Tag: scriptwriting

Freelance Journey

How to Become a Freelancer – January 2025 Update

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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

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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

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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

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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.

The Legend of Aramelle

The Legend of Aramelle – Episode 12

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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!

Freelance Journey

How to Become a Freelancer – August Update

Christy.E.SLeave a comment

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

Christy.E.S1 Comment

As someone interested in sound recording in general, I thought it would be a good idea to combine the credits I have to include for the sound effects in each episode with information of why I chose them, plus how I edited them.

Here is the full list of sound effects including where I got them from, plus what the original script called for.

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 Styx – Boats: 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 water – Liquid Water River Flowing Water
Persephone unrolls parchment and Gideon signs paper– Foley Paper Wax Paper Movements
Orson walks alone – Foley footstep human walking through tall grass
Orson begins to teleport – Multimedia 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 Sound Effects – Episode 8

Christy.E.S1 Comment

As someone interested in sound recording in general, I thought it would be a good idea to combine the credits I have to include for the sound effects in each episode with information of why I chose them, plus how I edited them.

Here is the full list of sound effects including where I got them from, plus what the original script called for.

Cast for:
Bird Squawks – Captain Liam answering Aramelle’s questions.

Prosound for:
Waves, ship creaking – ship – Thames Sailing Barge, Atmosphere Below Deck Under Sail, With Creaking Wood. (Recorded On Board S.B. Pudge.) (Bought).
Sparkles Glistening Metallic Swells – Jewel 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 Electronic – Spell – The same sound as used for the Witch Princess’s spells in episode 3
Foley Prop Coin Flip and Catch Ringing Spin – Captain Liam pressing the corners of the jewel down
Foley Footsteps Cowboy Boots Debris Dirt Walking – Barry 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 Hand – Captain Liam hands coins to the potion man
Weapon Sword Remove From Sheath – Guards 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 Stem – Dungeon atmosphere

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

Freelance Journey

How to Become a Freelancer – July Update

Christy.E.SLeave a comment

Intro:
Now I am back at work full-time, I am having to plan my editing time for The Legend of Aramelle, more closely. I am still on track, though, with episode eight due to go up this Saturday (12th July). It can be listened to here on WordPress, on Apple podcasts, Spotify or Pocketcasts.

I have been applying to sound-recording jobs (and a few assistant director or producer jobs) on Mandy and Backstage, which has led to a few interviews, but no paid work, just yet. However, I am keeping track of how many interviews I’m getting and it’s over half of what I’ve applied for!

So on to the update!

Scripts Update:
Am still waiting for the release date of the Bafta competition this year, as I will be submitting my Troy script into it. I am also nearly finished with my script for the BBC writersroom this year (will be nice to finish with plenty of time to edit). It’s my puritan witches script and I’m going to ask my writing group to give me notes in the next week or so.

Am in the process of editing the films from the film course. I may not finish all of them before the graduation, but should have a fair few edited and ready to be shown.

Things Learnt:
Am getting better with writing succinct cover letters when applying to jobs. Have found the best way for me to write them is to write them in a Notes app and then add them to my application. I tend to follow the formula of mentioning things they have mentioned in the application and then adding my own skills where appropriate. It may not sound like much, but as someone who used to not add cover letters at all until I was about 28 (when I was a manager and realised I wasn’t impressed when people didn’t send cover letters to me), it has changed how I apply to jobs!

Freelance Journey

How to Become a Freelancer – June Update

Christy.E.SLeave a comment

Intro:
Nearly back at work full-time! I have also finished my Diploma in film-making and am actively seeking work in sound, production and writing! (I have availability for a month in advance.)

The Legend of Aramelle is going well. Episode six is due up next Saturday (14th June). It can be listened to here on WordPress, on Apple podcasts, Spotify or Pocketcasts.

So on to the update!

Scripts Update:
Fewer competitions this month – though I did hear back from Large Format Films competition and sadly neither The Master’s Boots or Billy Frankenstein made the shortlist. I do like both those scripts a lot, so am on the look-out for more short film competitions to send them to.

