The Best Value Smartphones for Creating ASMR Videos (March 2018)

As a new financial year approaches I've been assessing my needs for producing my YouTube videos using the AirNinja Movie Method with the added parameter of vlog style production.

With Sony releasing the Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact (and currently shooting using the XZ1 Compact) I was pretty disappointed to see Sony drop the headphone jack and downgrade the front-facing selfie camera in the new releases. So they are scratched off the shortlist :(

The front-facing camera has become more important to me as often my videos are created with it and using the selfie camera for video allows a one-man-band to monitor the framing easily.

Losing the headphone jack means also losing the ability to plug in mics, including binaural mics from Sony themselves.

I noticed that the Samsung Galaxy S9 kept the headphone jack still, but no way my budget stretches to £700+ for an unknown binaural performer. Obviously the Sony binaural mics won't be compatible, but my Røde smartphone mics will be.

After reviewing a bunch of sample videos on YouTube I came to the conclusion that the S8 is as good as the S9 for my purposes.

Read on to see what attracted me to the S8 and other phones I would still consider top quality for creating ASMR content on a lesser budget. All these phones record decent stereo-audio video  using either back- or front- camera. Many many phones only record mono including every single iPhone ever produced to date, yes even the X.


1. Samsung Galaxy S8 (£500-ish)

THE GOOD
Decent front camera with autofocus and binaural-video recording.
Amazingly fast and reliable autofocus in 1080P.
Great 'Pro' mode to selectively lock ISO and White Balance.
Looks good with minimal bezels. 64GB onboard storage (which tends to be my sweetspot shooting 1080P as I do).
MicroSD card slot.
Price has been cut with the release of the S9 and it's pretty much the same phone :)

THE BAD - This thing is gonna crack into a million pieces when it's dropped on-set or even just casually falling out of your pocket day-to-day; best buy a case too.
Touchwiz and duplicate Samsung branded apps kinda annoying for your soul.

THE UGLY - wtf is that dedicated Bixby button lol


2. Sony Xperia XZS (£250-ish)

THE GOOD
Really low noise mics, great audio engineering all around, can plug in a set of Sony binaural mics. 64GB internal storage is worry-free for me when shooting 1080P although can be expanded using the microSD too.
Doesn't overheat (honestly on older Xperia this really was a major concern when shooting long video takes, the camera app would just shut down d'oh - not on this one though and not on the XZ below either).
Dedicated camera button is sweet. Really fast autofocus though maybe a tad slower and less reliable than the Galaxy S8 above.

THE BAD
The 960fps is a bit of a gimmick and doesn't record any sound anyway.

THE UGLY
Whilst the phone itself is not particularly ugly looking I did always find it a bit annoying to hold one handed. I have long fingers but small-ish-to-average hand size what ya gonna do.


3. Sony Xperia XZ (£150-ish)

THE GOOD
Great value for the results you will get from it, shares many features with the XZS above including the low noise mics and ability to plug in Sony binaural mics to the minijack.

THE BAD
It 'only' has 32GB internal storage which whilst usually enough if you dump your rushes every day, I would start to stress if I was shooting over several days without a rushes dump. Thankfully it does have a microSD expansion but, y'know, it's extra admin and another thing to remember.

THE UGLY
Whilst the XZ never crapped out on me it can still tend to get on the warm side and it's not a great choice if you want to film long takes at 4K resolution.

Best Value Binaural Video ASMR Recording Device (£129)

So my journey has continued from iPhone through Sony offerings and I thought I'd settled on the ZTE Axon 7 (because Dolby Atmos and playback dynamic compression). However the size and weight of the Axon made it somewhat klunky in the pocket which was bugging my airninja-ness.

So I started looked for smaller, lighter phones that weren't the Sony Xperia X Compact (because the binaural mics on that phone are sub-optimally positioned). I happened across the Samsung Galaxy A3 2016 - a refurb at just £129, so I thought I'd take a punt after some critical listening to example video footage.



Bear in mind the A3 2016 does not have any optical stabilisation and is somewhat "stripped down" compared to more current smartphones - no fingerprint scanner, no water resistance, 16GB internal RAM - yes just 16GB internal RAM (ah but expandable by 128GB using microSD so perfect for my video needs!)

The camera is "only" 13MP but it is f1.9 which is great, but "only" records at 1080P @30fps (and does display some minor minor uglies in 50Hz lighting). The camera is however better than the camera in the ZTE Axon 7 (richer colours, snappier autofocus - though nowhere near Sony Xperia XZ snappy).

