Freelance Journey

How to Become a Freelancer – January 2025 Update

Intro:
Have submitted Troy to the Edinburgh New Writers Collective competition. I always like a competition that Troy is eligible for.

Am searching for sound jobs around February as my first set one isn’t until March.


So on to the update!

Scripts Update:
My goals for this year are to contact agents, now I have The Legend of Aramelle as a showcase of my writing and a growing portfolio. My other goal is to finish one of the four scripts I have in various drafts. From my gold rush script to the 1960’s script (Which still needs a name) and finally two scripts that are not set in a specific time period for once, but are about two sisters and two actors.

Am still writing the second series of Legend of Aramelle. I hope to finish the first draft by the end of January, but the speed I’m going at the moment it will be closer to the end of February.

Things Learnt:
The Edinburgh New Writers competition needed a one page CV – something which I was able to do by taking out most of the description of my non-writing jobs. The difficulty is in keeping in information about transferable skills, but I do have a spearate skills section of my CV, so crowded them all into there. In an aesthetically pleasing way, of course!

Freelance Journey

How to Become a Freelancer – December Update

Intro:
Have finished editing everything from the film course! (Except for one where my video files got corrupted.) As I currently only have the free version of Vimeo, I’ll have to switch the Brighton School documentary with the film Somewhere Below. I do think this is a better example of my work, as it showcases my screenwriting as well as editing and sound skills.

I also have a version of the film that uses the song that inspired it (Grand Hotel by Regina Spektor), but the one I’m uploading uses good old royalty-free music from the Adobe library!

Have two sound recording jobs lined up for the new year – one without a definite date yet, and the other filming one weekend in March. The one in March will be my first profit share job – which essentially means I will get paid if the film makes a profit (and not if it doesn’t). This is a step up from the expenses only ones I’ve been doing so far!

So on to the update!

Scripts Update:
Put Last Witch in Swanage into BBC Writersroom. I edited it a bit, but not too much before submitting.


The as yet unnamed 1960s pilot is definitely the script I’ll be submitting to most competitions next year, just as soon as I think of a title.

My goal for 2026 is to contact agents. I have a big enough portfolio of scripts now that I can do this.

Things Learnt:
Tailored cover letters in job applications can make a big difference. I knew this already from when I was a retail manager and in charge of hiring new staff. I was much less likely to interview the people who sent generic applications! However, I think it is even more true in crew jobs. I have had three jobs offered to me without an interview, just based on my cover letters being tailored to the job and person I am applying to work with. While part of this might be a scramble to fill roles as the shotting dates get close, it is also clearly making an impact on the hirers to see that I’ve read about the film and found out their name before applying.

Freelance Journey

How to Become a Freelancer – November Update

Intro:
Have nearly finished editing everything from the film course. I only have two items left now. Have uploaded my short documentary film about the Brighton School of film-makers to Vimeo. I still want to add some narration to better tell the story, but am very pleased with how it’s turned out!

Ended up with two sound recording jobs in October – the second was Behind the scenes interviews for a film. Very fun, the difference between sound for films and sound for interviews is interesting though. Sound for films is lots of short takes, and interviews are obviously conversations so can go on for ages with just one take, as I did not have a stand available, this made my arms very tired by the end of the day!

I have an interview for another film coming up, which doesn’t start shooting until January so I can try to save up money to use hireacamera.com again!

So on to the update!

Scripts Update:
Put Last Witch in Swanage into The channel 4 scheme, but am continuing editing it until BBC Writersroom opens in December.

I also had an idea for another pilot set in 1960, which I was able to write the first ten pages of in one day! So obviously, it wanted to come out of my head! I’ve already begun to edit the first draft of this, and am hoping to put it into some competitions by the new year. It might be ready for BBC in December, but I’ll probably stick with Last Witch in Swanage for this year, as that way I know I’ve put the same thing into both Channel 4 and BBC and can’t repeat those submissions next year.

Things Learnt:
Depending on how early you need to be somewhere for a film shoot can make a big difference to how much your ticket costs! Peak times are obviously more expensive than non-peak times but I had a train ticket double in price to nearly £90 when I’d only budgeted £45! From now on, I’m just going to assume it’s the expensive ticket and go from there!