I shot my short film Somewhere Below last Monday. Also managed to sort all the paperwork needed for it and keep track of all the shots we needed on the day as we didn’t have a 1st AD available. (Others on the course have praised my organisation skills in production.) We ended up shooting in a pub during the day, so there is a bit of re-jigging of the story I’ll have to do in the edit, but it still works great!

Things Learnt:
Have updated my CV with links to my Linkedin page and The Legend of Aramelle feed. Have been trying to get my head around the best way to re-write my CV to show the new skills I have learnt on the course and market myself for jobs available towards the end of summer!

Sound Effect Listings

Legend of Aramelle – Episode 4 Sound Effects

Christy.E.S5 Comments

As someone interested in sound recording in general, I thought it would be a good idea to combine the credits I have to include for the sound effects in each episode with information of why I chose them, plus how I edited them.

Here is the full list of sound effects including where I got them from, plus what the original script called for.

This is the first episode we recorded on the day and does have a few mistakes that we learnt from in other episodes – most notable that you can hear the pages of the script being turned in a few places.
I’ve edited them out where I can and the ones rthat are left, I’m hoping sound mostly like the background noise and are therefore only noticeable to me!

The cast for:
The three of them run out into the corridor, close the door behind them, birds can still be heard through the door. – Ep.4 corridor running, panting, door slam
The sound of birds gets quieter – Not technically a sound effect as I just changed the volume level and then upped it again once the Witch Princess opened the door.
Shouts of crew and the remaining real birds.- Crew background
Witch Princess claps her hands twice – 3,4,5 WP hand clap
Witch Princess claps hands twice one more time.– 3,4,5 WP hand clap
Orson gets down on the floor.– Ep.4 Orson
Captain squawks – Squawk
He hops about on one foot. We can hear his footsteps – Barry foot
Orson is fighting armour to try and get a sword – all done by George Coyne, I didn’t need to add anything.

Mixed Sound Effects:
Glass smashes, Birds fly in – Glass break, Impact glass – a repeat of the sound from the end of the last episode.
Witch Princess claps hands twice. clanking continues – 3,4,5 WP hand clap and Foley Feet Soldiers March from Pro Sound.
Witch Princess tries again. clanking continues – 3,4,5 WP hand clap and Foley Feet Soldiers March from Pro Sound.
Witch Princess claps hands twice. Armour stops – 3,4,5 WP hand clap and Foley Feet Soldiers March from Pro Sound.
Sword hitting stone, armour turning and striking again, Suits of armour turning, Sword hitting stone, turning of armour – Foley Feet Soldiers March from Pro Sound. mixed with Weapon Sword Scrape on Stone from Adobe, Weapon Sword Remove from Sheath, Weapon Broad Sword Hit Stone and Weapon Sword Hit Concrete – This used a bunch of sounds from Adobe and Pro Sound plasced together and repeated over and over. It is meant to sound like the armour is walking round attacking and occasionally hitting the stone walls of the castle, as the main characters duck out of the way. I can hear that because of how many times I’ve listened to this while editing. Please do let me know if you can understand what’s happening in this scene too!

BBC sound effects for:
They open the door. – Doors: Prison: Cell – Prison Door: Cell, opened and shut. (Bought) – Same sound from previous episode for the locking of the cell door. Split in half so the door is slammed shut at the moment that the bird sounds stop – Used again for Guard enters near the end of the episode once the Witch Princess finally gets the wool of bat and for Walks out of vault as they all rejoin the crew back in the main chamber.
Waves, ship creaking – ship – Thames Sailing Barge, Atmosphere Below Deck Under Sail, With Creaking Wood. (Recorded On Board S.B. Pudge.) (Bought) – That good old Thames Barge returns!
Ship runs aground – Grating Noise, As Of Boat Running Aground. (Specially Created Electronic Sound.) – BBC Historical – (Bought)

