Dreambase Studios

Dreambase Studios Newsletter 2012

2012-01-24T12:49:00.000Z

For more information on the projects above, click here.

Dreambase Studios is a creative production and post-production facility built on 25 years of film industry expertise. We work across all media platforms, including film, TV and web, on projects such as feature films, television, commercials, animation, music and corporate videos and alternative content.

With our network of trusted contacts within the industry we are able to offer a one-stop solution for all your creative media requirements, overseeing the entire production if required. Our services include: directing and producing; story-boarding; filming; location sound; editing sound and picture; sound design; mix; composition; and deliverables for all platforms as well as a range of additional design and media services. We provide a free initial consultation on every project.

Our extensive working knowledge and background in the international film industry means we aim to bring film standards to everything we are involved in to raise the bar for all your projects. Working closely with our clients, we pride ourselves on maintaining high quality while providing innovative solutions with excellent communication at all stages. Please get in touch to discuss further. We look forward to working with you.

Sound Post for 'The Harsh Light Of Day'

2012-01-03T20:05:00.002Z

Dreambase Studios have recently completed the sound post production on British Independent Horror film, The Harsh Light of Day. Directed by Oliver Milburn and produced by Emma Biggins at Multistory Films. We worked with them to create a dynamic, theatrical mix that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

SYNOPSIS: After returning home from the launch of his book about the occult, Daniel Shergold's house is broken into by thugs, who beat his wife to death and leave him paralyzed. A depressed agoraphobic in his secluded country cottage, Daniel mourns the death of his wife while being cared for by home nurse, Fiona. He is unable to accept the lack of success the police have in finding his wife's killers. Daniel accepts a visit from a mysterious stranger who insists he can help him reap revenge. He agrees and is thrown into a strange and horrific transition into darkness. With renewed strength, Daniel sets out to avenge his wife's murder, but at what cost?

From the outset HLOD needed a soundtrack that was set 'completely in reality' one minute and then going 'off on one' the next. These dynamics were intended to give the viewer a full gamut of aural experiences, from a comfortable almost anodyne setting to uncertain, or at times excruciating pieces.

Shooting outdoors and on the coast presented the usual sound issues, so wild tracks, Foley recordings and sound design were used extensively to convey the appropriate sentiment in these scenes, from water lapping on a pebbly beach to the atmosphere of a dock yard. In contrast, the 'sound' of the house in the film is almost silent, again to emphasise the isolation of the cottage and to ensure the film exhibited plenty of sound dynamics.

The film's producer Emma Biggins commented at the premiere: 'the screening went really well tonight - looked and sounded fantastic'

HLOD is released in cinemas on Friday 13th April 2012.

Wootton Bassett Rocks! Wake Me Up When September Ends

2011-11-21T14:31:00.002Z

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

2011-11-17T12:15:00.000Z

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

2011-10-25T20:15:00.000+01:00

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

2011-10-19T15:28:00.000+01:00

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

2011-10-06T00:25:00.000+01:00

Location Recording for 'Billiam'

2011-09-29T15:03:00.010+01:00

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

2011-09-24T17:40:00.000+01:00

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

2011-09-24T17:31:00.000+01:00

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

2011-09-24T17:17:00.000+01:00

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

2011-07-18T16:33:00.000+01:00

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

2011-06-30T08:28:00.006+01:00

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

2011-06-21T20:12:00.000+01:00

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

2011-06-16T13:58:00.002+01:00

'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

2011-06-15T18:52:00.000+01:00

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

2011-04-26T10:41:00.000+01:00

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

2011-04-15T15:48:00.003+01:00

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

2011-04-01T09:33:00.000+01:00

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

2011-03-02T14:29:00.003Z

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

2011-02-28T10:52:00.011Z

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

2011-02-28T10:11:00.003Z

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

2011-02-14T19:23:00.000Z

'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

2011-01-31T14:26:00.003Z

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.

'Skateboards and Spandex' - Trailer

2010-12-11T01:42:00.004Z

Here's the Trailer that we mixed this week. A fantastic short that made everyone laugh during this years UKFC/Blank Slate 2010 screenings at BAFTA along with the film Frequency, which we completed sound post production. These films were also part of the Encounters Film Festival 2010. If you like this, you should check out Mustapha Kseibati's last short too 'Big Tingz', very funny.

A 2010 UK Film Council / B3 Media Blank Slate short film. A bullied teenage schoolboy teams up with two misfits to defeat the bully and win a girl's heart in a classic tale of overcoming the monster. Napoleon Dynamite meets The Goonies, in an 80s-inspired kid's comedy with a 21st century twist.