So for a phone that was released to the world in December 2015 it aint looking too shabby even now almost half way through 2017 - and it's "cheap", I mean £129, I've bought pairs of shoes that cost more than that! (Yes I'm an idiot).

I've been so pleased with the A3 2016 that I have now taken a punt on the A3 2017 model (released January 2017 IIRC) which also includes a fingerprint scanner and is IP68 dustproof/waterproof (can be in a metre of water for 30 minutes). Internal RAM can be expanded to 256GB and it's a USB-C connector.

Using relatively low cost equipment has been a goal of airninja for quite some time and it looks like I can finally put a tick in that box :)

Here's a couple of binaural stereo video recordings I made to test the Samsung Galaxy A3 2016 phone that cost me just £129 -







As always I'm happy to hear your own opinions in the comments so don't be shy!

New ASMR Genre Emerges in Terror Trailer

I've often thought the intimacy of ASMR lends itself to a potentially fantastic horror film experience - watching a creepy film, alone, in headphones, can be truly scary. Especially if you are in the house alone too.

Here we have a short film that appears to explore the horrors of aquaphobia, although plot details are rather thin and the trailer gives nothing away. Really, nothing.

So turn out the lights, strap on your headphones, and see what sort of goosebumps the trailer for 'Waterfright' might give you.

☴ Review: Sony Xperia X Performance (Dual SIM F8132- 64GB - Unlocked)

Lime Gold Sony Xperia X Performance - Dual SIM / F8132 / 64GB

Why would anyone buy this phone?

That was the consensus I kept reading at the Android pop sites. Indie reviews are thin on the ground so you'd be forgiven for thinking this phone is a turkey.

So why would I buy the Sony Xperia X Performance (XP) when so many websites are saying it's a very disappointing phone and there are better alternatives out there in 2016.

I've thought about this, and, ultimately, it's consistency.

I have come to value consistency and relative predictability in my pocket computing devices for these are the staples of reliability.

Sony TRRRS jack present

Sony has rocketed through iterations from the Z1 to XP and arrived at the current evolution through continual improvement.

That's the first thing professional reviewers remark on - the relatively unchanged look of the Xperia line. Well personally, why mess too much with perfection?

There's a reason the Sony Xperia phone line has earned the nickname 'Kubrick' and it's not just because of a monolithic black slab that can project the cinema screen.

Sony Xperia omni-balance earns nickname 'Kubrick'

Kubrick is renowned for balanced perspective framing in his films and the Xperia line strives for a similar omni-balance.

23MP camera for excellent EIS 1080P video

No camera bump on the Xperia line of phones. Stereo speakers. Stereo (binaural) recording. Expandable storage. Ingress Protection (limited waterproof capability). Buttonless face. Volume rockers tucked out of the way. Dedicated camera button. ClearAudio+. Best EIS in class. Well positioned microphones. No SIM tool required to open the tray.

No 4K. Not a loss to me. On a 5" screen what possible good does pixel density that high do that a FHD 1080P display can't do? Just like the lacking 4K video recording which is currently a gimmick and most cinemas you've been to project at 2K and you haven't even noticed.

1080P display, why would you need 4K at 5" size

In short, the Xperia X Performance brings a lot to an Airninja table and jettisons a lot of faddy fluff that is mere distraction and bandwidth hogging. I am primarily concerned with the quality of binaural recording with video.

Sony invented the Walkman. Even the company name is partly derived from Sonus.

Sony, having had it's ups and downs for sure, has movies in its DNA from the mutation with Columbia Pictures. Sony sensors helped capture Star Wars films digitally before it was cool.

Sony consistently delivers a functional form factor that helps me get binaural AV work done with minimal fuss (I have previously owned the Z2, Z3+, and Z5C amongst other brands of smartphones).

Here's a video recorded with my Z5C unboxing the new XP underwater:

THE GOOD

A great all-rounder with well thought out design and engineering that adds value to audio-visual recording in the form of consistent quality of binaural video coupled with excellent standard of electronic image stabilisation (EIS).

THE BAD

Populist specifications such as QHD display and 4K video recording are not implemented. Retail price isn't worth paying once you know the street price, so hunt out a cost saving.

THE UGLY

Long video takes can run with a temperature warning in mild ambient conditions especially if something like Google Photos is uploading the previous video you just took in the background over WiFi.

AIRNINJA OVERVIEW
Definitely a pocketable device capable of running with the Airninja Move Method, though the stereo recording crown still belongs to larger Microsoft Lumia 950XL. Beware of recording video with a lot of WiFi background activity since this will lead to heat; remember to put the Xperia into Airplane mode before filming to avoid the problem.