Adobe Sound Effects for:
Witch Princess pulls curtain aside – Foley Cloth Hit and Short Rustle Cloth – Surprisingly couldn’t find what I actually wanted which was the sound of a small curtain being opened like you might get at a museum – they were all big theatre curtains that squeaked and didn ‘t sound right at all
Unroll paper and reverse – Foley Paper Unroll – Persephone unrolls her letter and then I reversed the sound once she’s finished.
Orson hits sword at armour – Weapon Broad Sword Hit Stone – the same as the rest of the loop just turned the volume up high for peril.
Giant footsteps approach –Foley Footstep Cowboy Dirt Debris Walking – Originally had this done by the cast, but it didn’t sound like it was outside so I used this instead, put onto a echo track to make the footsteps seem bigger.

Pro Sound for:
Witch Princess picks up jewel + Witch Princess throws jewel to Aramelle who catches it. – Coin Flip and Catch, Ringing Spin, Slappy Impact on Hand – Originally didn’t have this in, but the Witch Princess’s “Catch it” gets swallowed a bit b hy the sound of the armor approaching and I wanted it to be clear Aramelle ended up with the jewel. Also gives a good gleam noise at the beginning that allows us to ‘see’ the jewel when it’s first picked up.
Suits of armour footsteps getting louder and closer + Clanking gets louder then stops – Foley Feet Soldiers March from Pro Sound.
Birds and clanking of armour in distance – Foley Feet Soldiers March from Pro Sound. Originally I had it so there were still birds in the background, but that led to too much going on in the scene, so now the squawking stops once the vault door closes. I purposefully set this so that it starts just after the Witch Princess says “You probably don’t have this though,” as it sounds a bit like a drum beat and it’s only clear that the characters can hear it when Orson asks. I then increased the sound higher until the armour stops and begins to attack.
Witch Princess rips page out of book – textbook rip page – If I had the dexterity I may well have recorded this one myself but couldn’ty quite manage it as I am still doing physiotherapy after my injury in January, so this did great instead!

Free Sound for:
Last few birds squawking, crew loosing them out the windows – water bubbling by ultraaxvii — https://freesound.org/s/591151/ — License: Creative Commons 0 – Decided to switch back to the cauldron to clarify that all the magic birds have now gone away and that everything had returned to how it should be.

Music:
Persephone arrives – Persephone’s Theme – asked Jean to make this sound similar to Grim’s theme as Persephone is there to do the same job, but lighter and different enough that it will be obvious from the sound that this isn’t Grim
Giant Country – Originally Giant Country was going to be Grassland sounds and gigantic animals in the distance, but this theme works so well at telling us where we are that it was all I needed in the end.
Aramelle’s Castle – The music from Episode one makes a reappearance to tell us we’ve gone back to Aramelle’s lands where her father is.
The Village Stem – Krumhorn– and this returns us back to the action performing the same function as it did in episode 3 to switch between plots happening simultaneously.

Sound Effect Listings

The Legend of Aramelle – Episode Two Sound Effects

Christy.E.S1 Comment

As someone interested in sound recording in general, I thought it would be a good idea to combine the credits I have to include for the sound effects in each episode with information of why I chose them, plus how I edited them.

Here is the full list of sound effects including where I got them from, plus what the original script called for.

This episode is the first time I had to do some mixing, such as mixing the cast with sound effects to get the desired effect.

