First things first
We started our production house early this year believing in our love for jam sessions. Not the jazzy, 12-minute-horn-solo-then-clapping kind of jam session, but rather the spirit of collaboration between multitudes of talent, from a range of fields, united around the goal of having fun while doing the work you love.
To be jamming with Studio Nuts for Enlist E3 is a great, great opportunity for us because it means joining forces with creatives from different countries and multiple backgrounds. We can't begin to tell you how excited we are about our project together.
Where are your thoughts right now?
We have been discussing the flow of the soundtrack. We've established 2 main assets to work on and experiment with: the music & the sound of the growing plant. Let's look at both.
THE MUSIC
The music must function as our guide through the story. It will stand for the voice over, so it must echo the script's message while adding emotion and power. We imagine a crescendo that follows the flow of information we are delivering.
Slow build, bare instrumentation.
Music “emerges” accordingly with the animation.
Climax: the music body is full, and the tone is of great news ahead. Music halts…
… because we need to hear the sound of plants growing.
From here on the music keeps building, crescendo. And also pausing for effect on the next Supers and for all Quotes.
We plan on sound designing this pauses in subtle ways, to highlight them without disrupting the whole.
Here are some references of mood and construct the way we envision our music going. Do imagine them tuned into the animation, bonded by synch and sound design. Which do you like most?
THE PLANT GROWTH:
This is where it gets even more interesting. We are experimenting in “old school” ways to find sounds that could illustrate the plant as it grows. Feathers against the microphone? A paint brush rubbed against skin? Different types of fabric being rubbed together (do you have any idea of how cool corduroy sounds when recorded and processed?). We will let you know, but have gathered some clips as references.
Some experimentation with brushes directly on the mic.
ASMR could lead to interesting “feels”. In case you're not familiar with the concept, ASMR mixes many different sounds, frequencies and techniques (such as whispers, sfx and electronic beats) to create relaxing types of white noise. It brings relaxation and calmness to listeners.
We intend to experiment with creating a unique voice for the plant growth, based on this concept.
During research we found this experiment. We found it interesting both in terms of sound and creativity. We can find our tone based on this discovery.
Two sound savvy technologists plugged the leaves of a plant into arduino boards to give it a voice.
NEXT STEPS
This is our vision for the project. It will get more solid as the animation develops and we throw more ideas back and fourth. We eagerly wait for your thoughts and comments on our treatment. Let's go nuts together!