Written and Directed by Mustapha Kseibati, Produced by Michael Berliner Music by Performance - 'Reptile'.

Multi-Award winning short now online

2010-12-06T13:31:00.002Z

Multi-Award winning short film by David Hawk/Richard Cambridge now available to watch on-line. A short film we mixed earlier this year. For more info, click here:

Storyline: Completely out of his comfort zone Nick is forced to fight for his life. A high octane film about mistaken identity. Lock Stock meets Bourne.

Autumn Newsletter 2010

2010-11-19T13:33:00.001Z

Dreambase Studios' Autum Newsletter 2010

Best International Short

2010-10-26T17:25:00.000+01:00

We're very pleased to announce that 'Special Delivery' has won Best International Short at the 2010 Philadelphia Independent Film Festival. Congratulations to Writer/Director, David Hawk and Producer Richard Cambridge. Dreambase Studios completed the sound mix earlier this year which also picked up the top prize at the Houston International Film Festival. We look forward to working with David and Richard on their next project.

Storyline: Completely out of his comfort zone Nick is forced to fight for his life. A high octane film about mistaken identity. Lock Stock meets Bourne.

Sound Post for Independent Films: PT1

2010-09-29T11:32:00.068+01:00

Over the next few weeks, we'll be posting blogs giving an insight to sound post production on the latest independent feature film by Agent Pictures, 'ELIMINATE: Archie Cookson'

An offbeat espionage thriller which follows the life of MI6 spy Archie Cookson (played by Paul Rhys of BBC Three’s Being Human, Robert Altman’s film ‘Vincent and Theo’ and Attenborough’s ‘Chaplin’). Sidelined in his job and ignored by his estranged wife (Claire Skinner, of the popular BBC TV comedy Outnumbered, Tim Burton’s ‘Sleepy Hollow and ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’) and eccentric, precocious offspring, things take a turn for the worse when he stumbles upon classified tapes that no one was meant to hear.

From the outset, we worked closely with Rob Holder (director/writer) and Ioanna Karavela (producer), to create a sound post schedule that was flexible, allowing Agent Pictures to continue with the picture post work-flow (Edit/Grade/VFX) concurrently, all working towards the films deadline. We applied our extensive experience to create an engaging soundtrack, whilst dealing with the day-to-day challenges that go with independent feature film post production.

After a few meetings with the production team, we planned the sound post using our in-house system. The film was shot in Bristol and this vibrant city was our first port of call in order to record atmos sound pick-ups for the films main scenes. We chose locations that would most closely replicate the films intended feel and in some instances, we visited the exact locations to gather the appropriate sound in surround format. Back at the studio, this sound was layered with our extensive library and wild-tracks provided by location sound recordist, Daniel 'chu' Owen. Each room and location in the film has it's own sound signature, which also changes depending on the mood of the scene.

"We're keen to create unique sound beds for every film that are realistic, have depth, and maximise the dynamics from scene to scene. The background sounds really matter in a film: it's all about the details"

For more location pictures and comments, please click here:

"Dreambase Studios specialise in bespoke sound for independent films and digital media. With our combined 25 years as Dolby sound consultants we can develop the sound on your project from concept and script to delivery, including theatrical release. By offering creative sound, technical advice and extensive industry knowledge we can tailor make a package that keeps your sound post production on track. We understand budgets, deadlines, problems and people! Please drop by for a chat and a demo of our work"

ADR Session for Pleasure Droid 3000

2010-08-24T20:31:00.002+01:00

Last weekend saw Dreambase Studios recording an ADR session for new high-profile short film, 'Pleasure Droid 3000'. The film is produced and directed by Oliver Purches and was written by Stephen Scott-Hayward. Set in the near future this sci-fi comedy is about a guy who takes his robot girlfriend back to the shop were he bought her, complaining that he bought the 'pleasure model', but his robot is acting like a real woman! The film is cast with James Harrison, Richard Cambridge, and Jessica-Jane Clements, star of BBC series 'The Real Hustle'. Pictured from L-R are: James Harrison, Jessica-Jane Clements, Stephen Scott-Hayward, Kate Timmons and Oliver Purches.

For those not familiar with the term, ADR stands for Automatic Dialogue Replacment or Additional Dialogue Recording, and happens when production dialogue recorded when the cameras were rolling is unsuitable for the final version of the film, perhaps because there was too much background interference for instance.

