kittykatro
Active member
Something doesn't feel right about the sound in this TV pilot, but I can't quite put my finger on it. It kinda feels empty and hollow....What is missing from this?
What's wrong with the sound in this?
- Thread starter kittykatro
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Noiz2
Sound Ninja
"Empty and hollow", pretty much sums it up.... Oh you were talking about the sound.
I love it when they show the pilots for shows not picked up and you get to wonder what brain dead exec. green lighted the project.
But to your question of sound. The short answer is they started with no sense of quality and carried that into the sound.
I suspect that the sound pass was VERY short, and maybe non existent. It may have all been done by the picture editor?
They start out with RT. You can tell because it just sounds like hiss. There is no sounds of the office or the city, nothing. From then on there is almost nothing but production sound used. With about a four inch layer of badly canned laugh track slathered on top like cheap sheet-cake frosting. And a few silly FX, we have a elevator door close (out of sync) and the very silly button arcing. They have those "elevator FX" but don't actually have any elevator moving operating sounds that might have helped sell the fakey FX. They did no Foley (or even fake Foley) so there is no sounds for movements, chair sounds, and most things that people touch. Were in the server center and yet there is no computer, motor, A/C sounds at all. AND we are in the basement where all kinds of services are making noise and yet nothing. Sounds like a dead sound stage that is much bigger than the "set".
They failed to have the sound do what it is primarily great at which is to create the "world" that the show takes place in.
So they have done this as a standard sit-com set comedy, but they don't have the writing (or directing) to pull it off. If you don't create a world then it's just stand up comedy and you really have to be sharp. You can tell that they never really thought the material was very funny because they really slathered the laugh track on. You can do a laugh track that is not this obnoxious. But when you have your canned audience laugh at pretty much anything that moves it kills what little chance they had for the few actually funny moments. The lack of sound also really hurt things like the non plugged in equipment jokes. A key with those is that the audience is in it with the character who figured it out. Now we are, by the second one, way ahead of the characters so go with that. Use sound to let us know that indeed we are right that she doesn't have it turned on.
Of course since both of the other characters can see here screen it should not take finding the cord to get them to the "a-ha" moment.
IF a sound editor worked on this they just cranked out the minimal for a check and moved on.
I love it when they show the pilots for shows not picked up and you get to wonder what brain dead exec. green lighted the project.
But to your question of sound. The short answer is they started with no sense of quality and carried that into the sound.
I suspect that the sound pass was VERY short, and maybe non existent. It may have all been done by the picture editor?
They start out with RT. You can tell because it just sounds like hiss. There is no sounds of the office or the city, nothing. From then on there is almost nothing but production sound used. With about a four inch layer of badly canned laugh track slathered on top like cheap sheet-cake frosting. And a few silly FX, we have a elevator door close (out of sync) and the very silly button arcing. They have those "elevator FX" but don't actually have any elevator moving operating sounds that might have helped sell the fakey FX. They did no Foley (or even fake Foley) so there is no sounds for movements, chair sounds, and most things that people touch. Were in the server center and yet there is no computer, motor, A/C sounds at all. AND we are in the basement where all kinds of services are making noise and yet nothing. Sounds like a dead sound stage that is much bigger than the "set".
They failed to have the sound do what it is primarily great at which is to create the "world" that the show takes place in.
So they have done this as a standard sit-com set comedy, but they don't have the writing (or directing) to pull it off. If you don't create a world then it's just stand up comedy and you really have to be sharp. You can tell that they never really thought the material was very funny because they really slathered the laugh track on. You can do a laugh track that is not this obnoxious. But when you have your canned audience laugh at pretty much anything that moves it kills what little chance they had for the few actually funny moments. The lack of sound also really hurt things like the non plugged in equipment jokes. A key with those is that the audience is in it with the character who figured it out. Now we are, by the second one, way ahead of the characters so go with that. Use sound to let us know that indeed we are right that she doesn't have it turned on.
Of course since both of the other characters can see here screen it should not take finding the cord to get them to the "a-ha" moment.
IF a sound editor worked on this they just cranked out the minimal for a check and moved on.
Noiz2
Sound Ninja
WOW, I just looked this up. It ran three seasons!...
