WEEK 10
This week I worked on my final graduate film project, ‘A Silent Dance’, as a sound recordist.
On the first day of shooting my call time was 11am, this is when I arrived at ECA (where we were filming in the TV studio) and began setting up the sound equipment which had been booked for me. My main task was setting up the mixer by formatting time SD card inside and creating file and folder names to keep track of the day of shooting, scene and shot numbers, and take numbers – all of which I had been taught how to do by Carlos during my work on ‘Waiting for Marcus’. I also took some time here to get comfortable with the microphone and understand where got the most input on the surface, this being the sides as it was a stereo mic.
This project was heavily focused on visuals, as well as being filmed on a built set, so a lot of set up time was needed for the art and camera departments. This meant that initially, there was a lot of downtime for me. Over the course of the filming days the 1st AD changed our schedule to reflect this however, meaning I arrived just before setup was completed and could take 10 minutes to get ready before beginning to shoot.
As previously stated, there was no dialogue in the script, so I mainly focused on recording ambient sound. This was a bit of a challenge as we were filming in the art college during class time, so there was a fair bit of noise coming from elsewhere in the building (chairs being moved, groups of people walking around). This meant that we often had to do multiple takes to get clear sound.
I also asked Fliss for time to record wild tracks of sound from the film to give her options, something which she provided me with and worked with me to capture. These included the sounds of soup cans being knocked over, heavy breathing, footsteps, and giggling.
Some occasional shots of the film did not need any sound in them, so during this time I made myself available to help in other departments. On our third day of filming the art department were preparing large sheets in a brick wall pattern to decorate the stage flats with for “exterior” shots, so I assisted them by peeling off tape which they had painted over as well as helping them attach adhesive to the back off the sheets.
I also briefly helped in the camera department by assisting with lense changes and operating lights during a scene which was meant to feature a pulse from one colour to another.
Deconstructing and storing my kit at the end of shooting days was generally a very minimal task, so I did my best to help camera and lighting with moving their equipment. I also made sure to provide Fliss with the SD card from the mixer every afternoon to allow her to transfer the sound to her laptop.
