Lecture on Sound Design With Jan Meinema

A few weeks ago, we had a visit from Jan Meinema, a Senior Lecturer at Bath Spa University. He spoke to us about sound design and some of the animations he had worked on, and I found it all to be very informative. I can see a lot of what he taught me coming in useful for future animation projects, especially as some of the tips he gave were simple yet effective.

I've always known that sound design can greatly improve an animation piece, but I never realised just how much of an impact it can have if carried out correctly. Jan taught us about different recording equipment and how they were used, and that you should try to get as close to the filter as you could when recording and maintain this distance so that you don't hear the reflection of the space you are recording in. especially if the characters the sound will be applied to aren't in a similar environment.

Another thing that I took away from this lecture, was how sound design can be used to create perspective. Sound doesn't necessarily have to 'follow' the entire scene, but you can 'zoom' into a character or a specific area of a set by using sound. For instance, having an extreme wide shot of a scene yet still being able to hear a conversation between two people in the very distance, zooms in on the characters and can draw your focus onto them, whilst still establishing setting.
An example that Jan showed us that helps demonstrates how perspective can be established was actually a short film I had researched in my first year for a candle reference. Now that I have been shown it in a different light, it has made me appreciate it a whole lot more.

Once Upon a Candle - The Animation Workshop

The way the sound was recorded/edited for when the candle is inside the drawer, differs from when he is sat on the desk top to help create a sense of space. There is a particularly good example when you hear the candle from outside of the drawer at 3:22, as the sound is more muffled to portray that he is sat inside. 

When I haven't wanted to use a music track to accompany an animation in the past, I have always turned to using ambient sounds to enhance the viewing experience, but what I never really thought about was that you don't always have to use sound effects for things you can see in the scene. Instead, if you use sound effects that are stereotypical for that particular setting you can help imply that that is where the animation is taking place. For example, hearing farmyard animals can help indicate you are on a farm, even if there aren't any in the shot.