Experience Dolby Mobile surround sound

2010-08-13T14:09:00.002+01:00

We were recently commissioned by global entertainment technology company Dolby Laboratorie s to provide concept and sound design for a series of 5.1 soundbites to help promote the new Dolby Mobil e microsite. Working with the Dolby creative marketing team and Bristol based digital marketing agency True Digital we designed four distinct 'soundbites' to put you right in the centre of the action. The microsite also features several soundtrack examples from well known films plus a specially made video by UK beatbox champion Beardyman!

So grab your headphones and click to the Dolby Mobile microsite to see what it's all about. You can also download the soundbites to your computer or mobile phone.

July Press Release

2010-07-12T14:27:00.005+01:00

Our latest project involved working with a local special school during a community art project which we filmed for documentary. The on-line article can be viewed here, the trailer for the 30 minute documentary can be viewed here:

A Day in the Life

2010-07-06T10:57:00.003+01:00

We were commissioned to produce a short promotional film, highlighting a typical day at Red Oaks Primary School. The shoot was completed in a day, the music was recorded in the morning during an African choir performance by the students for their African guests and the whole film lasts only two and a half minutes, a real whirlwind of a film. A fabulous school and a real pleasure to be involved in such a project. The film was shot using the EX1 in 1080p with stunning results. Click here to see the film.

"Working with Dreambase Studios was an absolute pleasure; nothing was too much trouble and our vision for the film has more than been fulfilled." [Terri Menham, Head Teacher, Red Oaks Primary School.]

"The School day film is STUNNING, utterly brilliant!! LOVE IT!!" [Jack Smellie, Relaxed Web Design.]

Foley Stage

2010-06-29T11:28:00.005+01:00

Welcome to our new Foley stage. Designed and constructed in-house for the UK Film Council short film 'Frequency' (Gurchan Singh - writer/director. Hank Starrs - producer) which is scheduled to premiere at the Encounters International Film Festival in November this year. The Foley stage will allow us to create and record 'every day' sounds that are required as part of the sound post production process. This, coupled with our sound effect libraries and experience within the film industry, will add depth and enhance the film soundtrack. Our stage is very practical and efficient currently incorporating six neatly designed trays that allow us to expand surfaces as and when required. We have a selection of microphones and our isolated room facilitates accurate recording of sounds with an incredibly low noise floor. Coupled with fantastic visibility and talk-back communication, a great Foley performance is only a step away!

Mark says, "Using the Foley stage on our latest short made a real difference in the mix. The Foley recordings, combined with well selected room tones, atmospheres and sound libraries gave us complete control, providing all the necessary elements for great sound design and a dynamic mix. We have achieved a fantastic soundtrack which we are very proud of and the clients are extremely happy with."

S.E.N. Community Art Documentary

2010-06-28T16:11:00.007+01:00

Dreambase Studios were commissioned to film the project over the 2 weeks, producing a 30 minute documentary which is to be used as part of the S.E.N. Uplands school's prospectus. The film was premiered at the school during a recent parents evening where everyone was able to admire the artwork in situ, then watch the film to find out how it was all created and put together.

The project was funded by the National Lottery and was organised and run by Purton-based artists Antoinette Robinson and Gordon Dickinson from No Added Sugar. The artwork around the entrance to the school comprises brightly painted circular panels depicting scenes created by those taking part, with the schools’ motto, ‘a vibrant and caring community where learning for life is fun’, as its theme. Inside the foyer of the school a series of square designs create a bright and lively display against the white walls.

‘It has been such a great success, the art work is unbelievable and has made the entrance to our school very welcoming and vibrant’. 'Dreambase Studios displayed an empathy and understanding for our young people straightaway and understood what it was we wanted to capture and portray in the filming of our Community Arts Project. They have captured our arts project in an unobtrusive way that didn’t impact on the project, but actually enhanced it. The film will help our organisation moving forward'. [Jackie Smith, Head Teacher, Uplands School]

Click here to watch the trailer.

Buffalo Black and Asian Film Festival

2010-06-22T15:11:00.010+01:00

The film Our Time Alone, directed by Gurchetan Singh and produced by Hank Starrs came runner up as Best Short film at the Buffalo Black and Asian Film Festival, held at the Battersea Arts Centre on 6th June. The festival presents the very best of Black and Asian short films and is attended by development executives from Channel 4, BBC Drama, UKFC, Miramax and Working Title, amongst other media professionals.

Dreambase Studios provided sound design and mix for the film, which has been consistently well received at all screenings. Watch the trailer for the film here.