These are the mixed sound effects:
1. Mix of Adobe and cast: Orson and Aramelle splutter and splash in the river. Liquid water water splash movements 04
The cast did a great job of making it sound like they were splashing around in the river, so I only had to add some splashing movements at the beginnning so it sounds like thy’re getting their bearings after going over the aterfall at the end of the last episode.
2. Mix of Adobe and cast: Aramelle lifts Orson, puts him on driftwood. Liquid water water drip strand up drip 01. Impact metal wood impact short 01. Aramelle heaves.
This one took me a while to think about. Quite simply, how much would water move if time was stopped? I couldn’t work out if it made sense for the impact of Orson’s armour hitting the driftwood would be the only sound, or if the water would drip off him. I went for hearing the water, as it leads well into Grim restarting time when they leave.
3. Mix of Adobe and cast: Orson and Aramelle lurch forward with the boat and hit the cell door. – Ep2 O and A cell door. Foley footstep hard sole dress shoe stumble on wood platform 02
This combined a sound we recorded on the day with some stumbling footsteps. The footsteps aren’t my favourite, but they work for what’s needed.
4. Mix of Adobe and music: Grim Reaper takes soul of captain – weapon broad sword slide off sword 01. Grim Reaper Music
Using Jean’s music for the Grim Reaper and combining it with rhe sound of a sword gives the desired ‘reaping’ effect for soul taking. I did search for ‘scythe sounds’ but couldn’t find any!
Mix of different cast sounds: Liam holds Aramelle over the side of the ship at sword point. – Ep2 A upside down x3. and Aramelle scream from Ep.1. Ep2 O and A cell door.
This one mixes some sounds we recorded on the day – with the upside down noise being the wall of the recording studio being hit, alongside the scream for episode one (I told you it would be back) and the grunt from Orson and Aramelle hitting the cell door reused.
Finally, though it’s not really a sound rather than the absence of sound, I did have Grim Reaper stops time in the script. This reminded me to remove all the sounds of waterfalls and flowing rivers, so Grim and Aramelle can have their conversation without Orson hearing. Once Grim leaves, the sounds restart – loud at first, then going back into the background.

This was also the first time I’ve cut some sound effects. This was mainly due to me realising in the editing that it was possible to follow the story without adding in these sounds and didn’t want to use sounds where they wern’t needed. They were useful to have in the script though, as it allowed the cast to know what was happening next, and allowed me to give myself clear editing points.
I cut:
Pirate ship comes closer – They’ve just said there’s a pirate ship then the captain starts talking to them. If I had better mixing software I might have tried to find a sailing ship noise and alter the volume through the scene – but it works well enough without this.
Aramelle shuffles over to starboard – this was in originally and comes just after Orson’s line of “you should stay to starboard”. I put the shuffles in before realising they were superfluous and it’s easier to imagine that Aramelle just stays where she is.
Ship veers to the side. Orson and Aramelle thrown forward again. – this was a whole part where Orson and Aramelle hit the bars for a second time as the ship veers during the mutiny. I wrote it in because it was going to be the end point of the mutiny. However, it didn’t really serve as showing that in the edit, so I took the section out and just had one last loud gunshot before a period of silence when Aramelle asks “Does that mean the mutiny’s over?”
Aramelle kneels – this is where Aramelle kneels to pledge allegiance. Again I could have added something in here, but it didn’t seem necessary for the audience to hear her kneeling to know that she as.
Aramelle stands back up – as such I didn’t need the noise of her standing back up either.
Liam shakes her hand – this is another one I had in at first, but as no-one says they’re shaking hands it wasn’t obvious what was happening as works just as well without.

