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Bone Breaking Sound Design | Season 2: Episode 4

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A scene in our recent short Corpse requires a guy getting his head kicked in.

Now WE follow the rule of "working with the resources you have in the best possible way", and getting a fake head to stand on, or doing it with VFX was going to cost a lot of time and money. So instead, we decided we wouldn't show it at all.

Now we could have shown his head being caved in, but what would that achieve? A cheap gimmick, a shock horror moment, sure.

But the story would be the same, so what's the point?

Anyway, here's how we did it.

Try to record audio in the original location. If you can't, find a similar alternative. We shot the scene in forest, but we recorded in my back garden.

They were both outside, the wind levels were similar, and there was very little background noise.

Bone-Breaking-Sound-Design.jpg

We used bell peppers to get a good crunch for the skull crushing sound, and used a water melon for the juicy brain sounds. It had also been in the back of my fridge for a very long time, so it went REALLY juicy!

Bone-Breaking-Sound-Design-with-Melon.jpg

Also...before you start standing on them, don't wear your favourite green chinos like Rob did. It's messy stuff.

I cut up the best sound effects and matched them with the foot stomps. For added brute force, I added a punch sound effect to every kick and stomp. And finally for extra ambience, I added some thunder in the background.

And there you have it. A cheap and effective way to smash your friends skull in!

You can find the sound effects from this video in our store to download for free.

Bone Breaking Sound Design.jpg

DISCLAIMERS:

Some of these links are affiliate links, if you purchase gear via these links The Film Look will receive a small commission, but there will be no additional cost to you. Thank you!

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Storyboard Using Photos | Season 2: Episode 3

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If you have the same lack of drawing talent like we have, drawing storyboards can be a pain. You don't know who is who, your perspective is all wrong, and only you can understand them.

Bad-Story-Boards.jpg

Here is a really simple and productive way of creating storyboards without having to pick up a pencil.

There was one particular scene in Corpse which needed to be thoroughly planned. 6 cast, 4 crew, a trek to the location, and the likelihood of heavy rain; for us, with was a big deal. With this in mind, figuring out the shots from poorly drawn storyboards was a disaster waiting to happen. So instead, we rehearsed.

We all got together in my living room and rehearsed the scene. The actors, the crew, everyone. We tested the make up, we tried different lines, and we shot the scene.

"You shot the scene!? In your living room!? Are you mad!?", ahh, but this is where storyboards come in. We worked around the actors as they rehearsed, positioning and finding our shots. Then it was a case of getting the footage on the computer, and exporting the frames.

Story-Boards.jpg

Line them up in Photoshop, add some shot info, and there you have it; you got a visual shot list ready to take out on location.

Storyboard Using Photos.jpg

DISCLAIMERS:

Some of these links are affiliate links, if you purchase gear via these links The Film Look will receive a small commission, but there will be no additional cost to you. Thank you!

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Make Your Gunshots Sound Better | Season 2: Episode 1

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Guns. The staple foundation for a lot of young film-makers when they get started, myself included.

But there's one thing that makes gunshots seem to stick out like a sore thumb.

Repetition. The sound of it being copied and pasted on the timeline over and over. It pulls you out of the film.

Well here's a quick tip to help make your gunshots sound a little more organic.

So you have your sound effect. 

A pistol shot. 

Match it to your muzzle flash and you have a gun firing! 

But if your subject fires in quick succession...like here...it starts to sound synthetic.

Editing-gun-shot-sounds.jpg

To avoid this, alter the speed of each sound. So this one is 90%, the next can go at 110%, and so on. Between 80-120% of your normal speed is usually a good bracket.

Editing-gun-shot-sounds_1.jpg

It sounds more embedded into the scene.

The sound of gunfire is just the bi-product of gun mechanics. It's a natural sound, and natural sounds are never identical. This method places the sounds back into reality.

Make Your Gunshots Sound Better.jpg

DISCLAIMERS:

Some of these links are affiliate links, if you purchase gear via these links The Film Look will receive a small commission, but there will be no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Building a Self Standing Door | Season 1: Episode 1

The door in our short film Road was more than just a prop. It was, in a sense, another character.

The film revolved around the door to drive the story, and this is why we rejected the idea to use visual effects. This is how we made a self-standing door.

So when I need something making I go to my Dad. He has over 25 years of joinery experience and I know he could make this crazy idea possible.

My original plan was to buy a new door and age it, but fortunately my Dad had acquired a bunch of really old doors which were being thrown out. Some of these doors were over 125 years old, and perfect for the film.

The door needed to stand in two separate locations, a road, and a quarry. Having the door stand independently was the easy part; being able to open, close, and walk through the door was tricky.

Building-a-Self-Standing-Door.jpg

A supporting joist was added to help it stand; and it was positioned in a way that we were able to hide in behind the door frame. Smoke and Mirrors, as they say.

Surprisingly, the door worked on screen just as I had imagined. To be honest, the hardest part was transporting the thing!

DISCLAIMERS:

Some of these links are affiliate links, if you purchase gear via these links The Film Look will receive a small commission, but there will be no additional cost to you. Thank you!