Short Film: The Frequency

2010-06-15T14:57:00.021+01:00

Dreambase Studios has just completed the sound post-production on 'The Frequency'. A short film, written and directed by Gurchetan Singh and produced by Hank Starrs for Blank Slate. Dreambase Studios provided foley recording, ADR, sound design and mix.

Blank Slate is a UK-wide digital short film scheme supporting the next generation of cutting-edge black, Asian and ethnic minority filmmaking talent, and is produced by B3 Media in partnership with the UK Film Council and Arts Council England. The film will premier later this year at BAFTA and the Encounters Film Festival, held in November.

Have you ever been addicted to The Frequency? We have...click here for trailer

Classic Car Event

2010-06-05T19:46:00.000+01:00

Over 40 classic cars and motorbikes parked around the town hall on Saturday 5th June for the 'Brilliant Bassett' event organised by volunteers from the Wootton Bassett Chamber of Commerce.

Visitors wandered amongst a variety of vintage cars including a 1935 Austin 7, 1951 Daimler, 1963 Humber Super Snipe, 1966 Mini Riley, replica AC Cobra, a range of MG’s, as well as more modern classics such as a Ferrari 348 Spider and Morgan Areo 8. Additional motorbikes were also welcomed along this year, including Royal Enfield and Douglas motorcycles, and a 1917 Alldays & Onions which has been in the owner’s family from new.

You can see the little video we made for the Chamber website here, which includes one of our music tracks.

Short Film wins top prize at WorldFest

2010-05-17T16:53:00.000+01:00

'Special Delivery' has won the 2010 Platinum Remi Award at the 43rd Annual WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival. The short film, written and directed by David Hawk and produced by Richard Cambridge was awarded the festival's top prize. Dreambase Studios provided the final sound mix and would like to congratulate the production on its success and look forward to working with the team again.

Inhouse Research and Training Materials

2010-04-27T17:56:00.013+01:00

We provided video and voiceover facilities to In-house Research and Training this week for use within their renowned training courses for house sales and construction staff. Their new house demonstration and handover training courses take place across the country and are much respected within the construction industry.

The work involved providing our EX1 camera and three-way Dedolight kit to film a training video. Post production on the film included audio editing, sound design and video conform. We also recorded voiceovers from a script prepared by In-house which were then edited into individual .WAV files to enable them to be played at the appropriate points from within a PowerPoint presentation.

School Celebrates St. George's Day!

2010-04-23T18:26:00.003+01:00

We filmed 450 children at a local school over a 1 hour period from 40ft crane to create a short film displaying the children make up the coast of GB using the EX1 time-lapse function.

["The film is fab", Terri Menham - Headteacher, Red Oaks Primary School]

Labour Candidate Campaign Film

2010-04-22T12:21:00.018+01:00

We were approached by the Labour Party in Swindon to film the North Swindon candidate, Victor Agarwal's campaign. They wanted a professional film with high production values on a tight budget. The film was shot using the Sony EX1 HD camera in 1280 x 720 /25p with boom mic and the 3-way Dedolight Kit with softbox & grid. We managed to turn this around very quickly as time was paramount. We provided the editor with well logged clips, alternative takes and transcoded options for optimum flexibility in the edit as well as offering advice on the technical aspects of the film, including delivery formats.

"This is an awesome result, all I can say is wow! The way the posters have been arranged also have surpassed my expectations, and give it a lot of impact with the lighting." [Ramon Lawson, Producer / Editor]

Click here to watch the film

Special Delivery Sound Mix

2010-03-18T09:42:00.009Z

We've recently completed a sound mix for the short film Special Delivery, produced by Richard Cambridge and written by David Hawk. The film will premier at the WorldFest Houston International Film Festival, which takes place between 9 and 18 April.

Wootton Bassett Young Chamber

2010-03-18T09:38:00.008Z

We spent an enjoyable afternoon with the Wootton Bassett School Young Chamber recently discussing how we and the other companies present can offer our help and expert specialist knowledge to pupils at the school. The Young Chamber is an initiative to give students the opportunity to gain confidence and skills to become an effective leader. It also enables them to work alongside business people to develop successful projects and also to develop partnerships with other young people across the UK. As part of their experience the Young Chamber is expected to organize several projects throughout the year such as Christmas markets, 'Dragons Den', company visits and business workshops, amongst others. As a company we will act as an occasional sounding board for the local students as and when they need our help and advice and we hope some exciting projects will come out of the initiative.