Freelance Journey

How to Become a Freelancer – October Update

Intro:
Have been spending the last few weeks in September enjoying the fact that I don’t have Legend of Aramelle episodes to edit and upload. I have started my first draft of series two, though, so it’s back to the writing for the last part of this year!

I also have another sound recording job! This one is at the end of October and is only one day, but I will be recording in a church, so I’m anticipating big echoes! I have to acquire my own equipment for this shoot and as I’m still saving up to buy sound recording equipment (altogether it’s about £5000, so I can’t buy it in one big go), so I’m hiring it from hireacamera.com

So on to the update!

Scripts Update:
Have nearly finished the editing for Last Witch in Swanage. Hoping to put it into The channel 4 scheme today and then keep editing it in between now and the BBC Writersroom window opening in December.

The BAFTA Rocliffe competition still hasn’t opened. There doesn’t seem to be any news on this that I can find, so I’m beginning to think it’s not opening at all this year.

I have nearly finished editing everything from the film course. Am currently working on the documentary I shot about the Brighton school of Film-makers in the early 1900s, who, among other things, are believed to be the first people to use close-ups in film!

Things Learnt:
Editing the documentaries is both similar and different to editing the short films. The short films are often roughly already in order; you pick the best takes and delete the others than switch them around to the order in the script. With the documentaries, it’s often just an interview, with some context shots of what the interview is about. So, the first thing to do is decide where you want to start the interview – which isn’t necessarily at the beginning – and then fit the context footage round it to form the story you’re telling without a script.

Freelance Journey

How To Become a Freelancer – September Update

Intro:
The final episode of The Legend of Aramelle is up! You can listen to it here on WordPress, on Apple podcasts, Spotify or Pocketcasts.

The film shoot I was on went well. The first day was recording on location, and there was an issue with one of the microphones in that it couldn’t be heard through my headphones. It was recording sound though, and both other mikes worked fine. If I had had an hour to figure out the issue, I would have been able to, but that wasn’t possible without delaying filming significantly. I haven’t heard anything from the editors, though, so I assume it did record fine in the end, just without me hearing it!
The next day was on a set and I used a different microphone to avoid that issue and it worked fine. I am excited to see the final edit! It’s a very strange thing to be able to hear someone across the room more clearly than someone directly in front of you, if they’re miked up. Plus, it can be extremely tiring to hear things to that extent for so much of the day, but I do find it enjoyable and have already applied for my next job!

So on to the update!

Scripts Update:
Am working on the feedback for The Last Witch in Swanage (puritan witch script). The channel 4 scheme opens on 22 September and as Troy isn’t eligible for that one, I’m hoping LWIS is at a good enough level to submit it this year.

The BAFTA Rocliffe competition still hasn’t opened.

The date for the final screening of the film course got moved again! This was due to building work being done over the summer, so I am hopeful I will be able to attend after all.
However, there’s no update on when the screening will be now.

Things Learnt:
I’ve made a spreadsheet for my expenses/income and coded it so the sums get added up automatically. I added my expenses for the film shoot and then subtracted them again once the expenses had been paid. For this first year, I’ve only made one spreadsheet for the entire financial year as it’s unlikely I’ll be making enough month to month to warrant monthly ones.
I an hoping to finish all the projects before the screening and, now the editing for Legend of Aramelle is complete, I will have more time to focus on them.

Sound Effect Listings

The Legend of Aramelle – Episode 12 Sound Effects

Of course it would be in the final episode of the series that I had the most trouble with the audio! It seems that one microphone wasn’t working correctly so two actors lines were extremely quiet. I had to isolate their audio and edit them on their own track to make it audible. I’ve edited it as best I could, and it works pretty well, it just has the unfortunate side effect that there’s some background interference audible in their lines, as a result of it being heightened. It sounds a little bit like wind though, so as they’re all outside or on mountains, if you use your imagination it’s not so bad!
Plus, I wanted to make sure it was audible as some of the lines lost were important to the future plot!

