NEWS

We are pleased to announce the release of the new video from charity Solace Women's Aid promoting their Christmas #MakeItStop campaign.

Here is Solace Women's Aid describing the campaign in their In their own words:

This Christmas, the feelings of isolation and trauma many survivors carry has increased because of the Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing lockdowns, leaving many women trapped in their homes with their abuser and at risk of further danger and harm.  The #MakeItStop campaign, created in conjunction with STACK, launches on the 25th November with an emotive 60 second film showing a traditional family Christmas scene, with a tree in the living room, stockings hanging on the fireplace and a Christmas jingle playing in the background.  Except, it soon becomes apparent that this living room and home is not a happy or safe place for a woman and her child because both are experiencing domestic abuse.  The Christmas jingle plays on the loop, becoming more and more infuriating and leaving the viewer feeling a heightened sense of discomfort and awareness at the potential danger the woman and her child faces inside her home.  The scene reflects the reality many women and children face this Christmas, trapped at home with their abuser and reliving the trauma of abuse repeatedly, on the loop.  The viewer is eventually able to turn off the incessant Christmas jingle, however there is no off switch for abuse survivors – not without proper help.

Given the serious nature of this video it was important for us to deliver a piece of work that not only correctly illustrated the message of the campaign, but also engaged the viewers emotions.

Project producer Kirsty Malcolm had these words to say about the experience of working with us on this campaign video.

We've just worked with 344 Audio on a Christmas campaign for Solace Women's Aid and I can't recommend Alex and the team highly enough. They came to the table with lots of energy and creative ideas while working with us patiently throughout the complex project, that was all completed remotely. The team went above and beyond to ensure we had everything we needed for the Radio and Video launch and were an absolute pleasure to work with.

You can check out the video below:

If you want to learn more about Solace women's aid and the work they do check out their website.

We are delighted to hear that the Christmas comedy film Cup Of Cheer is number one on the Canadian Box-Office.

We completed the full audio post for Cup of Cheer, which included a fairly intensive and snow-laden Foley process, so naturally we were thrilled to hear of its success at the box-office.

Cup of Cheer, directed by Jake Horowitz is an Xmas rated comedy that parodies traditional Christmas Hallmark movies. You can view the trailer for cup of Cheer Below:

For more info about the film and the Director check out the IMDB page: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11650404/

We hope you enjoyed this new post!

We are excited to announce the release of Batman: Knightmare, a short fan film produced by BeSquared productions. This project was a great source of enjoyment for us, as there were plenty of strong sound design moments within the film where we could really flex our creative muscles and use sound to push the narrative forward.

The concept of this film is that Batman is trapped inside a nightmare whilst the Joker taunts him and tries to test his moral code. We made use of many subtle sound design elements to enhance the dream-like atmosphere for the audience, and make them feel at the mercy of the Joker.

To create this effect, we heavily utilised processed voice recording of the Joker. Brian Bowles, director of the film and actor playing the Joker recorded many different ADR tracks, including long takes of maniacal laughter. We took these tracks and used granular processing to make them even more disturbed and nightmarish.

The Composer used processed accordion sounds as another atmospheric element that were combined with our design elements. The accordion is long associated with circus music and clowns, which fits in nicely to the theme of Jokers character. These were used in conjunction with our music box and childlike horror vocal effects, reminiscent of a fairground attraction.  

These sonic tools were combined to fill out the background and create a strange and unnerving atmosphere for the audience.

In the second half of the film, Batman and The Joker engage in a long and brutal fight scene. This is where we let loose the tension that we had built up in the first half and used sounds in a more forceful and direct manner.

The fight sequence allowed us to reinforce the characterisation through our sound choices. The raw brutality of Batman's heavy blows contrasts with the razor-sharp precision of Joker's knife perfectly communicatees what these characters are about symbolically through the sounds they make.

The score composed by Sean Sumwalt is also a big piece of this film, with edgy and tense moods building into frantic drumming and string patterns once the fight begins. Sean did a wonderful job with the music and really hyped up the action on the screen.

All in all, this was a fantastic project to be involved with and we had a blast designing sounds to accompany such an iconic set of characters.

Batman: Knightmare is now available to watch on YouTube via the link below!

We hope you enjoyed this news article!

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We are delighted to announce the launch of our new Instagram video series called Speed of Sound. In this series, we will be discussing a different aspect of sound design and the audio post-production process, drawing upon our experience of working on various real-world projects to deliver content that is both informative and intriguing to the sound community.

In Episode 1, we discussed the importance of foley cueing in the foley process and how important it is for maintaining a smooth and efficient workflow. This was informed from our experience of completing the foley for the feature film American Dreamers over the past couple of weeks.

We also touched upon the different roles involved in foley such as foley artist, foley mixer and foley editor, and how these 3 roles work together to complete a project. If you are involved in foley work or you want to learn more about how the process is done at a professional level then be sure to check out Episode 1.

As we progress with this series, Speed of Sound will aim to cover various topics of discussion, dispel some of the myths surrounding audio post-production and offer general tips and guidance for those who are in the beginning stage of their careers.

You can check out Episode 1 below:

We hope you enjoyed this news post!

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Company: Badlands Sound

Product: House Tones

Price: $50

Our Rating: 4.8/5

'House Tones' is a new Sound Effects Library from Badlands Sound. With an amazing collection of different room tones recorded indoors, this library is an essential addition for professional sound designers.

House Tones contains 57 files with 2 mins each, making a total duration of 2 hours weighing at 3.8GB. All sounds are available in 96kHz 24-bit, perfect for creating high-quality soundscapes.  Room ambiences with a variety of tones are included.

The Essential

The bundle offers you room tones found in a house including Bathrooms, Basements, Bedrooms, Closets, Garages, Home Offices, Laundry Rooms, Kitchens, Living Rooms, Showers, and Utility Room, i.e. The recordings offer different tonalities for each type of room which helps you design a perfect soundscape for the scene you are working with. For example, files covering bathroom ambiences have various tonalities, for example 'airy tone' with and without carpet, 'tone with the fan running', 'tone in a bathroom with tile' etc.  They have recorded sounds covering all possible situations for each room, saving you from adding an extra layer of ambiences to your project.

All files are clean and of high quality as they were recorded using professional gear including the Sound Devices 702t, Rycote ORTF, and a pair of Sennheiser MKH 8040’s. The difference between each tone is clearly notable according to the nature of the room. You can use the sounds straight away for your indoor scenes without a second thought.

Moreover, like any other product from Badlands Sound, all of the files are tagged with metadata that refers to the type of room and their tonality, making it easier to find the right tone that fits your soundscape.

Even though we could loop the tones without any problems, it would be better if they had given a bit more duration for the files for an easier workflow. Also, we expected more files in a library of this cost, still, this is a great resource for sound designers.

The Bottom Line

Overall, House Tones is an essential library that sound designers should go for. This bundle offers you a variety of house ambiences with different feels for you to choose in designing a perfect interior soundscape.

You can get your copy of Home Exterior here:

https://badlandssound.com/products/house-tones

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