Inspiration

With thoughts of how the final product will look and sound I have been exploring some similar videos and ideas relating to the capture of soundtracks.

I will be experimenting shortly with a point of view video camera, microphones that are able to capture binaural sounds and microphones that are able to capture sound in 3 dimensions. The latter will be one of the main components in the creation of the final piece. (This piece of equipment has been booked for late December & early January. Test recordings will follow thereafter).

In the coming days I will be posting some 'rough sketches' of how the end product will look and sound. The following videos demonstrate the techniques used and a flavour of how the product will look.

This video describes the techniques for the capture of ambient sound sources in the movie "Australia'. Supervising sound editor Wayne Pashley and Location Sound Engineer Guntis Sics both use the 'Soundfield ST350' microphone to capture everything from wind storms to stampeding horses. This microphone is capable of producing b-format signals that allow the user to manipulate the audio in a multitude of ways after the audio has been recorded. The 'Soundfield ST350' will be one of the microphones employed in my recordings.



What particularly inspires me is the way in which Wayne Pashley is able to capture what he describes as 'actuality in surround' using a single microphone and portable digital recorder in the remotest of environments. In a related article he discusses how this approach is far less intrusive than that of a larger sound recording crew and in fact more versatile. For me the idea of being able to capture sounds using these techniques is ideal as some of my recording will take place in mountain environments. These techniques will allow me to capture versatile recordings in remote locations using minimal equipment.

A link to the article mentioned above can be found here

To capture the video for the project I have decided to use a 'GoPro' helmet mounted camera similar to this one

With the project idea centered around the concept of using 3-D sound to enhance the audio visual experience, I wanted to create a first person view of the environment/activity and use the accompanying audio to give the viewer further cues that would help establish movement, positional, height and environmental information.

This video shows the type of footage that I intend to capture. It relates closely to my project in that it features, motocross, snowboarding and skateboarding. Rather than the accompanying soundtrack being music, my product will feature only natural ambience.



If I add a natural ambient soundtrack to my movies that has been recorded using these techniques, then it is hoped that:

a) The viewer/listener will feel immersed in the action
b) As a result of being immersed in the action the viewing/listening experience will be enhanced
c) The recorded audio can be manipulated and presented in a variety of formats that suit a range of purposes.