introducing The Sound Designer Driving into the city you see a railroad yard up ahead The trains are making a loud clanking sound as they move up and down the rails You can hear a metal scraping noise as the brakes start to bite on the wheels This is amazing You jump out of your car and grab your sound recording gear from the trunk This has made your day Sound designers are always on the lookout for new sounds When you watch a movie you may not really think about what you are hearing Obviously it is important to be able to hear what the characters are saying but what do sound designers do for the rest of the movie The answer is Plenty Every tiny sound every piece of music every monster’s roar has been found or created by the sound designer Great sounds are everywhere once you start to tune in 4
Love sound and the movies Have knowledge of the science of sound or acoustics A sound designer has to Be creative Be a good communicator Be able to work to deadlines Be organized Understand how to stay safe Understand sound recording and editing techniques Have excellent listening skills while working on set Cell Phone Movie School Try watching an action scene with the sound turned down Then turn the volume back up again and you will understand what a sound designer’s job involves The music the sound effects and the background noise all help to give the scene its drama and its setting The most important thing you can do as a sound designer is to make the right choice for the right sound at the right moment Ben Burtt 5
Sound Equipment When you first start out recording sound you won’t want to spend much money on equipment You can use the built-in microphone on your smartphone or camera at first Cell Phone Movie School A smartphone is a good cheap and portable way to record sound The main problem with using a smartphone or a point-and-shoot camera’s built-in microphone is that it is in your hand and not near the source of the sound As you move your camera around to get different shots the sound will change It also picks up other unwanted sounds such as road traffic You can get a much better sound recording if you use a separate microphone placed near the sound that you are recording Lavalier microphones or tie clip mics are worn on clothes or taped to the body They are a good way to record voices Some have to be attached to the camera by a cable but others are wireless 6
Shotgun microphones are directional That means they mainly pick up sound from directly in front of them This helps cut out any background noise They are often held over the head of the person who is speaking using a long pole known as a boom Do I Need Headphones It helps to wear headphones when you are recording Headphones help you listen to what your microphone is picking up It is surprising how much background noise you can miss if you don’t wear headphones Most cameras have a headphone socket Smartphones may need a headphone adaptor You can always make your own boom Simply duct-tape your microphone to a hockey stick broom handle or long paint roller As you progress you may want to use some special tools to mix your soundtrack together There are some smartphone apps available or you can use software on a computer 7
