AUDIO DESIGN!!!!! + special editing tid bits (Portfolio Project #23)

Glorp, you will never ever know how deep my passion for good audio design is. It makes or breaks a video. Audio is so personal for me. No two people will edit audio the same, or use the same sounds-- especially not when they get creative with it. 

MUSIC!!!!

Personally, I listen to a lot of jazz and ambient music since it helps me focus. And often- I place lofi or jazz in the background of my videos just because I like it. It gives me and my videos a distinct sound. Though I'd like the film to have a different sound from mine. 

Kind of like in Steven Universe, each character has a different genre dedicated to them. The video below is an example, listen to how the soundtrack changes as the fight focuses on different characters. For example, from 2:22 to 2:48, the soundtrack changes from an elegant piano to a childish 8-bit style to represent each character. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JidMrhvEs5Y

Despite these changes in instruments, the show as a whole has a very unique (and iconic) musical sound. Soundtracks throughout the show sound coherent, and (believe it or not) like they come from the same show. 

I tried to replicate this in my music, but the film is too short to properly establish a sound motif for Melia and Dahila. Well, no, that's wrong. I'm not experienced or skilled enough to be capable of creating a motif for each character. So, after a while of listening through several tracks, I decided that indie pop and indie rock is the genre that best fits the film. Of course, the score match the mood of the scene. 

Epidemic sound has a feature where you can alter a soundtrack with A.I. I used this tool to make the concluding soundtrack go from reflective and quiet to happy. Here's my timeline below, where I merged the three audio tracks together. 

I did a similar thing when transitioning the soundtrack between the scene where Dahlia is in her bedroom after the party and where the montage begins. Except, the transition is in-between two completely diffrent songs. This worked because the end of the song sounded as if it was building up to the start of the other song, so the transition felt smooth despite being in two diffrent keys, having distinct BPMs, and completely diffrent vibes.

SPECIAL EFFECTS

I call this one "The window"

We filmed a shot of it raining outdoors, but I really REALLY hated this shot. It was shaky and over exposed. Just, ew. So, instead I added a rain overly to a shot of the window on a sunny day. The layer labeled 1 is the masked out plants and trophies on the windowsill, layer 2 is that masked out window frame and wall, layer 3 is a video of rain with a black background set to the blend mode "Screen", and finally layer 5 is color correcting so the lights looks more like a rainy day. To make the rain feel more natural I also added a rain sound effect which plays throughout the scene, that is the audio track labeled 4.

I call this one "Ohhh crap I need to conceal this 

sensitive information before I accidently post it online"

I really don't want strangers on the internet seeing my mom's license plate, and while filming, I didn't realize it was in frame. So I also blurred it out using After Effect's motion tracking feature. It's not noticeable nor disturbs the scene, so I don't even think most people noticed.

The red squares in this image are part of After Effects motion tracking feature.

I call this one the "ugh I really don't want to use after effects for this"

I made the text for the montage completely in Premiere Pro by downloading the text from Canva (Canva was the only place I chould access our brand's font) and animating the numbers with the "Roll" transition preset. I saved them as a sub sequence so I could edit all the numbers at once. Then, to make the numbers look like they rotate, I added the "Lens Distortion" effect and masked it so the numbers would fade in below the "day" text.

I'm really proud of this because I usually work inside After Effects for graphics, but I tried something new, and what do you know? It was both easier and quicker!

Uhhh, I don't have much else to talk about editing wise. I'm proud of my work tho! I mean just look at this timeline!

Hubba hubba! 😍