Hope Recce

Whilst on a walk with my father in the peaks we came across a farmhouse and barn that looked very promising so I took some pictures on my phone to show the rest of the group.

Everything from the dilapidated barn to the stagnant bathtub screams isolation, despite it actually being surrounded by other houses from the village, if used we would have to be very careful with the angles we shoot it from. 

Intrigued by the location, Jordan, Luke and I went back to hope for a proper recce of the place. I brought along the trusty Zoom H4N recorder, which is ideal for the purpose of wandering the peaks looking for locations due to its compact size, and though it is not as effective as a Rode NT4 it is more than adequate to gauge an initial idea of the soundscape of a location when first scouting. 

Upon Closer inspection, it became apparent that the house was empty, having recently been sold. I took down the details of the estate agent, this could potentially be perfect if the new owners are yet to move in. It also had a large work shed that would be ideal for the basement location, already looking very much the part. 

It's not trespass if it's in the pursuit of art. 

SHEFFIELD HALLAM UNIVERSITY - SOUND Joel Danby Irons                  Home Away From Here                25/02/2014 Hope - Audio Recce
Edale Road, Hope Bagshaws recently Sold property All scenes potentially here.	Has great exterior and having recently been sold has an empty interior for us to start from scratch with. Also has an ideal torture shed
Report
Acoustical	Ext. relatively sheltered from wind Int. couldn’t enter the house however the shed was open. Reasonably high ceiling. A little reverberant.
environmental	Next to one of the mains roads out of Hope so traffic fairly frequent for small village. Cannot account for interior.
Surface	Concrete walls/floor and wooden workbench in shed. All very hard.
Art Department	Rusted keys hung on the back of the door.
Suitability for recording	Ext: usual traffic disruptions to be expected but should not be too detrimental to recording. Plenty of space and a high ceiling so booming should not be a problem. ADR unlikely to be required
Recommendation Have contacted Landlord to put us in touch with new owner. Would need to recce interior before commencing shoot.

UPDATE 02/03/14: The landlord said it's a definite no to using the location, which is very annoying as this was pretty much an all in one package!

Sound Map/Scene Break Downs

SHEFFIELD HALLAM UNIVERSITY - SOUND

Home Away From Here                                                                            

Script – Audio Breakdown

Details
Scene no	1
Location details	exterior
Art Direction	Lakeside – water ripples
Characters	One character
Mic set-up	Single mic, no dialogue so only require for wild foley
Sound List
Atmos	Lake/water trees
Foley	Character getting up
FX	-
Ideas
Character awakens with a head wound and amnesia. Play on this. ‘where am i?’ ‘who am i?’ score would be ideal here to set the tone of the film and convey the character’s confusion.

HAFH                                                                        

Script – Audio Breakdown

Details
Scene no	2
Location details	exterior
Art Direction	Sounds of the forest
Characters	1. stumbles through the trees.
Mic set-up	1 single mic
Sound List
Atmos	forest
Foley	Footsteps, sticky bloody head dragged off’;
FX	Ascousmatic suggestions
Ideas
Character pleads for help Things get spooky with rustling bushes. Whispers heard – maximise ascousmatic space Expand ideas introduced in ‘Into the Woods’ Introduce mysterious/creepy tone as footsteps appear.

HAFH 

Script – Audio Breakdown

Details
Scene no	3
Location details	Interior & exterior
Art Direction	lakeside again, praying by bed
Characters	1, sequence none sync so   won't be essential
Mic set-up
Sound List
Atmos	lake/interior - processed?
Foley	-
FX
Ideas
Dream sequence (really a flashback)  ambient & atmospheric - lots of reverb/delays high tones with low undertone gradually build crescendo that will continue through each dream until revelation that they are his family. non synced prayer dialogue???      Director’s comments  Wants 'ambient high tones'

HAFH                                                                                      

Script – Audio Breakdown

Details
Scene no	4
Location details	Interior
Art Direction	crucifix on wall - signifier of religious fanaticism & punishment that is to come - dramatic foreshadowing??
Characters	2 character basic dialogue initially, exit one and suddenly enter 2 more for violent struggle.
Mic set-up	single mic set up
Sound List
Atmos	bedroom interior
Foley	walking round room, door opening and closing/locking tying to bed
FX	exaggerated rope tying. possible stinger when men burst into room.
Ideas
Character wakes in bed - where is he? crucifix on wall - signifier - dramatic foreshadowing with motif? enter woman - who is she? - accentuate slightly odd character with unimposing leitmotif - simple chime? She leaves and locks him in - why? character full of unanswered questions - try and reflect frustration through sound/intense atmos manipulation build suspense as he approaches window man skins rabbit - SFX necessary or will perspective be wrong? mild stinger/cue when eyes meet?  myra exits locking him in once again. Slams fists on door demanding answers two possible approaches: 1. allow panic of performance to convey urgency, possible reverberated/slo mo bangs on door 2. drop out all diagetic sound and materialise character's internal fears through score men BURST in. - take audience by surprise with loud stinger (try and avoid being too cliche), or even just exaggerated door sound to take audience out of a reflective moment. Course rope scratching SFX as he is tied up - audience needs to feel the friction burns! underscore with sub tones for full ominous effect - more to come soon folks! Director’s comments  script: 'Flash matching tone of dream sequence' when eyes lock - have to be careful not to give game away too early!

