The three dimensional mix

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

BY PHIL MOORE

I encourage you to aim for what I call a three dimension mix: that is horizontal, vertical, and depth.

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Tell me about yourself – how to write your bio

A bio can be one of the trickiest things in the world to write, especially when you’re first starting out. You want it to stand out (for good reasons). You want it to capture you and your potential. It needs to be engaging. Well written. Smart.

How do you do that?

For when you’re wondering if you’re even any good at this

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Remember two things:

1. It’s a really common form of self-doubt.
   At some point, most of us have thought something along the lines of “am I even any good at this?”… particularly when we’ve gotten over the novelty of making media, but are still building our skill base. It’s totally, utterly normal.
2. It’s a process.
   Each time you make something, you learn. Make each thing better than the last. Keep practicing, keep making stuff, keep at it, and you will get better.

Ira Glass (US public radio legend, and of This American Life fame) says it much better than me. This is a very worthwhile two minutes of your time.

Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

Re-watch this video whenever you need the reminder ❤

Getting clean sound

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BY PHIL MOORE

On location what you’re mostly going for is clean, consistent dialogue. Ideally every actor is recorded at the same level, with the same tonal quality and presence, and with no unwanted background noise. First step is to listen to the location. There are two kinds of noise you have to be constantly on the alert for:

1.      Constant low-level background noise like air conditioners, fridges or other machinery. Turn these off if you can, though often in a commercial location that’s not possible. If you have to live with it, then try to ensure it always sounds the same no matter which direction the mic is pointed. And be sure to get a ‘wild’ recording of the background noise on its own, which the sound designer can then use to smooth things out in post.

2.       The other type of noise is the intermittent, irregular kind. Background music, busy roads, flight paths, noisy dogs or birds, and so on. Most of which you can’t control. Murphy’s Law ensures these noises will happen right when you least want them to. During a take and right on an actor’s most crucial lines of dialogue. Ensure the mic is aimed to get the best dialogue while rejecting any possible unwanted sounds (ie: at the beach face away from the crashing waves). Also during each take listen carefully for when a noise occurs. If it isn’t right on a line of dialogue it can be replaced with atmos in the sound design later.

 

Defamation

An overview