Wootton Bassett Repatriation Documentary

2010-03-12T16:57:00.012Z

We were asked to provide camera and filming services for a Liverpool based film maker, who is developing a documentary about the Wootton Bassett Repatriations. Using a two-camera shoot we obtained footage from the event and conducted interviews with members of the public, many of whom attend the repatriation services on a regular basis. The idea behind the film is to show what it's like to really be there - something that's not often portrayed on the news reports.

The event was extremely moving at times (even though it had been attended before by us) and getting the balance of obtaining film footage and paying the utmost respect to the five repatriated soldiers and their families was a very difficult challenge.

Web Videos for SME's Article

2010-03-05T16:28:00.016Z

Alex has recently written a brief article dealing with web videos for SMEs and online advertising plus a very brief history of the world wide web so far. It’s aim was to put into some context the enormous rise of the web and the potential to business of video advertising on the web whilst maintaining high quality and engaging content in order stand out from the crowd. The article was published on the Entrepreneurs Club Website but the extract marketing sheet is included here also. Just click in the image below to enlarge.

Wootton Bassett Arts Festival Support

2010-02-23T08:32:00.014Z

Running from the 10th to the 14th June, the 2010 Wootton Bassett Arts Festival (WBAF) brings art, creative writing, music, speech and drama right into the community, giving the opportunity for all to exhibit and compete for prizes in a variety of classes. Following a highly successful 2009, this years WBAF is being looked forward to with great anticipation. The WBAF is affiliated to the British and International Federation of Festivals for Music, Dance and Speech (BIFF) of which Her Majesty the Queen is Patron. This year the festival brings a new range of art and photography classes, including a 3-D artwork section. The creative writing section includes categories for poetry, monologue and journalism, to name a few. The speech and drama section includes solo acting, prose reading, public speaking and debating, amongst others. Lastly the music section covers choirs, vocal, and instrumentals, including ensemble and piano sections.

Please visit the WBAF website for more information and to enter a piece of work into the festival.

Dreambase Studios is proud to be supporting the festival this year and we're offering the winners in the Adult Choir category a chance to record their show piece in our own studios or on location.

16 June: UPDATE: The Lingmara Community Choir won the Adult Choir category, a sample of their music can be found here:

BVE: The Production Show

2010-02-16T23:44:00.003Z

Our first year attending the Broadcast Video Expo, Earls Court and what an event. Coupled with the new sister event, the production show kept us busy all day giving us free access to leading companies and experts providing the latest production technology, lighting, training, equipment hire, post production and studios for the content creation industries of Film and TV.

The buzz words of the show included DSLR, RED, MicroBudget and of course 3D. We kicked off with the seminar "Production on a Budget" followed shortly after by a fantastic insight to "Financing & Budget Models for Films" by Christine Hartland (Producer of David Holroyd's wmd nominated Best Debut UK Feature at the East End Film Festival 2009.) with the following links being suggested by Christine as essential for any filmmaker:

www.fundyourfilm.info
www.powertothepixel.com
www.scottkirsner.com
www.peterbroderick.com
www.filmpop.tv.

We talked with the guys from Glidecam, VFX Bluescreen Solutions, various lighting companies and some of the 3D technologies for broadcast. Our afternoon was very informative indeed with Jonathan Harrison's "Lighting on the Run" seminar sponsored by Arri. Within 60 minutes, Jonathan demonstrated the art of lighting and there was no doubt, this is the key if you want to stand out from the crowd. Our final seminar of the day was a panel discussion with industry experts on the "Future of Digital Video". In summary, video is playing a huge part in the shake up of content creation for all mediums. The future incorporates many new platforms and is gravitating towards industries such as mobile, gaming and the internet with social networking sites being key in advertising and marketing content. Our last call (but by no means least) was at the Vision Research stand and we were blown away by their Phantom 65 camera. With the capability to record at 34,188fps (ok, this was at a very low resolution) the camera is capable of shooting 320fps at full HD 1920 x 1080. Watching their showreel was absolutely stunning and we're now looking for an excuse to hire one!

In these rapidly changing times, we feel that we are perfectly situated to offer services, facilities and knowledge to create great quality content, understanding and respecting traditional methods of content creation using an engineering approach to innovate new efficient ways to create this content on a budget.

We would love to hear from anyone with a creative project at any stage of the production and feel we could offer our facilities, knowledge, feedback, ideas, contacts or simply, advice. Please email info@dreambasestudios.com, visit our website for more details or follow us on twitter / Facebook for the latest news.

