Sound Out Media

I just finished the first cut of a soundtrack for an audio slideshow.

It’s now going to the Eye guys to add the visuals. Even though I won’t be doing the photos and slides, I learned a lot about composing where the sound doesn’t have to carry the whole story.

I’m a radio person and used to relying entirely on my words and sounds. This is a different process .. I don’t have to say everything. I also have to leave room for the visuals to convey the message too so that the pictures aren’t just eye candy.

What I realized is that it’s a dance between the visuals and the sound. Sometimes you want the interview clips and voices to be more prominent, other times you want people to focus on what they see.

It’s hard to describe .. best way to explain it is that you want to make your photos more impressionistic when the words are spoken. That way, your audience will focus on the words. When you are going for maximum dramatic impact with your photos, put them over music or ambient sound. Don’t bombard your viewers with too much stimuli at once.

I’ll let you know when the production is posted. It will be interesting to see what the visual editors do with it.