Final project: Adding sound to my animation

Sound is a very important part of films, because it can be a cherry on top of the visuals or it can completely ruin the atmosphere. I wanted to add music to my animation because I wanted to make the video even more interesting and  touching. 

First, I needed to educate myself on different types of licenses and copyrights, so nothing I do is illegal. I looked at the Creative Commons website and opened an article called "About CC Licenses". I have learned that there are 6 different types of licenses and those licenses vary from each other depending on, for example, how can the subject of the license be used or if it can be used in a commercial work or are derivatives of the work permitted (Creative Commons, n.d.). After I educated myself, what kind of license does the sound needs to have for me to be able to use it, I started to look through websites with free access to sounds. 

The music I decided to use for my animation, I decided to take from a website called bensound.com. I looked through the bensound website and found information about licensing. 

This information tells me that bensound is using a license with attribution. That means, I can use this sound for my animation for free, as long as I credit bensound.com. I decided to use five different melodies from bensound. They all have the same license, therefore I was able to use them, but I had to keep in mind to make sure I credit bensound. 

I also wanted to use some sound effects. Bensound.com does not have any sound effects, therefore I had to look for a different website. I found a site called freesound.org, I looked through the site and realized that on this website different sounds have different licenses, therefore I had to be more careful. 

I started by looking for a sound of dog food falling into a metal bowl. I found a sound I liked and checked its license. 

Next to the Creative Commons logo, there is an information that this sound is licensed under the CC License with Attribution. Once again, that is a good sign for me, because that means I can use this sound, but I have to credit the author. This sound was in a wav file, therefore I used an online converter to have it in mp3 format.

Next sound I was looking for was the sound of someone dialing a number on a smartphone. I struggled with finding the sound, therefore I decided to create the sound myself. To do that and make sure I have the sound with good quality, I decided to do a screen recording of my phone with sound. 

This is a screen recording I did. The only issue was that it is a video, not just audio. To solve this problem, I used an online converter to convert this mp4 file into an mp3 file. 

I have imported the sound to IMovie and separate it into three different sounds. I did this to make sure the sound is synchronized with the visuals. 

The last sound I wanted to add to my animation was a sound of a fast car turning, to portray the speed of my dog-catcher car even more. I found a sound I liked on Freesound. First thing I did, was to look at the licensing. 

Next to the Creative Commons logo, it said that this sound is licensed under the Creative Commons 0 License. I was not sure what it meant exactly, so I double-checked that on the Creative Commons website and found information that "CC0 (aka CC Zero) is a public dedication tool, which allows creators to give up their copyright and put their works into the worldwide public domain. CC0 allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, with no conditions." (Creative Commons, n.d.). This means that to use this sound I do not even have to credit the author, because it is a public domain sound. 

I downloaded the file and could safely use it in my animation. 

When I had all my music chosen, I could start adding it to my animation. I was connecting the sound to the visuals in IMovie. At first I struggled a little bit with the effect of fading, because I did not remember where it was. To solve my problem, I went on youtube and watched a tutorial video on IMovie. Click here to access the video I have watched. 

This is how it all looked in IMovie. To add a sound in IMovie, I had to drag the mp3 file and place it underneath the animation itself. I could add a few sounds at the same time. I could add effects to the sound or adjust the volume. There are many options when it comes to sound in IMovie. 

When I finished adding sound, I made sure to extend the black screen at the end, to add credits to the authors of pieces of music and sounds I have used, that were under the license with attribution. 

I have decided not to add any sounds that contain real words, my main reason for this action was that I wanted to make my animation accessible internationally. I am aware that I have added a little bit text in the animation itself, however I think text is different than sounds and the animation is more likely to be understood and appreciated in non-English speaking countries, if it is not based on words. My other reason was that I wanted to make the viewer concentrate mostly on visuals, not sounds. I added sound only to make the animation more appealing and I did not want the sound to become more important than the images. 

When everything was ready, I have exported the film as a MP4 file and here is the finished result:

I am very happy with my music choice and with how the animation turned out. I think it is touching and it carries a message. I think I have also learned a lot about Creative Commons Licenses, when adding music. This is a kind of knowledge that will be very useful for me in the future. 

Reference list

Creative Commons (n.d.) About CC Licenses. Available at: https://creativecommons.org/about/cclicenses/ (Accessed: 08/12/20).