LO4: Creating and recording my foley and sound effects

 Evidence of creating sound effects:

When recording the Foley for my documentary, I used my room at home as it is dampened to the rest of the house. I set up my microphone and mic stand and connected it up to my laptop. Next I opened my Audacity application and got my materials/props I was going to use to make the Foley ready. In Audacity I was able to replay the sound effects as much as I wanted in order to chop and change the clips I used. I could also adjust the audio gain of my clips if they were too loud or too quiet. I opened up the draft of my film Astralite: A History (that I had uploaded to YouTube) to give me inspiration as to what sound effects to create and where to put them in my documentary. I also connected headphones to my computer so I could check the audio quality of my clips more easily and make sure they sounded dietetically accurate.

Equipment used to record creating Sound Effects:

Once I had recorded my first sound effect I rewatched my documentary back through and played my sound effect at the same time to see if they did match up with the existing diegesis. Once I was satisfied that they did, I saved and exported my sound effects in MP3 format and emailed them to my UTC Sheffield account to be edited there. I used my microphone with a cover on for my paper sound effects and for my coughing sound effect, this was to make it sound more muffled and subtle. For my metal effects I took my guard off to get a clearer sound effect.  

Evidence of recording sound effects:

Props used to create sound effects:

After filming the 'easier' sound effects of shuffling paper and coughing both of which were made naturally (paper with paper coughing with actually coughing) I had to think of objects to make metallic sound effects. I followed the same technique as I had earlier where I rewatched my documentary and thought of a place where a metallic sound effect could go and what it could sound like to match the diegesis. Eventually I recorded to different metallic sound effects. The first Foley effect was created by dropping a metal spoon from different angles and different heights next to my microphone. I replayed the effect each time in Audacity to check if it was the sound I wanted. I needed a sharp first hit followed by another softer hit so that I could later edit to sound like a heavier metal object being dropped. 

My second Foley technique took more inspiration still. For this effect I wanted a lighter or duller metal sound. I first tested a metal sharpener but it didn't match what I was looking for. Eventually I chose my metal chain that carries The One Ring. As the heavier ring hit my desk and was followed by the duller thud of the chain soon after. In post - I edited the audio gain and added a sharper pitch.