Sound School

A workshop that aims to introduce students to leading figures in the world of European and Latin American cinematic sound.

What cinematic sound is, how to use it and how to tell stories with sound are some of the questions explored in this intensive seminar.

The two teachers will alternate between the first and second years, so all students will have the opportunity to learn from both.

• Introduction to audiovisual sound: from script to screen.

• The elements of audiovisual sound: dialogue, effects and music.

• Signal flow: how analogue sound works.

• The importance of recording: creating your own sound libraries through field recordings.

• Dialogue editing: dialogue assembly, microphone selection, and editing recordings from boom and wireless microphones.

• Sound-focused film analysis: sequence analysis.

• Putting Pro Tools concepts into practice: AAF, buses, auxiliaries.

• Workflows with other departments: working with picture editing. Effects and atmospheres: your own libraries and the creation of effects and atmospheres.

• Studio recording: recording voices and effects.

• Music editing. Introduction to mixing: basic principles of equalisation and compression.

• Practical sound recording on fiction and documentary shoots using equipment from brands such as Sound Devices, Zaxcom and Lectrosonics.

• The workshop covers roles from boom operator to production sound mixer.

• Practice on sound stages and real locations such as outdoor settings and vehicles.

• Binaural recording.

• Microphone configurations: stereo, ambisonic A and B, double MS, ORTF surround, IRT cross, ORTF 3D, etc.

• Integrated and ambisonic configurations, microphones with a baffle (DPA 5100, Holophone).

• Surround sound recording for film.

• Portable recording systems.

• Surround mixing from multichannel or mono sources.

• DAWs with surround mixing capabilities: Pro Tools, Nuendo and Reaper.

• Ambisonics and its current state.

• Dolby Atmos.

• MPEG-H.

• Delivery formats.

• Listening systems.

• Compression, manipulation and troubleshooting of issues arising from the use of radio equipment, particularly in wireless audio transmission systems.

• Division of the electromagnetic spectrum.

• Interaction of electromagnetic waves with matter.

• UHF and antennas.

• RF splitters and combiners.

• Current transmission systems used on set.

• RF environment analysis and frequency coordination.

• Waves.

• Parameters for analysing equipment.

• Dynamics processors.

• Loudspeakers.

• Amplifiers.

• Digital audio theory.

• Digital audio interfaces.

• Understanding sound with a basic but sufficient technical grounding to improve sound and acoustic applications in film, both in understanding the physics of sound and in solving problems when recording in particular spaces or environments. Introduction to acoustics.

• Properties of sound.

• Perception of sound (physiological acoustics and three-dimensional sound).

• Sound propagation in a free field.

• Sound absorption.

• Reverberation.

• Acoustic materials.

• Sound propagation in enclosed spaces.

• Sound effects and wave properties.

• Measurements and practical workshops.

A course focused on the craft of dialogue editing and ADR.

• What dialogue editing is.

• The three pillars: continuity, intelligibility and coherence.

• The raw materials: raw recordings, AAF, EDL, videos.

• The tools: Pro Tools, EdiLoad, Kraken, AutoAlign.

• The ten steps: viewing, conforming, microphone selection, alignment, track layout, transitions, levels, alternatives, cleaning and review.

• Editing tools.

• Introduction to MIDI.

• Digital recording.

• Importing material.

• Selections and navigation.

• Editing techniques.

• Mixing techniques.

• Stems and routing.

• AudioSuite and AAX plug-ins.

• Automation.

A fully practical workshop in which students learn recording and microphone techniques in the professional environment of the school’s studio. Recording music, sound effects and ADR.

The cross-disciplinary theoretical subjects provide students with a cultural, historical and analytical foundation shared by all the school’s specialisations. These subjects contextualise sound work within the contemporary audiovisual ecosystem and foster an overall understanding of the different formats, languages and processes involved in film and audiovisual creation.

• Documentary (6 credits).

• Film History (9 credits).

• Universal Storylines (6 credits).

• Television Series (6 credits).

• Video Game Worlds (3 credits).

A practical subject carried out jointly with students from the other specialisations at ESCAC. Working in multidisciplinary film crews, students take part in producing various audiovisual projects, mainly short films, directly applying the knowledge they have acquired in sound.

The subject recreates the real dynamics of a professional production, allowing students to join a working environment similar to that of the audiovisual industry. Filming takes place in two major blocks during the academic year, when classes are suspended so students can focus exclusively on developing the projects.

• A subject focused on learning sound creation.

• The workshop begins with a theoretical foundation and culminates in two weeks of intensive practical work led by sound supervisor and designer Oriol Tarragó.

• In the first phase, students do practical work at the Coser y Cantar studio, developing sound designs for image-based exercises, based on their own recordings and using sound-design plug-ins such as Tremolator, Doppler, Pitch’n Time Pro and Envy.

• In the second phase, students are invited to create and explain a sound story without images, developed in a room equipped with an immersive Dolby Atmos 7.1.2 system and Meyer Sound speakers.

