Wootton Bassett Rocks! Wake Me Up When September Ends

Dreambase Studios are very proud to present the charity single and music video in aid of military charities. ***OFFICIALLY RELEASED***, a cover of the classic Green Day track - Wake Me Up When September Ends – produced and performed by over 1000 residents of Royal Wootton Bassett in honour of fallen heroes and in aid of military charities: The Royal British Legion, Combat Stress, The Undentable Trust and Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen & Families Association (SSAFA).

Timed to follow Wootton Bassett receiving its Royal status, the project is the brainchild of Wiltshire mum of two, Tracey Rogers, whose brother, Captain Mark Hale, was repatriated after being killed by an IED whilst evacuating an injured soldier in Afghanistan in 2009.  Having now completed the single and accompanying video, Tracey explains: “I first had the idea for a charity single in June this year.  I wanted to do something meaningful that involved as many people as possible from this wonderful community to remember my brother and other fallen heroes, to mark the end of an era of repatriations through Royal Wootton Bassett and also to raise much needed funds for military charities that focus on supporting bereaved families and also help and support wounded servicemen and women”.  Although repatriations no longer pass through the town, the community of Royal Wootton Bassett are continuing to support families and soldiers by raising funds through sales of the single and video and will continue to remain in close association with military families.

Having secured the support we needed to get the project off the ground, Richard Sutcliffe our Music Producer and Sound Engineer recorded the single using local musicians and singers together with two choirs and over 200 people from the town, the recording and mixing of the track took place in Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios in Box, Wiltshire with additional recording in St Bartholomew’s Church in Royal Wootton Bassett and has been 
mastered at Abbey Road Studios.

The accompanying video for the track features over 1000 local residents.  From our singers and musicians, skateboarders, the Junior Town Crier, sports and youth groups to British Legion repatriation bikers and standard bearers – everyone played a part in the video, which used the iconic Royal Wootton Bassett high street as the back drop. It is visually stunning, beautifully mastered and at the same time extremely moving. For more information on cast and crew, please visit the IMDb page

The project has had fantastic support both locally and nationally; the single was recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios and mastered at Abbey Road.  The music video was filmed using a Red One camera to give a cinematic quality and has been mastered to cinema standard by Dolby.  The video was directed and produced by Mark Kenna co-owner of Dreambase Studios in Royal Wootton Bassett and the Director of Photography was Ross MacKenzie owner of Firebird Films in Swindon. Dreambase also completed 100% post production including 5.1 sound mix, edit, grade and DCP for cinema.

The single and video can be downloaded NOW from iTunes, Play, HMV, Amazon, Napster, Spotify, 7digital. You can purchase t-shirts, writstbands and pre-order your limited edition DVD form the Wootton Bassett Rocks website. Charitable donations can be made by the general public via SMS texting RWBR11 and the donation amount to 70070 or at the JustGiving website. You can follow our progress on the Facebook page or follow the project on twitter





If you have any projects you would like us to get involved with, please email mark@dreambasestudios.com. We look forward to hearing form you.

ADR for Norwegian director Petter Næss

Last month we had a visit from Norwegian director,  Petter Næss who has been busy working on the film, Comrade with Rupert Grint and Lachlan Nieboer. Dreambase Studios were very happy to work with Zentropa, a Danish based production company to provide Lechlan's ADR for the film.

The film is based on a true story. On 27 April 1940, German Luftwaffe pilot Horst Schopis’s bomber was shot down at Grotli by an RAF fighter, which then crash-landed. The several German and English crew members shoot each other together, and later found himself in the same cabin. In order for a difficult winter survival in the Norwegian wilderness, they have to stand together. It's a long, unlikely friendship began.

"I've had the pleasure of working on many of Peter's films out in Norway as a Dolby Consultant", says Mark Kenna, owner of Dreambase Studios, such as Just Bea back in 2004, Elsk meg i morgen in 2005 and Tatt av kvinnen in 2007, about a woman moves into a young man's home and starts to run his life -- a process that makes him fall hopelessly in love with her. "It's really great that Peter and Danish production Zentropa feel they can rely on us to deliver great sound."

