Primary research: Sound in TV – Netflix series Narcos

When completing task 2 for unit 5 I used mainly used primary research as my main research outlet, this was because I was able to use my own knowledge in order to explain how sound had been used in the cinematic introductory credits for the Netflix series. Because ive watched the series I had a clear understanding of why the song was requested to be especially created for the shows intro and how it captures the character(s) lifestyle. Therefore I had no need for secondary research for this specific part of my work. 

Secondary research: Beginners guide to sound

Whilst researching task 1 for unit 5 i researched most of the terms I wasn’t aware of and or to make sure my own understandings of the terms were correct. So I knew that secondary research was the right research avenue to go down. My information was taken from various sites, although I mainly used Google Scholar however, this is because Google Scholar only shows peer-reviewed articles so I know that the information from those websites was credible and also reliable. 

Primary research is useful, as it is information without delay from the consumer, that’s normally greater credible than information discovered on a website. Primary research involves having customers answer questionnaires/surveys so that researchers gain information and statistics, this will then expand further into improving marketing and the product if the questionnaires/surveys imply so.

However, secondary research isn’t exactly useless, secondary research gives the ability to view past data and compare more recent data, this is important for a researcher because they can begin to determine data trends such as what is popular now and what has fallen in popularity.

Whilst completing my prior tasks i used both forms of research, primary and secondary aided my responses, ranging from information I got online and some of my own knowledge on the subjects. 

Synopsis for sound:

I want the sounds in my game environment to be immersive because of the genre of game i’m hoping to achieve. The post apocalyptic settings means that i wont be requiring any narrative/ voice to set a scene as the sound track for the environment will be similar to the music in rust along with wind, rustling the buzzing of an old light .But its all subject to change.

Audience profile: Action-adventure survival fans. Mature focus group, most likely male (16-35).

Risk assessments:

Hazard: Electric shock. Anyone handling faulty electrical equipment. All electrical equipment must have up to date PAT labels. Any faulty equipment must then be reported back to the sound equipment supervisor(s).

Hazard: Slip, trips and falls. Anyone, mainly people who are not used to working around recording equipment. Therefore those working will be expected to make sure that cables are not causing potential trip hazards. All cables should be grouped and positioned away from where the crew are standing, or on walls where possible.

Hazard: Objects falling, moving or flying. Anyone working in the area. Ensuring no equipment which is at a raised level is being balanced and or any microphones or cables which are attached to stands are secured properly in intended holders.

Legal and ethical requirements:

In the United Kingdom, a number of laws place specific limits on what sounds you can get away with making, and where and what you can record. So when recording it is important to take into consider the ethical guidelines which fall into place. For example when recording the sounds of urban environments in particular its not uncommon to run into problems similar to photographers, with overzealous officials and others claiming that recording in such-and-such place is illegal, that it infringes someone’s human rights, and so on.

What media tools are available for research?

Keyword tools, question-and-answer sites, open discussion forums and back link analyzers, are tools designed to help with market research.

Google AdWords: Keyword Tool

This tool shows which keywords are searched more than others based on broad, exact or phrase match volumes. This tool allows you to also view local or global data, which is essential for location-based organisations. Additional data includes local search trends and location and languages for international research. This tool useful for the optimization part of any content marketing campaign.

Quora: Question and Answer Tool

The questions and answers on Quora are reviewed, edited, flagged (useful or not) and organized by users.The site makes a great resource for finding out what type of content could be useful to customers by learning what industry questions are frequently asked.

What technological tools are available for research? 

Online surveys:

Much faster than traditional research gathering,as information is being gathered automatically, there is then no paper questionnaires to come back making response time almost instant.The results of the online survey are ready to be analysed at any time. 

Different research methods

Quantitative research:

ADVANTAGES:

Data collection occurs rapidly with quantitative research. Quantitative research involves surveys, experiments, and real-time data gathering, there are few delays in the collection of data.

Quantitative research uses a randomized process to collect research information, this then prevents any bias from entering the data. This data can then be applied to the rest of the group which is being researched.

DISADVANTAGES:

You cannot follow-up on any answers in quantitative research.

Quantitative research is limited as you cannot go back to participants after they’ve filled out a survey if there are more questions to ask or follow up points. Therefore there is less data points to examine when compared to other methods.

You cannot determine if answers are true or not. There are no face-to-face contacts with this method, which means interviewers or researchers are unable to gauge the truthfulness or authenticity of results.

Qualitative Research

ADVANTAGES:

Qualitative research provides more content for creatives and marketing teams. By going through the qualitative research approach, it becomes possible to congregate authentic ideas that can be used for marketing. It allows for stronger targeting towards a specific group.