Blood Pagan Films visit the Studio

2010-02-01T15:55:00.021Z

Scriptwiter and producer, Angus Brown of Blood Pagan Films visited the studios today. (Blood Pagan is a supernatural horror, feature film: Forced to help defend his Pagan Community against a ruthless sect intent on their demise a man must reconnect with the forces of nature or both he and his people will die.) We'd previously met up with Angus Brown at the UK Film Council Public Consultation networking event and again at the Bristol Media Tuesday event. Angus is passionate about filmmaking and is currently in his 7th iteration of scriptwriting. We are looking forward to collaboration with Angus in the future.

RED ONE Workflow

2010-01-22T18:36:00.031Z

Lighting cameraman David Read provides a comprehensive Red Camera package plus the services of a talented and experienced cinematographer with over twenty years in the business.

“The idea behind the RED camera system is simple. Design and build a high performance digital cine camera with the quality of 35mm film and convenience of pure digital. RED delivers unmatched image quality with no recording system limitations.” - taken from www.red.com

David visited our studios for the day to test the RED ONE workflow with Final Cut Pro 7 in our HD edit suite. After setting up a few shots, making full use of David's knowledge and lighting, we then ingested the footage via firewire 800 using the RED drive RAID and FCS 3 Installer that Provides native REDCODE media (R3D) support for Final Cut Pro and Color. Includes: RED QuickTime Codec (v3.8.0), Log and Transfer (v20.0.0), REDCODE plugin for Color (v2.9), and Final Cut Studio RED workflow whitepaper. Note: Supports RED ONE cameras up through Build 20.

The results were stunning, working in ProRes 4:4:4:4 was not an issue for FCP7, we could easily edit multiple HD streams using our G|RAID's and had no issues streaming HD direct from our RAID5 server to HD Plasma for client screenings. The 2k stills were impressive and the detail when grading in colour and zoom in motion was impressive to say the least.

A Young Film Student With Ideas

2010-01-16T18:16:00.014Z

Alex Neville approached our studios for a weeks work experience in post production. He's in his second year of studying BA(Hons) Digital Film Production at the University of Gloucestershire and has worked on around 10 short student films over the last few years. His most recent documentaries are: "King Cone" and "Laundrette" which were well received.

We have many innovative project ideas and decided that we would complete one of our projects within the week Alex was at the studios (as well as completing the wiring of the ADR/foley booth.) Shooting all the scenes with the EX1, we completed a rough edit and bounced a ProRes version across the network to the 5.1 audio suite where Alex really got stuck into the sound design, recording ADR/Foley and mix. After colour correcting, he rendered out the short film which was demonstrated to a local special needs school and received some fantastic feedback.

"I just wanted to thank you again for having me down last week. On reflection I think I learned a lot and had a great time in the process. I will defiantly keep in touch and I would love to come and visit again in the future." [Alex Neville - Student, Digital Film Production, Gloucester University]

Magic Mathworks Travelling Circus

2010-01-14T13:43:00.004Z

The Magic Mathworks is a travelling hands-on maths exhibition for schools, museums and discovery centres. This touring maths lab demonstrates and explores a multisensory approach to the learning of mathematics based on the Multiple Embodiment Principle of Z P Dienes.

As part of an on-going project with a local school, we are filmng a series of events that will be used to promote and highlight the ethos of the school for the interest of new parents and governing bodies.

A Snow Film

2010-01-13T04:50:00.011Z

We are working with local schools and are in the process of filming a series of events that will be used to promote and highlight the ethos of the school for the interest of new parents and governing bodies. We are providing the whole production from planning, filming, editing and sound post production for this project over the next few months.

Change Your World

2010-01-11T11:03:00.007Z

Sustrans is the UK's leading sustainable transport charity. Change Your World is an annual campaign run by Sustrans which invites people across the UK to swap just one car trip during the first week of July and to walk, cycle, take public transport or car-share instead.

Sustainable transport charity Sustrans were delighted with the results of their project with Dreambase Studios:

"Mark and his team came in at very short notice, quickly grasped our concept and worked at breakneck speed to produce a short promotional film. We instantly felt we were in safe hands with people who were happy to work with our ideas and blend with their own creative thoughts and experience to get the finished product. Their enthusiasm and commitment exceeded our expectations and made them a pleasure to work with." [Gill Harrison, Sustrans Press and PR Manager]

Filming is 'The Dogs' at Lucy Pet Carer

2010-01-09T10:19:00.016Z

Lucy Pet Carer is growing and expanding every year to meet new clients demands and have now relocated to new premises as a more intimate family business set in a 3 half acre estate overlooking the countryside around Wootton Bassett. Providing professional service to clients who want peace of mind when they're away from their pets. They offer free range play and boarding, no kennelling. They also have cat and rabbit hotel facilities!

