Planning for the role and shoot.

To get a better idea of my role I looked at what a typical sound recordist does and how I will incorporate this professionalism into my work and achieve the best from my role and plan for it.

I went on Skillset which is really useful and told me exactly what sound recordists do:

http://www.creativeskillset.org/tv/jobs/sound/

- Sound recordists work on set wether that's in a studio or out on location

- Work closely with the director and sound editor.

- Need to think creatively.

As the sound recordist I will be responsible for making sure the recording goes smoothly.

I will make sure that:

The sound levels are correct.

The sound is in sync.

The boom is picking up sound directly and clearly.

The zoom microphone is set up correctly.

I have sound lists and log sound as it's recorded.

I will also operate the boom and be listening to the sound live via headphones to ensure it sounds correct. By logging the sound it will help the editors pick the clearest sound. I created a sound list before we went to shoot so I could be certain of sounds we needed to record and it gave us time to find new sounds we didn't anticipate. 

You can see on my sound list I have included all the sounds and how long I will record each sound for. This ensures that we get enough sound to work with and use incase some of it isn't as clear as we hoped. I have planned time to record lots of sound for contingency. The equipment we will use is the same for each shot as we found this was the best way to record after doing various mic tests on the first day of shooting. Using a simple boom pole and zoom microphone set up we found that this was the easiest and simplest way to create good atmospheric sounds in Eleanors house. Using this sound list really helped make sure that we had recorded everything we needed and didn't leave anything out. We also recorded lots of audio and repeated the interview several times to make sure the sound was clear and ensure we were prepared for a contingency should something go wrong. 

Bordwell & Thomspon - Film art; an introduction.

Page 268 - Chapter 7.

I looked at this chapter when planning for my sound as I felt it was important to look into the importance of sound. I looked specifically at how sound directs our attention which is exactly what I need to do for my role. In this section it talks about how a door creaking will make us anticipate and expect that someone is entering and coming into the shot, however this could be different in the horror genre as we're more likely to anticipate something is wrong because the previous shot could be a character looking nervous. This shows that sound can work in any way you want it to to create a feeling or emotion. In my documentary I will take this into context as I record sound. For example, I can record a door opening which will anticipate someone coming into the shot. It really works with the footage and makes sense to the audience.