Directions Unit: Sound Design| Development & Planning

Overall Plan & Ideas

As a whole, I have developed on my overall idea for my sound design. I am planning to create a realistic approach of a pedestrian walking down the street. This means that throughout the one minute of my sound, the audience must be able to recognise the different sounds you would hear as you walk down the street (in the image). For example, hearing the car pull up, people dining in the restaurant, traffic lights flickering, etc. Below is a detailed explanation of my intentions for my sound design.

Ordering of my Sound Design - Pedestrian Walking

Following on from my planning, I have decided to use the idea of a pedestrian walking down the street, meaning the ordering of my sound design will start from the close up of the image (the road) which will gradually walk down the street into the distance where the image becomes unclear.

The pedestrian I am planning to use is shown in the image to the right. He is located underneath the cinema opening on the right hand side of the image. As the pedestrian walks down the street, sounds on the right of the image must be more emphasised compared to the middle and left side of the image.

However, within the sound design the pedestrian must pay attention to sudden and upcoming sounds on the other side of the street. For example, as the car pulls up to the traffic lights - the sound design should focus on the car (by cropping/zooming the image in whilst the sound appears). Nonetheless, the pedestrian must be walking further into the distance as the sound design continues.

Although the sound design is one minute maximum, I am also planning to make the pedestrian stop - this should be where he is standing in the photo so that the audience can recognise which pedestrian my sound design is focusing on.

Significance of Sounds

Below is how much of an emphasis there should be on sound (how loud/quiet the sound should be):

Sounds on this side of the street should be the most evident,
due to the pedestrian being on this side

Sounds in the centre of the street will be weaker but remain evident, depending on
how loud the sound is and the position of the pedestrian

To the left of the street, sounds should be weaker as it is on the other side of
the street compared to the pedestrian

These are only rough ideas on the volume of sound - of course some sounds may be louder or maintain a different pitch to others, making the volume of the sound different. All sounds and their volumes are dependent on the location of the pedestrian (as well as the sounds themselves), and where about he is on the street. Additionally, the audience must be able to recognise the position the pedestrian is on the street due to the loudening and quieting volume of the sounds which focus on the pedestrian.

To generalise, the idea of the pedestrian walking down the street must maintain realism - the sounds must be at the perfect volume, so that the audience can picture walking down the road themselves and hearing the sounds shown in my sound design. The idea of the image being a quiet and wintery atmosphere should be essential, meaning quieter sounds must be more evident when and where at the right time.

The sounds I will be using are in my previous sound design post, plus a few extras which I've thought of whilst looking at the image since my last post. In addition, I haven't come up with the published order of my sounds - this will be posted in another blog when I have tested and completed my sound design!