World's First ASMR Feature Length Film

MURLYN Films International in association with Trash Arts and Deer Studios announce principal photography for the ASMR movie "P.A.I.N." being directed by britmic begins August 9th 2016 in Portsmouth, UK.

The world's first narrative ASMR feature length movie is entering production and it promises to bring fans of the aural sensation a passionate story of love mixed with the dangers of gambling in gang controlled regions of the coastal city of Portsmouth.

Not much else is known about the story other than the director describing it as "a road movie and a homage to the Wizard of Oz, created with modern techniques for modern audiences".

Part of these modern production techniques include recording the film at 60fps, also known as HFR (High Frame Rate); this is a frame rate even higher than Peter Jackson used in The Hobbit which was just 48fps. Also recording live sounds with an array of microphones to maximise chances of reproducing ASMR trigger moments with viewers (especially if they are listening to playback in headphones).

When asked about these choices (HFR and ASMR) the director tells us, "science shows humans have a great reaction to 60fps film, thrills are more thrilling. This was proven when they were designing the first Star Tours ride but unfortunately technical limitations meant they could not implement [such a high frame rate] at the time [in the 80s]. If you've not heard of ASMR then keep an eye out for this movie's release and be sure to listen to it, really listen to the textures, as well as watch and respond to the visual aesthetic."

Aren't you worried at the reception 48fps screenings of The Hobbit received? "Not at all. The main criticism of The Hobbit screened with HFR was that it seemed too real and exposed the limitations of presenting Hollywood production values in anything but the same old mould. Kubrick once said 'a truly original person with a truly original mind will not be able to function in the old form and will simply do something different' - welcome to my world."

At time of writing confirmed headline cast members include Suzy Weatherall, Patrick Olliver, Phil Lyndon, Simon Berry, Chris Mills, and Michel du Vagin.

Release date for P.A.I.N. is expected to be early 2017.

☴ Mobile Video ASMR Binaural Recording Awards (Summer 2016)

For as long as I can remember I've enjoyed experiencing hi-fi stereo sound - many an hour spent sitting in that sweet spot listening to an album.

Later I became interested in capturing authentic stereo sounds, experimenting with binaural and mid-side (M/S) stereo recording techniques to create interesting sound experiences for picture. Sound design with minimal design (because all the best design is as little design as possible).

With a surge in interest in ASMR (experiencing head tingles from certain sounds usually through headphones) and the Airninja Movie Method preference for stereo recording it was time for me to rationalise my gear to see what works best for capturing great stereo sound with decent video.

BRONZE - Shure Motiv MV88 and Apple iPhone SE

Shure Motiv MV88 attached to Apple iPhone SE.

This is a great combo, the mic has an excellent SNR and user configurable dynamic compression and limiter which is saved on the mic itself.

KILLER: The killer feature on the iPhone SE is its speed of autofocus utilising 'focus pixel' technology. Its very rare for autofocus to hunt on this device.

PROS: The iPhone SE is a true Airninja device with it's 4 inch screen and unassuming appearance. It's a very powerful device with a f2.2 lens and has a pretty amazing software ecosystem. User configurable dynamic compression and limiter on the MV88 accessory microphone remains persistent, stored in onboard memory.
Because the MV88 does not employ noise cancellation DSP it has no susceptibility to digital artefacts.


The above video was shot using the iPhone SE and MV88 combo.

CONS: The iPhone SE must be accessorised in order to record any stereo sound since the onboard mic array only records mono. This adds complication and decreases spontaneous opportunity. Once an accessory such as the MV88 is plugged into the lightning port on the device it's not possible to use a battery pack and record at the same time. The biggest flaw however is that without even more gear to mount the MV88 more central to the lens it hangs off one side giving an unnatural bias to the stereo sound particularly on close subjects. The MV88 in its case is another thing to carry and potentially lose out in the field.

UGLY: no onboard stereo sound recording on the highest priced smartphone of its class.

SILVER - Sony Xperia Z5 Compact

Sony Xperia Z5 Compact has a mic on the short side edges.

Slightly smaller than an iPhone 6S the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact with all its features was a very very close contender for Gold - however these awards have a strict focus on audio recording as the deciding factor. As decent as the Z5C is, it does not capture rich bass.

KILLER: If you want to record sound in shallow water this is the only device certified to do it without requiring any special housing.

PROS: The Sony Xperia Z5 Compact uses onboard microphone array to record binaurally with video captured through f2.0 lens. Whilst it may not be true hi-fi since the low-end is lacking somewhat, it does provide decent clarity and positional audio without need for any additional accessories. It's rugged design is dust and water resistant meaning this device can confidently go pretty much anywhere on the spur of the moment where other devices may require some forethought and accessorising. It's a compact device so remains discrete and unassuming.

