photo credit: Marco Raaphorst

This is part 4 in a series of filmmaking discussions on audio post-production for the open source SciFi movie Jathia’s Wager.

Solomon's response on January 17, 2009

Hi,

After a bunch of work, most of the film is edited and here is a semi-final version (I still have some more effect work to do, but 99% of the timing should stay EXACTLY the same).  The first time I finished the rough cut I had a hard drive die on me and unfortunately I was not in a financial position to have it recovered, so I had to start over again.  The good thing is the second cut is always better and I'm happy with how this turned out.

NOTE:  The un-finished Links removed to avoid spoiling the film for new visitors - source files are available for member of the post production team and anyone can join / contribute for free.

Please let me know if you have any issues downloading these files.

Description of Sound Design and Soundtrack

Please COMPLETELY remove or change the actor's voice that's playing the universal spokesperson.  If you can re-record a different actor and have them speak with more confidence and "power" that would be perfect, or somehow change the current voice to fit the part.  He was a fill in (the assistant director actually) and did not give the voice I wanted for that part.  Please replace it with a stronger, semi-computerized voice, and definitely feel free to use your creativity.  This voice should sound alien, but not too overtly scary.

Near the end Jathia says "Freeze" when he holds up both fists.  It's shot from behind and you never see his lips.  This freeze was a cue to the actors, it should also be cut.

I used highly stylized coloring on the different scenes of the film (except the very last scene which isn't done yet).  In general the music and sound design should emphasize these moods.  The opening prison scene should be dark with low bass.

The machine look back scene should be eerie with a whimsical hint to emphasize that's it's a look back sequence and the mystery of this other species that's being discovered.

Jathia's ascension on the trail should be epic, maybe introduce a main melody here (possible).

An alarm of some sort should sound when jathia climbs the hill and there is a closeup on his face (right before it introduces the holographic spokes person with an over the shoulder shot.

Some of the video transitions are emphasized and should have audio effects to go with them.  Some examples of these are:

The machine scene when the guard walks off and there is an additive dissolve (the screen gets brighter), before the camera falls down and we see jathia, hiding.  That transition should have some type of sound.

if you have a creative idea or direction, please share it and go with it, if you need more input from me I can try to expand on what's in this e-mail.

Please watch it and get back to me with any questions or concerns.

Tell me what you think?  The one effect I haven't been able to do successfully is the dark creatures at the end.  I just haven't been able to successfully create that effect.  I'm not giving up though and I'll let you know what I end up doing.  I may imply the effect, by showing a close-up of ezra's eye with a scary reflection on it and then cutting to her screaming.

I was the first to speak at bloblive (bloblive.com) an event for people to share ideas.  I talked about open source movies and jathia's wager.  I made a tons of network connections, including jathia's wager's first commercial sponsor.  I'm suppose to shoot a mini commercial for a computer athlete book that will accompany the release of this film.  This is all very exciting.  I haven't received any money yet, but as soon as I do I'll send you a portion of it.  The first sponsor is getting a VERY low price to kick things off, but I've got until release date to try and attract more advertisers.

I know I sent this late, but  can you give a timeline for completion?  I need to announce an estimated time on my site of when the movie will be released.  If the sponsorship opportunity goes through I'm going to be contractually committed to a February release.

I hope you had a great holiday. Things are very exciting, the teaser trailer has already received international press, I'll post some links on my site soon (also being redesigned).

Thanks,

Solomon

See Part 1|2|3|4