Comrade is already getting the attention it deserves and has already been acquired by Metrodome (UK), Kino Swiat (Poland) and Vendetta (Australia).  Read here for more.

 Peter Næss giving Lechlan Nieboer direction during our ADR session.

Lechlan Nieboer at the Dreambase Studios ADR suite

Using Logic for Post Production Sound

Article by Ian Palmer for original artical posted by Miguel Isaza Designing Sound

Dreambase is the result of Alex and Mark’s (two ex-Dolby employees) desire to setup their own post-production sound facility and work in the more creative side of the film industry. Dreambase is located in the former GWR radio studios with two edit rooms and a VO Booth/ Foley Room between the two rooms.

I visited there last year simply to say hello and was surprised to learn that they were editing and mixing feature films using Logic. Inspired by the recent Mix article I thought I would write this article to find out why they are using the DAW instead of the industry standard Pro Tools.

Ian Palmer: You’re a relatively new studio. What made you choose the Apple/Logic platform?
Alex Hudd: Initially it was for cost reasons. I had used Pro Tools since 2000 for music recording but as a Mac user was aware of what Logic was capable of, and the extensive tools it possessed out of the box. The software is so intuitive and the audio library browser is well integrated with the package that track-lays for sound design and composition are very quick to rough out and start working on. Of course Logic’s strength is the ability to compose and this had also been very useful in some projects that I have composed music for. The recording take management in Logic is excellent for ADR sessions as it’s very easy to find the best lines from multiple takes, compare them and bounce out to a composite.

IP: What have been the advantages of such a decision?
AH: We saved money on the initial start-up costs which for a studio can be quite considerable, especially as we had overheads like rent to pay each month.

IP: Have there been any drawbacks?
AH: Lack of compatibility with studios running Pro Tools exclusively is a drawback but the projects we have worked on have been mostly ‘in-house’. At the end of the day we can bounce out any number of stems to take to another studio and import into their own systems but not being able to pass over automation or plug-ins is a disadvantage time- wise.
Editing is not as quick as with Pro Tools as Logic doesn’t posses the equivalent of a ‘Smart Tool’. Also the I/O setup is pretty basic so complex bus routing is not as easy as it is in Pro Tools. We use both Logic 9 and Pro Tools 9 at the studios depending on the project we are working on. And with OMF/AAF interchange it’s easy to exchange files between the two systems.

IP: What hardware are you using?
AH: We use an RME Fireface 800 as the main I/O which is used with Logic and Pro Tools, plus a Rosendahl Synchroniser. We use the Euphonix Artist Series as hardware controller with has excellent integration with both Logic and Pro Tools.


IP: Have you ever worked with another studio and used OMF exchange files?
AH: Yes, we have had OMFs from other facilities and been able to import into Logic with no problems. We have also exchanged Logic projects with other studios running the same software. For example, they might have track-layed and premixed in Logic and then passed the project to us for a final surround mix. It makes for a very quick turnaround.

IP: Pro Tools has AudioSuite to apply changes to audio files quickly without having to setup channels routing and re-recording in real time. How does Bounce-in-Place compare?
AH: Bounce In Place is fine but you have to be organised to make sure you keep track of the tracks! I would love to see an AudioSuite equivalent in Logic (a bit like Soundtrack Pro), however you can do a lot of basic processing such as gain and pitch shift by using the Sample Editor in Logic and applying the processing from there. But beware, you canʼt apply processing to multitrack sound files from within the Logic Sample Editor. Soundtrack Pro has this one covered but it would be nice to see this in Logic now.