Adobe Sound Effects Used:
1. Ambience waterfall exterior 03
2. Liquid water river flowing water 02 – These two sounds are the background sounds in the first scene.
3. Orson falls beneath the water. Aramelle tries to lift him back out of the water. adobe Aramelle drops him again. A Splash. Liquid water water dunk and rise hands in water 02: – This sound works well for cutting so I could use it for Orson falling under the water and then the second half for Aramelle pulling him up.
4. Grim Reaper restarts time. Ambience waterfall exterior 03: Liquid water river flowing water 02 – The sound restarts as soon as Grim leaves.
5. They kick with their legs in the water and swim forward. Liquid water water feet splash in water fast 01: Had to trial a couple of these as some of them were super fast! This one works well in the background though, so you can hear what they’re doing but it doesn’t get louder than the river.
6. Waves in background, seagulls, shouts of a ship’s crew. Ambience ocean shore 01: This one was going to be a mix. We recorded the crew talking in the background, but while editing, I thought the waves and seagulls were enough of an indicator to the scene being in open ocean. I did put the crew sound effect in the outtakes at the end though.
7. A cannonball is aimed at them but misses. Drops in the ocean. Weapon cannon fire 01. Liquid water water dunk and rise hands in water 02: This was one action in the script that needed two sounds in the edit. The cannon fire sound on its own and then the liquid dunk noise from earlier being reused. I did search for a sound that would be like a cannonball being dropped in the ocean all in one sound, but resorted to mixing them.
8. Pirate captain leaves. – Foley footsteps hard sole dress shoe walking on wood platform 01: This sound doesn’t quite work as they’ve just walked to the ship’s prison without us hearing the footsteps (It would have been too much to listen to, what with rhe ship and their conversation). However, this sound was needed so we know the captain has left before Orson starts talking about him. Plus, the captain leaving and going to speak to Liam is the catalyst for the mutiny, so it had to be heard. As a bonus though, the sound that sounds like the captain closing the door at the end of the footsteps was actually just a noise that appeared naturally in the “creaking ship” sound that serves as background noise!
9. Gunshots from deck, sound of fighting on sbip above. – weapon gun pistol 9mm glock single shot interior shooting range short 01: This sound was tricky to work out the levels of. I wanted the first and last ones to be louder than the others, but wanted them all to be different volume levels to give the feel that fighting was breaking out all over the deck.
10. Liam unsheathes his sword. – weapon sword remove from sheathe 01: This is the same sound from episode one.
11. Orson unsheathes his sword. – weapon sword remove from sheathe 01
12. Liam takes Orson’s sword. – weapon sword pick up from ground 01: This one was again tricky to find. Ideally I wanted a sound of a sword being taken out of someone’s hands, but had to settle for the ground.
13. A spell hits the ship. – Multimedia Internet CD-Rom Flash Electronic 01: There were various sounds I went through for the spell sound. I eventually settled on this one because it sounds a bit glittery – and in my opinion there is not much in the world that can’t be improved with glitter.


BBC sound effects were used for:
1. Ship creaking: Thames Sailing Barge, Atmosphere Below Deck Under Sail, With Creaking Wood. (Recorded On Board S.B. Pudge.) (Bought) – This sound works well as a shift between the open ocean with Orson and Aramelle on driftwood to them being below deck.
2. Cell door unlocked. – Doors: Prison: Cell – Prison Door: Cell, opened and shut. (Bought) – This is another sound that will work in a variety of places. I just needed the sound of a lock turning and then a heavy door slam to signifty they were being locked in.
3. Orson and Aramelle are locked in the cell – Doors: Prison: Cell – Prison Door: Cell, opened and shut.
4. Anchor – Boats: Cruisers – Dropping anchor without speech (reprocessed) (Bought) – This sound is used for immediately after the “Land ahoy” line and is the catalyst for Orson and Aramelle hitting their faces on the bars when the ship stops.
* As an extra here – One thing I have learnt during editing this episode and this list is to Rename Downloaded Sound Effects. The sound effects I downloaded just gave me lists of numbers, which works fine for me actually editing, as I only need the sound. However, if I want to find the sound to re-use in another episode or find it online again for any reason. The numbers aren’t helpful. I’ve since renamed them as what the file name is online, and going forward will do it immediately in download!


Free sound was used for:
1. Grim Reaper pulls out ticking clock.
2. Grim Reaper puts ticking clock away.
NistuGgner pocket watch: Both these sounds were the same as in Episode one.
https://freesound.org/s/706551/ — License: Creative Commons 0


The cast for:
1. Aramelle heaves. Aramelle heaves: This was used multiple times in the first scene as Aramelle variously lifts up Orson and drops him again.
2. Liam pulls Aramelle back up. – Ep2 L pulls A up: This is used right at the end as Liam agrees to Aramelle’s conditions. I had to put something in, so it was known that she had in fact been pulled up and not left hanging over the edge of the ship.