Subject materials can be evaluated with greater detail.Qualitative research  centers less around the measurements of data that is being collected and more on what can be found in that information. Because of this the data has an enhanced level of detail to it, which can provide more opportunities.

DISADVANTAGES:

Mining data gathered by qualitative research can be time consuming. A key point is that it’s also a subjective effort because what one researcher feels is important may not be pulled out by another researcher. Making the time consuming effort even longer if groups disagree on opinions.

Qualitative research is not statistically representative.It is a perspective-based method of research only, which means the responses given are not measured.

Skills needed to conduct good research

• Report writing
• Data collection
• Analysis of information from different sources
• Finding information off the internet
• Critical thinking
• Planning and scheduling
• Interviewing
• Critical analysis

Sound in games:

Sound is important in video games for many reasons, one of which is that it evokes certain moods which the developers want the players to feel while playing their game. For instance in racing games often before a race begins fast paced electronic is music played because it gets the player in the mood to race, without this genre of music the player may feel less enthusiastic in playing the race and become uninterested in whats about to happen on screen.

However some players might prefer the ambient sounds of the car, having realistic sounds of car engines, exhausts, gear changes etc. Instead of racing games like Mario kart which lack this realism due to its style and target audience.

Another use for sound is for action. Bad sound design in competitive games is highly impactful towards gameplay and its competitiveness , in a lot of these games sound is used to indicate many things, such as; player positions through their footsteps, doors opening, windows breaking etc, sound also indicates when a player is dead, injured or hit.

Sound in horror games is vital to a games success. For example Dead Space won many awards for its soundtrack because it created atmosphere just by using sound alone to build suspense. E.g. When you’re walking through the linear levels there won’t be any sound apart from the odd rumble or clank from the ship which makes you feel on edge, fully immersing the player. Most soundtracks are mainly instrumentals as developers feel that songs with any vocals may distract the player. Video game graphics have become more realistic over the years making them a lot similar to movies where they would also use sound for the same purposes as games.

Sound in TV: Netflix series Narcos.

Netflix series, Narcos intro song “Tuyo” goes deeper than your average introductory credits. Rodrigo Amarante composed “Tuyo” specifically for the series therefore the song captures everything the series is about. Narcos opening-credits sequence draws you in with galloping zebras, areal plane shots, and flashy images of the kingpins lifestyle. But its most compelling aspect is “Tuyo,” the smooth tango that plays over the montage. The melody of an acoustic guitar in Amarante’s song contrasts with the fact that Narcos is the story of Pablo Escobar, a Colombian drug lord and narcoterrorist, yet initially the song comes across as a romanic serenade, but its not until you pay close attention to the lyrics that you understand how narcissistic the songs really is.

Game Trailer : Battlefield 1.

The song heard in battlefield 1s reveal trailer is -Seven Nation Army produced by The White Stripes, the song consists of distorted vocals, a simple drumbeat, and a bass-like riff which Jack White created. The heavy bass heard in this Glitch Mob Remix combined with the brutal cinematics on screen is largely responsible for the trailers success as it shows the audience the gritty reality of warfare and the consequences brought with it whilst displaying what the game will consist of. This reveal trailer has been recorded as the most liked trailer to date (not just in the gaming industry).

Studio sound recording:

A specialized facility for sound recording, mixing and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words and or other sounds. These facilities range in size from a small in-home studio to project studios (large enough to record a full orchestra). These spaces are designed by an audio engineer to achieve optimum acoustic properties. The sounds are recorded in a controlled environment.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recording_studio

Dead Room + Live Room

A dead room is free and clear of ambient noise, such as wind, the room is heavily padded out, making it soak up any sounds made in the room (so as not to hear an echo)

Why and How to Make a Live/Dead Room for Recording

A live room is similar to a dead room however a live room has a longer reverberation time, whereas in a dead room there is a short reverberation time, live and dead rooms are complete opposites to one another.

Location sound recording:

When a recording crew record the sound from a real life sample, for example recording the sounds of the lions in a zoo rather than digitally creating a sound effect of the lions. The recorded production sound track is later combined with other elements; effects, music, narration, foley or re-recorded dialog.

Ambient sound:

Ambient sounds are the background noises that are present at any given location. Rain, traffic, birds, muffled voices, air-conditioning units, and the sound of a distant train are all examples of ambient sounds. 

Sound effects:

An artificially produced sound, reproduced from a recording to create a theatrical effect, such as the simulation of a horse’s gallop created from two halves of a hollow coconut shell being clashed together. 

