Cap & Me

  CREATING SOUND EFFECTS 

PILOT EPISODE ANIMATIC, PAGE 7

Neoni's Sliding Chair

In the pilot episode, "STOP EVERYTHING," enemy robots surround the SkyLighter, ready to attack and destroy. Neoni slides her chair to the center position, ready to fire LumaBlasters.

And what sound should we hear when that chair zips over to the center position? 

A ZOOP!  or a  ZZZRRR-KLINK!  or a cool WHOOOOOSH?

Since I'm the Sound Designer, I've got to decide AND figure out how to to make the sound.

Welcome to the world of making sound effects. It's the art they call FOLEY. Foley artists come up with sounds for footsteps, swishing clothing, laser blasters, all kinds of stuff.

Sometimes, like now, they have to invent the sound, using stuff you might have around the house. Like this stuff.

I'll be using the shoe and the pan to make the Captain's footsteps climbing down a ladder. And I think the power drill could work for the sliding sound of Neoni's chair. I'll grab the drill and give it a try.

I start recording on Pro-Tools an pull the trigger.

ZZZZZZRRRRRP! 

Hmm. This could work. 

So I keep the recording, which looks like this shaded block on the screen, with a pink waveform over it.

Then I look back at Parker's drawings, and re-read my script, which look like this:

Now I'm starting to think, it sounds too much like a drill. It's gotta sound cool and unique. 

So maybe I'll make the sound thicker, maybe add some delay, like doubling the sound, or mix in a musical sliding sound, making it more cartoony.

I guess I'll have to play around with it for a while, until I feel like it sounds right for an episode of Captaaain FlashLight! 

Check back soon, I'll tell you--and show you--how it turned out!

Keep Shining! Keep Praying. Leave a Comment!

As we work toward this LIGHTastic new series called