Music:
Grim Reaper leaves – Grim Reaper music: This is the music made for the Grim Reaper arriving and leaving.
Aramelle’s castle beginning for scene change music: I put this in at the beginning of this episode to signify time passing and the scene changing. I didn’t need to use it again as the ocean ambience worked well enough. Plus, not as much time passed between Orson and Aramelle climbing aboard the ship as it did when they were swimming out to sea.

How To Become a Freelancer – April Update
Freelance Journey

How To Become a Freelancer – April Update

Christy.E.SLeave a comment
The Legend of Aramelle as it shows up on Spotify
Legend of Aramelle on Spotify

Intro:
Nearly, finally recovered from my burns – with only one factor still preventing me from a return to work.

The Legend of Aramelle is now live! And can be listened to here on WordPress, on Apple podcasts, Spotify or Pocketcasts.

The first episode has turned out well and new episodes will be available every other Saturday for the next few months.
However, I am hoping to re-record the credits as the levels went wrong and they’re barely audible for episode one! I should be able to do it no later than episode four, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

So on to the update!

Scripts Update:
Most of this past month has been focused on getting the first episode of The Legend of Aramelle ready. However, I am nearly ready to submit Troy into Oxford 42, and should be able to do that before the end of this week.

The time-travel script went into Scribe Lounge Elevate and I have made notes for a re-write on my script called Last Witch in Swanage; it’s about witches in Puritan England. Have been having trouble with this script for a while, knowing the story I want to tell, but it not coming out right when written down. Now, I have been inspired by Wednesday on Netflix, (being off work means I am finally making some headway on my watchlist) and have realised that I can tell the story better if I change the tone to a more contemporary one!

I will be making a short film – working title Grand Hotel – for the final term of my film course. I have the Easter break to organise actors, call sheets and production budgets etc. It’s a story inspired by the first line of a Regina Spektor song – also called Grand Hotel – with the first line being “Somewhere below the Grand hotel, there is a tunnel that leads straight to Hell.” There’s still some editing I want to do on the script, but it’s almost there.

Finally, I am trying to work out which of two short film scripts – the first being Billy Frankenstein, also originally written for the film course and the second being my second choice for this final-term film, entitled The Master’s Boots – to submit to the Large Format Films competition. The Master’s Boots was only voted down at the film course for production budget reasons, as it is set in the early 1900s, and needed Edwardian costumes, three locations, a certain number of extras and ideally a plane. However, the Large Format Films first prize is £5000 towards making your film, so I am heavily considering that one instead.

Plus, it has the added benefit of being inspired by something I learnt about my own family this week: That is, that my Great-Grandma had an argument with her mother about whether she was going to work as a servant in a big house nearby, or with her friends at a local factory.

Things Learnt:
Have been trying to get my head around the various different podcast services, so can advertise Legend of Aramelle as much as possible. Lots of the services do have lessons and articles in various topics, that I am slowly working my way through.

Have also learnt a bit more about which type of microphone I want to buy once my savings have recovered from my sick leave. Also, that the levels I might hear in a Mix-Pre3 Sound Mixer don’t necessarily translate easily to Garageband on my laptop!

Sound Effect Listings

Legend Of Aramelle – Episode One Sound Effects

Christy.E.S1 Comment

As someone interested in sound recording in general, I thought it would be a good idea to combine the credits I have to include for the sound effects in each episode with information of why I chose them, plus how I edited them.

Here is the full list of sound effects including where I got them from, plus what the original script called for:

