Full Video Analysis

My first analysis for video is a video game, Battlefield 4 schedule for release in Fall 2013

Audio Engineer - Stefan Strandberg
Full interview: http://www.gamespot.com/features/sound-byte-meet-the-audio-director-of-battlefield-3-6307723/
Developers - DICE/EA

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8HVQXkeU8U

Starts with at 0:05
"Total Eclipse of the Heart - Bonnie Tyler"
with a lot of added reverb that fades in

0:24 ambient bass heavy noise comes in (blowing wind)
0:33 High pitch reverb ring
0:30 Dialog "Andy... look  I'm sorry..."
0:35 Moan
0:39 Filter effect as the view from the water goes into the view of the 4 men in the submerged truck.
0:41 "Turn Around" switches to a lo-fi radio quality track and plays throughout
0:43  Dialog "Rucker you conscious? get back in the game brother.."
0:47 Loud foot stomps against glass
0:50 Dialog "That's some of the finest driving I've ever seen... till the end."
0:55 Light flashes on with a flicker
0:57 Dialog "Oh shit, the seat won't budge"
0:59 Bang against chair, water starts to drip
1:01 Heavy breathing *song stops*
1:05 Dialog continues - "Shoot out the window or we'll all die"
1:30 Shoots window underwater bass thump and then the rush of water FX take place

Next Scene

5:26
Troops rally in the woods to get to the extraction zone.

Ambient dark music plays with a bass drum on the 1 and 3  and odd sounding percussion on the 2 and 4

5:26 Loud food stomp into shallow water, swamp like
5:29 "Clear this side of the train tracks"
5:30 Reverb crash
5:31 Foot Steps
5:35 Bush rustling noise
5:39 Reverb crash
5:40 Erie detuned rolling bass comes in
5:41 Radio command comes in lo-fi to mimic real walkie talkie
5:47 low digital beeping noise appears as your new mission objective comes on screen
5:48 Multiple footsteps
5:53 Rumbling train comes by over top, which isn't very loud
6:00 "There's the house"
6:03 Faint bird screeching gets louder as your approach them, very well done
6:04 Low panting as you sprint
6:13 Very realistic landing sound as your jump off a ledge because there is the sound of you hitting the ground loudly, then softer as you pick yourself up.
6:14 Foot splashing as you run thru shallow water
6:20 A cool mix between seagul noises and car engines as they approach in the distance
6:24 Low panting starts again as you sprint away


When watching this 17 minute gameplay trailer I was engulfed by sound from the very beginning. I really enjoyed the use of Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler in the intro where there is nothing but darkness surrounding you. It quickly cuts to the troops in a submerged vehicle and I really enjoyed how the song continued to play on the car radio with a lo-fi effect. The ambient sound of the water pressure forcing itself onto the vehicle was also a great effect. The mixing of the dialogue was even better because the volume would vary weither the character was facing the speaker or not and would vary as the distant between you got greater. During battle scenes, there is no music and constant explosions and gun fire. As soon as you finish the task and begin creeping around again thru the woods, an erie ambient music plays which is subtle but really sets the tone. The mixture between the super realistic graphics and the seamless audio makes for a virtual real war experience.


This quote from the audio engineer Stefan Strandberg really shows his dedication to his craft,

"So, one example would be when we ran around with weapon replicas in a public park to get snow footsteps and equipment sounds. Let me remind you that there are civilians in almost all parks in Stockholm. Not only does it look extremely silly when two guys [are] running in sync with a lot of recording equipment attached to them, but it would probably make me want to go call the police immediately and report two lunatics with weapons running around, crunching and proning in a park."

I thought this was simply amazing and portrays a very funny image as well. Stefan must really enjoy his job. The rustling of your equipment as you sprint around is very realistic as modern troops often carry up to 80 pounds of gear at time. For a real life experience, there is no better way to get your audio than going out in the field. Stefan and his team really take pride in utilizing the outdoors. There was over 20 footprint clips used in combination,  anywhere from running on sand, snow, shallow swamp, creak, 2 foot deep water. I am sure the average video gamer does not notice these minute details and that is the point. The sounds are so realistic and well mixed that you often don't notice the many small environmental sounds that occur. If a sound was too loud, or unrealistic it would stick out like a sore thumb but this is never the case. More often than not the best way to get a sound is to go out there and grab it. 

Stefan on the term "Sound Designer":
"This title means different things in different companies, I would argue. But the basic concept of this labor is to create audio concepts and solutions for the title you are working on. It includes the craft of making noises, but that's only a small part of it if you work inside a studio that is making games. The list of tasks can be long, but it includes a wide variety of recording, editing, mixing, talking, getting the thing to work, banging your head against a wall, and not giving up."

I was confused with all the different titles floating around the field and this cleared it up for me. Not only does he go out and craft all the sounds, which seems like a large enough task, but he handles the audio the whole way until the game hits selves. I especially sympathize with the last two steps: "banging your head against a way and not giving up." It's nice to know that I am not the only one that gets frustrated during the audio producing process, and that even such  a decorate professional loses it every once and a while. I found this very inspiring because I realize its ok to get frustrated but it is not OK to simply give up. Sometimes the best thing to do is just walk away and save it for another day, and remember that working with audio, if you are an audiophile, is supposed to be a fun.