• – Practical work in creative mixing for film and audiovisual media.

– A practical workshop introducing students to the preparation, analysis and execution of an audiovisual project.

• Monitoring formats: near-field versus theatrical, their definitions, key differences and applications in film and television post-production.

• Acoustic characteristics and adapting the mix.

• The X-curve: its historical development and application in current technology, its relationship to room equalisation, its implementation in film and streaming mixes, and comparison with the R128 curve and other standards.

• Building basic 5.1 and 2.0 mixing templates: DAW organisation, bus and stem-group allocation, and spatial distribution strategies.

• Session routing for 5.1 and 2.0 mixes, stem and submix management, and creating final versions for platforms and production companies.

• Loudness control: LUFS, True Peak and RMS standards, requirements by destination, and measurement tools.

• Audio equalisation and processing.

• Using reverberation and building sound spaces.

• A subject based on the craft of the sound effects editor.

• Practical editing of effects in different situations, such as cars or gunshots, and organising the edit by elements such as water, air, fire or wind.

– Foley practice in film.

• A practical subject focused on techniques for conforming production sound and reconforming Pro Tools sessions between edit versions.

• Software used: Avid Media Composer, Pro Tools and Matchbox.

– Introduction to ADR. Introduction to and techniques for using the industry-standard software iZotope RX, EdiCue, EdiLoad and Matchbox.

– Introduction to techniques and practices for calibrating professional mixing rooms.

The course invites students to explore the sounds that define us and our relationship with them, fostering a conscious and critical way of listening to the sound environment.

Building on this foundation, it explores different ways of creating with everyday sounds and introduces the design of both digital and analogue instruments and sound objects.

The process culminates in the creation of a final binaural sound piece, the result of personal research and experimentation.

• Technology applied to post-production processes and studios.

• Sound adjustment and measurement in post-production rooms for cinema and home environments.

• Immersive sound.

• Concepts of beds and objects.

• Dolby Atmos Production Suite.

• Setup in Pro Tools.

• Room setup.

• Input setup.

• System calibration.

• Setting up an Atmos session in Pro Tools.

• Design and mixing concepts in Atmos.

• Creating an Atmos master and delivering in Atmos format.

External Placements (6 credits) 

Film Criticism (6 credits) or Supplementary Audiovisual Culture (6 credits); choose one of the two.

• Animation Cinema (6 credits).

• Gender, Feminisms and Contemporary Audiovisual (6 credits).

• Film History (6 credits).

• Production (6 credits).

• Contemporary Film Trends (6 credits).

   

The FCP consists of the sound design for a collaborative short film.

The work phases are as follows:

1. Project development. Creating and designing the sound based on a selected script.

2. Pre-production. Detailed project planning: production planning and coordination with the team.

3. Production. Filming the short.

4. Post-production. Sound post-production for the project.

5. Presentation. Presenting the project to an assessment panel and explaining the sound design decisions.

The school’s FCP committee is responsible for ensuring the proper organisation of the FCP. The committee’s duties include:

• Approving the procedure for assigning projects to students.

• Appointing the assessment panels for the public defence.

• Preparing and approving the assessment rubrics.

• Approving the FCP assessment and grading periods.

• Coordinating the presentation and defence of the FCPs.

• Resolving any issues that may arise.

The FCP must be carried out under the supervision of a teacher, who supervises the project and must encourage and facilitate the learning process.

The FCP supervisor’s duties include:

• Guiding and advising students while they work on the FCP.

• Assessing the progress of the students’ work under their supervision and evaluating the relevant part.

• Authorising the presentation and defence of the FCPs they supervise.

• Serving on assessment panels for other FCPs if required by the school.

To assess the FCP, at least a written report must be submitted and defended in a public presentation.

The FCP grade is determined by:

• Supervisor assessment (30%). The FCP supervisor awards a grade based on the work process, the technical quality of the piece, creativity, and the student’s ability to follow the project guidelines.

• Assessment by the examining panel (70%). An examining panel reviews the final project and the student’s oral presentation.

The elements considered by the examining panel are:

• Written report (70%). Description of the entire process of creating the FCP, from the initial idea to the final product.

• Oral presentation (30%). The oral presentation is assessed on clarity, coherence, communication skills, and the defence of decisions made during the editing process.

Assessment is carried out using a rubric system: a set of criteria and performance levels defined in advance and communicated to the student.

A series of sessions designed to prepare and carry out the master’s final projects.

A series of primarily theoretical classes that, with guidance from industry professionals, explore specific subject areas within the master’s discipline in depth.

A series of practical classes with a specific production objective, where students apply the theoretical and technical knowledge acquired in other subjects. Theoretical knowledge is put into practice using cameras or specialist software in a classroom or studio.

One- or two-day sessions featuring dialogue with a renowned professional relevant to the master’s objectives, with the aim of learning from their experience.