puddles of water /rain water

15. Resource List
Resource Owned/Cos
t
What sound effect will it be
used for?
Breaking glass £1-£2 Smashing glass
clothes own Dragging clothes
rope own Hanging sounds
Pillow/ bed own To drop stuff on to resemble a body
dropping
water own Sounds for well
Wooden blocks in echoed
environment
£2-£5 Judges gabble
Women crying Do own
however
depends
Selina wedge
Boy crying Own (baby
cousin)
Selinas children crying
Metal objects own Chains and jail doors closing

16. Music
Band Name Track Name Link
N/A Creepy ominous horror
suspense background
music
https://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=zclD93VnpEw&list=RDQMsdh
sMlOg7PE&index=29
I decided to keep one scary music track running all the way
through my audio project an use different sound effects to also
add some creepiness as it’s a ghost story style podcast.

17. Sound Effects
Sound Effect Needed Link
Police siren https://freesound.org/people/vlammenos
/sounds/52906/
women crying https://freesound.org/people/silversatyr/
sounds/113364/
Judge gabble https://freesound.org/people/qubodup/s
ounds/215164/
Glass smashing https://freesound.org/people/mgamabile
/sounds/440773/

18. Production

19. Daily Reflection Day 1
• For my first day producing my audio
project I stuck to gathering all of my
sound effects and story telling
audio. As this would make me
prepared for editing it all tomorrow
without having to run round and
collect more. Some sound effects I
thought Id need but couldn't’t
produce I went to free sound to
collect (a website that has a tone of
audio clips full of sound effects( like
a police siren. The day overall went
very well I got my brother to tell my
ghost story and I got a bunch of
different sound effects and a
background music track. I'm on
track for editing.

20. Daily Reflection Day 2
• On this day I spent my entire time editing in adobe audition.
I used the best clips out of the few I had taken to produce a
good quality ghost story podcast and for the sounds I
couldn't’t collect or weren't up to the quality I wanted, I
used sound effects from online. I fitted the sound effects to
the telling of my ghost story and added background music
and I think the final product turned out very well.

21. Daily Reflection 3
• This day was the last day of my product I finalised
everything and exported it. I also uploaded the
finished product to sound cloud. I am very happy
with how my production went I managed to add
some more effects like some sound effects only
coming out of one ear on occasion. Also fading in
and out with the background music and some
pieces of audio
• -final product - https://soundcloud.com/user-
140532084/ghost-story-mixdown

22. Evaluation

23. Research
• For my research I evaluated the use of sound-scaping in existing products
in things such as film and audio recordings. I wrote about how certain
lower tonnes can make them more dramatic or add more tension. Also
how close up noises of action or horror can invest the listener more and
but the listener in the protagonists shoes.
• This helped my product by helping me realise that I wanted to create a
factual horror podcast with creepy background sounds to make a eerie
effect for the listener.
• I managed to find a good few stories that I could have worked with
through my initial ideas. I would have improved my research by adding a
few more existing products. This would have given me more instead of
different ways I could have gone with my audio project it could have also
given me more creative ideas and I might have researched other stories.

24. Planning
• For planning I looked through my research and liked the idea of a creepy
ghost story so I came up with some initial ideas of what could base the
audio clip off.
• I good thing was I found a good story that I could use a range of creepy
sound effects for. Another was when creating my script that would be the
main audio through the clip I made sure to create 2 versions, one with the
sound effects so I would know where I would want them when editing and
a second one that would be read out loud by my brother. This is so he
would say it smoothly and with out pausing to much. This would help my
final product sound as normal and casual as possible and less robotic.
• One thing I wish I would have done better is looked through more music
for he background or recorded t myself. This would have given the final
product more depth as I could have used eerier music in some areas and
maybe just a quite background to build up more tension.

25. Time Management
• Did you manage your time well?
I think my time management was very good, as I spilt up my day to specific
tasks I was able to get things completed faster than I originally thought. I
dedicated one day to collecting all my audio and a day or so of my time to
editing my final project. Then as I finished earlier I was able to evaluate the
project faster then intended.
• Did you complete your project on time or would your products have
improved with additional time? What would you have done if you had
more time to produce your work?
I completed my project eelier then expected and I am happy with the
outcome. However, I think I would have benefited for a larger time span as
maybe I would have considered different ideas and added more and possibly
added extra detailed.

26. Technical Qualities
My audio project and the professional both have one main voice. However, a
difference is the professionals audio had multiple different tones to the
voices for different character. A difference is while mine only had the same
voice of the story teller with the only slight differences is the judge. Another
similarity in the two is that they both start with an introduction and the go
straight into the story.
I think my work is technically detailed and complicated enough as it includes
fades multiple levels of audio and sound effects that over lap with different
audio levels. I've also cut up audio in some areas and filled the gaps with
retakes.
I created my sound effects separately form my main audio at home with
multiple different pieces of household equipment for example rustling nails
in a box to create a dragging chain sound and added them in so they would
have better quality (a Foley method).

27. Aural Qualities
• Does your work sound good?
I think my work sound good and I was creative with how I gathered sounds effects
for different audio clips. I like how I layered different sounds over each other
when some where fading out and how the background music I picked worked well
the entire way through. However, it could have possibly been better with some
quite patches so you could just here the main audio of storytelling on its own. To
do this I would have had everything fade out for a few seconds then have it
gradually fade back in. This would be good to create more tension.
A strength I had was being able to collect a good amount of my audio and because
I collected multiple takes I was able to have a outcome I was happy with. A
weakness was I had never used the adobe audition before so I had to mess
around to try and figure out how to do different effects and edit clips. I was not
completely in the dark how ever as it was slightly like premier pro before hand.

28. Audience Appeal
• I have appealed to my target audience as I made a chilling story with realistic sound
effects that any person who like horrors would be into. The historical accuracy would
appeal to the teens and adults as children are to young to realise the full impact and
teen and adults would.
Fade out
Layered sound effects
Different volumes
Dramatic pauses
Louder
then
quieter
parts of a
clip being
heard
Only being
heard from
one ear
Main audio Background music