Weekend notes

[oyceter]

1. I missed the Oscars. I religiously watch the Oscars every year, including the nominations and prizes for categories that I can't quite figure out, like Sound Editing and Sound Effects (what's the difference?). However, it is all Tivo-ed, so I plan on snarking full force at horrendous outfits, ooh-ing and aah-ing over nice ones, and cheering for the documentary winners who have never won before and aren't famous at all and are almost always bowled over by being there.

And then, of course, there is my favorite category, Best Animated Feature, which I falsely and blindly believe will elevate the stature of animated movies everywhere instead of leading to further ghettoization of the medium and forever take it out of running for Best Picture.

2. On the other hand, I did see enough to remark that Charlize Theron's dress seemed to be sprouting a tumor the size of her head. Or, as alexctelander noted, it may actually just be another head.

3. I missed the Oscars because I was visiting the aforementioned alexctelander and sophia_helix. I came with two graphic novels to return and left with olive bread, BPAL-stained fingers, a quashed yearning for more yarn for my stash, and an entire paper bag's worth of books, only half of which is mine. I think that qualifies as an extremely successful trip. Also, I met Lily, who probably only likes me because I smell like rats!

4. Unfortunately, I ended up driving because I missed my train by two seconds. Curse the conductor, who didn't wait even though I was only ten feet away! May he forever get to the intersection just as the light turns red!

Actually, it was pretty much my fault, given that I overslept because I was re-reading the Burial Arc of Saiyuki Reload for the nth time.

5. On the way back, I re-discovered how much I love the acoustics of my car, which makes my voice sound good when belting out "Harbor" at the top of my lungs. I also re-discovered the joys of caffeination. The two may be related.

6. In case there was anyone in any sort of doubt, Saiyuki continues to eat my brain. Looking at the current rate of consumption and the size of my brain, I estimate that I will have no brain left some time ... yesterday. Or possibly a few weeks ago. Instead, it has been replaced by a Minekura-worshipping alien intent on spewing gushing praise of the series to all parties, whether they care or not.

7. In other words, my sink is full of dirty dishes and my errands remain undone. But I won at mahjongg and have books!

Comments

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

You win. I will be posting "Five Incarnations That Never Happened" on my Sekrit Journal... um... at some point. Would you like them posted one by one, or all at once?

[oyceter]

Whoo!!!!!

I am good either way, and totally happy that they are being posted, period!

[yhlee.livejournal.com]

My best understanding of sound effects vs. sound editing is: with the former, you have to have sounds that cue in the viewer that are other than the dialogue and (non-diegetic, i.e. not from within the world of the movie/show/whatever) music. For example, hoofbeats for galloping horses. Chopper-blade sounds for being in a helicopter. Creepy high-pitched sounds to indicate that an alien is waiting in the rafters to eat your brains. It may be that none of these were recorded during the actual shooting. I think Star Trek: The Next Generation had some sound effect for an alien being someone's stomach being recorded. Or things like tin-foil being rumpled, or whatever generates an interesting and appropriate sound to evoke the right response.

My favorite current example of a sound effect is that crunch-growl sound you hear every time a Whedonverse vampire vamps, because it conveys change/aggression, although maybe you could justify it as the sound that happens when your bone structure alters radically in two seconds.

Sound editing would be: You have the video track, which the video editor has given you, and you need to put together basic things like dialogue. If you have video from take 1, you may end up using the audio/dialogue from track 2 because it's a better reading of the line. And you'd be responsible for taking all the sounds (including stuff from sound effects) and making them work together, like fade-ins and fade-outs, or mixing. For example, dialogue seems to be mixed to be audible during important conversations even if, during real life, you wouldn't be able to hear a thing without SHOUTING REAL LOUD. I noticed this in a chopper scene in some TV pilot episode--the dialogue was very distinct with the chopper noises more in the background than you'd expect when they were sitting in one going full-tilt.

If you like, think about video effects (compositing, color negative/solarizing, outright CGI orcs, etc.) vs. video editing, if they were done by different people.

I may have some details wrong, but I am getting to know way more about editing than I wanted to.

[yhlee.livejournal.com]

Er, I should add that the process might go something like: video editing, sound editing: dialogue, sound editing: sound effects/design, then music/score, which I think is often the last thing to get done. One of my ambitions is to edit a vid purely on visuals, then to score the sucker. If I can finish my Club Vivid thing. Sigh.

[oyceter]

Ahhhh! Thank you! That does make more sense now.

I think one of my absolute favorite parts of the LotR movie commentaries was watching the sound effects guys trying to figure out what a fell beast would sound like. Turns out a fell beast sounds exactly like a donkey screaming ;).

[canandagirl.livejournal.com]

Wallace and Gromit!! Wallace and Gromit!!

[oyceter]

Yay! I saw that on Tivo yesterday! That made me happy ^_^.