Mixed Sound Effects:
Walking through prison corridors: Witch Princess Gamelan Melody mixed with Water dripping in cave freesound and Cowboy boots walking (Adobe)

Adobe Sound Effects used:
Liquid Water River flowing waterRiver
Coin Flip and Catch Ringing SpinJewel
Foley Cinder Block Sand ScrapesCave moves position
Liquid Water Water Ballon Dropped in WaterSpoon dropped in cauldron
Foley Coin Moving in HandKing Gideon gets money out
Ambience Ocean ShoreShip in bay by Isle of the Sirens

BBC Sound Effects used:
Ship creaking: Thames Sailing Barge, Atmosphere Below Deck Under Sail, With Creaking Wood. (Recorded On Board S.B. Pudge.) (Bought)
Doors Prison Cell – Prison Door Cell, opened and shut (Bought)Door to Prison opened and closed
Boats Rowboats Punting – Needed a noise of driftwood to show what Barry is floating down the river on. (Bought)

Pro sound effects used:
Whistler Mountain Canada Light Buffeting Windmountain ambience (Bought)
Sparkles Glistening Metallic Swells – Sound of jewel map being projected. (Bought)
Sucky Woosh – Noise for the ghosts method of travel and appearance – more will be revealed how this works in series 2! (Bought)

Cast for:
Ship onto Table out of pocketAramelle takes jewel out of pocket
Crew Cheering
Crew executing orders
The “Woo” that Orson says was supposed to be another round of the crew cheering, but realised in editing that as they’ve just gone off to execute their orders, it didn’t make sense, but Orson was still there, so he could cheer for Aramelle all by himself.

Music by Jean Loup-Pinson:
The Village Krumhorn
Grim Reaper theme

Freesound for:
Cauldron bubblingWater Bubbling – Same as last episode. water bubbling by ultraaxvii — https://freesound.org/s/591151/ — License: Creative Commons 0

The Legend of Aramelle

The Legend of Aramelle – Episode 12

Of course it would be in the final episode of the series that I had the most trouble with the audio! It seems that one microphone wasn’t working correctly so two actors lines were extremely quiet. I had to isolate their audio and edit them on their own track to make it audible. I’ve edited it as best I could, and it works pretty well, it just has the unfortunate side effect that there’s some background interference audible in their lines, as a result of it being heightened. It sounds a little bit like wind though, so as they’re all outside or on mountains, if you use your imagination it’s not so bad!
Plus, I wanted to make sure it was audible as some of the lines lost were important to the future plot!

In this Episode:
George Coyne played Orson
Georgia Faye played Persephone
Liam Harkins played Barry and Potion Man
Tayla Kenyon played Clive, King Gideon and Robin
Mariana Sa Sousa played Aramelle
Am Stubberfield played Grim Reaper and Mountain guard

Social Media:
Show email: thelegendofaramellecasting@gmail.com
Writer: Christy Sago: Bluesky: @christywrites.bsky.social
Producer: Kate Delong: Instagram: @kate.delong.creates
George Coyne: Instagram: @jorge_pereira8890
Tayla Kenyon: Twitter: @taylakenyon
Liam Harkins: Instagram: @liammharkins
Mariana Sa Sousa: Instagram: @marianasasousa123
Am Stubberfield: Instagram: @brumble_hag
Composer: Jean Loup-Pinson: Instagram: @jlpinsonmusic

Sound effects:
Jean Loup-Pinson composed the music.
His website is: www.jeanlouppinson.com/
Sound effects for this episode are from BBC Sound Effects Library, Adobe Sound Effects, Freesound.org, Pro Sound Effects and the cast themselves.
Full credits for the sound effects as well as more information on the writing, recording and editing of this episode can be found here.

Questions that still need to be answered: What happened to Captain Liam? We haven’t seen him since the mountain prison, has he gone to find his wife? What is Aramelle’s plan with the sirens? Why can Orson see a figure on the Isle of the Sirens while no-one else can? Is it to do with the voice he heard in the grasslands? And the most important un-answered question of all: What happened to Orson’s sword? The enchanted one he stole of the suit of armour? Is it at the bottom of the lake in Aramelle’s kingdom?

The Legend of Aramelle will return! (When I’ve written the scripts.)

Thank you for listening!