IP: You run a Mac Pro without any additional processing hardware. How has the software/ hardware combination performed? This is especially interesting for your feature film work. How does the system hold up running so many tracks and plugins?
AH: We run an 8-core Mac Pro and the performance has been excellent so far. Occasionally you get unexpected crashes, much like you do with Pro Tools but it’s incredibly rare. On a recent feature film we used Logic for Dialogue Edit, ADR, Foley, Sound Design and Final mix, and it handled everything beautifully whilst maintaining good sync between the video and audio. In the final mix we had Dynamics and EQ on most channels along with bus sends to several different Space Designer 5.1 reverbs and it worked very well. Merging separate dialogue, music and effects projects for the premix and final is very straightforward too.

IP: How much in depth automation control do you get with Logic and the MC Artist control surfaces? It uses the EuCon protocol, how does that compare to ProTools?
AH: You can automate pretty much everything in Logic from plug-in and surround panning parameters to mute and bypass. The usual Write, Latch and Touch and Read modes are all available. It doesn’t have a Touch/Latch combo mode as Pro Tools, which can be especially useful for small setups where you want certain parameters to latch such as plug-in automation where it might not be easy to keep your hand on the controls and others to touch such as the fader level. Manual editing of automation parameters is also very easy, which is incredibly useful for very complex sound moves in action and animation projects.

IP: How useful is Audio Quantizing for dialogue and ADR editing?
AH: The Audio Quantization Engine in Logic is excellent, especially for syncing alternative dialogue takes on scenes. In the last film we did with Logic one of the scenes had some prop noise during the shoot so it was decided to wild-track the dialogue from the scene whilst it was still fresh in the actors mind. The scene was probably around 3-4 minutes I think, which is a long time! Using the Flex Time tools in Logic, syncing the dialogue syllables and nuances was much quicker and ultimately more accurate than cutting and cross-fading. For ADR it means that even a close-up can be re-voiced with great accuracy.

IP: Do you use any other 3rd party audio software such as SoundMiner or izotopeRX? If so how well do they interface into Logic and your workflow?
AH: I have the PPMulator meters for the broadcast work we’ve done, but apart from that I tend to use the stock plug-ins. I work in quite a traditional way I guess, so rather than purchasing the latest ‘do-all-analogue-warmth-celebrity-mixer-transformation’ plugins, I tend to use multiple processing to get the effect that I’m after, understanding the physics of sound more than just pushing a magic button. In Logic you can easily save channel strip settings so I have a whole variety of channel strip setups to get rid of Red Camera noise, telephone a voice or bus compress the dialogue, for example.

IP: I’ve heard good things about Space Designer as a convolution reverb, how does it perform for film mixing and the requirement of realism?
AH: Space Designer is excellent and has plenty of surround-ready presets out of the box which you can EQ and process as necessary to get the environment you’re after. You can also record impulse responses from locations and to put those into SD for the ultimate in realism! As we all know though what you hear on location and what you hear in the studio can be different so I would expect a little tweaking to take place before we arrive at the realism (or non-realism!) that we are after.

IP: How well do the plugins that come with Logic perform in relation to post sound? Have you bought any additional 3rd party plugins?
AH: the standard plug-ins in Logic are very comprehensive. My favorites are the Match EQ which will take a reference response of a piece of dialogue for example, then apply that EQ characteristic to another piece of dialogue in order to match the overall spectral response of the original. This is great for matching boom and radio mics or for matching ‘boom-over’ and ‘boom- under’ recordings in a film. The Expander is also great for reducing background noise, and this, coupled with the narrow notches on the standard EQ are very effective at removing unwanted interference from cameras or lighting, whilst maintaining the quality of the dialogue.

 

Hover Chase 4D Sound Design

We've just completed sound design on what is probably one of the most exciting experiences to come out this year. Produced by Lightworx Media and distributed by The Juice, Hover Chase 4D is an attraction ride experience that takes you on a hover bike race through city streets, oil refineries, forests, and caves. Participants in the ride not only experience 3D picture and 5.1 sound, but are also treated to moving seats, wind, smell, and water effects, amongst others.

