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SUN TOWN (2019) - RUN TIME : 9:45 -

DIRECTOR KIERAN PANCHAL

DOP KRISTIJONAS GRIGONIS

PRODUCER ROBERT BROOK

EDITOR JOSHUA MANLEY

SOUND RECORDIST JACK HOUNSELL

THE FINISHED DOCUMENTARY. PLEASE VIEW IN 4K FULLSCREEN.

REFER TO BELOW POST ON HOW TO NAVIGATE THIS BLOG.

USE NAVIGATION ON LEFT HAND SIDE OF SCREEN TO VIEW SECTIONS OF THE BLOG. THIS FRONT PAGE SHOULD BE USED TO VIEW THE FULL DOCUMENTARY ONLY.

Audio Syncing/External Dubbing Mixer and Soundtrack

The process of post-production for this project took place over the course of the 3 weeks after we returned from our final Norway trip, up until the deadline of May 1st. During this time the editor and director spent their time with the visual side of post, and I took control of the audio.

During this phase, we decided as a group to outsource the production of the soundtrack and dubbing mix. This choice was made for a few reasons. My lack of experience with both these skills, and wanting to keep as professional a workflow as possible.

The director and I liased with Joe to produce the soundtrack - this was created bespoke for our edit, and there was a constant line of communication between him and our director during the creative edit. The tracks themselves can be found at the soundcloud link below:

https://soundcloud.com/user-899382237-633729440/sets/sun-town-final-score

These bespoke tracks elevate the film to a new level of professionalism, and help with the flow of the documentary immensely.

Fred Pearson is a freelance dubbing mixer who was recommended to us by Joe. Over the course of the post production phase, the director and I spoke a lot to Fred, giving him clear instructions on how to proceed with the mix.

Before he could work on said mix, I had to line up the boom/lavalier/camera audio for every shot in the final cut of the documentary. Alongside this, I had to include all the relevant ambient audio, and sync up the soundtrack as well. I did this in my chosen audio editing software, Logic Pro X. This was an intense process, as all the audio had to be lined up perfectly with the visuals. I also created some simple fade ins/outs to assist with mixing process, and to give creative guidance to Fred on how we wanted the audio to come out. Fred was also able to fix the quiet audio from the first trip.

During the sync I had to extend my knowledge of Logic Pro X, utilising my two-year course on the programme. I had to work closely with the editor to keep up to date with current cuts, re-syncing shots if the timeline had moved around at all. This was a long process, but one I enjoyed overall.

Below is the list of instruction given to Fred by the director and I:

“Hiya Fred,

I’ve sent over the AAF and the finished film! Hope everything is as required. A few notes for you first. I’m sure most will be pretty much common sense so don’t need to be said, but just to make sure we’re clear🙂

A) Can we please make sure any interjections from crew that you find within speech are removed, for example “ah perfect” at 01:04:51 . I think this may be the only case of this but keep an ear out! This obviously doesn’t apply to questions from the interviewer (which can be seen in the movie attached!). So make sure we keep them in!

Also, if we can can we try and get the interview questions to a similar volume as the answers? You may need to grab the questions from a separate audio source. for example at 01:07:45 and 01:01:07 there is an interview question in there (but it’s quieter on the lav channel for obvious reasons!)

B) I’ve removed pretty much all volume automation for the music, so I’ll leave you to reduce/increase music volumes at different points where needed.

C) As you’ll see in the film cut there are two music cues that require fade in/out. The first is a fade out at 01:04:45:10 for an approx three second fade on the third music cue. And the second is a slower fade in somewhere around 01:07:13:03 on the last cue for around 6 seconds.

D) You’ll notice there are some speech sections that we’ve cut together to construct more pertinent sentences here and there from various points during interviews. The cuts between each clip are sometimes a bit harsh, so I’ve left some volume automation in to help soothe this. Feel free to use this or scrap it, I’m sure you’re much more capable than me at making this sound tidy!

E) All the interview sync should be ok, but if you wouldn’t mind double checking this for me and making any adjustments if necessary that would be great!

F) You’re welcome to use any different ambient sounds for each part and adapt to where they’re best suited. I think it’s most important that we stick with the ambience of the bird sounds as a signifier of the start of spring in the ‘March’ section however 🙂 I’ve also attached a folder of random ambience that I collected on the trip in case you need to dip in to any of these.

