Overall I think the project went fairly successfully considering the number of altercations throughout the project, such as not getting a picture lock date as agreed, at all!! and having to construct sound to image that wasn’t there or was not finished.
Through this project I learnt numerous skills and am able to understand all the elements in my learning outcomes more clearly.
In regards to my first learning outcome that stated learning the adaptive skills that I need as a sound designer in relation to animation, at first, I thought this was more focused to using DAW’s such as Pro Tools, editing foley, composing a soundtrack for the film and mixing the project. I’ve learnt and realised that there are a range of skills that are necessary to working in sound design, such as working with clients, this can be from agreeing on a picture lock date and making sure that this date is kept to. Keeping on track with work and deadlines, making sure all elements of the project are completed and performed to the best of their ability on time. Staying professional, always working with the client working to find new solutions to problems or any obstacles that disrupt production, as well as always retaining a professional standard when work can sometimes get irritating, for instance not having the files delivered to you in the wrong format, when the client is being unprofessional, not getting the files on the agreed time, miscommunication and the client not understanding the nature of your work and it’s processes, regardless of how many times you have explained it as well as negotiating terms with the director.
In regards to my second learning outcome addressing to learn enough about copyright to be able to understand it and describe how to distribute my work and be paid for it, I demonstrated an awareness and knowledge of copyright law by producing an End of User License Agreement which can be found on the license category, I also covered the use of publishing licenses and recording licenses as well as writing up a composers agreement which was signed by both me and the directors of the the individual films (satsuma and Guardian)
For learning outcome three it’s a bit different, as it states that I compare my work to that of a professional sound designer and composer which shall be judged by my tutor. Unfortunately due to factors that were out of my control in this project, my final project was unfinished visually on the behalf of the animation team, I had to construct the sonic landscape to a lot of visual elements within the project that were not even drawn yet, I did this by following my creative initiative, and following the cue sheet that was written for the synchronisation of sound. Due to the project being incomplete it is unable to compare it to a finished piece of work, and evaluate the fluidity of synchronisation. I personally believe that I have achieved this outcome as I managed to synchronise foley and sound to the on screen movement, as well as producing a soundtrack and performing a mix, within a limited time from delivery of the film, to the submission of this project. The audio within the project does not dither in quality and is consistent throughout the project.
For my fourth learning outcome I successfully constructed my own contracts and license agreements for the use of both my services and work in the industry, I will also be using these contracts for future reference when I am commissioned to compose or construct sound design on a following film. I know and understand how to sell the licenses to my work, as well as attaining copyright.
I know and understand the uses of PRS licensing for music and how it can benefit me as a composer, and how I can use it to avoid my work being taken without credit. I understand how I can earn royalty payments from the use of my work. I also have broadened my knowledge on licensing with MCPS when my music is duplicated, or synchronised and even PPL earning royalties through my music being used through music profiling companies.
And finally I have successfully broadened my knowledge on the production of sound design by researching various sound designers and their work in the industry, whilst adapting their techniques and applying them to my own recording processes through experimentation. I have also analysed the use of sound libraries for high quality audio that doesn’t have any bleeding atmospherics through them. I’ve looked at some of the software used to edit audio, and the techniques used for audio restoration and applied this to my own editing processes. I am aware of negotiating terms of production and idea’s and to ‘try something different’ in order to achieve what you want, in one instance of this project I found that I had to make something bad, to get something good, by using it to get the animation team talking about what they actually wanted their composition to sound like.
Throughout this project, there were many aspects which were out of my control, such as getting the final cuts sorted and the general production of the animation, making sure that the animation is up to the right specifications. Due to these factors my final project lacks the majority of the work and is left looking very bland with only the audio and music to give it character and definition.
Given a final cut of the picture lock (finished animation) I would have been able to perform all the duties required of syncing up all the sound to whats on screen as well as producing the mix to a high standard, so everything would fit a flow nicely and coherently.
What I would do differently.
If I were to do this project again one of the key things I would do differently is set a timeline with the director of the work to be done so that everything is kept on schedule, and that if it looks like picture lock may be delayed adjustments can be made between myself and the director, we can look at possibilities around this and further solutions to meet both submission deadlines.
Try and tie in our project submission dates together, so we’re both working to the same deadline, therefore no project submission should be unfinished by any means.
I had meetings with the animation teams roughly every fortnight, this was clearly not enough! have even more meetings where I can view the updates of the film and will know when to expect picture lock.
I would have more production meetings with the director showing them my timeline of work and when I can expect to have which parts done by, and if there are any delays on their behalf, I can tell them what I can substitute to keep to the project deadline whilst producing a finished piece of work.
Perform more primary research on sound designers, as in actually going and meeting sound designers and holding interviews and asking industry specific questions.
Keep to the written contract, after the contract has been signed, keep to it, if the client fails to produce the material agreed upon within the contract negotiate terms on how to amend.
On the contract that I wrote for Satsuma and Guardian I stated that the Final Cut should be delivered no later than the 25th of April, assuming that I received both projects that were completed on the 25th of April, I think I still would have struggled to have everything done in time for my project submission. So next time I would allow myself more time to synchronise all the sound, SFX and do the Final Mix.
Challenges.
There were many ongoing challenges throughout this project, most of which were working directly with the clients themselves and trying to get a) a date for picture lock and b) a copy of the animation. Because of the two different submission deadlines it’s hard for audio and animation to sync up, but in the early stages of the project, I stated when i would need the copy of the picture locked film so I would have enough time to work on it, of course the film never reached picture lock, so I had to sacrifice certain elements of the production process to make sure that I had a product ready for final submission.
Communicating with Satsuma, this was quite difficult as all the team member assumed the role of director, so there wasn’t any structure in the group, they were all just doing jobs … not set specific tasks and for a lot of their work they didn’t seem to know what they were doing or where they were aiming for. This caused a lot of confusion throughout the whole process and as I tried to establish a point of contact within the group, this apparently caused arguments within the team. Also as they all assumed the role as director when they all had different idea’s for how they wanted my work to progress, this would also cause a clash, especially when writing the music, they all had different idea’s for the music, which made my role even more troublesome, I over came this by composing a piece I know they didn’t want as mentioned to me by Philip Moroz and then when submitting that to them, they came together and agreed on what they DID want it to sound like.
Guardians director had many moments where she herself was very unprofessional, which made it quite hard to work with them, but I had to grit my teeth keep my professionalism and get on with it, not everyone in the industry is going to be so pleasant to work with after all.
Working with a unfinished rough cut that is missing a lot of visual elements for me to sync all the sound to whats happening from a visual perspective.
With the end of the project, I was working on the production side so much, with such little time left, I didn’t have enough time at the end to document everything in this blog, which have left area’s in the blog missing, but I still think overall it accurately demonstrates my knowledge and understanding of how to work as a professional in sound and music. Both in the studio and with clients.
Overall I’m happy with how I worked in this project, it opened my eyes to a lot skills that I’m acquiring as training professional, the project threw many obstacles my way which I had to figure out how to work around to still be able to produce I final project on time and I did so. I will also continue to work with both animation teams to finish their projects, not just for professionalism, but also to use in my own showreel of work.