Adobe Sound Effects used:
1. Foley cloth hit and short rustle cloth: Aramelle throws bedsheets out the window.
I combined this with a recording of Mariana shaking a blanket recorded on the day and layered them to make it sound as if they were being thrown out the window and hitting the wall of the castle/ground below.
2. Foley cloth ripping long: Sheets rip and she falls the rest of the way.
This doesn’t sound quite right for what was needed, but it was the closest I could get! I needed the sound of cloth ripping, though ideally it would have been a ‘hevaier’ sound than this as it sounds a bit too clean for an ancient castle – rather like someone is standing by a microphone purposefully ripping cloth (which is, I imagine, exactly how it was recorded).
3. Foley footsteps work boots dirt debris walking: Aramelle starts walking off.
In various different edits of the first episode I added these footsteps in and took them back out quite a lot, while you do get the context that Aramelle is leaving by the words alone, having a sound effect made it slightly more obvious, so it stayed in.
4. Foley footstep human walking through tall grass: Walking through grass.
This sound effect took me a while to find, but it’s perfect for the scene!
5. Ambience nature field windy: Birds, trees rustling.
This doesn’t quite have the birds and trees sound I originally imagined, but it does fit with the waling through grass above.
6. Liquid water river flowing water: Flowing river.
This sound was tricky to edit, as it needed to be loud to begin with, to let you know they’ve reached the river, then drop in volume while all the characters talked THEN become louder again as they reach the waterfall.
Having a sound be loud to begin with and then become background noise only in a scene is common in radio shows – think of it as the audio equivalent of an establishing shot.
7. Liquid water water footsteps walking in water: Grim Reaper walks on water.
This is another one that took a while to find. A lot of the effects were of people swimming (as obviously that’ easier to do than walking on water). There were also some faster ones, but I needed something slower – Death never has to rush.
8. Arrow shot: Arrows flying past them
This is another establishing sound. I layered a bunch of arrow shot noises, one straight after the other and changed the volume level of a few of them, so it would sound as if some were closer to the characters and some were wide of the mark.
You can only hear the arrows straight after Grim’s line of “one of those arrows to finally hit you…” and then they disappear again. If I were to repeat the noise over and over, it would mean there were too many sounds to follow the conversation.
9. Ambience waterfall exterior: Waterfall.
That being said, I did want this scene to be slightly overwhelming in terms of sound – as Aramelle and Orson are running away, all their plans abandoned and just running as fast as they can. This all cimes to a head when they get nearer the waterfall. I slowly increased this noise along with the noise of the river, until it’s as loud as their conversation – then they go over and all that’s heard after their scream is the waterfall.
10. Sword remove from sheath: Orson unsheathes his sword.
This one was realtively easy to put in, but I needed the reverse for him putting his sword away again.
11. Sword remove from sheath (reversed): Orson sheathes his sword.
This is the exact same sound as above, but backwards!
12. Sword remove from sheath: Everyone draws their swords.
And the same for all the guards.
13. Sword remove from sheath (reversed): Guards put swords away again.

BBC sound effects were used for:
1. Foreign Atmospheres – Covent Garden Market, horses & carts: Horses, villagers, market traders. (Bought)
Why the BBC lists Covent Garden Market as foreign atmosphere I don’t know, but this works great for the market. Primarily because it is one of only a few market atmosphere tracks I found that doesn’t have car noises in it and secondly, because there is a man shouting in the background of this track that sounds remarkable like Liam Harkins’ Barry, so it was too good to pass up!
2. Boats: Punting – Punting: Boarding and clambering about: Orson helps Aramelle into the boat and they start to row. (Bought)
This is another one that took a while to find. I only needed a small section of the sound to make it sound as if Orson and Aramelle were climbing into the boat, but searching for ‘rowing, boats etc.’ wasn’t showing up any sounds of boarding – just rowing. Eventually found this by searching specifically for ‘small boats’. If I had had to search for ‘punting’ specifically I’d never have found it. I know the word ‘punting’ but it would have taken me about ten years to think it might give me the sound I was looking for and ‘rowing’ wouldn’t.
3. Boats: Rowing – Rowing Boat, launch, board, ship oars & depart. (Recorded on shore.) (Recorded on board.) (One man rowing.): Rowing sound throughout. (Bought)
As the above sound only gave me boarding a boat, I then had to find another sound for Orson’s rowing throughout the scene. This sound says it has boarding, but it doesn’t work as well as mixing it with the punting sound.

