Ruhr Hunter - In Memory With Blackest Wings

Discuss the latest and past MP3's of the Week here.
User avatar
IskatuMesk
Xel'naga World Shaper
Xel'naga World Shaper
Posts: 8328
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 1:40 pm
Location: M͈̙̞͍͞ͅE̹H̨͇̰͈͕͇̫Ì̩̳CO̼̩̤͖͘ జ్ఞ‌ా

Ruhr Hunter - In Memory With Blackest Wings

Post by IskatuMesk »

A study in ambiance and cinematography

A growing subject in podcasts, reviewers, and like-minded statements in regards to cinema within games/movies these days is that they are, in essence, awful. What makes them awful? Well, a lot of things. Everything from the abuse of camera shaking, depth of field, motion blur, slowmo, down to the very choreography, down to the way audio is used (HKS brought to attention the "basey stinger" that hitman uses every five seconds in a cinematic).

What I noticed very early in modern productions is the love of rushing cinema. The art of stuffing 15-30 minutes worth of actions into 1-2 minutes at most. This rushed, overly excited mishmash of activity.

When creating Retribution, I'll be going into my first true forays as a movie director and choreographer. I'm looking back to older movies, like 2001: Space Odyssey, old James Bond movies, old Kung Fu movies, and trying to really determine the directional alterations between then and now.

I really get the impression that media today is overly obsessed with the fear that things can be still for too long, that there isn't enough action. Hollywood tries to wash over "slow" motions with over the top guitars and action-ey music badly accented with shakycam, "dramatic" zooms, and teenage protagonists doing "normal" things to "connect" to the audience.

Much like the old productions, I'm investing a huge amount of effort into those "slow" scenes, as they'll serve as breathing points between my enormous fleet battles and character interaction. To achieve the emotions I seek to evoke, I need to rely on powerful ambient music. There are many ways of doing ambiance, and I'll be experimenting with a lot of them. Since we're working with an original world, music greatly dictates how people will see and experience that work. We want power and mood oozing from every orifice in a smooth, undulating symphony.

My pursuit for material of such nature has lead me across the world, from the ever so obvious as Dead Can Dance to the distantly but still related Vas, Azam Ali, and Niyaz. My treks brought me to mother Russia with the Stalker soundtrack and an abundance of black metal instrumentals. I've been to Bulgaria with the potent choral folk music only fleetingly seen in the West at all, and I've been to Europe for classical Medieval ballets.

The grand picture of Retribution's musical score is slowly taking shape, and slowly, through the motion of that score, the shape of the world is emerging from the shadows of thought. Taking the moment to absorb the details and the motion is what this is all about.
User avatar
mark_009_vn
Zerg Drone Masseur
Zerg Drone Masseur
Posts: 356
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2011 5:56 am
Location: [[THIS USER, HE IS A CHAR]]

Re: Ruhr Hunter - In Memory With Blackest Wings

Post by mark_009_vn »

I'm investing a huge amount of effort into those "slow" scenes
You should practice trying to portray scenery and ambiance when it comes to "slow" scenes, being able to tell the player exactly where they are in a particular scene is extremely important, especially since most of your work revolves around planet sized battlecruisers.

Hollywood only cares about what's happening in a scene, but not the things around it, they don't put an effort to try to portray that, worse, they like to put depth of field to cover those up most of the time for some reason....

Your environment should be extremely detailed, even if those details are subliminal you still need to add them in. Ambiance sounds also need lots of attention. Generally, in order to portray your environment well you'll have to use a combination of still and moving shots, still shots are great at focusing the player's attention to a particular object (especially if it's moving), and moving shots are great at implying motion and flow... This is just me talking how little I know about anime choreography. :P
Image

"I'm begging you, let me work!" - Osamu Tezuka
User avatar
Hercanic
Protoss Stargate Concierge
Protoss Stargate Concierge
Posts: 1286
Joined: Sat Aug 19, 2006 12:11 am
Contact:

Re: Ruhr Hunter - In Memory With Blackest Wings

Post by Hercanic »

Ow. Okay, the first two thirds are fine for an ambient piece, but then that... that tone comes in, followed shortly by bells that proceed to escalate to an ear-bleeding pitch. Not an enjoyable piece for me, I'm afraid.
User avatar
IskatuMesk
Xel'naga World Shaper
Xel'naga World Shaper
Posts: 8328
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 1:40 pm
Location: M͈̙̞͍͞ͅE̹H̨͇̰͈͕͇̫Ì̩̳CO̼̩̤͖͘ జ్ఞ‌ా

Re: Ruhr Hunter - In Memory With Blackest Wings

Post by IskatuMesk »

I recommend using speakers when using an audio device. iphone tonal emitters are usually regarded to be "cheap chinese shit" for accurate and logistical reasons.
User avatar
mark_009_vn
Zerg Drone Masseur
Zerg Drone Masseur
Posts: 356
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2011 5:56 am
Location: [[THIS USER, HE IS A CHAR]]

Re: Ruhr Hunter - In Memory With Blackest Wings

Post by mark_009_vn »

IskatuMesk wrote:I recommend using speakers when using an audio device. iphone tonal emitters are usually regarded to be "cheap chinese shit" for accurate and logistical reasons.
Major ear rape is still major ear rape mang...
Image

"I'm begging you, let me work!" - Osamu Tezuka
User avatar
IskatuMesk
Xel'naga World Shaper
Xel'naga World Shaper
Posts: 8328
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 1:40 pm
Location: M͈̙̞͍͞ͅE̹H̨͇̰͈͕͇̫Ì̩̳CO̼̩̤͖͘ జ్ఞ‌ా

Re: Ruhr Hunter - In Memory With Blackest Wings

Post by IskatuMesk »

No ear rape here. Get real speakers?
User avatar
Hercanic
Protoss Stargate Concierge
Protoss Stargate Concierge
Posts: 1286
Joined: Sat Aug 19, 2006 12:11 am
Contact:

Re: Ruhr Hunter - In Memory With Blackest Wings

Post by Hercanic »

Maybe it renders out differently on a high-end sound card and speakers? I don't know, but that'd be a pretty narrow band of listeners for a musician to target.