Sound Effect Listings

The Legend of Aramelle – Episode 11 Sound Effects

Adobe Sound Effects used:
Multimedia Internet CD Rom Flash Beep High Pitch 33 Orson arrives in cabin
Liquid Water River flowing waterRiver
Weapon Sword Hit Metal Off Center 01Guard bars entry
Concrete shoes walkingWalking through prison
Human crowd mumblingAramelle sees future in cauldron
Impact Metal Bang 01cell door opened

BBC Sound Effects used:
Ship creaking: Thames Sailing Barge, Atmosphere Below Deck Under Sail, With Creaking Wood. (Recorded On Board S.B. Pudge.) (Bought)
Doors Prison Cell – Prison Door Cell, opened and shut (Bought)

Pro sound effects used:
Whistler Mountain Canada Light Buffeting Windmountain ambience
Prison Gate Metal Gate Open Close
Crowd Foot Stomps Interior Reverberant Theater crowd marching
Bells Cathedrals ringing wedding bells as Aramelle looks in cauldron
Pot Hit Metal Clang ImpactAramelle knocks cauldron

Cast for:
Normal Squawk 2 – went for a different option on the squawking as I didn’t think Liam would turn into the exact same bird!

Music by Jean Loup-Pinson:
The Village Krumhorn
Grim Reaper theme

Mixed sound effects:
Scolex water dripping in cavefreesound mixed with Gamelan melody by Jean

Freesound for:
Cauldron93214__freed__iging_21a_the-cauldron – freesound Cauldron a looking in: IGing_21a_The Cauldron.mp3 by Freed — https://freesound.org/s/93214/ — License: Attribution 4.0 – used this for the beginning of the magic when Aramelle looks in the cauldron. Only used the first few seconds and looped it.

The Legend of Aramelle

The Legend of Aramelle – Episode 11

In this Episode:
George Coyne played Orson
Georgia Faye played Persephone
Tayla Kenyon played Clive and Beryl
Mariana Sa Sousa played Aramelle
Am Stubberfield played Grim Reaper and Mountain guard

Social Media:
Show email: thelegendofaramellecasting@gmail.com
Writer: Christy Sago: Bluesky: @christywrites.bsky.social
Producer: Kate Delong: Instagram: @kate.delong.creates
George Coyne: Instagram: @jorge_pereira8890
Tayla Kenyon: Twitter: @taylakenyon
Liam Harkins: Instagram: @liammharkins
Mariana Sa Sousa: Instagram: @marianasasousa123
Am Stubberfield: Instagram: @brumble_hag
Composer: Jean Loup-Pinson: Instagram: @jlpinsonmusic

Sound effects:
Jean Loup-Pinson composed the music.
His website is: www.jeanlouppinson.com/
Sound effects for this episode are from BBC Sound Effects Library, Adobe Sound Effects, Freesound.org, Pro Sound Effects and the cast themselves.
Full credits for the sound effects as well as more information on the writing, recording and editing of this episode can be found here.

What do you think Aramelle saw in the cauldron?

Thank you for listening!

Freelance Journey

How to Become a Freelancer – August Update

Intro:
Another late in the month update, but, I hope, one worth waiting for as I have my first job as a sound recordist! It’s on a short film shooting next week, and once edited, it will give me my first IMDB credit!

The Legend of Aramelle is going well. Episode eleven is due up next Saturday (23rd August). You can listen to it here on WordPress, on Apple podcasts, Spotify or Pocketcasts.

So on to the update!

Scripts Update:
Finally finished a draft of The Last Witch in Swanage (puritan witch script) and have received feedback from two people for my next draft. I hope to enter it into the BBC open call this year, so still have time to work on it.

The BAFTA Rocliffe competition still hasn’t opened but, when it does, I’ll be submitting my Troy script this year.

Finally, am in the process of editing everything I shot in the film course and am about half-way through all the projects. Sadly, I won’t be able to make the final screening as it’s the same day as my sound job starts. Though, I’m hoping I can meet up with people from the course in the coming months as I was looking forward to seeing everyone at the screening.

Things Learnt:
As this first job is expenses paid only, I have made sure I’ve been collecting receipts and invoices for the travel I’ve booked. Now I’ve actually started doing it, it’s much less daunting than it seemed before I started and just need to make sure I keep everything in one place!

