Sound Solution for the Canon EOS 5D MkII

I've been discussing with film-making friends today, the possibilities of recording a short film using the Canon EOS 5D MKII. Of course, alarm bells for me ring when considering how to record sound with the camera being as it is a stills camera. It can record onboard sound and has a 3.5mm jack input for connecting an external mic or break out box, but the camera offers no gain control and so would add auto gain to your incoming audio - not good! A bit of internet research led me to this video - which ironically has slightly ropey sound - but is no less a great tutorial on using an external device such as the Zoom H4N with the camera. I would be looking to employ my Fostex FR2-LE with the camera if possible, but I guess you would just substitute the Zoom out for that.

Advanced Sound for DSLR's from Steve Weiss, Zacuto USA on Vimeo.

Pod Farm Plug in FREE! for 10 more days......

Line 6 are giving away their Pod Farm tone plug-in for Pro Tools fro free (retails at $99) until the end of September! Ilok required for license deposit of course......

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Watchmen

1'50".

One hour and fifty minutes.

110 minutes.

6600 seconds.

Is the point in Watchmen on Sunday night when I pressed stop on my DVD player, ready to return to the film the next day. I was really enjoying the film to this point; I spent the whole day telling everyone how great I thought it was and couldn't see why it had got such bad press. Then I went home and watched the rest of it.

And........

The last hour of Watchmen is very dissapointing. The climax is rushed. It has some ropey CGI (namely in the form of a wierd tiger creature with funny horns and a sequence on Mars) and its just well, all a bit corny. Which is a total shame, as up until 1 hour and 50 minutes in I was really enjoying it!

I have to admit I'm completely not a comic book fan - I love Akira and I do enjoy comic book film adaptations, but I have never read Watchmen or many other grapic novels, so cannot approach this film with the same level of critique as its many fans have, who lovingly refer to the originals as 'The Citizen Kane of graphic novels'. But that doesn't matter in this case, as I'm not reviewing the story and comparing it with the graphic novel. I'm reviewing the sound. And the sound is... AWESOME.

I was immediately blown away. The film starts with a bang, as one of the original 'minute men' (a band of masked superheroes) is brutally murdered in his apartment by a cloaked assailant. The editing is incredible; we feel every punch, hear every twinkling crash of smashed glass - nothing is missed. The intricucies of the sound design and mix, to allow each element to punch through and be recognised is unbelievable - unsurprising really considering the amount of talent involved in the soundtrack production.

Taking the helm of supervising sound editor duties was Scott Hecker, alongside Eric Norris as sound designer, Frank Montano as FX re-recording mixer and dialogue and music re-recording mixer Chris Jenkins. Director Zack Snyder worked with this team on his remake of Dawn of the Dead, so the crew already had a great relationship in preperation for the mammouth task of creating the odd-worldy view the Watchmen story takes of our planets history. Hecker had this to say about working along side Snyder:

“Zack's approach is the most liberating that any person working in sound could
ask for, because basically he hands you the ball and says run with it and make
it as beautiful, spectacular, vibrant, colorful, exciting, violent — all those
adjectives — as you can. He really trusts us, which is great, and it actually
started on Dawn of the Dead. But this film has everything in it, from love
scenes to prison riots, wars, Antarctica, Vietnam, an atomic bomb, film noir
Mickey Spillane-type detective storytelling; it's amazing to sit back and watch
it.”

The trust given to the sound team certainly shows in the mix. The fx perfectly flit round the surrounds, and the focus of the spots and foley remain firmly on the action. The screen is never cluttered with FX, and each scene is lovingly crafted to drive the often dark narrative. In terms of sound design, Watchmen is again on to a winner. The LFE kicks in perfectly, worlds are created and given depth through careful selection and manipulation of synth based and organic fx, to create truely unique sounds. The incredible amount of work and care and attention shines through, and each character has clearly been intensely designed to perfection. Heres an extract of Hecker talking about the design for Dr.Manhattan in Mix magazine:

“He's tortured and conflicted and he has human emotions, but he's trapped in
this god-like [form], so we tried to articulate his feelings with various
different sounds that would convey his emotions, whether they be happy, sad or
angry.” Among the sounds that were used for the character were moaning whales.
“But I hate to even say that,” Hecker continues, “because I don't want people
sitting there listening for whale sounds. They've been worked with, modulated
and pitched and whatnot, and it's very subtle. I don't want the audience
thinking about it; you want them to tune into the emotional quality you're going
for throughout the film.”

So from a sound point of view Watchmen comes highly recommended - its just a shame the film couldn't deliver the electricity of the first 1 hour and 50 minutes through to the end.

Snow Leopard

Snow leopard is here! I'm literally chomping at the bit to install it, but am of course worried that Digidesign is yet to clear it with Pro Tools and it will cause my a world of pain. I'm usually the last to upgrade my OS (past disasters of friends at University involved them killing months of work by upgrading their mac a week before their final hand in - ouch!), but have been handed hope in the form of the above video which was posted on PT Dudes. It seems to be running fine, so for once I may just give it a spin and see how it goes - armed with a copy of Carbon Copy Cloner so I can make a full back image of my current OS to easily restore if its a world of pain! I shall bring you updates when I take the plunge.........

Audioease Impulse Response Downloads

I was answering a question over on Pro Tools Users today regarding TL Space, and while quickly posting some links to some IR's, I discovered a ton of free downloads on the Audioease website that are missing from my own collection! This is evident in the post pro IR's, with all sorts of fun to be had with Bus tunnels and 25 more domestic rooms! Get downloading here.

Antibodies

Antibodies was released in 2005, and put the German filmmaker Christian Alvart firmly on the map. With the imminent release of his latest work Pandorum and a English language remake of Antibodies in the pipeline, I felt it about the right time to look back at this excellent film.

The picture focuses on full-time farmer and part-time cop Michael Martens, whose life has been engulfed with finding the murderer of viciously slain local girl Lucia Flieder. When pedophiliac serial killer Gabriel Engel is captured in an explosive opening scene, Michael should be able to rest easily when he is linked to the area at the time of the death. But he cannot let it rest until he has spoken to the murderer in person, and once Engel has wormed his way into Martens fragile psyche, his life and family begin to unravel.

The film plays within an childlike state; the picture is graded with deep yellow and green hues, giving it an out wordly juxtaposition with the darker elements of the story. The sound complements this superbly, with fantastic foley work, deep throbbing synth lines and low end rumbles. The opening scene is dynamic, as the police web accidently closes in on Engel, who is murdering his final victim. The soundtrack plays the mood just right spinning and crashing around the soundscape, with just the right amount of silence - an important tool in shocking your audience. This theme continues throughout the film, with sound designer Michael Hinreiner playing his cards expertly in terms of mood and the reflection of Martens psyche as the story twists and turns.

If I have one criticism, it is that the choice of reverb often used does not reflect the shape of the environment it is occurring in. This is particularly evident in a flashback scene where there is a rapid delay on Martens footsteps across a forest floor - somewhat similar of the ropey mix in the original Friday the 13th movie. This may have been a narrative decision, but to me it just sounded odd.

All in all Antibodies is a magnificent film (minus the animals - you'll know what I mean when you watch it!), and Alvart is a director with a huge future. I'm looking forward to Pandorum with great expectations - its released here in the UK on September 18th, so expect a review in the coming weeks. Until then, heres the trailer for you to enjoy.