Sound Story

In the past few days, we have been learning about the different types of sounds in film, such as diegetic sounds and non-diegetic sounds. My teacher assigned us a project where we have to create a film or storyline using only sounds and no visuals. I decided to work with my friend Ngoc on the project. We started planning and brainstorming an idea for our storyline. We came up with a storyline of running late for school and missing the bus. We started off the first scene as waking up late. To create this scene, we screen recorded the audio of the Apple alarm. However, me and my partner also wanted to layer the alarm sound with birds chirping to make it more realistic. We could also only use a maximum of five words in the recording, so I put a voice over of myself saying, “Oh my gosh!” We then created the rustle of a blanket by shoving around an actual blanket on a bed. Then, to create the sound of getting up from bed and running to the bathroom, I filmed a video of me rein-acting the actions in real life. Our next scene was the bathroom scene. We layered the sound of a bathroom vent in the background during the entire scene. We did this by recording a long audio of the bathroom vent and then adding it afterwards to the full video as a sound effect. To record the rest of the bathroom scene, I created the toilet scene by blowing water out of a straw and using a toilet flushing sound effect that I found online. Then, we mimicked the sound of teeth brushing by scraping two pieces of Velcro together. After the bathroom scene was the bedroom scene where we portrayed getting dressed or getting ready for school. We created the sounds of opening a drawer and a closet by also rein-acting those actions in real life. Furthermore, to make it even more realistic, we separately recorded the audio of zipping a jacket up and down to make it seem as if we were putting clothes on in the storyline. The next scene, scene 4, was the kitchen scene of eating breakfast. To portray the sound of pouring cereal, we poured bracelet beads into a bowl. In order to make it seem like we were eating the cereal, my partner crushed up popcorn to mimic the sound of chewing. The final and last scene was running out of the house to try and catch the bus. I used my house keys to make the scrambling sound while trying to lock the door. My partner recorded herself fidgeting with her house keyhole to create the sound of locking the actual door. I used two sound effects during this scene, a bus honk and birds chirping. The bus honk was to signal in the storyline that the bus was here. In addition, I made my friend record herself saying “WAIT!” and had her create the fast beating of a heartbeat after running to catch the bus and still missing it. 

To edit all these recordings and create one storyline, I used the editing app CapCut. At first, I tried using iMovie to edit the clips, but I found the app hard and confusing to use. As a result, I tried editing on the TikTok app because it has a built in version of CapCut. However, I also had difficulty using CapCut on the TikTok app and ended up just downloading the CapCut app to edit. This project was fun to do but we encountered many difficulties along the way. One of the biggest difficulties for me and my partner was trying to isolate the sounds from the background static noise. In some of our recordings, there was a static sound in the background that affected the overall audio. This issue was mainly prominent in our recordings that we did in school. Thus, in order to fix this, we decided that it would be better to film the sounds at home where it was a quieter environment. Thinking back, I would have bought a lavalier microphone or a clip on miniature microphone from Amazon to record the sounds. This would have allowed me to isolate the sounds without catching the background noises as much. Another difficulty that we encountered was that it was hard to transition some of the sounds from one sound to the next. In other words, when we transitioned from the bedroom scene to the kitchen scene, it sounded rough. It was obvious there was a cut in between the two scenes which we did not like. In order to fix this, we incorporated the sound of footsteps fading in and out to make the scenes connect. Thus, although we experienced a few difficulties along the way of creating the sound story, it was a fun project that allowed me and my partner to have a better understanding of the long and tedious process of being foley artists. We were able to experience what it was like being a foley artist and it certainly was a difficult but exciting process!

Sound Story

Sound Story Script

Scene 1: Waking up

0:00-0:12 Ringtone: Apple iPhone Alarm Sound

0:09-0:18 Birds Chirping (in the background)

0:12-0:14 Voice over: “Oh my gosh!”

0:14-0:15 Ruffle of blanket

0:15-0:19 Getting off of bed, putting on house slippers, and running downstairs to the bathroom

 

Scene 2: Bathroom

0:19-0:22 Opening bathroom door and turning on light switch + vent

0:21-0:44 Bathroom vent (layered sound/running in the background as background noise)

0:22-0:28 Using the toilet

0:29-0:34 Toilet flushing

0:34-0:41 Sink (turning on, letting it run, and turning off)

0:36-0:40 Brushing teeth

0:40-0:46 Gargling water/rising mouth

0:44-0:46 Bathroom vent and turning bathroom light off

0:47-0:50 Closing bathroom door

 

Scene 3: Bedroom/getting changed

0:50-0:52 Running back upstairs to bedroom

0:52-0:54 Opening bedroom door

0:55-0:56 Running quickly to dresser

0:56-0:59 Opening dresser/rummaging through it to get clothes

0:59-1:02 Opening closet to get jacket

1:02-1:06 Looking through closet and moving around hangers

1:06-1:08 Zipping jacket

1:08-1:11 Leaving room and heading to kitchen

Scene 4: Kitchen/Eating breakfast

1:11-1:12 Opening kitchen cabinet

1:12-1:15 Grabbing glass bowl and placing on top of counter

1:15-1:17 Grabbing utensils

1:17-1:24 Grabbing cereal bag, opening it, and pouring it into a bowl

1:24-1:27 Eating cereal

1:26-1:30 Drinking leftover milk from cereal

1:30-1:31 Placing bowl in the kitchen sink

 

Scene 5: Packing bookbag/getting ready to leave and missing the bus

1:31-1:32 Heading back to bedroom

1:32-1:33 Grabbing lanyard/keys

1:33-1:38 Opening backpack and packing notebooks

1:38-1:39 Bus honk, signaling that it is outside

1:39-1:42 Running to the front door, opening it to leave and scrambling to lock the door

1:40-1:47 Birds chirping in the background

1:42-1:52 Chasing after the bus that is already leaving the bus stop, out of breath and panting

1:44 “Wait!” – Missed the bus