DOC BC Music Composition and Sound Design workshop - Thursday, March 11

The Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC) BC chapter is hosting a workshop titled 'Exploring Music Composition and Sound Design for Documentary Film: Development through Post-Production'  on Thursday, March 11 at the Vancouver Public Library Central Branch. Composer Denis Burke and writer/engineers Jef Gibbons and Brandon Cherrington will cover topics including Location Sound, Original Composition and Stock and Budget.

The workshop is free for DOC members, $15 for non members. Limited Seating available on a first come basis. The Vancouver Public Library, Central Branch is located at 350 West Georgia Street. For more about DOC BC visit www.docbc.org or email docbc@docbc.org.

THE WORKSHOP

In a visual world, with tight budgets and an emphasis on delivering stunning images shot on HD the questions is often “what camera will you use?” and “who's shooting your film?” Less often do we hear “what did you use to mic that?” or “Who's doing sound?” Documentary filmmakers often forget to consider sound design as part of their development process, completely overlooking the impacts and benefits it can have on their projects. Often location sound isn't thought through, is left as an afterthought or captured haphazardly by the director or DP - sometimes it's even captured by whatever mic happens to be on the camera. Music and Sound Design are last to be considered and Foley is something that is left to the world of drama.

Are we missing opportunities?

If we are, is it because we feel like sound is something we can dispense with, or because we don't know how to properly utilize or approach sound design? Often poorly captured location sound leads to more costs in post or re-shoots or unusable interviews. Often a music composer is hired at the end of the process and forced to rush. Often post-production sound is where we cut our budgets as production costs rise and we leave ourselves scrambling in the end. Often we don't think about how sound design, including foley, can enhance a viewers experience and strengthen our productions.

CONTENT

Location Sound (choosing the right person & equipment for your project)
- What to expect?
- Deliverables and options in pre-production and production?
- If you have to DIY what are the repercussions and what should you know?

Music: Original Composition or Stock?
- Choosing the right composer and demystifying the relationship
- SOCAN contracts
- Creative relationship
- What to expect
- Composer's process
- When should the work start
- Working with temp music
-Using stock or public domain music

What to Budget for Sound and Sound Design
- Where to save your pennies and where to spend
- Timeframe and expectation
- Explaining sound line items in a budget (what's sweetening, what's layback etc.)
- What does a mixer do and what do they need to work properly?

Foley sound - is it for documentary or strictly for drama?
- How can working with a foley artist enhance your production

THE PANEL

Dennis Burke: Composer
Dennis is an internationally recognized, multi award-winning composer and sound designer for film and television. With over 100 titles to his credit, his work can be seen regularly on television, film festivals, commercial theatres, and galleries throughout the world. Dennis has been a professional musician for the last 30 years, performing throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.

Dennis’ research interests center on acoustic communication, psychoacoustics, and the dynamic relationships of sound with the moving image.

Dennis Burke has been an Associate Professor in Media Arts at Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver , Canada since 1987 and is currently serving as the Associate Dean of Curriculum, Degree Programs. Among his many activities at ECU Dennis has developed a series of courses that investigate the creative possibilities of sound in Design, Media, and Visual Art practice.
http://www.dennisburkemusic.com/

Brandon Cherrington: Writer/Engineer
Brandon has been a professional audio engineer in Vancouver for the past 10 years. He has worked alongside such legendary producers as Andrew Loog Oldham (Rolling Stones), James Michael (Hilary Duff, Motley Crue), Jeff Saltzman (The Killers, Smash Mouth) and Mike K (Nelly Furtado, N'Sync). He has engineered for a wide range of artists, including Lillix, Wide Mouth Mason, Spirit of the West, Wyckham Porteous, Don Alder, House of Doc and The New Pornographers. Over the years, several of his album projects have been nominated for Western Canadian Music Awards as well as a Juno Award. As an accomplished musician too, Brandon has been working as a composer for visual related projects at Spirit Sound Post. Having forged his skills in teh world of music production, he has an impeccable sense of artistic quality with solid technical savvy.
http://www.spiritsoundpost.com/Spirit_Sound/Brandon.html

Jef Gibbons: Writer/Engineer
Jef is a very busy guy. Over the past year alone he has written and mixed over 200 musical pieces for Wine Studios in Japan. He teaches Digital Recording and Digital Music Composition at Trinity Western University. And, not content being idle, he has recently added to this a collaboration with Believe Animation – scoring for 2 new cartoon series. Jef is also one of the lower mainland's foremost authorities for applications by Apple, Steinberg, Propellerheads, IK Multimedia, Native Instruments EWQL and more.

ADDITIONAL GUESTS
TO BE CONFIRMED

Location Sound Recordist
Brooke Graeffe - Foley Artist: Footsteps Studios http://www.footstepsstudios.com/
Vancouver-based Filmmaker