Dreambase Studios produced a promotional video for the business to add to the website as a follow up to the annual Doggie Christmas Party held at the facility. The content was shot on our EX1 and both operator and equipment got very muddy! And they say never work with children or animals...

BBC Digital Revolution (working title)

2010-01-03T18:03:00.005Z

Digital revolution (working title) is a four part series for BBC Two about how the web is changing the world. Starting 30/01/10, it's in production now, and the BBC are offering a range of ways to interact with the programme team and the content they produce. A competition was run to produce a trailer or short film for the series using the set of rushes under a BBC permissive license. This is a trailer that was created by Dreambase Studios' Director, Alex Hudd and was chosen as one of the shortlisted entries in the competition. Alex's editing can be seen in full on Dreambase Studios' Vimeo and YouTube channels.

The Fire Service College

2009-12-11T11:51:00.013Z

The Fire Gateway is a web portal which has been developed to allow businesses and the general public to access, and interact with, an array of fire-related services on-line. The Fire Service College are the responsible body for the Fire Gateway. Nomos Media were responsible for providing a full-time 1st line support function for the Gateway, for providing an interface between the public and all 44 Fire and Rescue Services in England, for managing all 3rd party suppliers and contracts and for designing and managing all developments across the Portal.

We provided Nomos with a short testimonial for use at trade shows and events. Nomos, being a web technologies organisation specialising in the production of provision of internet based services filmed the content on the Canon 7D and provided the footage on hard drive. We ingested, transcoded and creatively edited the footage to a 3 minute video and delivered on both HD and SD.

Picture courtesy of Fire Service College

Greek TV Commercial

2009-12-10T16:38:00.005Z

WIND Hellas is today one of Greece’s largest telecommunications operators with an annual turnover of €1,26 billion for 2008 and more than 6 million customers in mobile and fixed telephony as well as in broadband services.

We were asked to provide recordings for this Greek TV commercial by our friends at DNA Labs which aired in Greece throughout the month of December. They approached us in the final hour, requesting a recording of English children singing the traditional "1-2 Buckle My Shoe" rhyme. We managed to turn the recording around the same day and deliver via our FTP account, an edited recording the next day. The guys at DNA Labs did a wonderful job with sound on the final commercial.

"The client was super happy with the latest version, thanks a lot" [George Lowtronik Ramantanis, Mixer/Sound Designer DNA Labs, Greece]

Lab Consultancy for Dolby and Technicolor

2009-11-30T20:17:00.013Z

At the end of November we were asked to provide consultancy services to Technicolor on behalf of Dolby Laboratories to check and ensure the operation of the optical sound camera installed at the Technicolor Pinewood Site. The visit was part of Technicolor's ongoing program with Dolby to maintain the highest quality of soundtrack photographic processing on motion picture film and is carried out as part of Dolby Laboratories' Lab and Camera Certification program.

We provided a full check and test of the optical sound camera along with process control training for Dolby personnel resulting in an improvement to the already high quality soundtrack reproduction. A full report was provided for the certification records and future reference.

Business of the Month Award

2009-11-27T17:44:00.014Z

Today, Dreambase Studios was presented with the Business of the Month Award, sponsored by Marriott Hotels. We were very happy to receive this award after only 3 months of trading. It was a pleasant surprise and we were delighted for the recognition. We were treated to a wonderful 3-course meal and champagne reception.

Wootton Bassett Repatriation

2009-11-05T22:39:00.005Z

A grey mist hung over the market town of Wootton Bassett and seemed to match the mood of the people who lined the High Street. Click here to read the full article:

Filming this particular repatriation, the plan was to turn around a newscast edit in the same day using Sony's EX1 tapeless workflow. We were able to work quickly and efficiently ingesting the XDCAM clips into the workstation and edit seamlessly. We also discovered a neat little add-on for the firefox browser that allows you to capture flash content from websites such as YouTube. We used the Flash Video Resources add-on to capture some stock footage for the newscast. We then up-scaled the footage to HD using MPEG Streamclip which worked well.

Installation of Plasma

2009-10-12T17:22:00.001+01:00

We have been very busy juggling clients and the completion of the studio installation. Today was the arrival of our 50" HD Plasma. It really does look great and will be a huge improvement for the clients, offering a fantastic HD picture whilst mixing 5.1 soundtrack.

