The Cavern
On Planet X
This story takes place on Planet X.
People on Planet X sound a little weird when they talk. Not too weird; just a little.
Anyway, here's what happens there... [PICK ONE]
NOTE: None of the above have been resolved! You must do that! Your plot must have a RESOLUTION.
(Play "Plot No Plot" to test your knowledge!)
People on Planet X sound a little weird when they talk. Not too weird; just a little.
Anyway, here's what happens there... [PICK ONE]
- Friends are hiking and suddenly one of them falls down an open shaft, hidden by brush, into a large cavern. It's a miracle, but somehow she survives the long fall. How will she be rescued?
- Boy/Girl meets Boy/Girl. First they go here. Then they go there, Things are going well. Then it happens.
- Boy/Girl meets Boy/Girl. First they go here. Then they go there, Things are not going well. Then it happens.
- The people speaking at the emergency meeting at Headquarters are professional, but whew! they were pretty heated! Later, out at the site of the disaster, the unexpected happens, and everybody is right/wrong!
- A stranger walks up to your protagonist and says something that makes him/her think hard about the way they've lived life. The next day, something happens and in that moment, she/he acts in a new way for the first time.
- An exclusive restaurant in a Hollywood hotel is frequented by famous and aspiring actors. A theft has occurred; everyone is under suspicion. A Casting Director, a detective, and the restaurant owner meet by chance in the elevator. What a curious conversation they have! Each has a different ulterior motive behind the things they say. The next day, the truth is revealed.
- One of the above plots that you have modified.
- A completely different plot that you make up yourself.
NOTE: None of the above have been resolved! You must do that! Your plot must have a RESOLUTION.
(Play "Plot No Plot" to test your knowledge!)
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You may work alone, or with ONE other person
This is an audio project. THERE IS NO VIDEO!
You create different voices for each character
REQUIRED
OPTIONAL (After all of the above is complete):
This is an audio project. THERE IS NO VIDEO!
You create different voices for each character
- with your mouth (texture, pace, accent, etc)
- with Final Cut audio effects (especially Pitch)
REQUIRED
- OVERLAPPING DIALOGUE--this is the most important way to make your dialogue sound natural!
- A short musical introduction to establish a tone or mood. It also performs the same function that fading in from black/white does at the beginning of a movie.
- A narrator who states the title of the piece. This can happen before, during, or after the musical introduction
- A short musical conclusion to signal the end, and to reinforce the feelings/emotions you want the audience to be having at the end.
- A narrator who lists the credits. This can happen during or after the musical conclusion.
- The MINIMUM number of characters: =3
- The MAXIMUM number of characters: =5
- Spaces in time. Not all the action happens continuously from beginning until the end . There are gaps. The gaps you you have to have can be minutes long, hours long, a day, a week, etc. In your project, the gap is only a few seconds long, but it represents a LONGER time in the story. You will fill the silence with
- music
- a "stinger"
- a "texture"
- Character names CANNOT make us think of any existing modern character--like "Courage", "Bart", "SpongeGeorge", etc
- Simple foley: wind, crickets, footsteps, etc, things we already have in the iLife and Final Cut Effects Libraries (DO THIS LAST)
OPTIONAL (After all of the above is complete):
- Background music may be present throughout entire project
- Narrator(s). The Narrator divulges information about when and where things are happening, but nothing about characters' personalities or motivations. There are THIRD PERSON Narrators and FIRST PERSON Narrators. You may have more than one and may even be different types.
- Additional and/or original foley
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STEP 0: Dissect the conversation we record in class and diagram it. We will do this as a class. It will make more sense to you then.
STEP 1: Character List
- Create a list of all characters by name, and include a brief description of their personality.
- Complete the plot by filling in details, paying special attention to resolving the main problem.
- Write the script. Pay particular attention to natural ways of speaking, like "dialog sentence blending", interruptions, individuals' speech pace, how the character's personality relates to the things she says, etc Click here: Troup students discuss cats
- There are different approaches here, depending on your script, and whether you're working alone or with a partner...
- Record ALL lines of EACH character separately, one character at a time. Record each line several times with slight variations, so that you will have a CHOICE later when editing! Stop the recordings after an entire GROUP of variations of the line. (Check out the superb example below, it's from a future radio drama of mine; Bob is disagreeing with Martha about the idea of Original Thought:)
- (placeholder)
- Record instances of overlapping dialogue lines with your partner. Then repeat with variations, like the above example. Note that this could also be accomplished by using the above technique and overlapping the characters' lines recorded separately.
************* DO NOT record the entire project from beginning to end in a single take ***************
STEP 5: Upload the Recordings [Repeat STEPs 4 and 5 as needed]
STEP 6: Assemble Clips into the Main Storyline
STEP 7: Refine the Timing
(more coming...)
STEP 5: Upload the Recordings [Repeat STEPs 4 and 5 as needed]
- Probably the best technique is to import recordings into different project Events by character name. For example, all of the character Bob's recorded lines get imported into the Event that you have created and named "Bob".
STEP 6: Assemble Clips into the Main Storyline
- Begin to assemble the characters' lines in the correct order, inserting Gap clips if necessary.
STEP 7: Refine the Timing
- Adjust the position of clips to create natural-sounding overlapping or interruptions. Adjust the duration of characters' pauses.
(more coming...)
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Showtime: Monday, October 16 (subject to change)