Audio Drama

Audio Dramas are forms of entertainment when televisions weren’t invented before. They were famous during the old times. Although audio dramas only produce sounds to communicate and express their ideas, you could still easily understood and identify the situation and every idea that the author is trying to portray. The different sounds and voices that are present to every audio drama will create the mood and allow the listeners to understand very well about what the story is all about. Since sounds are one of the best ways to communicate, then audio dramas aren’t hard to understand and it only makes a little difference with what the videos in televisions are offering right now. Still the videos we see in TV still use sound to communicate and set the mood per every scene.

I’ve searched the audio drama entitled “Ovidiu introduces her girlfriend.” It’s a two minute audio drama that is all about how a young man who came from a prestigious family introduces his girlfriend to his parents. His girlfriend was unfortunate to have all of those riches that he has.  The story begins with the couple walking towards the young man’s house. They were welcomed by his father and directly attacked the girl with questions that is meant to degrade the girl because the girl was less fortunate. Although she was asked in civil kind of way by his father but it meant to degrade the other girl. In the middle part of the audio drama, the mother of the man included herself to do some questioning with the woman with the same intention. The boy tries to protect her girlfriend by trying to control her mother’s tone of voice but he’s father would also stop his son by saying to the boy that its not appropriate to talk to her mother in that kind of way. Obviously, both of his parents hate the girl. In the end, the girl confesses that she is pregnant and that’s how the story ends.

The sound design of the audio drama really gave me the idea about what the story is really all about. Each sound was really approriate in the scene. The voices were kind of blurred though and I needed to amplify my speakers in order to hear it properly. I guess the treble of the voices were really high. When it comes to the story telling part, I love how each character did their part. By the tone of their voices and they way they said their lines, you could really see the scenes and showed what kind of character they have. They also gave me the idea about the problem they are facing in the story. Its about the guys family who hates the less fortunate girl because the she doesn't pass their standard for their boy.

SoundScape

"Soundscape is a sound or combination of sounds that forms or arises from an immersive environment." 

In my own understanding, soundscape is about blending of all sounds that are formed by any objects that produces in a certain setting or situation. Soundscape can be produced in any kind of situation whether it is natural or manmade. It can be produced anywhere whether is indoor or outdoor.

So we were given an requirement that is all about soundscape. We need to produce a soundscape and it should be an indoor soundscape, outdoor(natural) soundscape and outdoor(man-made) soundscape. It was hard to decide at first if what kind of setting and situation to choose for each category. I was having a hard time to decide since it must fit the elements that a soundscape requires. It must have the soundmark, sound signal and the keynote.

Luckily, I got the best site for getting sound effects although there is sometimes a voice over that endorses the website. I got my sound effects at pond5.com and its really a helpful site especially for the animators.

So for the indoor setting, I chose the coffee shop. In a coffee shop, I included the sound of the coffee machine, cash register sound, coffee being poured to the cup, the small crowd and the blender. The coffee machine, cash register sound and the pouring coffee sound is considered to be the sound signal because it is consciously heard and its really the focus of the soundscape. I consider the crowd to be the keynot. The soundmark could be the coffee machine and the pouring coffee into the cup because they are unique to the setting and it describes to what kind of place the soundscape is.

For the oudoor(natural) settings, I chose the sea gulls in the beach. I added the sound of the sea gulls playing around, the calm waves and the sound of the sea breeze. Its really a relaxing combinations of sounds that is why I chose this setting. The soundsignal are the sea gulls because you could really hear their voices. The keynote would be the sound of the waves and the sea breeze. The soundmark could be the sea gulls because  it makes it unique and it says what setting the soundscape is trying to portray.

And lastly, I chose the seaport station for the oudoor(man-made) sounds. The ship horns are the soundmark.  It actually tells you if what place the soundmark is. It is unique among all and the first time you would hear it, you would really say that the place is in the seaport. The sound signal would be the passing forklift truck and the truck reversing. The keynote would be the busy people over the streets and it could be the passing trucks.

Importance of Sound/Audio in the Animation

Sound is one of the significant things that we need in our lives. We produce and at the same time use sound in a different kinds of situation. Music is the greatest sound that humans have ever made. Each movement produces a sound and even silence has one. With every action that we do, there is a particular sound that tells us that we are doing this particular action. So why are sounds or audios significant for animation?

We all know that animations are inspired based from what we see in reality and imaginations. With our imaginations and the things that we see in reality, we can apply this into several drawings that are later then produces an action. Animations are a form of entertainment and are being used in different ways. So when actions are based from reality, we add up sounds to make it more realistic and at the same time entertaining. Sounds are essential in animations because it has several uses just like in reality. We communicate using sounds; we bring out emotions with the use of sounds. Emotions can be felt wholeheartedly with the help of music. Sound is really important in animations because it creates the mood and the atmosphere. Without it, the emotions and the mood that you want to express to your audience will be hard to feel.