Sound design

         Sound design can sometimes go unnoticed in productions; but other media, primarily video games, revel in creating the appropriate atmosphere using as many senses as possible. Horror is a genre closely entwined to audio, or the absence of it. Creating a harrowing environment just from audio, or releasing tension with a stinger can be considered a simple idea, but unless it is done properly it will come off as weird.

        One technique I was interested in using was audio mixing. While the word means nothing more than putting different audio tracks together, to me it means putting tracks together so as to complement a scene or idea. This comes into play during my dream scene, as one idea I had was to mix "real" and dream sounds. Similarly to how noise affects our dreams, I planned on having some sounds bleed into the dream in a distorted way. Not only does this distortion set up the right atmosphere of familiar yet distressing, but it also foreshadows it all being a dream. But how does one go about this? By taking small steps at a time.

        Going around and recording foley with a mic is essential, as getting any unintended audio can be hard to fix, if its fixable at all. Two mics are exceptional at handling this problem, shotgun mics and lavalier mics. Without getting too technical, shotgun mics gather audio in a specific area in front of themselves, while lavs are much smaller, gathering audio close to itself if the levels are set up properly. 

Both lavaliers (lavs) and shotgun mics have similar pickup patterns, focusing on the area directly in front of them, which keeps unnecessary audio from being noticed.

        Another piece of equipment that helps but isn't necessary is an audio box. While nothing is stopping me from directly recording and getting rid of the visual aspect of the file, directly importing audio files from a separate unit makes everything much more manageable. 

        The box itself allows for much audio managing, from input to output. It also allows me to access XLR audio cables (the big circle with three smaller ones), which would be impossible to use with my camera. Were it not for the audio box, I would be very limited equipment-wise. If needed, I can even connect it directly to the camera. This is beneficial as if it works properly I already have both the audio and video linked, without me needing to do anything. But if I do want to edit audio manually, the audio box saves a copy of the file, meaning I can safely edit it, knowing I'll always have a backup.

        I am not too proficient with extensive music theory, but I do understand the basic concept and application of many terms, both from music theory classes I took as well as Scruffy's YouTube channel. Be sure to check him out, as he does an amazing job describing the audio techniques I plan on using and many more.