Sound and Audio Production

What this unit covers

This unit sits in the Film and Video Production strand of Photography and film. It mixes the technical side of sound with how sound works in films. The technical material covers microphones, recording and location work. The film material covers music, diegesis and sound design.

Start with the basics

Begin with the mind maps on Microphone polar patterns and 6 pickup patterns of microphones & when to use them. They show how a microphone responds at different angles. The mind map called Recording then moves to practice, such as placing a dynamic mic in front of a guitar amp and adding a second condenser mic further back. The flashcards Reverb and Microphones help you check the vocabulary.

Sound on set and in post

The flashcards Ch 16 Location Sound Techniques cover the small production sound team and the roles within it. After that, look at the decks on Foley, walla, synchronisation and dialogue replacement and modification. They explain how sound is created and fitted to picture after the shoot. The quizzes Live Sound Final and Audio Post Production let you test both sides.

Sound in film

The mind maps Film Music and Claudia Gorbman look at how music works in cinema, from the arrival of synchronised sound to the way music can intensify or connect moments. The two Hollywood Musicals maps cover diegetic, non-diegetic and metadiegetic sound. Case-study maps on A Quiet Place, Jurrasic Park and Mission Impossible show these ideas applied to specific films.

Using quizzes and maps together

Read a map first, then take a quiz without looking. Note what you missed, go back to the matching map or flashcard deck, and try again. The radio advert maps are useful if you are planning your own audio project.

Choose one topic from the list and work through it in this order, then build a map of your own.