The challenge for the soundtrack was to create a believable and powerful sound for the hover bike. You experience the ride from the point of view of one of the racers and so the sound of the hover bike had to react to every twist and turn during the 5 minute ride. The rise and fall of the engine was designed to compliment the speed and direction of the hover bike. In addition to this the other bikes in the race had to be sounded and directed as they moved on the screen in such a was as you really feel part of the action and excitement, not to mention the flyby's, battles and explosions,

In addition the atmospheres of each of the locations in the race were designed also to bring a sense of being there for the ride's participants. The underlying music score, composed at Dreambase helps to keep the pace of the ride throughout so that from start to finish the experience is one that you'll never forget and one that you'll want to come back for more.

The ride is now available for licensing from The Juice.

October Press Release

Location Recording for 'Billiam'

We have recently been on location, recording for new Swindon-based film 'Billiam'. It's a story of how one brother literally met his other brother!

The film is produced by Bald n Hairy Films (Billy Rees and Doug Kirby) and also directed by Doug Kirby.

For part of the film the superb Oxford Brooks Ferndale Campus training centre in Swindon proved itself as an excellent film set with most props on site already. The film also has a number of external scenes shot around Swindon.

Some of the other internal locations (in normal houses and flats) posed challenges both from a camera and sound point of view, partly due to very limited space and poor acoustics. Once a small bathroom has a camera, tripod, lighting and actors there's not much room for the microphone too but fortunately we managed to get some good sound in the end. Possibly the most cramped location was lying down across the back seat of a small hatchback car complete with sound mixer, recorder and leads draped on top!

A very tight, multi-location filming schedule meant that the first take was often the rehearsal, so all crew members and actors were kept on their toes in order to get it right first time.

Dialogue mics were interchanged between shotgun and hyper-cardioid, depending on the space we were recording in.

Dreambase Studios will be completing the sound post on this film later on this year so stay tuned for another Blog regarding that stage in the production.

The clip below is an out-take from one of the bar scenes in the film. Enjoy!

The Boy Who Wanted to be a Lion

Dreambase Studios were approached by Producer, Polly Stokes (National Film and Television), to provide sound consultancy and guidance to the student sound designers for this short. "It was a real pleasure working with Polly, we sat down, watched the temporary animatic and discussed the directors creative intentions. I then suggested that as the sound should be POV, all the high frequency should be dropped until the hearing aid was inserted, then an influx of noise and distortion should be present. The dynamics of the hearing aid and without should really highlight how the boy is feeling..." said Alex.

The director, Alois Di Leo, created this short animation as part of his graduation project from the National Film and Television School. Using Hand drawings and a mixture of silence and static noise to echo the boy’s deafness, this film has captivated audiences across the film festival circuit. The plot lines effect is a mixture of laughter from its playfulness and stock from the tragic ending.

At Cannes in 2010, The Boy Who… was selected for the Critics Week, where Alois Di Leo said:

“Our film is being screened in a new 35mm print and it looks fantastic; there is a new depth and richness to the images. I can feel the story taking possession of the audience – the cinema feels still and alert! The film is only eight minutes and the ending is realist, perhaps not what an audience expects from animation material.”

Polly said that "Alex really helped us to think outside the box with his recommendations which gave our sound designer the confidence to push the boundaries and create a soundtrack that more than compliments the mix"

SYNOPSIS: Max is a seven-year-old deaf boy growing up in the 1960s. One day he goes on a school trip to the zoo, where he sees a lion for the first time. A feeling begins to grow inside him that will change his life forever.

"The Boy Who Wanted to be a Lion" - Trailer from Alois Di Leo on Vimeo.

Recording a World Music Community Choir

Lingmara is a world music community choir which meets each week at The Cause Music and Arts Centre in Chippenham. It was set up by Elena Winch in 2006 and now has a new musical director, Sian Penlington as Elena moved recently to Ireland. The choir sings songs from all over the world, with beautiful harmonies and rhythms. Lingmara regularly performs in Music festivals and local events.

