Reality TV Sound effects / music stings etc.

simonpwood

simonpwood

Well-known member
You know those cheesy music effects you hear in all the reality TV shows (the rising tension noise when someone says something about someone else, cue rising tension noise, cut to shocked reaction etc)? Is there someplace to purchase a collection of these?

I am starting to edit a realty TV show, but it needs to be a cut & paste copy of all the worst conventions of the genre, including OTP sound & music effects.

Any leads would be appreciated.
 
I worked on Hell's Kitchen and Fear Factor as a sound effects editor, and I just created my own sound effects stingers. Music was handled by a composer.

If you have absolutely no time for this thing, then go ahead an use pre-created ones, but if you have the time, create your own. Pre-created ones have been used a million times over.
 
Richard Crowley said:
True. But sometimes that is an advantage.
The audience automatically associates that sounder with an emotion.
You don't have to establish a whole new "language".
Or in a parody, etc.
Click to expand...

Yes; Producers want to go with established audio and generic pacing etc.
 
Just to add you have to be careful as here in the Uk you end up with the same annoying music and stylisation on every reality mockumentary!

When I hear pizzicato strings library musak slapped on I automatically change channels! :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
 
I haven't worked with anyone that wanted the same stuff other people use, but it has been a while since I've done that work. I personally HATE hearing the same stuff used all over the place. To me it shows a lack of creativity and willingness to build a show "brand". I guess maybe that's why I watch really no reality tv?
 
Me too Dave and here in the UK there is far too much copy cat TV and a lack of imagination but I suppose we are now driven by ratings and no one is willing to take a risk.

The problem is that people are turing off anyway due to lack of originality so its a vicious circle.

Programmes like Ramseys kitchen nightmare are basically just the same show every episode with the same structure and outcome and we have similar staged mockumentaries about hotels etc.

On the other side I quite enjoy Pawn Stars and Baggage Battles from the USA as they are quite educational and show interesting objects in a new format, Storage Wars was OK for a while but then you tire of the same characters acting out their parts and as for Dog the Bounty Hunter it is hilarious at times.

Sadly my wife is addicted to Judge Judy and it has it's moments of pure comedy and human hilarity.

The real biggie here is The Great British Bake Off and most of us in TV are still scratching our heads as to why it is so successful but hey what do we know the public is all too unpredictable as to their tastes. :thumbsup:
 
I can understand "show sound libraries" where you have specific sounds for visuals used all the time on one specific show. For example, Fear Factor was NOTORIOUS for using the white flash as an edit point for cutting when they couldn't do the picture edit properly, so we had one or two sounds created for that and that's the sound that we used for every single one of those for every episode. As creative as we wanted to be...we only had so much time. Fear Factor was like having a week to cut an hour long action movie with a few people. That's not a lot of time. We covered everything and even had a Foley artist on staff for it. But, then using those sounds on other shows is pretty inexcusable, in my opinion. When I moved over to Hell's Kitchen I created all new stuff for that show.
 
Yeah, I hear you but the producers are not aiming for high art here. Working in a 3rd world country, with a small local audience and an even smaller budget. They simply want to emulate the look and feel of existing reality tv shows. Right now we are trying to get the pilot episode done along with a couple of others on a tight schedule. If it works out we can always try to be more inventive, or come up with our own music.

But right now we just want to get a hold of existing music and cookie cutter the show.
 
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