Anyone Can Play the Guitar

2009-09-30T16:02:00.004+01:00

Oxford born Jon Spira was introduced to the medium of film by his dad and one of his earliest childhood memories is assisting his father in the creation of short animations using Super 8mm film. Since returning to Oxford Jon has been engaged in an ongoing documentary project which seeks to trace the history of Oxford's music scene over the last 30 years. To read the full article, click here:

Jon Spira and editor Ben Lavington Martin visited the studio with a rough cut of the feature music documentary "Anyone Can Play the Guitar". We offered advice on the sound post production and Jon was happy with the consultation. He is currently in the process of trying to secure funding to complete post-production for sound mixing and legal and licensing fees for the feature-length documentary and we look forward to working with Jon in the near future.

Our Time Alone

2009-09-29T19:45:00.006+01:00

Our Time Alone is short film by Gurchetan Singh (dir) / Hank Starrs (prod) for Blank Slate, part of the UK Film Council's New Cinema Fund Digital Shorts Scheme. Blank Slate is a UK-wide digital short film scheme supporting the next generation of cutting-edge black, Asian and minority ethnic filmmaking talent. Blank Slate is produced by B3 Media in partnership with the UK Film Council and Arts Council England.

Dreambase Studios provided complete sound post-production for this short film involving foley recording, ADR, sound design and mix as well as creating a DVD working copy for the B3 Media tour.

"We really love what you guys have done with the film. I look forward to working with you again very soon" [Hank Starrs - Producer]

To view the trailer , click here.

B3 Media Blank Slate Showcase @Encounters Short Film Festival
Bristol Watershed 2009

November Press Release

2009-09-09T07:56:00.002+01:00

Today was our first press release for Dreambase Studios Limited. Since starting the company in September 2009 we have completed the sound post production on a UK Film Council / B3 Media funded short film, sound post production work for Dolby Laboratories, editing webfilm for a number of companies as well as providing sound consultancy for the National Film and Television School.

Dolby 5.1 Mix for IBC

2009-09-06T17:25:00.015+01:00

IBC is the leading annual event for professionals involved in the creation, management and delivery of entertainment content. IBC prides itself on the highest technical standards in its demonstrations and conference facilities. It could not do this without the active support of many companies who provide equipment and expertise including Dolby.

Dreambase Studios was commissioned to re-mix a total of eighteen, 5.1 soundtracks from various broadcast and film sources to provide a 5.1 showreel piece for Dolby to demo at the IBC event.

"Great job, easy to work with. Delivered on time and on budget" [Mick Dwyer - Senior Engineer, Broadcast Systems, Dolby Laboratories Inc]

Ubisoft: Assassin's Creed II

2009-09-04T15:15:00.005+01:00

Ubisoft is a leading international developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products.

Dolby approached Dreambase Studios for the editing of elements and HD title overlays of Ubisoft's 'Assassin's Creed' demo pod at the IFA consumer electronics show. (A showcase for innovation and the technology of tomorrow.)

Picture courtesy of Ubisoft Entertainment.

Radio In Schools

2009-09-03T16:39:00.000+01:00

Radio In Schools is an independent, not for profit organisation. It offers a safe podcasting platform to allow schools, children and a new generation of listeners to get their voice heard in their own communities.

Dreambase Studios provided 100% post production creating a promotional video for the nationwide launch of Radio In Schools. A high definition version was used at trade shows and a standard definition version for the Radio In Schools website. We provided video capture, ingest, upscaling, transcoding and editing as well as sound design, mix and music composition delivered to a very tight schedule. The promo can be viewed in full on Dreambase Studios' Vimeo and YouTube channels.

"I love the ident, sounding fantastic and really like the direction of it." [Melissa Thom - Director, Radio In Schools]

Picture courtesy of Radio In Schools.

Welcome To Dreambase Studios

2009-09-01T08:30:00.011+01:00

Today was the first day of trading for Dreambase Studios Limited. We work in what was the birthplace of Wiltshire Radio. The studios were designed and built by Grimshaw Architects in 1982 [see pics below] and were home to the radio station as it re-branded to GWR FM in 1985, after a merger with Radio West.

The studio construction offers well isolated rooms, minimising cross talk with good acoustic performance for reference mixing and with the aid of sand filled pods in the exterior of the building, the noise floor is very low indeed. This makes it perfect for ADR and Foley recordings allowing maximum dynamics to the source audio.

For us these are exciting times indeed and as the studios (as we!) evolve we hope to provide production, post-production, engineering and innovative solutions to a variety of digital media content creation.