Sound Post for 'The Harsh Light Of Day'

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

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.

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.

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

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.

'Skateboards and Spandex' - Trailer

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'.

ADR Session for Pleasure Droid 3000

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.

A Day in the Life

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.]
 

S.E.N. Community Art Documentary

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

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

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

Inhouse Research and Training Materials

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.

A Snow Film

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.