Lingmara were the winners of the Wootton Bassett Arts Festival, Adult Chior in 2010 in which Dreambase Studios supported by offering the winners a recording session were recorded by Dreambase Studios and James Shannon earlier this year at the Cause in Chippenham. The 34 strong choir were recorded during a 2 hour live performance and Dreambase Studios produced the album, mixed and mastered in-house, providing the photography and artwork too.

 

Surround Sound for Tritton Headphone Promo

We've recently completed the sound mix in partnership with Echoic Audio for a gaming headphone promotional animation.

Tritton Technologies Inc. manufactures a range of gaming specific headphones, most with multiple speakers in each ear cup. As part of their promotional campaign they needed an audio visual promotional piece to take to trade shows and to put up on-line to show off the products.

We worked with Echoic Audio to mix an engaging and dynamic soundtrack with enough surround to really show off the capabilities of the headphone system.

The sound on this video uses special audio encoding which mimics the effects of surround sound on a standard pair of headphones, sit back, put on a 'normal' pair of headphones and enjoy the 'out-of-the-head' experience on this fantastic project. The Tritton headphones have 4 tiny speakers in each ear giving a discrete surround sound experience.

Recording for Actor Voice Reel

We recently had actor Richard Cambridge in the studio to record his new commercial voice reel. To compliment Richard's excellent and wide ranging vocal performances, we also added some sound fx and music loops to complete the commercial content. Also included is an example of Richard's narrative.



We used a Neumann TLM-103 mic in to a TL Audio 5051 channel strip to record Richard's voice. Sound fx and music were added as appropriate from our library.

The commercial spots were adapted and written by Richard himself and Dreambase Studios' director of sound, Alex Hudd, in order to demo a wide range of creativity and delivery from one voice.

If you need a similar service for your voice reel or indeed any other voiceover, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us and see what we can do to promote your talents.

Sound Post for TV Commercial

We recently completed sound post on a TV commercial for Leo Abse and Cohen. The commercial is currently airing on many of the Sky channels right now and was produced in Bristol by Lightworx Media Ltd. We worked with Lightworx to sound design and turnaround a high quality TV mix in a relatively short space of time.

Head of Programming at Lightworx, Jonathan G Brown, commented: 'Absolutely sterling work on the mix, the client was very happy overall'.

You can watch the advert here (select 'Leo Abse and Cohen Commercial 2011' to view).

Sound Design: Coffin Fit

We recently completed original music and sound design for award winning director, David Hawk's new film teaser trailer 'Coffin Fit'.

David's brief was for the sound to be dark and menacing, with an air of mystery and uncertainty.

We made extensive use of the excellent Sculpture soft synth found in Logic 9. Combining wind type textures with a ring-modulator; random morphing of low and high frequency string sections along with some Gregorian choir type sounds on a Gsus4/D chord, we created a menacing and brooding bed. Over this we added some flicker effects to coincide with the text effects on the picture. We also used location recordings of the coffin lid used for the filming to get some hinge creaks and lid bangs. The 'finale' is punctuated by several layers of sound including a pig squeal and a human 'ch' sound. The title script is carved into the wood at the end of the piece and actual scraping of wood was recorded and carefully processed and timed to fit with both the strength and length of each letter scratch. The recording of the struggle from inside the coffin was also made during the shoot. If you're wondering whether or not he escapes in the end, then you'll just have to wait for the final movie to be released...

The incidental music appearing over the end credits continues with the same brooding bed, only this time accompanied by a lonely piano around a C11/Bb and C#maj7 chord pattern, which in conjunction with the aforementioned Gsus4/D creates an atmosphere of both mystery and unease.

On hearing the final soundmix David commented, 'Thank you so much for this. You really made the work leap from my brain onto the screen'.

The teaser trailer has been released but the film has been put on hold for the time being whist David concentrates on another film project. Dreambase Studios also shot the 'Behind the Scenes' making of the teaser trailer which can viewed here.

David Hawk has recently won awards for his excellent short film 'Special Delivery' and we look forward to working with him again on future projects.