I'm on my laptop here in Korea with these speakers that we inherited from a previous teacher:
HP-Multimedia-Speakers.jpg
They certainly don't compare to my Logitech Z-2300 speakers back home, but they get the job done far better than my laptop's built-in Altec Lansing speakers. I have yet to encounter any kind of tone or pitch problems elsewhere like I hear in this song.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
User avatar
IskatuMesk
Xel'naga World Shaper
Xel'naga World Shaper
Posts: 8328
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 1:40 pm
Location: M͈̙̞͍͞ͅE̹H̨͇̰͈͕͇̫Ì̩̳CO̼̩̤͖͘ జ్ఞ‌ా

Re: Ruhr Hunter - In Memory With Blackest Wings

Post by IskatuMesk »

HP. Enough said.

I took a listen again myself and I really don't know where any kind of ear pain would come from. Believe me, I have sound files that incite immediate headaches, and that isn't one of them. I can always remove it though.
User avatar
UntamedLoli
Protoss Zealot Practice Dummy
Protoss Zealot Practice Dummy
Posts: 856
Joined: Sun Oct 15, 2006 2:36 pm
Location: Canada, BC
Contact:

Re: Ruhr Hunter - In Memory With Blackest Wings

Post by UntamedLoli »

Yeah. I have zero problems listening to this. I have Z-5500's.
Image
Image
User avatar
Pr0nogo
Protoss Zealot Practice Dummy
Protoss Zealot Practice Dummy
Posts: 874
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2009 3:59 pm
Contact:

Re: Ruhr Hunter - In Memory With Blackest Wings

Post by Pr0nogo »

I didn't have an issue listening to it with $9 earbuds. What kind of Chinese crack are your speakers on, Herc?
User avatar
Lavarinth
Xel'naga Administrator
Xel'naga Administrator
Posts: 6539
Joined: Wed Aug 16, 2006 5:21 pm
Location: His Ashworld Planet

Re: Ruhr Hunter - In Memory With Blackest Wings

Post by Lavarinth »

Bose speakers... All I heard were butterflies.
- - Lavarinth
Campaign Creations Administrator
User avatar
mark_009_vn
Zerg Drone Masseur
Zerg Drone Masseur
Posts: 356
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2011 5:56 am
Location: [[THIS USER, HE IS A CHAR]]

Re: Ruhr Hunter - In Memory With Blackest Wings

Post by mark_009_vn »

IskatuMesk wrote:HP. Enough said.

I took a listen again myself and I really don't know where any kind of ear pain would come from. Believe me, I have sound files that incite immediate headaches, and that isn't one of them. I can always remove it though.
The music itself is ear rape, like Gygas theme reversed kind of ear rape (or is that intentional). Except for that it sounds fine on my cheap Chinese speakers.
Image

"I'm begging you, let me work!" - Osamu Tezuka
User avatar
Hercanic
Protoss Stargate Concierge
Protoss Stargate Concierge
Posts: 1286
Joined: Sat Aug 19, 2006 12:11 am
Contact:

Re: Ruhr Hunter - In Memory With Blackest Wings

Post by Hercanic »

Just after the moaning bit midway is where that flat ringing-ear-like undertone comes in, which I think is meant to be a deep bass? Even if it doesn't come out at the right depth, it holds its few notes overly long at times which degrades the upper melodies for me. Then the bells, oh god the bells. They are way too sharp and high for my ears. I tried the song on a pair of higher-end Bose AE2 headphones, and, while that undertone is less noticeable, those bells still hurt.

Oh, and Isk, HP just works. >=oD
User avatar
mark_009_vn
Zerg Drone Masseur
Zerg Drone Masseur
Posts: 356
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2011 5:56 am
Location: [[THIS USER, HE IS A CHAR]]

Re: Ruhr Hunter - In Memory With Blackest Wings

Post by mark_009_vn »

Hercanic wrote:oh god the bells.
Seconded...
Image

"I'm begging you, let me work!" - Osamu Tezuka
User avatar
IskatuMesk
Xel'naga World Shaper
Xel'naga World Shaper
Posts: 8328
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 1:40 pm
Location: M͈̙̞͍͞ͅE̹H̨͇̰͈͕͇̫Ì̩̳CO̼̩̤͖͘ జ్ఞ‌ా

Re: Ruhr Hunter - In Memory With Blackest Wings

Post by IskatuMesk »

I don't think you guys have actually evolved real hearing yet. I'm listening to it right now, very high volume, through my headset, which has a higher frequency than my speakers. It's not exactly an expensive headset. The bells are very soft.

I should ninja replace it with some of Nef's brainmelt files he sent me and see if I'm just getting trolled or not.

Either way I'll just delete the fucking thing. Christ.
Post Reply