Category: The Project

What’s Required?

Shaun Andrew Beeden / / The Project

For this project, I am required to provide the following:

Sound effects:

  • Ambient wind
  • Birdsong
  • Trees rustling
  • Footsteps on different surfaces
  • Tools falling over
  • Keys rattling
  • rusty gate

Dialogue:

  • Grace, the game’s main character, is a young, Georgian woman.Script:

    “This isn’t right at all. I must find out why my dear sister has been so silent since she moved away. I’ve had nothing, not a single letter. I know Rosa too well, she would have written to me by now. All I have is this address.  (PAUSE) Oh, it looks as though we’ve arrived. (SHORT PAUSE) Excuse me, Driver? (PAUSE) Driver?”

    ” W-what happened? The horse…and the driver!”

Music:

  • Intro sequence – to be played in the cutscene before gameplay.
  • Outro sequence – two different pieces: Wining ending, and Losing ending
  • Music to include harp, clarinet and cello.

 

 

Discussion with Amelia – Music

Shaun Andrew Beeden / / Music, The Project

Today I received the following email regarding the type of music Amelia wanted:

 

here’s some inspirations for the intro sequence music

intro – Relent (harp & clarinet) http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100777, 

Quinn’s Song: A New Man (something like this for the intro sequence) http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100578, 

ending agrippa (amnesia) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpQTpWwsAU4, 

this new century (machine for pigs) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4Ty-lUMy5k, 

edwin and enoch (machine for pigs) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36t61mWdZuM

 

After listening to the examples Amelia had sent me, I started to get a few ideas for the intro sequence and the ending sequence. Amelia had said that there were two possible endings, one where the player finds the key, and one where the player fails to find the key. I suggested to Amelia that for the winning ending, the music should be a uplifting, cheerful version of the intro theme, and the losing ending a downcast, sorrowful version of the intro theme.

Discussion with Amelia – Brief

Shaun Andrew Beeden / / Dialogue, Music, Sound Effects, The Project

Today I received an email from Amelia with a short brief on what sound design she is wanting for her project.

 

For sound effects, I’ll need some ambient wind-like noises and maybe a quiet drone to have in the background, just enough to make it eerie. Then also some birdsong and trees rustling in the wind. I’ll need some soft grassy footstep sounds and some on stone. I’ll then need some incidental sounds like tools falling over, keys rattling, a rusty gate squeaking as it opens. I’ll think of a few more and I’ll bullet-point them in a word document for you.

For the dialogue I have a short script written up. I might need a couple of gasps and panting too. I haven’t got a voice actress as of yet, there is someone on the course who I might be able to use. If you know any girls that are interested in voice acting and like doing posh English accents, you can ask around, that would be great.

And then for the music, I need a short piece to go with the opening and ending sequences, and also some short samples that can be played every now and then during gameplay. I’ll send you some examples of the sort of thing I’m thinking for each bit.

Hope that’s ok, I’ll write up a proper brief in a word document for you and I can email it.

 

The short brief enabled me to make a start on gathering some ideas for the sound effects, dialogue, and music.

The Project

Shaun Andrew Beeden / / The Project

An email from David McSherry caught my eye in November. The email was from Animation Student Amelia George. Amelia required a sound designer to create a soundtrack, record sound effects and record dialogue. Initially, I was very interested in the project, so I contacted Amelia, who was happy to work with me.

The Project

This was the email I received from Amelia:

“MANOR – a playable video game level. A first-person perspective dark, Gothic horror genre. Set in the grounds of a Georgian country estate that has fallen to ruin, the player must search the gardens for a key to enter the manor house, within a set time limit.   

Sound Requirements:

Sound Effects – ambient drones, wind, birds, footsteps, outdoor/nature sounds, incidental sounds such as items hitting the ground, metal gate rattling and keys jingling. 

Dialogue: the main character will have some lines during the opening scene as well as a selection of lines that occur after picking up objects/triggering events. Character is a young Victorian woman, English (RP accent). 

Soundtrack Music: a couple of short samples for the cutscenes, these would be classical sounding with either piano or a string quartet. Also some short samples to be played during gameplay which would be some eerie drones and drawn-out strings sounds. I can give some further direction with this as I do have knowledge in music composition, but this is just a rough overview.

 

The story of the game, the setting and mood are qualities that I am fascinated in. Growing up, I played similar games to Manor, such as the Broken Sword series. As I hope to become involved in sound design and composition for visual media, in particular games and animation, after university, this seemed to me the perfect opportunity to develop and experiment with my ideas.