"By manipulating what you hear and how you hear it — and what other things you don't hear — you can not only help tell the story, you can help the audience get into the mind of the character."  - Walter Murch, Apocalypse Now editor

There is no understating the importance of good sound quality in a film. Anything less distracts your audience and instantly lowers the quality of your film, no matter how much you've invested in the quality of the picture. Good quality sound engages your audience for longer, enhances your video and enriches your narrative.

This developed weekend course will give you a practical understanding of post-production audio. It will also improve your attention to sound in the planning and production stages. You’ll learn how to adapt your audio design strategies for bad takes, and how to work on your own mix to get your films sounding great. Get insights on location sound recording and improve your awareness of how best to capture audio for post-production. At the end of the weekend you’ll walk away with a solid foundation and understanding of sound design for the moving image.

You are encouraged to bring along a project you are working on if there is something specific you would like to address. 

COURSE OUTLINE

Day 1 - Morning

• An introduction with examples on the many roles sound has in film and how its correct use can enhance your story and transform your film.
• Discussing software essentials. Discussing the workflow. What do you need from the editor? How to approach the sound edit? Organising your session.
• Sound edit basics: Crossfades, inaudible clicks, noise reduction and more.

Day 1 - Afternoon

• Practical exercise: Sound edit
• EQ’s. What are filters?
• Dialogue editing: Noise reduction. Mixing different mics. Dealing with bad recordings. Compression.
• Atmos and Wild Tracks

Day 2 - Morning

• Sound design. Foley. Diegetic and non-diegetic sound.
• Practical exercise
• Voiceover and ADR

Day 2 - Afternoon

• Music. When is it necessary? Copyright. How to mix it in.
• Track Laying / Dubmix
• Practical Exercise. Answering specific questions about projects.

NOTE: Due to time restrictions, the course does not cover teaching a particular software. Basic guidance will be given for the software you have chosen to use for the course. 

Also in the Joel Cahen series, A Practical Introduction to Location Sound: Recording & Mixing. Book both courses and receive a 20% discount on the regular fees! For more details email workshops@lfs.org.uk.