Mega City One Soundscape Project - Overall Plan and Development
Brief: Create a unique soundscape for Mega-City One that captures the feeling of being in the city. A portion of your soundscape must capture a feeling of moving through the city.
The following is a documentation of the initial steps I took in going about completing this soundscape project for mega city one. As far as inspiration goes I looked at films such as 2004's i, Robot as it was of a sci fi category and contained a scene which I hoped to maybe base my soundscape project on. In addition to this I
have also created a moodboard to point me in the right direction sound wise + from this I have gathered a list of sounds which will have to be either sourced or created to complete this project. Finally I briefly discuss putting the sounds together in Reaper as well as sharing the final Audio.
Inspiration - I,Robot (FILM - 2004)
While this was a project to create a soundscape for mega city one I did take a lot of inspiration from other sci fi films I had previously seen such as I,Robot. What I wanted to do was formulate a story through the use of sound and immediately the opening scene of this film came to mind. I wanted to start my soundscape from the point of view of a man waking up in his apartment, incorporating all the familiar sounds we make ourselves waking up every morning,thus allowing me to convince the listener that this isn't actually taking place in a futuristic atmosphere at all but is happening in the time we currently live in. This same kind of idea happens at the start of I,Robot where the character played by Will Smith goes about his morning like any regular person would, the sci fi atmosphere is only introduced when he opens his door to leave his appartment (referring to scene above where he is greeted at door by Robot) it is only than you hear the sounds of robots and other futuristic aircrafts.
Moodboard + required Sounds for Mega City One Soundscape project
Above is the Moodboard I created before going about developing my soundscape. I found creating a moodboard to be a great help as it allowed me to really think about the sounds I was going to use + allowed me to form an idea in my head as to what the overall theme of the piece would be. Considering I had already taken inspiration from the film I,Robot I knew the exact sounds I needed to create that sort of atmosphere. The following sounds I was to go about sourcing + developing were as follows:
- Robots
- Crowded City
- Man getting out of bed
- Brushing teeth
- Running water from tap
- People on street talking
- Sci Fi aircrafts
- Spaceship
- Walking down steps
- Putting clothes on
- Putting shoes on
- Grabbing keys
- Locking front door
- Closing door
Resources for Sounds
- freeSFX.co.uk
- soundbible.com
Putting sounds together in Reaper
Once I had sourced all of the individual sounds I needed for my Soundscape project I than went about about manipulating them and putting them together in Reaper. Seeing as I wanted the piece to begin with the alarm clock going off I first inserted the media file of an alarm clock sound that I had downloaded from SFX sounds. After the alarm clock goes off the next sound we hear is of someone getting out of bed. Initially I faded out the sound of the alarm clock and than the person gets of bed but this didn't sound right as an alarm clock simply wouldn't just fade out but rather stop suddenly before it starts again. Therefore I stopped the alarm after a few seconds, and then we hear the sound of someone getting up. The next sound to be heard is of someone walking across a wooden floor into their kitchen where they put the tap running and eventually start brushing their teeth. I wanted to give off this idea of a regular person getting up and starting their day before introducing the sci fi elements. The idea is that even though it is in a more futuristic period people still go about the same old routines. The next sound to be included is that of someone putting on their clothes before leaving their apartment. Again i sourced this audio from SFX sounds as well as the audio sound of my character putting his boots on before walking towards the door to leave his apartment. I wanted to add the sound of him picking up his keys as it gave the listener an indictation that he was about to leave his appartment so therefore i did. The sound of him opening his door to leave with his keys + closing his door after the door has shut behind him have a different sort of atmosphere. The sound of him closing his appartment door has a much larger echo in comparison to him opening the door from within his appartment due to the fact that he is now in a much wider space. The viewer can now be fully aware that he is in a different setting. Next we hear him going down the stairs. Up to now the sounds have been fairly similar to everyday life but it is only when he opens the door to leave his appartment complex that the listener is exposed to the sci fi world that the character lives in. You can listen to the completed soundscape in full below;