Rationale
This module forms an introduction to the key concepts, methodologies and techniques of audio postproduction for film. Building on the skills acquired in Production Sound (level 4), students will design a soundtrack for a short animated film extract using Soundtrack Pro software and applying level balancing, stereo imaging, equalization and reverb to tracks that they have imported and synchronised to picture. Their second practical project will require them to: shoot and edit a short film scene; synchronise direct sound recordings from the shoot; export from Final Cut Pro to a suitable digital audio workstation in order to clean up, sweeten and augment their recordings; and finally mix down to stereo before re-exporting the soundtrack back into Final Cut.
By the end of the module students will have a clear idea of the processes involved in putting a film through postproduction and should find themselves suitably equipped to record, edit and engineer the soundtracks for their own and each other’s films during the remainder of their studies and beyond.
A written exam will test students’ grasp of the theoretical and methodological content of the course.
Indicative Content
During the course of the term, students are taught how to bring a locked-off edit into postproduction for sound and how to creatively augment that same footage.
The module will include the following topics:
-
file import, export and management
-
audio sweetening and clean-up
-
equalisation
-
reverb and spatial imaging
-
digital signal processing (DSP)
-
‘Round tripping’ between Final Cut Pro and the digital audio workstation
-
waveform editing
-
dialogue editing
-
mixing down to stereo
-
postproduction tasks such as ADR, foley and sound effects re-recording.
A written exam ensures students are fully conversant with key technical and methodological aspects of audio postproduction.
Assessment
-
Sound Design Project, 1 minute, 40%
-
Audio Post Project, 1 – 2 minutes, 40%
-
Written Exam, 1 hour, 20