Sound Support for The Shed

'The Shed' is an independent short film which intertwines complex yet charming family dynamics with the vibrant fantasies of a child who, within his garden shed, ventures to outer space.

Dreambase Studios was approached by Producer, David Tallon back in March who asked if we could help out with sound post on his film. David had already secured Dolby for the Digital Cinema Mastering and 2K scans from Deluxe Digital. A professional animator in Florida who has worked on Battlestar Galactica, Serenity has helped with some stunning space animations plus an American band have offered the project one of their main tracks to use. David also mentioned that a cancer firm were endorsing the project and offering some joint publicity screenings too!

After a meeting David, the director Jon Moy and his production team, we were keen to help out and offer sound consultancy and support through post production for this extremely exciting and ambitious project. Dreambase provided feedback as required to the sound post team at The Arts University College at Bournemouth on a number of levels from project planning to mix reference levels, sound ideas and post production techniques.

Lead sound designer and mixer, Sezin Tugen said "It was great to have Dreambase on-board and regular contact with Mark, who provided instant feedback on the work that I had done was invaluable. From work-flow to confirmation of my monitor and mix levels was essential, to know my dialogue was to industry standard and the additional sound design ideas really helped me, knowing that my work was to a professional level."

David Tallon's last project 'Way Back When' was nominated for 'Best Student Production' award at a film festival at the BFI London, and just received an official selection at the British Independent Film Festival and nominated for the 'British Lion Award' too, please click here for the award winning short.

SYNOPSIS: “The Shed” is the story of Neil; an imaginative 8 year old boy who grew up in his parent’s bohemian style house. He is surrounded by a fruitful lifestyle of music and art but the balance is disrupted when we learn that Neil’s mother could be sick with cancer.

 
This causes an uncomfortable distance within the household which Neil can barely detect through his naivety. In an attempt to protect her son’s innocence, Neil’s mother describes the word ‘chemotherapy’ as a “distant planet”. This stimulates Neil’s imagination and inspires him to visualise a futuristic spaceship in his very own garden shed  in order to travel to “planet chemo” and in turn save his mother from ill health. Accompanied by his noble crew of  pet mice, we follow Neil's adventure through the cosmos while facing all of its mysterious obstacles.
 
The premier of The Shed will be screened at the BFI London on the 4th July, 1pm onwards. We wish David and his team all the very best and look forward to working with him in the near future. If you would like any further information, please contact David at: davetallon@gmail.com

Officially Supporting the Bristol Encounters 0117 Hour Film Challenge

To celebrate the opening of M Shed, the new museum of Bristol, Encounters would like to invite filmmakers from all over the world to create a short film based in and focused on Bristol, in just 117 hours, between 17 – 22 June.

Presented in partnership with Bristol Film Office, Encounters Bristol International Film Festival and M Shed, this is a unique opportunity to take part in a fast moving, visual storytelling experience, and to discover Bristol as a filming location.

Dreambase Studios are proud to support the Bristol Encounters 0117 Hour Film Challenge and are offering 50% discount for sound post production and free sound consultancy on all projects.

Bristol Encounters International Film Festival will be in it's 17th year and has been running since 1995 encompassing two of the UK's leading film festivals, Brief Encounters and Animated Encounters. It is now acknowledged as a qualifying festival for the Academy Awards, European Film Academy, and the Bafta's!

Dreambase Studios are a sound post facility based in Wiltshire, with over 25 years of experience within the film industry offering bespoke sound solutions for independent films and digital media from sound consultancy at the script stage, sound location advice right through the sound post production process including tracklay, edit, foley, adr, sound design, pre-mix and final mix for theatrical release. for more information, email: info@dreambasestudios.com or call 01793 858235. 

Marvel Style Animatic

Acme Corporation are at the leading edge of their industry and have recently appointed a CPO to the board. Within the organisation, opinion is split. What's in store for the new CPO? Find out in this episode of CPO Agenda... 

