Use
of Audio
The dialogue in the film was quite understandable, but tended
to range from muddy to somewhat muffled. At the beginning
it was more noticeable, which may either have meant that
it got better or it may simply have meant that you got used
to it. (For folks unfamiliar with the first term, muddy
audio lacks clarity, but it isn’t really muffled.)
Things that can cause these issues are using extremely inexpensive
mics, having the mic at the wrong distance, or trying to
record dialogue on location that should have been recorded
in a studio (whether professional or homemade). As a portable
dat recorder was listed as part of the audio gear, my guess
is that Mr. Connell tried to record the audio in a non-studio
location.
For
animated films, as with films that need to have dialogue
redubbed, it’s a good idea to record dialogue in almost
an ADR-style setup. (We show how to set up a
home ADR studio in our last issue here. Obviously, for
animation, it would be unnecessary to have the actor listening
to past versions of their lines as is the case for looping,
but the overall setup would be very similar. Additionally,
the filmmaker could substitute a good USB mic like the
Blue Snowball mic that we reviewed in this issue for
the shotgun, since there is no original audio that must
be matched.) For a subway tunnel location, once the dialogue
is recorded cleanly in the ADR “studio”, then
you can record room tone in a subway tunnel and add reverb
to the lines to mimic a subway tunnel’s acoustic signature.
Done in this order, the sound should be very clean and crisp,
with the director having maximum control over the sound.
The
sound design and sound effects in this film were quite good,
with everything from the sound of a faucet running to the
sound of plastique exploding showing up quite cleanly. The
music by Ricardo Poza was very good, with a truly compelling
pace that pulled you into the storyline even faster than
the snappy dialogue.
Use
of Budget
The cost of this film was largely tied up in Mr. Connell
getting LightWave and sound editing software, along with
the models for LightWave and the upgrades for his computer
to run LightWave. With that in mind, his use of budget was
excellent. He got what he needed to pull off the project
and, unlike virtually any other micro-film, he was able
to put in almost all the labor by himself—nearly two
years worth. (Not to diminish the roles of his co-producer,
his music composer, or his voice talent, of course.)
Lasting
Appeal
This has a lot of lasting appeal both due to the way it’s
told and due to the creativity it shows. I definitely found
it interesting to rewatch and to show to other people. Not
only that, but for microfilmmakers in animation, this should
serve as an encouragement to pursue animation even with
no budget.
Overall
Comment
As the first animated film we’ve reviewed here at
Microfilmmaker Magazine, Saul Goodman represents
the cross-over from machinema and home animation efforts
into the mindset and smart writing of ultra-indie cinema.
I look forward to seeing what Mr. Connell does for future
animated films, as his expertise continues to grow, and
I look forward to seeing what other micro-film animators
do who are inspired by this film.
