Have been having fun working on the sound effects for SToA this week. Although it was a task Daz was originally going to take on, increased work pressures have meant for him 6 day weeks for a little while now, significantly cutting into his already limited time. So I’ve stepped into the breach and set about doing the tedious work of cleaning up dialogue and making everything sound as amazing as I can, freeing him up to do what he does best, play music.
Again it’s making me appreciate another aspect of the filmmaking process that I guess a lot of writers don’t get first hand experience of; the power of sound in action. Now we all know (at least we should) that sound is very important in a film, but until you start throwing stuff about it really isn’t easy to appreciate just how subtle and powerful it is, or how it can change your perception of a cut or an action. It’s quite amazing really.
Only a month and three days before the Cannes submission deadline. We’d better get our skates on.
I’ve also been storyboarding the new short, now proudly sporting the working title ‘Pills’. A few more people have taken a ganders and given me their opinions, mainly thumbs up, thankfully, although I’ve still yet to hear from Ben.
Not having access to the storyboard software I used for SToA, I’ve been dusting off my A-Level Art skills and doing them by hand. They’re rubbish, but I’m turning them out a lot quicker than I did with the software.
Also, I’m finding I’m thinking a lot more on a shot by shot basis, which I found I didn’t using the software (inexperience or laziness prompted me to paint with much broader brushstrokes). I’m sketching them out on index cards, which also makes it easy to play with the juxtaposition of shots allowing me to previsualise the story much better than I ever did with SToA.