Sound Effect Listings

The Legend of Aramelle – Episode 10 Sound Effects

Mixed sound effects for:
Persephone’s theme and Grim’s Theme – mixed together for when Persephone takes Orson away

BBC for:
Persephone and Grim row across the river of StyxBoats: Punting – Punting: Boarding and clambering about (Bought)
Ship creaking: Thames Sailing Barge, Atmosphere Below Deck Under Sail, With Creaking Wood. (Recorded On Board S.B. Pudge.) (Bought)

Freesound for:
Underworld ambience: The Underworld by erlipresidente https://freesound.org/s/415886/ — License: Attribution 4.0 – Ideally I wanted something with a few more screams in the background, but this does do a good job of sounding sufficiently otherworldy and not likely to get kixed up with the Soothsayers Cave from the previous episode!
Underworld crowd: Walla Crowd Inside French by Salomé_Lubczanski https://freesound.org/s/733849/ — License: Creative Commons 0

Adobe Sound Effects for:
Flood waterLiquid Water River Flowing Water
Persephone unrolls parchment and Gideon signs paperFoley Paper Wax Paper Movements
Orson walks aloneFoley footstep human walking through tall grass
Orson begins to teleportMultimedia Internet CD-Rom Flash Beep High Pitch 33

Music:
The Village Krumhorn stem – to move between the different sections of the scene
Grim’s Theme – Grim takes souls, also when Grim arrives to see Persephone again

The Legend of Aramelle

The Legend of Aramelle – Episode 10

In this Episode:
George Coyne played Orson
Georgia Faye played Persephone
Liam Harkins played Giant Gary
Tayla Kenyon played dead guard, King Gideon and Voice
Mariana Sa Sousa played Aramelle
AM Stubberfield played Grin Reaper

Social Media:
Show email: thelegendofaramellecasting@gmail.com
Writer: Christy Sago: Bluesky: @christywrites.bsky.social
Producer: Kate Delong: Instagram: @kate.delong.creates
George Coyne: Instagram: @jorge_pereira8890
Tayla Kenyon: Twitter: @taylakenyon
Liam Harkins: Instagram: @liammharkins
Mariana Sa Sousa: Instagram: @marianasasousa123
Am Stubberfield: Instagram: @brumble_hag
Composer: Jean Loup-Pinson: Instagram: @jlpinsonmusic

Sound effects:
Jean Loup-Pinson composed the music.
His website is: www.jeanlouppinson.com/
Sound effects for this episode are from BBC Sound Effects Library, Adobe Sound Effects, Freesound.org, Pro Sound Effects and the cast themselves.
Full credits for the sound effects as well as more information on the writing, recording and editing of this episode can be found here.

What does find roots mean?

Thank you for listening!

Sound Effect Listings

The Legend of Aramelle -Episode 9 Sound Effects

Mixed sound effects for:
Exterior Castle CourtyardCrowd Exterior Daytime Courtyard…Blenheim Palace (Prosound: Bought) mixed with Pirate’s in crowdPirate Murmur Constant Calm… (Prosound: Bought). Both of these together sounds enough like a crowd, though the crowd does sound annoyingly distracted. Though I do like the fading up of the pirates, as you can hear an “Arr!” just at the moment that “I can’t see no pirates either,” is said!
Torch gets knocked overFire torch burn in wind, short (Prosound: Bought) Impact firewood grab (Adobe) – mixed these two together. It was too much noise for the fire to be burning the whole way through, so added it jsut before it gets knocked over.
Crowd fightsEpisode 9 general screaming fighting (Cast) mixed with Crowd panicsHuman crowd footsteps running and screaming (Adobe) and Fire burningTorch fire burning roar intermittent crackles (Prosound: Bought). Wanted quite a few noises here so you can tell it’s pandemonium and no-one knows whatr’s about to happen at this point!

Cast for:
Soothsayer FaintsEpisode 9 Soothsayer fainting
Soothsayer wakes upEpisode 9 Soothsayer wakes up
Crowd panics Episode 9 crowd panics
Orson gets hit – not a sound effect, just good acting!

Prosound for:
Soothsayer’s caveBreaths Creepy Ghostly Wind(Bought). I originally wanted a more cave-y type setting for this, but it sounded too similar to the dungeons, think this makes it seem more like the soothsayer is sitting on top of a mountain!
Aramelle and Gideon have tug of war with drumSwing Set Swing (Bought). Could not for the life of me find anything that sounded like a drum being pushed back and forth, think this works though as it’s only a few seconds.
Giant pours water over fireWater pour(Bought).
Flood waterWater lap heavy sloshy crashing tidewater(Bought).
Aramelle puts Orson on tree branch Water splash tree branch drop(Bought).
Aramelle bangs drum and giants hearDistant Booming Muffled Thumps(Bought). Very difficult to find drum noises, it turns out! This one works well, as I’ve added an echo and slowed it down.