G) I believe Joe is sending you the final track mixes directly. This means you’ll need to replace the music cues that I have in the AAF at the moment with his. You can use my placeholder tracks to see exactly where they come in however!

H) with the edit, we’ve put a big focus on cutting shots in time to different beats. So if we can just make sure all the timing remains as is in the movie attached, that would be grand.

Refer to our cut in any instances where you’re not sure what should be where. The audio mix we have in the cut is very rough but it should show you roughly where everything should be!

For any technical questions/questions about how I’ve laid the project out, I’ll be relatively available over the weekend to answer emails. For anything to do with direction however, feel free to shoot Kieran an email, he’ll be available all weekend to chat.

Again, thanks for taking this on so last minute! Good luck with the mix/cleaning up, hope it’s somewhat enjoyable. Sorry if any of the audio quality isn’t great, hopefully you can make it work🙂”

As you can see this is a fairly exhaustive list, and gives an idea of the level of creative input needed to get a dubbing mix sounding good. The full dubbing mix, which was done with this guidance and my extensive logic file, can be found below:

https://soundcloud.com/user-899382237-633729440/suntown-0db-internet-mix-01-280419

Overall getting a soundtrack designer and dubbing mixer on board has helped my practice in audio work immensely. In further conversation with Fred particularly, I have learned a massive amount about preparing audio files for dubbing, his process, and can use this to massively improve my work in the future.

#postproduction

Reflection on Audio

With Sølfesten concluded, I had time to reflect on the experience I had working as a live recordist on this project.

At the beginning I had taken on very few roles that could be considered live recording. Therefore I knew I had a lot of learning ahead of me, which I welcomed.

The first trip was a steep learning curve which I’ve gone into detail about in previous posts, and will talk about in my evaluation. Having faulty audio equipment forced me to think on my feet, and while this may have a negative effect on some parts of the final film, I feel the lessons learned the ability I had to adjust and fix parts of the audio while on location, will aid me greatly in future creative roles.

The second and third trips were far less eventful, which to be honest if how you want a role as a live recordist to go. With a newfound knowledge of live recording and full working equipment, I was able to capture audio that was of great quality and would lend itself well to the final film.

Overall I am happy with the role I played in the production process. As stated prior to this post, live recording is not something I will go into in the future. But that does not mean this experience was anything less than a positive one. The creative crossover with creative direction (my intended creative focus post-graduation) are numerous. Further, as stated many times over the course of this production section of the blog, we all played a part in the creative direction and narrative construction of this documentary. To view the overall outcome of the film, I am sure I will be very pleased with it as a whole, and something that I will be able to show employers and peers a like.

With that being said, it is now time to move onto the post-production stage of the making process.

#thirdtrip

3rd Trip Diary

THURSDAY 4TH

Full prep day for Sølfesten. Picked up tickets from Vivienne and had her briefly transcribe events (see prep post). With this we laid out plans for where we would each be during specific parts of the day.

- During parade, Jack and Rob with Jorunn, Kieran and Josh flying drone, Kris filming with ronin steady cam in parade.

- During presentation, Rob and Jack with Jorunn, Kieran and Josh drone, Kris moving shots of crowd.

- Post presentation, all capture closing lines from Jorunn.

SATURDAY 6TH

The day of sølfesten went by very quickly, but in reflection in the editing suite, we managed to capture almost all of the key moments we wanted to. In the morning we walked with Jorunn to the festival to give context to her positioning there. After the festival had finished we continued to bond with many of Rjukan’s key characters, many of whom were excited about the final film. This to me emphasises the lasting imprint we had on the town, something that I think is apparent in the townspeople’s repeat appearances in the doc.

#thirdtrip

Preparing for Sølfesten

With the climax of our film focussing on the sun festival occurring only once a year in the town of Rjukan, we felt a lot of pressure to capture all that we needed for a successful edit.

We obtained a leaflet from our fixer Vivienne which is attached below.

She briefly outlined the main events in english which were:

2:30 - Costumed townspeople meet at the factory bridge in preparation for the parade

3:00 - Parade begins, follows main street to town square

3:30 - Town square presentation of Sølprinsen and Sølbarn (sun prince and sun baby). This continues until around 5pm.

