2. Initial Responses and Idea Generation
Log your initial thoughts regarding the set brief in this document
What stories could you use? How do you feel about the different potential
formats? What are the positives about this project? What could be some difficult
aspects? Etc
Use the format on this document to guide this response – some are set as a
question on one slide, but you should look to add further slides as necessary
3. Which stories have you researched and looked
as potential starting points?
• I looked into quite a few soundscapes as I plan to do a soundscape for my
final version. I found the Haunted House Soundscape by Katie Whelan on
YouTube, most helpful as it closely related to the idea I have for my own
soundscape.
• I also found the Doctor Who drama quite useful in research as it helped me
to imagine how to create noises that don’t exist. The Star Wars Millennium
Falcon ASMR also helped with this. It was helpful as I plan to make sounds
of my own that don’t exist such as ghosts and demonic figures.
4. Which research into existing products has been the
most useful? Includes examples and explanations
• I found a soundscape on YouTube by Katie Whelan most useful as it was of
a haunted house which closely relates to the soundscape I want to create
for my final piece. She used traditional horror sounds such as thunder and
creaking gates and doors to create the atmosphere and tension needed for
a horror soundscape, but she also used a lot of unusual sounds like
scraping on a wall to symbolise a demonic figure rather than traditional
ways such as lowering the pitch of a voiceover, to make the soundscape
unique and engaging.
5. Which production format [drama, narration,
etc] do you feel fits your idea best and why?
• I feel that a soundscape fits my idea best as it allows for the listener to
imagine the story they are in and make it their own rather than everything
being explained in detail, seen in dramas and narrations, leaving no room
for imagination in the story.
6. Which story have you settled on and why?
• I have settled on a soundscape of a character exploring an abandoned
building. This idea works best for me as it will be a great story for sound
effects as there will be a lot of variety in the story. I can use familiar sounds
such as creaking doors, gates and floor boards to ground the listener and
help them find their place in the story again but also leave parts with
unfamiliar sounds to allow the listener to veer off from the story to make it
their own and imagine what those sounds could/might be.
7. If you had to sell your story quickly, what is the
title and the logline?
• TITLE: Abandoned Building Soundscape
• Character is a ghost hunter and goes to explorer a building deep in the countryside. She’s
tipped about paranormal activity in the building by a fellow resident of the small village.
Upon going to investigate the abounded building, a thunderstorm moves over the small
village. Seeking shelter from the hail, the ghost hunter moves through the yard and into
the building. After exploring the building with no sighting of paranormal activity, a
strange noise grows louder from upstairs. In hopes of finding paranormal activity to
report, the ghost hunter makes her way upstairs to investigate when she is greeted by a
tall ominous figure. Bright red flames burst from within the figure as it raises its hand flat
in knife like position vibrating so fast the figure's hand appears as a blur. In single swift
jab the ghost explorer falls to the ground lifelessly.
8. What ideas have you had for sound effects,
narration and storytelling?
• I don’t plan to do any narration in my soundscape, I want it to be subjective
to every listener on how the imagine the scene to look like. I will only be
providing sound effects to guide them through the story.
• I will use sound effects such as creaking gates and door, thunder, hail, a
buzzing for vibrations, creaking floor boards, scraping and fire as main
parts of my soundscape.
9. Initial feelings…how do you feel about the
project currently?
• Initially I didn’t really like the idea of foley as I thought it could be quite dry
and I didn’t like the idea of narration. After our experiment foley project
and research into soundscapes, I’m feeling much better about this project
and hopefully my soundscape will be good because of this.
10. What other research do you think you need to
do?
• I think it could be useful to research into how to use audition effectively
and how to make sounds specific to a horror story. Sounds such as creaking
doors/gates, demonic voices, ghost sounds could all be useful sounds to
know how to make. I plan to have my antagonist use super fast vibrations
to kill the ghost hunter, this means I need to research into how to make
that kind of noise. My initial idea was to try create a helicopter type noise
and slightly speed It up and add some distortion but this could change after
I've done some research.
Editor's Notes
Think about creative and technical elements, it could be you like the idea of evoking a sense of place or you have the perfect person in mind as a narrator? Or are you keen to start writing a story and take it from there? Ideas and development are personal, try and get across where your idea is and what has got you to that point.
Add as many slides as needed from the work you did on Urban Legends, York Ghost stories and other inspirations you have considered. Which story have you gravitated toward and why?
Think about why this idea rather than any other…is it because it has the best scope for sfx, narration, etc. Reasons can be personal, but you need explain them.
A logline is a one sentence description or summary of the audio story. Loglines distill the important elements of your script/story—main character, setup, central conflict, antagonist—into a clear, concise teaser. The goal is to write a logline so enticing that it hooks the listener into your idea
Think about creative and technical elements here, it could be you like the idea of evoking a sense of place or you have the perfect person in mind as a narrator? Or are you keen to start writing a story and take it from there? Ideas and development are personal, try and get across where your idea is and what has got you to that point.
Consider pros and cons here, what are you excited about, what is a worry…
This could be audio recording, post-production, getting cast/narrator, etc…it might be just organising your idea into a workable project…