BBC used for:
Dungeon door opening and closingDoors Prison Cell Open and Shut (Bought) – the same as used in episode 3

Adobe Sound Effects for:
Leaving soothsayer’s caveFoley Footsteps Cowboy Boots Debris Dirt Walking – Needed something so you’d know they’d left the cave before the soothsayer woke back up.
Orson gives sword to AramelleWeapon broad sword hit metal tink
Aramelle fights Impact sword impacts

Music:
The Village Krumhorn stem
Persephone theme

The Legend of Aramelle

The Legend of Aramelle – Episode 9

. CW: Character Death. Not graphic but, if listening with children, you might want to listen ahead or wait for the next episode to come out so you can hear the full plot.

In this Episode:
George Coyne played Orson
Georgia Faye played Persephone
Liam Harkins played Liam, Barry and Giant Gary
Tayla Kenyon played Soothsayer, King Gideon, Man in Crowd and Giant George
Mariana Sa Sousa played Aramelle
Am Stubberfield played Grim Reaper

Social Media:
Show email: thelegendofaramellecasting@gmail.com
Writer: Christy Sago: Bluesky: @christywrites.bsky.social
Producer: Kate Delong: Instagram: @kate.delong.creates
George Coyne: Instagram: @jorge_pereira8890
Tayla Kenyon: Twitter: @taylakenyon
Liam Harkins: Instagram: @liammharkins
Mariana Sa Sousa: Instagram: @marianasasousa123
Am Stubberfield: Instagram: @brumble_hag
Composer: Jean Loup-Pinson: Instagram: @jlpinsonmusic

Sound effects:
Jean Loup-Pinson composed the music.
His website is: www.jeanlouppinson.com/
Sound effects for this episode are from BBC Sound Effects Library, Adobe Sound Effects, Freesound.org, Pro Sound Effects and the cast themselves.
Full credits for the sound effects as well as more information on the writing, recording and editing of this episode can be found here.

What will Persephone do with Orson now?

Thank you for listening!

The Legend of Aramelle

The Legend of Aramelle Sound Effects – Episode 8

Cast for:
Bird SquawksCaptain Liam answering Aramelle’s questions.

Prosound for:
Waves, ship creakingship Thames Sailing Barge, Atmosphere Below Deck Under Sail, With Creaking Wood. (Recorded On Board S.B. Pudge.) (Bought).
Sparkles Glistening Metallic SwellsJewel map being projected. I did want to use this for the rest of the scene, but it was distracting so I faded it down after a few loops.

BBC used for:
Doors Prison Cell Open and Shut (Bought)Dungeon door opening and closing – the same as used in episode 3

Adobe Sound Effects for:
Multimedia Internet CD-Rom Flash ElectronicSpell – The same sound as used for the Witch Princess’s spells in episode 3
Foley Prop Coin Flip and Catch Ringing SpinCaptain Liam pressing the corners of the jewel down
Foley Footsteps Cowboy Boots Debris Dirt WalkingBarry leaves – Needed something to show he was gone, before the door noise again.
Household Wood Old Wood Door Close – Door closes – Needed a sound to show that the guards had entered the shop.
Foley Coins Moving in HandCaptain Liam hands coins to the potion man
Weapon Sword Remove From SheathGuards remove swords from sheaths

Mixed Sound Effects:
Oven Door Fall Open Metal Rattle (Prosound), mixed with Household Book Fall to Ground (Adobe) – Cage door opened – the hardest thing to find for this episode. I was searching for rattling cages and got nowhere. Think I searched for Metal rattle to get this one.
Water dripping in cave (Freesound) mixed with Witch Princess Gamelan Melody StemDungeon atmosphere

Freesound for:
Cauldron bubblingWater Bubbling – Same as last episode. water bubbling by ultraaxvii — https://freesound.org/s/591151/ — License: Creative Commons 0