Shaun Farley has started a new interesting project called “Monthly Sound Design Challenge“. Each month he gives a video footage (without sound) and anyone has the opportunity to design the complete soundtrack of the video, following some rules and also having the opportunity to get some prizes. Shaun explains the details:
I’ve spent the last few years looking for something like this on the web, and I haven’t found it. It’s something I’d really like to partcipate in, but it just doesn’t seem to exist. So, I figured I might as well start it up myself.
The monthly Sound Design Challenge is a chance to challenge yourself, experiment with new ideas, see how other people might approach the same problem(s), and have a discussion about the unique ideas people come up with. I encourage anyone who is interested to participate. I’d really like to see a wide range of skill levels: enthusiast, student, pro, whoever. Yes, there are still chances for those of us who have been doing this for years to get new ideas from someone who’s just starting out. So, don’t exclude yourself if you think you’re not good enough yet; you should be involved too. Hopefully, it will help you, me and everyone else both develop our technical skills and spark some creativity.
If you want to know more about the goals of this project, Shaun shared a detailed description of his intentions and how this thing represents for the comunnity.
The first challenge is already announced and the video (the image on this post) is ready for all the participants. The general rules of any challenge are:
- If you haven’t already, read the legal junk (last updated 8/8/10)
- You’ll have 1 week to download any materials and complete your entry.
- Post completed video entries to the “Dynamic Interference Sound Design Challenge ” group on Vimeo, and completed audio only entries to the “Dynamic Interference Sound Design Challenge” group on SoundCloud. Obviously, this means you’ll need accounts on these services (both of which are free).
- Limit 1 entry per person (Keep in mind I have to watch ALL of them).
- Unless I specifically say, “You can’t use/do…” for the challenge, go ahead and do it.
- We’re on an honor system here for the specific rules for each challenge, please keep it fair.
There are also specific rules for the first challenge. You can read all the information on the official page. Also Tim Prebble is offering a MAX version of a HISS and a ROAR for the best video.
This kind of initiatives are very cool, both for young and experienced sound designers. Having limitations and challenges is an amazing way to improve your skills and creativity, and also discussing and hearing others’ work is fantastic to gain a lot of interesting ideas and approaches of a single scene. Don’t be afraid, let’s contribute!
Awesome Shaun! I wish you all the best with this!