Creative Computing 29/07/06Taking Cuebase to the movies:
Why does a PowerMac G5 with technically double the processing capability of my home PC seem to offer only half the functionality? It seems like every time I try to resize part of a screen, use a command function, or attempt anything that resembles standard operation I have to search for the Mac equivalent of whatever it is I feel should be a natural function. Can’t all these computer manufacturers just get along and make it easier for the consumer to cross platforms?
Anyway, I have successfully (after some aggressive hair loss) managed to sync a cheesy midi sequence to the ever so exciting movie we were given to work with this week. Once all my commands were sorted it was pretty straightforward and worked just like Christian said it would on Thursday. There is a strange timing issue at the beginning, which seems to resolve itself at the third bar so I’ll be seeking some clarification on that next week.
After painstakingly setting marker points at each screen change I discovered that one cannot resize the information column for the marker track. Therefore you need to scroll across the column to view your marker descriptions and then scroll back to click in the column for jumping to their locations – absolutely ridiculous, why even have the column there in the first place if it can’t serve the same functionality as the marker window?
I didn’t quite work out how the 25 frames per second counts out on the screen so I put my faith in the system once all the relevant indicators were showing the correct time and frame rate. It seems that we have entered the field at a time when it is becoming easier to create a film score that flows with the images on screen from a practical perspective. I shudder to think how difficult it must have been (and still is) to coax a performance out of a conventional orchestra that matches a films sporadic time code.
More on this subject in future weeks – hopefully with some MPEG examples on the blog……
Reference:Christian Haines. ‘MIDI and Movie Sequencing in Cuebase’. Lecture presented at the Electronic Music Unit, 4th floor, Schulz building, University of Adelaide University. 27/07/06.
Workshop and Forum 27/07/06
Listening Workshop 27/07/06:
Stephen Whittington, in the absence of David Harris, gave the group an informed insight into several categories:
1)
Program notes:
I may have been guilty of overshooting the word count in my program notes for last semesters’ projects. However, I was only aiming for the suggested word count provided in the instructions. I think overall my program note achieved the desired result but may have taken longer than the piece, if read slowly and carefully.
2)
Analysis:
Quoting the analysis instruction sheet given to students regarding semester one projects:
“Analyse your composition in detail (400 words). The analysis will detail: Musical and/or audio processing; Language understanding and usage; Aesthetic development and research; and Form and structure.
Quoting the paper regarding analysis handed out by Stephen Whittington at this weeks’ workshop:
“An analysis is not: a simple description of the work, or of the process of composition. A proper analysis requires synthesis of the materials derived from analysis into an overview of structure and form, and may also yield interpretative insight into the nature and significance (‘meaning’) of the work.”
Now I don’t know about the rest of my colleagues, but I feel that had the instruction sheet also contained the above quote from Stephen, I may have been better informed and come up with a more convincing analysis of my project. I do think I managed to follow all the instructions we were given though.
3)
Score:
My piece had a definable rhythm so I was able to get away with some conventional notation to some extent:
(Insert image)
I probably could have been more imaginative with this but as Stephen suggested, it needs to provide some insight into how the piece could be recreated on at least some level and I think there is enough information for that.
Forum 27/07/06:
Martin Armiger:
I was looking forward to Martins talk, due to my curiosity regarding film score composition. I’m not necessarily interested in pursuing a career in this field (it certainly seems to be no bed of roses) but I think there is a lot to be learned from the processes used by film composers.
Martin didn’t disappoint, with a dynamic and informative presentation that held my attention from start to finish. The Power-point slides he displayed were easily understandable and served to break down the compositional process for closer investigation. I didn't need to see all of that gratuitous scene from Tarantinos' Reservoir Dogs again though.
There has been a lot of focus on film music and sound in this first week of semester two, and it is helping me to develop an informed view of its’ function. Apart from the more subjective functions of the score, such as portraying on screen emotion and following the ‘arc’ of the story, I have never really thought about the difficulty of presenting the real-world sound onscreen with a desired level of realism. The amount of raw sound that must be gathered and manipulated in some cases is staggering. I guess I always thought you could just point the camera microphone at whatever and the result would be satisfactory. I was very wrong………
Reference:
Martin Armiger. "The Problem with Film Music". Artist talk presented at the Electronic Music Unit, EMU space, 5th floor, Schulz Building, University of Adelaide, 27/07/06.
Stephen Whittington. "Program note, Score and Analysis". Lecture presented at the Electronic Music Unit, EMU space, 5th floor, Schulz Building, University of Adelaide, 27/07/06.
Audio Arts 25/07/06
Audio Arts 25/07/06:
Sans analysis of short movie clip:
Diagetic sound:
00:00 | Chimney Stack | Diegetic sound | Off screen | objects | factory noise
00:01 | factory worker | Diegetic sound | on screen | object | shovel digging noise
00:05 | Street scene | Diegetic sound | on screen | objects | trams cars and pedestrians
00:12 | person climbing chimney stack ladder | Diegetic sound | on screen | objects | feet hitting ladder rungs, breathing
00:17 | industrial switch | Diegetic sound | on screen | objects | creaking metal, starting machinery
00:22 | machinery operating | Diegetic sound | on screen | objects | numerous spindles, engines etc
00:40 | sewing scene | Diegetic sound | on screen | objects | sewing machine spindle noise, manipulation of fabric | off screen | background chatter
00:50 | oiling pistons, machine maintenance | Diegetic sound | on screen | rhythmic pumping from pistons, metal on metal sound from spanner
Non - Diagetic sound:
00:01 | chimney stack | Non - Diegetic sound | off screen | objects | Narrators introduction
00:01 | chimney stack | Non - Diegetic sound | off screen | medium | Music
00:01 | chimney stack | Non - Diegetic sound | off screen | medium | environmental noise such as wind
00:05 | street scene | Non - Diegetic sound | off screen | medium | change in music
00:25 | chimney stack | Non - Diegetic sound | off screen | objects | Narrators commentary becomes more intense as the worker climbs higher up the chimney | medium | music builds in intensity also