Foley & the role of the Foley artist:

A Foley artist creates audio effects for a film by using physical props. A Foley artist is responsible for very specific sounds. A Foley artist does not create audio for standard special effects, such as explosions or background noise from cars, instead the Foley artist deals with recreating the finer details that require a high precision. For example the rustle of a jacket as someone sits in a chair. This is because on set recording does not capture every nuance of a movements audio, similarly if two actors have a sword fight it might look real, but the clear ringing of steel when the fake swords clash will not be present. The Foley artists job is to match the ring of steel to each sword clash. Without a Foley artists work a film seems unreal and cheaply made.

https://www.chegg.com/career-center/explore/foley-artist

Music:

Vocal or instrumental sounds (or both combined) in such a way as to produce a form a media. Music can add the  full range of human emotions from sad, nostalgic, tense, happy, relaxed, calm, and joyous.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Production_sound_mixer

 Dialogue: 

Dialogue serves several purposes. It can advance the plot, reveal a character’s thoughts or feelings, or show how characters react in the moment. Whether it’s done by narration in documentary or  drama dialogue as onscreen talk delivered by characters as part of dramatic storytelling in a series or film. 

Diegetic and non diegetic sound:  

Diegetic sound is a noise which has a source on-screen. They are noises which have not been edited in, for example dialogue between characters or footsteps.

Non diegetic sound is a noise which does not have a source on-screen, they have been added in. For example music, voiceover, sound effects. Non diegetic sounds are often used to add drama to moments which would be silent without it. For example a narrator’s commentary over a nature documentary.  

https://www.mytutor.co.uk/answers/1621/GCSE/Media-Studies/What-is-the-difference-between-Diegetic-and-Non-diegetic-sound/

Sound bridge:  

A type of sound editing that occurs when sound carries over a visual transition in a film. This type of editing provides a common transition in the editing style because of the way in which it connects the mood, as suggested by the music, throughout multiple scenes.

Leitmotif:  

A recurring musical idea (a melody, chord sequence, rhythm or a combination of these) which is associated with a particular idea, character or place. Leitmotifs are manipulated to match the action and mood of a scene. A well known example of leitmotif was used in jaws, the two notes played signify something threatening and getting closer and closer.

Microphones and equipment for recording sound:  

Shotgun Mics:

Good for several things on a production set. They get their name from the way they record sound. You point the mic at what you want to capture and it not only gets this sound, but it grabs surrounding sound. They are also used for capturing foley sounds.

Lav Mics:

The standard mic for capturing dialogue. These mics capture incredible audio when conducting an interview for television, documentary film, or industrial video. Lavs come in a wired version and a wireless version.

Video mics:

These particular mics aren’t really for capturing the final audio for a production. They connect straight to the camera in order to capture scratch-track audio that will allow your editor to easily sync the video and high-end sound together in post.

DAW – Digital Audio Workstation: 

A DAW is an electronic device or application software used for recording, editing and producing audio files. The most basic DAW programme would be Garageband which is simplified.

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Digital_audio_workstation

Types of audio:  

Uncompressed audio formats: 

Uncompressed audio consists of real sound waves that have been captured and converted to digital format without any further processing. As a result, uncompressed audio files tend to be the most accurate but take up a lot of disk space.

Audio File Format: PCM 

PCM stands for Pulse-Code Modulation, a digital representation of raw analog audio signals. Analog sounds exist as waveforms, and in order to convert a waveform into digital bits, the sound must be sampled and recorded at certain intervals PCM is the most common audio format used in CDs and DVDs.

Audio File Format: WAV

Most WAV files contain uncompressed audio in PCM format. The WAV file is just a wrapper for the PCM encoding, making it more suitable for use on Windows systems.

Audio File Format: AIFF

AIFF stands for Audio Interchange File Format. AIFF is a format that was developed by Apple for Mac systems. However, Windows systems can usually open AIFF files without any issues.

Audio File Format: MP3

MP3 stands for MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3. It is arguably the most popular audio format in the world for music files.Nearly every digital device in the world with audio playback can read and play MP3 files.PCs, Macs, Androids, iPhones, Smart TVs ,etc.

Audio copyright:  

Copyright is a law which gives the owner of a piece of work ( for example a song) the right to say how others can use it, whether it be through a remix of the song or to sample audio from it. With copyright a work can only be copied if the owner gives permission.

Click to access circ56.pdf

A recent example of copyright being breached involves the artist Juice WRLD being sued by a now-defunct rock band, they claimed that the rapper copied elements of their 2006 song “Holly Wood Died” which was used for the rapper’s blockbuster 2018 single without permission.Juice WRLD was sued by the band Yellowcard for $15 million.

https://www.hot97.com/news/hot-97-now/damn-juice-wrld-being-sued-15-million-dollars-copyright-infringement