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"Die For A Life" Studio
Tech |
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Dan Pinto
Official Website |
This page gives
insight on how some of the technical aspects were created and applied in the making of the film, "Die For A Life" at Pinto Studios. |
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or listen to MP3 samples from "Die For A Life" on the DISCOGRAPHY page. |
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Video & Audio Tape Tech
Proceedures:
It is
important to note that at the time the original editing was done for
this project, technology for digital video editing was extremely expensive. Since this project had a
limited budget, the next best option was the use of analog video
tape editing by way of what many might
consider tedious unorthodox methods. The video was all shot in Hi-8
format and selected clips were transferred to Super VHS
with the capability of a flying erase head for editing. As
mentioned, editing was
tedious using this type of format but once you got a handle on how
to do it, it was extremely effective in that it seamlessly edited the tape with very professional results.
Actual audio from the raw footage was left on the video tape
during editing and used as a template for
ADR and other special audio effects later on. Once the editing was
completed, a sympte time code stripe was dubbed onto the "normal"
audio channel only. Hi Fi and normal audio channels are
simultaneously available on SVHS units of
this type that would allow not only the striping of timecode but
also the monitoring of the audio from the original
video footage through separate channels. This was very helpful in
that it allowed the
capability to sync a digital audio recorder to the video tape using
Sympte timecode while retaining the original audio track from the raw video footage thus enabling the
capability to use that audio to sync ADR and other important special
audio effects very effectively onto the
digital audio unit being used. If your a tech head, you'll know what
this means. If your not, then believe me when I say that this is not for
you. :) There was more involved in this process when it came to
properly syncing what would be the Master
audio ADR & special effect sounds, but generally what is
explained above is what was done to achieve the result of getting the two to
work together.
Music Soundtrack Technical Recording
Applications:
Music was
technically applied many different ways for "Die For A Life".
Sometimes it was recorded directly to digital audio tape and other times it was sequenced using
a computer program with sound modules for the source. The
computer was synced to the master digital
audio recorder through the aide of MTC or Midi Timecode. The end
result was the master video tape acting as the
master unit which sent Sympte timecode to the master digital audio
recorder acting as
the first slave which in turn sent MTC timecode to the Computer
program acting as the second slave. What you end up with is a very powerful system that gives you the
capability to do limitless things when it comes to audio for the
video.
Using a
computer sequencing program is enormously helpful and almost
inexcusable for writing music for film or video. Without getting into a whole gamut of explanation,
it basically allows you to cue the exact points for which you
need various types or lengths of music.
Believe it or not, it can even improve your compositional writing
skills in that it forces you
to use all of your creative ability to write for specific time
frames. What's more is that it also allows you to have the
music printed out in notation form in case
you need to hand that to studio musicians.
Soundtrack Recording Equipment & Audio
Effects Application:
For the
actual audio recording, DA-88 & DA 38 8 track digital Teac
Tascam units were piggybacked and additional sequencing was added using a Kurzweil K2000 sound Module
slaved to an IBM based Cakewalk computer sequencing program. Special audio effects were achieved from many
sources including sound modules & special effects CD libraries.
Foley sounds were in many cases not so
technically achieved. Some of the most basic items you can think of
are sometimes the perfect thing for creating or
recreating a sound. All foley was recorded in house using everything
from a metal barbecue grille for footsteps on a
fire escape walkway to a plastic bag crumpling noise used to create
the sounds of birds ruffling they're feathers. Some sounds such as dog
barks, car horns, closing doors or gun shot noises were first
recorded into a keyboard sampler, edited and
then triggered right from the keyboard when
needed.
Special Visual Effects:
These were
achieved in various ways. While some were the result of stock
effects available in Panasonic & JVC digital video mixers, most notably during dream sequences,
others were more live effects such as the steam pipe in the
warehouse search scene. This was created by
the use of a simple fire extinguisher. For the scenes that contained
gunshots, ricochets were needed. This was
accomplished two ways. The expertise of a pyrotechnics consultant
was brought in and a recipe for a way to make
inexpensive but very effective "squibs" was used. These were little
homemade gunpowder caps that ignited when a low
voltage charge was applied to them from a remote location. That and
some simple everyday run of the mill Forth of July
fireworks timed properly did the trick.
In a nutshell:
By today's
professional standards, the ways in which final post-production
proceedures on this project were accomplished are primative at best. But when your talking
about not having a financial budget to speak of, you don't let
that stop you from your goal. Since the time
that this movie was edited, digital video editing technology has
become much more affordable and these advances have enabled
Pinto
Studios to now improve on the final "Die For A
Life" project. While this film was considered to be an experimental
ground work production not available for sale or distribution, it's
main purpose was to enable Dan
Pinto, it's creator and music composer to further
express his capability in the field of film soundtrack composition. As mentioned, while the film
itself is not yet currently available for public sale, the official
music soundtrack is. Samples of the
soundtrack can be heard on the Discography
page of this site along with the full
soundtrack being available for
purchase. |