Dreambase Studios were commissioned to produce a series of Marvel style animatic clips based on characters created by the companies creative director, Tim Carrier. "The videos produced by Dreambase Studios have really helped us to get our message across in an entertaining way. We really like what they have done with our storyboard and especially love the sound design and score that accompanies the video. We've already played the HD clip at a few conferences which went down very well indeed. Dreambase Studios also helped us with our social network presence and created a YouTube channel for future content too. It's a bit of fun with a very important message that is a little different from most of the other promotional marketing videos out there. We aim to produce a further 3 clips over the coming months and look forward to working with Dreambase on future projects."

Local Filmmakers Showcase

Dreambase Studios were proud to be involved in this years Swindon Film Festival, working with the festival organiser, Barbara Hoffbauer and the Swindon Film Society by sponsoring the 'Local Filmmakers Showcase' section of the festival which featured five short films including writer/director Stephen Ware's short film Aimee in which Dreambase also supported by completing sound post on the project. "Stephen approached us asking if we would like to become involved as a sponsor and help out with sound post on the project" said Mark Kenna, Owner of Dreambase Studios. After reading the script and discussing the project with Stephen, it was clear that Stephen's ambitions were more than just to complete his short, with his main focus to help and encourage the film industry in Swindon to grow.

"Aimee tells the story of a young girl on the cusp of adulthood, living in the shadow of her parents’ unhappy marriage and supported by her long-standing best friend, Claire. The tale of love, trust, and ultimately, the gambles in life was produced using local talent that represents the town's passion for filmmaking. The film had its Premier at the Empire cinema back in February, also one of the sponsors.

Other films included Alex Seckers The Silent Assassin that was very well received, who's now completing his second short Wishful Thinking and 15 year old, Darren Potter's Future Desires about a teenager’s ambition to dance which also won the Audience Favourite at the regional Preloader Film Festival earlier this year.

Automatic Sound Design System

BREAKING NEWS!

An automatic sound design system was announced this morning, and is set to revolutionise the way sound is created for films and television soundtracks.

Called Autosounder, the system works using a special camera that analyses the moving footage from a film or TV sequence. The advanced processing system then determines what sound effects are required in the production. It then generates the appropriate sounds from the extensive library of over one billion sound effects. The system uses a special high resolution camera that is even able to detect the motion of a pin drop on screen and then add the appropriate sound in automatically. All in real time!

For example the all important sound of footsteps can be easily created as the system can detect not only what footwear the actor is using, but also on what surface the actor is walking, and their relative distance from the camera.

Clothes sounds too are created with precision accuracy by analysing the movement of, and type of clothes the actor is wearing.

Atmospheres can also be generated accurately and creatively as the system is able to compare a particular scene with it's library of over 1 million different scene scenarios and then select the most appropriate atmospheres, all delivered in a choice of either 5.1 or 7.1 formats, ready to lay up to your project.

In fact with the optional extra, Autolayer, the system will work with a digital audio workstation (DAW) of your choice to laying up all the sounds automatically to your timeline, perfectly synced and well organised, ready for mixing.

The second optional extra, Automixer is able to take the files generated by Autosounder and laid up by Autolayer, and provide a perfect theatrical, DVD, TV or mobile sound mix.

Finally Autodel ensures those all important deliverables such as 7.1, 5.1, LCRS, stereo, optical, magnetic, beta*, M+E, two-plus-four, four-be-two, mono, etc., are all handled automatically.

The system has been received very warmly by the Film Producers Club. One excited producer commented, 'The sound post can be effectively completed in one day, so we can spend the rest of the week selling the film!'

However the sound unions have reacted in a somewhat more sombre manner. One official commented, 'Sound constitutes more than fifty percent of a film presentation and is the real emotion behind the pictures. Where, might I ask you is the emotion in Autosounder?'

The Autosounder system is shipping it's first units in May to an undisclosed location. Company representatives were a little cagy as to who the new clients were, and were unwilling to provide any pictures to go with this article.