Free sound was used for:
1. NistuGgner pocket watch: Grim Reaper pulls out ticking clock. (multiple)
https://freesound.org/s/706551/ — License: Creative Commons 0
This sound was surprisingly the hardest to find. There are a lot of clock noises out there, most of which either go really fast or really slow. Some are obviously Grandfather clocks. I found multiple recordings of Big Ben and while I did briefly entertain the idea of Grim carrying round an actual clock tower with them, I decided against it in the end. I wanted originally – a pocket watch being taken out of a pocket, flicked open, checked and put back in. However, while I manged to find the sound of a pocket watch being flipped open, it didn’t align at all with this, and this was the best ‘ticking’ I found. I decided to just go with the ticking and hope that it sounded more like Grim checking a wrist watch.

The cast for:
1. Aramelle throwing bedsheets: Aramelle throws bedsheets out the window.
This is what I mixed with the first sound. I needed Mariana to throw a blanket, so it sounded like it was her at the beginning. If it was just the cloth being thrown without any human noise, it wouldn’t have sounded right.
2. Aramelle climbing: Aramelle climbs out window via bedsheets.
Recorded this with Mariana stamping her feet on the floor, while threading the blanket through her hands.
3. Aramelle scream.
This may be used more than once in different episodes! Had to assure Mariana that I re3ally did want her to scream into the microphone, even though I was sat in front of her and wearing headphones.
4. Aramelle falls on Orson: Aramelle falls on top of Orson.
Mixed the scream with this, which is just Mariana hitting the wall of the recording studio with her hand.
5. Aramelle helps Orson stand: Aramelle helps Orson stand back up.
There’s a few different footstep sounds – of people standing up, stumbling, running, that while findable online are a lot quicker to add in, if you make your own!
6. Villagers chasing: They run, guards and villagers chase after.
This and the below sound were some of my favourite to record. We had a great cast, and the shouts of ‘get her’ etc. were all improvised by them.
7. Villagers jeering: Villagers jeering.
Likewise with this one. I especially like the ‘can anybody swim’ line from Liam and Am’s ‘get her’ at the end.
8. Waterfall screams: They go over the waterfall in the boat.
Even though this is in the scene, George and Mariana recorded it separately, so they could count in and make sure they screamed at the same time.

Freelance Journey

How to Become a Freelancer – March Update

Christy.E.SLeave a comment

Intro:
Still recovering from my burns and still off work, meaning my main focus for the next few months is whatever is going to save me the most money, as statutory sick pay is not built for prolonged absences!

However, I am getting there (I now only need one nap a day, as opposed to last month’s three).

The date of The Legend of Aramelle podcast release has been pushed back to 5th April. Partly to allow me to edit them well while still recovering. Also because I have found someone to compose original theme music for the show and wanted to give them enough time to deliver.

So on to the update!

Scripts Update:
The Legend of Aramelle podcast is recorded, sound effects are in place and apart from the music, the first episode is ready for release!

Troy script was entered into the Roadmap competititon, which has altered its closing date to 12th March. Am going to submit Troy into Oxford 42 as well, but have until April to do so.

The next competititon I am entering is my time-travel script which will be entered into Scribe Lounge Elevate by the end of March.

Once I’m recovered fully, I will have to make up some work on my other scripts. However, I don’t have any plans to enter those ones into any competitions for a few months, so am focussing on one script at a time while I’m healing.

Things Learnt:
Am getting better at layering sound in Garageband and the first episode really has a good sense of atmosphere when it’s needed: such as an angry horde of villagers chasing my main character and a river progressively getting louder as they near a waterfall.


Have also learnt the benefit of leaving scripts alone for as long as possible between editing. My usual method of working is to keep going back to a script until I reach a point I’m happy to send it to competitions. However, with my time travel script I hadn’t edited it in about a year and as such have been able to identify many changes to make!


From scenes that last time I edited them seemed like vital parts of the story, that I now realise can be altered or cut completely, to adding in scenes that fit the narrative past the pilot episode has been great. Also, turns out that leaving a script for a long time means I like editing it again, rather than finding it a chore.