The Intuitive Mind By Aaron Shedlock On ExposureRoom

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This is a short film that opened the 2006 ADDY Awards here in Tampa, FL. Produced by Tampa Digital Studios with Michael McCourt directing. I was fortunate enough to work as a sound designer on the project along with Zach Moody, with Tim Fowler editing the music and Zach and Tim both doing the final mix. I believe the piece was shot on 35mm using panavision cameras and lenses and came to us with no audio. All of the backgrounds, sound effects, and nuances were designed from scratch in a matter of a week or two. Tim did an excellent job on the music which fit so well with the theme of the film. Director of Photography: Erik Curtis, Edited by Frank H. Walters, Jr., Visual Effects: Chanse Chanthalansy.

Read my comment below AFTER you watch the film for yourself. Lot's of people have a little trouble wrapping their head around the concept. I try to give an explanation as to the metaphor of the film. The ADDY awards are always themed, and a short film is made based on that theme. I think the theme for 2006 was Collaboration.

Mdsize: 39.59MBwxh: 480x360

Updated: 4 months ago

Short

Duration: 00:06:44

Definition: SD

Dimensions: 480 x 360

Size: 38.45MB

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OK, I love the cinematography and the sound design and music are both outstanding...not overdone as you see quite a bit.
Now, maybe I'm dense, but I don't get it. What's going on in this piece?
Hmmmmmmmmmm

What's going on...?

It is a metaphorical piece, and the writer/director did a great job with it if you understand where it's coming from. The people in the basement represent the creative team at an ad agency. In the beginning they are working individually, being handed ideas from some unknown team of creative directors, doing their portion and handing it back. Which is how some agencies run their business. In the end though, the typewriter guys gets frustrated, and stops to find his own inspiration...the pickle. The creative team then collaborates together on his idea, putting forth their own genius in the areas they work in. The end result is a winner. I guess the theme is not to stifle the creative mind, by sitting it down in front of a "typewriter", and forcing it to make something out of what very well could be nothing.

At least, that's what I got out of it, but I'm just a lowly sound designer/photographer/artist/writer/cinematographer.

Hope that helps shed some light.

A

Aaron,

I got the message, except that I thought the whole thing was to do with a bank and people processing checks or a loan application. I thought the creativity came from collaboration rather than working in isolation.

So a Sound Designer adds in all of the sounds associated to the visuals? So is a Sound Designer and a folley that same thing?

Do you create these sounds using real "props" or are they computer generated using clips and such, or a combination of both? What are some of the difficulties you've faced either in this piece or in others you've worked on?

So you get a finished piece in terms of the edit and you give them back a sound track that's the same length as the piece you got, or do you give them back the finished (sounds mixed in) piece?

Hey Shiv

A Sound Designer is a colorful term, which means different things in different industries. In the big budget film world, where they can afford a team of audio folks, you would have Foley Artists, Dialogue Editors, Rerecording Mixers, etc etc the length of credits is dependent on the film's budget...haha.

In the world of short and indie films, commercials, infomercials, cable and small television series, a sound designer basically does all of the above with severe time constraints, doing whatever has to be done to get the job done on time.

Some of the sounds I create with various props and ordinary household objects. Sometimes I go out in the field and record my own samples, as in the Collier County spot. Others come from sound libraries like Hollywood Edge and Sound Ideas. But every sound I put into a project is tweaked, cut up, edited and mixed with a variety of other sounds to create what I need. I can't even think of an instance when I've just used a sound right off the disc without doing something to it in the end. An example is a variety of sounds I would use for a sword swing...a blanket swishing through the air, a coat hanger doing the same, the ding from tapping a metal tong or a copper pipe. I'll upload a great example of this in a future video titled Isle of Grenai.

I get a locked to picture piece of video, usually on beta or some type of quicktime format with timecode, and an OMF file from the editor which all of their "very rough" audio all separated into clips and tracks and synched to the video. I then go to work, usually creating an SFX mix, dialogue mix, backgrounds mix, and music mix, then do a final mix with all of those elements and proceed to mastering. I then output a final stereo or 5.1 audio file that I send off to the video editor to lay into his session, synced to a 2 beep from his original beta or quicktime and he/she outputs to their desired format (digibeta, HD, DV, etc.)

Aaron,

Thank you for the clarification and great explanation. I now have a better understand and appreciation for what it is you do and the amount of effort that goes into this stuff.

I look forward to Isle of Grenai. Hope you describe work and effort you put into for those of us who are unaware.

I'm going to have to agree with Todd on this one. The sound design was great. it was shot really well and put together well. The only thing is... i dont get it? Maybe it's too french for me or something? Too bad you can't show it for the audio without the visual. It's a bit... slow. And you know me, i can't stand the MTV fast cutting.

Check out my comment above

The only reason I picked up on the metaphor behind this piece was in watching it about 90 times while working on it. That and I spoke to the director and just asked.

I understand what you're saying, and i had even read that before i watched it. Without an explanation though, i wouldn't have gotten anything. Even with it, it was lacking in pace and impact. Your part was great though. I get what they are trying to show... it just isn't very good.

The Intuitive Mind

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