By and large the dialogue is discernible, although it has a "boxy" quality to it. The microphone on the camera was used for all audio and that accounts for the poorer quality of the sound. At MFM we iterate (and reiterate) that the microphone on a camera is essentially never to be used for production sound. There are a huge number of reasons for this, but, suffice it to say, to get clean audio you have to invest in at least a basic shotgun mic and get it close to your actor’s mouth. (We have an excellent article on beginning audio that covers this, as well as the other problems I’m about to cover.)
Dialogue aside, the audio is plagued with hums, glitches, and other undesirables such as, noise variation from shot to shot and take to take. Always record a room tone track to help balance such issues out. While the lower quality of the dialoguei audio is obvious, I could live with it since I could understand the dialogue. However, the hums, pops, etc. were too much to overlook and kept taking me out of the moment as I watched the film.
As to sound design, there really wasn’t any sound design used here. Whatever the mic picked up is what was used in all its inconsistent glory. The one scene that particularly screamed for sound design intervention was the gun shot scene. We see the shadow of a hand holding a gun (which looked rather cool), the finger tightens on the trigger and we hear a sound...a very sad and disappointing sound. Like the sound of a grocery store bought cap gun. I think that's exactly what it was. Now, because of the use of the shadow, you can get away with using a cap gun (one that if seen directly wouldn't be believable), but in order to sell the visual and emotional intensity of the scene the sound has to match.
I'm all about capturing as much on set as I can. This not only makes less work in post, but it allows an audience to trust what they are seeing and hearing. Gunshots, though, are the kind of thing that you have to add in post unless you're using blanks (which then presents a myriad of safety issues). Store bought caps don't have the same punch as the gut rending sound of a live round. Programs such as Soundtrack Pro have a plethora of gunshot sounds to choose from. Do a search online for downloadable sound effects. You'll find them and it will up the ante in your scene.
As to the soundtrack, I liked the choices of music used in "The Eternal." They, for the most part, served the mood and created more suspense than the film itself. There is some original music which is fairly well put together. But, the biggest issue with the music is that some of it sounded very familiar. The reason for that is because it is. The very last credit in the end credits reads, "Additional music owned and copyrighted by the following: Hans Zimmer, Thomas Newman, and Don Davis." Hans Zimmer? Yes, the same composer from Dark Knight, Angels and Demons, Madagascar 2, etc. Thomas Newman? The composer for Wall-E, Revolutionary Road, The Green Mile, etc. Don Davis? Suffice it to say that he scored the Matrix movies.
This forced my score (no pun intended) for this section way down. For those of you that may be wondering "Why?" Here's why: Mentioning the composer that you stole from in your credits doesn't make it okay. Unless you have paid the proper fees, have the needed documentation, and can then put "used by permission" in your credits, you are stealing and are opening yourself up to lawsuits that you can't afford to fight. As a lesser consequence, there will be many film festivals that won't let your film enter without the proper documentation.
You have several options for great film scores. If you know someone that has the ability to compose music ask them if they're willing to do it for the screen credit. Don't forget to get them to sign a release for you though.
Depending on what software you have available to you, there are several decent scores in programs such as SoundBooth, SonicFire Pro, Soundtrack Pro, and even Garage Band. No software like that? Check out www.freeplaymusic.com. The vast majority of their music is copyright free. The only things they ask are that you list "music provided by freeplaymusic.com" in your credits and that you don't use their music for anything that would be considered obscene. I've used their music before and it's fantastic on every level and they have so many different genres to choose from. Check it out.