But wait, that is the british version. The british version is also is pretty similar but they also have a string of over laugh tracked stagy sitcoms. Their saving grace, if any, is they tend to go much farther out there in a kind of Monty Python way that is kind of a parody of 70's US sitcoms.
British sitcoms also are done much more like a theatre production that US ones that aim to be more "movie like". If you are more in the "stage" world it's more acceptable to have minimal sound outside of production. When your shot choices etc make it more "film like" there is an expectation of a more "film like" sound track.
The US version never got past the pilot and lists no crew at all for sound. They do however have a big stack of executive producers.
But wait, that is the british version. The british version is also is pretty similar but they also have a string of over laugh tracked stagy sitcoms. Their saving grace, if any, is they tend to go much farther out there in a kind of Monty Python way that is kind of a parody of 70's US sitcoms.
British sitcoms also are done much more like a theatre production that US ones that aim to be more "movie like". If you are more in the "stage" world it's more acceptable to have minimal sound outside of production. When your shot choices etc make it more "film like" there is an expectation of a more "film like" sound track.
The US version never got past the pilot and lists no crew at all for sound. They do however have a big stack of executive producers.
GaryNattrass
Veteran
It was a ch4 show here in the UK and most ch4 shows are comissioned by grads who would not know a decent tv show if they slapped it in their face!
There are far better shows and if you can check out Miranda or even The secret of my sucess, ch4 also did something called the inbetweeners that I thought was about as funny as Pee Wee Herman but each to theit own I suppose as it won loads of awards and even got to be done as a movie but there again Mr Bean is a world wide star and I did some of the original TV shows 15 years ago!
There are far better shows and if you can check out Miranda or even The secret of my sucess, ch4 also did something called the inbetweeners that I thought was about as funny as Pee Wee Herman but each to theit own I suppose as it won loads of awards and even got to be done as a movie but there again Mr Bean is a world wide star and I did some of the original TV shows 15 years ago!
Noiz2
Sound Ninja
Didn't mean to imply that British shows were all bad. I like most of the ones I have seen. A friend had disks of "The Darling Buds of May", an oldie but that was very good and then I looked for some of the cast in other show and that lead to "A Touch of Frost" and "Rosemary and Thyme" both a lot of fun. Foyles War, and another called I think "Island at War", something like that set on one of the channel islands. Doc. Martin, Life on Mars.
I personally hate laugh tracks and that alone can make a show almost unwatchable for me. It's funny because there are some shows I remember fondly from my youth and when I found some copies I discovered to my horror that they had laugh track slather all over them. For me it takes a really good show to overcome that.
Bringing it back to the OP's question.
Much like a lot of low budget filmmakers think they can avoid doing a real sound post by slathering music over everything, TV shows that use a lot of laugh track hardly ever spend the time to do a proper sound post. Unfortunately neither really fills the void left by the lack of sounds we (the audience) expect to hear.
I personally hate laugh tracks and that alone can make a show almost unwatchable for me. It's funny because there are some shows I remember fondly from my youth and when I found some copies I discovered to my horror that they had laugh track slather all over them. For me it takes a really good show to overcome that.
Bringing it back to the OP's question.
Much like a lot of low budget filmmakers think they can avoid doing a real sound post by slathering music over everything, TV shows that use a lot of laugh track hardly ever spend the time to do a proper sound post. Unfortunately neither really fills the void left by the lack of sounds we (the audience) expect to hear.
Noiz2
Sound Ninja
A normally great sounding show that has had a couple of really big ooopses this season is MadMen. There was a show (2nd or third) were they are cutting to the reverse and back and there is B IG traffic on one and none on the other. They have also had a few really bad ADR lines. But usually it's quite good. LUCK if you can find copies had a great sound track. The mini series Band of Brothers also had an exceptional sound track.
I was a huge fan of Sorkin's "Sports Night" years ago (still love to watch reruns). The only thing that drove me nuts was the crappy laugh track in Season 1. Not sure why they even thought to put that in there, but the producers wised up in later episodes and seasons and ditched the track. It made the show SO much better. It was Sorkin, so it was paced like "West Wing" and "The Newsroom" but with more comedy, and absolutely NO feel of a studio sitcom.
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