Repossessing Tim recce

This morning we drove out to our location at Wheal Maid. It was my first trip there and I didn't really know what to expect. Of course, I would have to listen to the sound of the place to get a first acoustic impression and decide whether there were any issues we should consider. My decision is to focus on the dialogue completely during the shoot and then build the whole soundscape in post. Because the sounds of the actual location (lots of wind, cockerel's, birds and the lapping of the water there) are not what we are looking for, it will be up to me to design, build up a library, and construct an emotive soundscape which fits the image and story.
Ed has also told me that he wants me to try and use the techniques I am studying in my dissertation and create sounds which replace music in order to add emotion, movement and comment on the scenes. It's one thing to look at how the master Andrei Tarkovsky does this, but quite a different task for me to attempt the same.

Tim wakes up in a tunnel which leads into the Wasteland. This tunnel represents Tim's rebirth and has therefore been named "the Vagina" by Ed and Jimmy. Now, since water is the element of birth and life, the sound of the tunnel will be similar to that of Stalker's Dry Tunnel. I imagine drips and drops, very Tarkovsky. I have the chance to play around with some reverbs here as well to enhance the mood.
The rest of the film is still a bit of a mystery, but I think I will be working a lot with wind and enhanced effects which emphasize Tim's insecurity at first and later his comfort within the Wasteland.

The crew is set, the cast almost sorted, the location is ours, and the shooting days fixed:  only two weeks left before the first shoot! Off to the studio tomorrow to check the acoustics and some ADR practice in the afternoon. Things are really starting to get going.

I am really excited about all the projects slowly moving out of preproduction and into production. I thought to myself today that I have picked the right films for my portfolio, they offer a lot of variety and I am looking forward to and enjoying each of them. Most of all I am loving my crews. Jamie from 2nd year and Reuben have joined my sound team and we had a wonderful 'mealting' the other night, eating burgers and going through Reuben's film, now under the name Diorama. The film is well on its way and we have much of the sound design figured out for the moment. Auditions for Clearwater Revival are next Friday and I hope we find some great actors for the parts.

I wish everyone a great 2012, I'll post my new years resolutions soon (a bit late) ;P