As you can see out timescale was pretty restricted, and unlike with a narrative film there was no way we could do ‘reshoots’. In an audio perspective, I had to ensure all sound equipment was working and positioned in the correct place to capture enough diegetic audio, as well as key quotes from Jorunn and the presentations.

On reflection, this preparation was essential in allowing us to capture the whole day. Without this we would have no doubt missed key moments that have proved pivotal in out final cut.

#thirdtrip

Equipment List

- Boom Mic (Sennhieser) with XLR cable

- 2 xZoom H4n Recorder, 1 H4n Pro, and 1 H4n (2x pro was not available)

- Wired Sony Lavalier Kit

- Wireless Sony Lavalier Kit

- Binaural Microphone for Camera

The equipment list is the same as I had for the second trip. I felt this was appropriate enough for Sølfesten, as we have a binaural microphone on the extra camera.

#thirdtrip

Preparation for 3rd Trip

The third and final trip will take place between 3rd April - 8th April. The main focus of this trip is to capture the day the sun returned to the factory bridge and thus the sølfest celebration that the town has each year on the 6th of April. We have given ourselves a few days leeway before the date of the 6th, to prep based on weather conditions. The planned schedule is as follows:

WEDNESDAY 3RD - Travel to Rjukan

THURSDAY 4TH - Prepare for Sølfest, catch up with Jorunn. Also speak to Vivienne about access to festival

FRIDAY 5TH - Full prep for Sølfest, prepare equipment and have full detailed plan for day

SATURDAY 6TH - Film full festival, follow Jorunn, culmination of entire film. Wrap around 6pm when fest finishes

SUNDAY 7TH - Backup all footage and prep for edit

We have contingency plans for the 6th, but are working on a tight schedule. This will be a test of our fluidity as a group - we will be using two cameras and a drone so will have to employ a lot of our mixed talents.

#thirdtrip

Interaction with Sync Company

For the trailer used on our IndieGoGo campaign, we used a cover version of a well known orchestral track The Second Waltz. We received clearance from the cover creator to use this track on a campaign of this type. However, during this time we wanted to see if it would be possible to use the original piece for the full documentary.

To this end entered into an email conversation with the owners of the sync rights to this music. Below is the email chain of this. In the end we decided to go with a bespoke soundtrack which will be covered in more detail towards the end of this blog, but this interaction with a sync company will aid me in future interactions with professional bodies:

#secondtrip

IndieGoGo

Due to the cost of the current trips we had been on having to come from our own personal funding, we decided as a group that we should launch an IndieGoGo campaign to try to cover our costs. We spoke briefly with XXX to get some advice on successfully launching our campaign. He told us to set out clear goals, have enticing but realistic backer rewards, and having a few post updates prepared to keep backers in the loop.

The IndieGoGo URL is as follows:

https://igg.me/at/rjukan-documentary/x#/

As you can see we managed to get to the full funding amount over the 60 day period. We have a plethora of backers - some our own family and friends, university course mates, and people from the town of Rjukan itself.

The backer rewards ranged from the full documentary delivered in 4K format upon release, a printed and framed panorama from the top of Gaustatoppen, up to a photo book of BTS and photography from the shoot itself.

We posted a couple of updates in-between the launch of the IndieGoGo and it’s completion - this was important in keeping backers updated and engaged with the creation of our doc.

Please use the link above to explore the IndieGoGo page and see the work that was put into promoting our film, as well as the full trailer that was used.

#secondtrip

Evaluation/Prep for 3rd Trip

I was pleased with the audio captured this time around, particularly the lavalier audio from the home interview with Jorunn. This was clear, and the live mix was at a good volume. The only downside to this was the volume of the ‘s’ sound, but this will easily be sorted with a slight de-esser input in Logic.

As this trips audio was successful I will not be changing the equipment a huge amount before our third and final trip. The only change I can see myself making is bringing an extra wireless lav kit for multiple interviews at the same time, although I have not settled on this.

The next trip will feature Sølfesten, which is a huge part of our documentary. For this reason we will have schedule for the day so we are able to capture everything possible.

#secondtrip

2nd Trip Issues

During the second trip, I only had minor audio issues in comparison to the first full trip. This consisted of the wireless not being effective during some points in the sun walk. I believe this was because as we were letting Jorunn walk on ahead, and the two wireless receivers were getting out of range. Other than this, the zoom recorders I had were fully working and recording at full volume.