*Requires Betatrans add-on for effective operation.

END OF ARTICLE.

Dreambase Judging for the WBAF Short Film Section

Wootton Bassett Arts Festival have introduced a NEW SHORT FILM COMPETITION for 2011 to add to the comprehensive range of creative arts activities already on offer during the festival. The short film entries are split into age categories.  Those aged 11 years and under can produce a short film of up to 2 minutes, whilst those aged 12 -16 years are allowed enter a short of up to 4 minutes. Those ages 17 years and over can enter films up to 6 minutes in length. Films will be entered in to the competition via the on-line video service, YouTube and the winners will have their entries screened at Wootton Bassett School during the festival, which takes place on the 12-13 November 2011. Dreambase Studios are proud to be sponsoring this section of the festival, and Mark and Alex will be judging the entries, click here for more. The festival is also supported by Wiltshire Council - see press release for more information.

The Wootton Bassett Arts Festival is a celebration of artistic talent in and around Wootton Bassett. Classes are offered in Art and Photography, Music, both instrumental and voice, Creative Writing and Speech and Drama. Professional adjudicators have been engaged to offer feedback to all competitors and present cups and plaques to the winners. The festival takes place between 12-13 November, with the music section taking place 24 - 26 June 2011.

Nintendo Wii Fit Viral Spoof

Directed by Mustapha Kseibati and Produced by Michael Berliner, this little viral was conceived as a spoof to the girlfriend in underwear Wii Fit phenomenon which has already received over 10 million views since it's upload in May 2008. Dreambase Studios worked with director Mustapha to create a realistic sound mix that stands out from the crowd.

Official Sponsors of the Swindon Film Festival

Dreambase Studios are proud to support this years Swindon Film Festival and are the official sponsors of the 'Local Film Makers Showcase', which is new for 2011 and will be held on the Saturday, 13th March. The festival offers something for everyone, from wacky comedy to nail-biting thrillers, from classic sc-fi to children’s drama, Maggie Smith to Banksy, with films about music, art and films about film making itself.

 The festival is spreading further and wider this year supporting cinema in rural areas, with films in Highworth, Cricklade and Wroughton, and with some new venues in Swindon itself, in which Dreambase Studios are also offering consultancy with regards equipment and venue suitability. The programme includes some of the best recent British and international independent films.

The festival is led by the Swindon Film Society, which formed in 1947 and has since formed exciting partnership of organisations and individuals, and has been generously supported by South West Screen, UK Film Council, White Horse Pictures, Swindon Advertiser and Forward Swindon. This years festival runs from the 4th to the 14th March, in and around the Swindon area. Please visit the festival website for a detailed programme of events and official sponsors.

Coffin Fit - Teaser Trailer: Behind the Scenes PT1

'Coffin Fit' was originally a short story that formed part of a horror anthology, written by award-winning director, David Hawk ('Special Delivery', 2010). The story was written with the lead character as both the protagonist and the antagonist to see if its possible to sympathise and be horrified at the same time.

The 'Behind the Scenes - Montage' clip was produced by Dreambase Studios who provided filming, edit and score. Dreambase Studios are providing sound post production for the teaser trailer and short film that will be shot over the summer.

'Aimee' Selected for Film Festival

Dreambase Studios are one of the official sponsors of 'Aimee', a short film written and directed by Stephen Ware, Produced by Amelia Mackenzie. The film named after the lead character Aimee, follows a 19-year-old who is struggling to find herself. With a father holding her back from her ambitions, Aimee tries to break free, making her dreams reality. 'The World is Your Oyster!' Read more...

"Aimee was designed to help the film industry grow in Swindon" suggests director, Stephen, "and we've secured sponsors such as Dominoes Pizza and Empire Cinema's too". Dreambase Studios were keen to help the local filmmaker prepare the sound for a theatrical environment as the film has been selected to screen at the Swindon Film Festival in March 2011. There will also be a Premier at the Empire Cinema in early February.