Audio production is an exciting facet of the Electronic Media major which attracts many  students to the program. There are five courses in the curriculum that are devoted to audio production: Digital Audio Production, Commercial Audio Production, Sound for Picture, and Multitrack Music Production I and II. 

Sound for Picture (EMED-370) is a fascinating class that is taught by Professor Tom Haines. This year, Sound for Picture is offered in the Winter and Spring Quarter. No more than 10 students can take the class at once since studio time must be shared by students.

The latest version of Pro Tools is the software used in the class, which is bundled with an audio interface from M-Audio. Pro Tools is an audio recording and editing software that, despite some competition from programs such as Digital Performer and Logic, is still the industry standard in audio software. Many students who take Sound for Picture already have Pro Tools since Digital Audio Production (the prerequisite class) requires students to buy the software package.

The focus of the course is to get students to look at commercials as audio content, not just video content. Professor Haines points out that “sound is at least 50% of the movie-going experience. Good sound can make below average video watchable whereas bad sound can make good video unwatchable.”

Students are challenged to use sounds and music loops from an enormous sound library to fill out the otherwise blank slate of a video commercial. Only one particular project has any sound attached to it when students begin to work on it (and it is just voiceover narration without any music or sound effects). Other projects include an ad for Reebok and a somewhat fictional ad for Lexus. The Lexus ad appears in the film Minority Report, so the vehicle advertised is a futuristic concept car but the commercial operates like a contemporary car commercial otherwise.

For senior Sean Fannin, the real-world aspect of Sound for Picture was particularly appealing. Sean says, “It was great to be able to have the tools to perform the work that professionals do and create a spot that could actually be aired.”

Sound for Picture is a great class for students interested in becoming audio professionals, but it also has appeal to students interested in video production or media promotion, as the class deals with topics that overlap with those areas. Even if a student wishes to pursue some other avenue than audio production, it is always useful to be able to speak the language of other types of professionals in the media world. Having a decent working vocabulary in multiple media fields is an effective way to enrich one’s knowledge base. Sound for Picture is yet another example of an E-Media class that brings students closer to media proficiency.

In order to take Sound for Picture and the three other advanced audio classes, a student must take Digital Audio Production (EMED-240) as a foundational class.

Sound for Picture will continue to be offered in the semester curriculum.

Written by Dan Imwalle, November 2010