As a group, the weather was the biggest issue this trip. On the night of our first full day, the town of Rjukan received 1.5 ft of snow in 9 hours. This lead to multiple difficulties with visibility, transport, and ability to film as temperatures plummeted to around -10. Luckily, as the next day continued on, the sky cleared and we were able to film all that we needed.

Other than this issue, we were also a man down as Josh, our editor, was unable to make this trip due to injury. Although this was an inconvenience not having an extra hand to help, it was the right decision for the safety of the production.

#secondtrip

2nd Trip Diary

MONDAY 11TH

Spend today obtaining some more diegetic audio. The intent with this is to have filler audio that can be used in the audio mix to fill gaps and add texture underneath interview audio and title screens.

TUESDAY 12TH

Today we met up with Jorunn. We met her at her home, went a coffee shop, and then took a trip up the cable car. After this we returned to her home and recorded a 25 minute longer interview, covering topics from her life to Sølfesten. I feel this interview will be a big feature in our finished doc. For this I used both the wireless lav and boom mic.

WEDNESDAY 13TH

As the weather had cleared up today, we went on one of Jorunn’s ‘sun walks’. For this section I had her mic’d up with the wireless lav, and also used the boom to capture key moments. The lav captured all audio all the time, and I recorded on the boom when I needed to.

Overall this trip I feel was very successful. From an audio sense I managed to capture all the sections I needed to without much trouble at all. In the next post I will go over some issues we had as a group in general.

#secondtrip

Equipment List

- Boom Mic (Sennhieser) with XLR cable

- 2 xZoom H4n Recorder, 1 H4n Pro, and 1 H4n (2x pro was not available)

- Wired Sony Lavalier Kit

- Wireless Sony Lavalier Kit

- Binaural Microphone for Camera

#secondtrip

Preparation Pre 2nd Trip

The second trip to Norway is scheduled for the 11th of March, and it will last until the 14th. With this trip, we will be following up with the subjects we identified on our January trip, such as Jorunn and a tip we had from our liaison in Rjukan, called Berit.

Prior to this trip, based on the issues I had with equipment last time, I made sure that I personally checked over all the equipment and that it was of sufficient quality with multiple line checks on different devices. As discussed in the previous section of this blog, I also will be taking to Zoom recorders as back up, and also so I can simultaneously record boom audio and lav audio if it was needed. On the topic of lavalier, I will hopefully be able to obtain a wireless lav kit; this will allow much more flexibility in recording.

As with the first trip, here is a rough schedule. I will post a more in-depth daily diary on location:

Sunday - Travel to Rjukan

Monday - Get diegetic sound and hopefully meet Berit (time constraining her end)

Tuesday - Meet with Jorunn, travel with her in the day, possible interview??

Wednesday - Follow up on Jorunn, travel with her again.

Thursday - Return home

#secondtrip

Evaluation/Prep for next Trip

This trip, which will be the longest of our four, was essential in understanding and identifying our documentaries narrative focus. The way in which we are undertaking this documentary making process means that we are involving ourselves in the town and it’s goings on. In the past this has allowed to us to gain access and retell stories that at a surface level would not be possible.

In my own practice, this trip has improved my understanding of the specifics of the audio equipment needed for live recording. Previous to this project I have had little live recording experience, and this will continue to be a learning process for myself.

While issues with equipment are hard to avoid on location, for the next trip I will be thoroughly checking and testing all equipment prior to the next trip in March. Further, I will be going to the equipment store and making sure I obtain the best quality boom mics (sennheiser) and obtaining two zoom H4n Pro’s this next time around. This will firstly allow me to record both boom and lavalier audio, and also will ensure the overall recording quality is better. Furthermore I will endeavour to use a wireless lavalier instead of a wired one - although I may take both just in case.

#firsttrip

Editing on Location

On location I used garage band to do some quick mixing for the on location edit. This consisted of the following:

Compression - to bring out as much volume from the less good quality audio.

EQ Mix - Bringing down lows and highs, expressing the mids to bring out as much volume in the speech as possible. Also finding high pitch buzzing noises and removing them in the EQ.

De-esser - Removing S sound from interviews.

These on site edits were simply to give some workable sound for the editor to use, rather than just camera audio. Also they allowed me to cut the audio into sections that might be used for the edit.

#firsttrip

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