HAFH                                                                                    

Script – Audio Breakdown

Details
Scene no	5
Location details	Interior (dreams)
Art Direction	scalding and whipping occur
Characters	1 - 2, only one in any focus
Mic set-up	no dialogue, single mic for wild coverage
Sound List
Atmos	eerie manipulated
Foley
FX	sizzling flesh, whipped skin.
Ideas
Continue to expand on tones building from the first sequence, as if his memory is slowly piecing itself back together (the audience does not know this yet!) introduce extra high shimmering tone for 'white light' non synced reverberated sounds of sizzling flesh and whipped skin bouncing round the stereo field. end on continued crescendo

HAFH                                                                               

Script – Audio Breakdown

Details
Scene no	6
Location details	Interior - bedroom
Art Direction	Soap Bar! Dresser Smash
Characters	5 total. Four surrounding 1 tied to bed - depending on room size/shape could be very difficult to get boom in there.
Mic set-up	Radio Mic adults + boom james character? make sure to get at least 1 boom take from every character.
Sound List
Atmos	bedroom atmos
Foley	struggling against bonds in bed enter/exit room most characters. scuffle and slay
FX	Soap Gagging, vomit, Skull Crack - wetty
Ideas
accent certain lines to build on the peculiar-turned-sinister family with chimes/percussion   dialogue should hopefully carry most of the scene's tension unassisted.  Commence dread after James snaps, bassy drone? 'rustling can be heard from outside' - acousmatic terror - what is he getting? hang tension as gideon waits for Myra's approval to commence the soaping make audience as uncomfortable as possible with gags,  chokes and scraping teeth on soap. build tension  as approaching steps can be heard and James hides behind the door.  stringed pitch quivering type sound until head impact - make as juicy and crunchy as possible! paint a vivid image of brain exposure in audiences mind.

HAFH                                                                                     

Script – Audio Breakdown

Details
Scene no	7
Location details	exterior
Art Direction	-
Characters	Mainly one, frantically running, a second appears in a shocker before knocking the other one out.
Mic set-up	Single Mic shall suffice
Sound List
Atmos	exterior to house.
Foley	rapid footsteps
FX	rifle butt K.O.
Ideas
dramatic escape music. rumbling drum build up: similar to into the woods.  perhaps also use steady pitch increase drone until James falls moment of silence as he tries to get up GIDEON IS THERE! second chance for a 'jump' - accent with sharp sound crack of rifle butt and fade to black.  Director’s comments  wants choppy edit, with cuts to black and very audible panting in between that.

HAFH                                                                                 

Script – Audio Breakdown

Details
Scene no	8
Location details	Interior - lounge [dream/revelation]
Art Direction	Bible reading
Characters	6 - old james looks in on his younger self surrounded by family
Mic set-up	sync sound not necessary, so will just use single mic to get some wild anyway,
Sound List
Atmos	room tone - not that necessary - score will do most of the work.
Foley
FX
Ideas
continue crescendo from previous dreams and bring to boiling point as we realise they are in fact his family disembodied bible verses/hymns worked into the sound design - use volume and pan automation to maximise effect of this

HAFH                                                                                  

Script – Audio Breakdown

Details
Scene no	9
Location details	Interior - basement
Art Direction	creaking pipes? table of torture instruments, blades, pliers, hammers, bottle of spirit.
Characters	4. 2 characters leave at the start of the scene and the alternation between lines is simple enough.
Mic set-up	single
Sound List
Atmos	basement, crackling stove
Foley	graveley footsteps, selecting table objects. chair rocking, drinking/pouring moonshine.
FX	fingernail removal - pliers, leg stab and remove. branded flesh, face carve. knee to ribs, throat stab. vomit. dripping blood, body fall
Ideas
at first let the dead silence of the basement build tension, no  music.  torture sfx should be inescapably prominent in the mix. underpin with ominous rumbling sub tones pliers -unbearable peeling sound knife - meaty/juicy impact thud.  brand - bubbling blood and sizzling flesh carve - slow and juicy introduce score elements to ramp up tension between each act of torture. vibrato or pitch faltering instrument. inject a false start of hope in the score as he tries to flee and abruptly stop as he is pulled back. build tension to boiling point as they struggle and gideon is stabbed in the neck. audience should share James' shock/regret at what he has done. Use minor musical tone before launching into his escape music.

HAFH                                                                                 

Script – Audio Breakdown

Details
Scene no	10
Location details	exterior - farmhouse
Art Direction	creaking barn door? rifle - cocked?
Characters	3, two facing one that enter shot running.
Mic set-up	single + radio
Sound List
Atmos	exterior wild track of location, singing birds
Foley	grass footsteps, grass bodyfall
FX	rifle cock, throat slash + blood spurt
Ideas
re-use elements of original chase score, but with a slightly more optimistic tone that dissipates as his parents catch up to him re-use mother leitmotif for 'you're ours' line sudden throat slit should take audience by surprise.  final piece of music reflecting characters release from captivity in death. uplifting in a way, but don't over do it. continue til end of credits. Director’s comments  envisioned last shot to be accompanied by Pinback's song 'Loro' -unsure of licensing and also whether or not it will fit in with the rest of the films music, but will try and use/emulate in some manner