The video above shot was using only the Xperia Z5 Compact onboard mics.

CONS: The Sony Xperia Z5 Compact audio can regularly be susceptible to quite nasty sounding digital artefacts, likely a result of ambient noise reduction.

UGLY: The camera app shuts down after prolonged use due to overheating issues (for example you won't get an hour long take using 1080P at 60fps, the camera will overheat and shut off after ~45 minutes).

GOLD - Microsoft Lumia 950 XL

Microsoft Lumia 950XL has mics front and back.

If you're going to go large you may as well go all out Xtra Large. The Microsoft Lumia 950 XL is a 5.7 inch screen phablet equipped with astonishing binaural recording capability coupled with great video. It's a great value proposition as long as you don't think about Windows 10 Mobile future too much.

KILLER: The Microsoft Lumia 950 XL inherits Nokia's four microphone array with noise cancellation DSP and records stunning binaural sound with good rear-noise rejection.

PROS: The Microsoft Lumia 950 XL is currently the top-of-the-line Windows 10 Phone and its price has also dropped like a stone. Excellent condition used handsets can also be found for bargain prices. So for mobile recording with video it's a fantastic value proposition. It has everything you need - 'RichRecording' purports to capture true hi-fi sound from 20Hz - 20kHz with a sampling rate at 48kHz. Though it's not perfect it is the best audio recording with DSP  in this class of device and captures a rich range of positional frequencies that generally sound great, particularly in headphones. The camera has a wide lens which is optically stabilised and a f1.9 aperture.


The video above was shot using the 950XL onboard mic array.

CONS: it's phablet sized so not ideal for every size of pocket. A lack of support from Apple or Google for Windows 10 Mobile means that, for example, getting video off the device is best done from a Windows PC. Even uploading directly to YouTube from the device is not officially supported and somewhat flakey. Sure you can record to micro-SD and then take the card out but that's extra faffing about too. Digital artefacts can be present in certain conditions but at levels lower than the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact.

UGLY: integration with Google services is lack-lustre to non-existent, including reliable YouTube MCN uploading.

SUMMARY

These are all great devices with their own particular strengths and weaknesses, but when it comes to the airninja movie method the Microsoft Lumia 950XL is the device to beat. It allows you to remain agile without needing any extra gear to record hi-fi sound and I've recorded an unbroken two-hour long 1080P @ 60fps video take with no issues. It's nimble, versatile, reliable in the field - and unless it's in your pocket the size is not a huge issue ;)

☴ Ear On The Nokia Lumia 830 (yes Microsoft Windows Phone)

As I do airninja prep on PAINthemovie I am reminded that my current ASMR recording setup still involves a bunch of faff with an external microphone. Wouldn't it be great if there was a video device that could record rich stereo sound along with the picture?

Turns out, there is. And you'll find it that it's not from Apple - their devices after almost 10 years are still only capable of recording mono sound with the onboard mics (as crisp as that may be).

I've been vaguely aware of Nokia's HAAC mic arrays for a while but, well, since the phones that carried them were always out of my price range for a punt and carried a 'losing' OS, I could never bring myself to take that punt.

Until now.

Two things have happened.

Firstly, the Nokia brand has tanked, hit the ground hard, so it's now possible to get the stereo HAAC devices much cheaper - worth taking a punt. I'm not talking about the newest Microsoft branded Lumia devices but ye olde Nokia branded Lumia devices - specifically the 930 and 830.

Secondly, amongst others, the embedded video below - why was I not informed? I am amazed that this sound (as dynamically compressed as it is, natch) could be captured so articulately by a phone released in February 2014.


Oddly, on paper, the mid-range Nokia Lumia 830 offers better value to the ASMRtist than the one-time top-tier 930.

Why?

Well for video the 830's smaller sensor is adequate, the 16GB internal storage on the 830 all but useless for video takes - however the 830 also offers expandable storage via micro SD card and a removable battery - whereas the 930 is fixed with 32GB non-expandable storage and a sealed-in battery that can't be removed.

I've found used carrier-locked 830 in the UK for as low as £50.

I've taken a punt on a £60 "excellent condition" used handset locked to EE - it could yet all go pear shaped (how annoying is it going to be to get video off the device for example?) but, man, it records sweet stereo audio to my ear - rivalling my expensive iOS gear for ASMR video recordings.

One MAJOR caveat for my with the 830 is that it cannot record 60fps video, and that does limit its appeal to zero for HFR ASMR projects I am involved in. But, did I mention, the 830 records sweet stereo audio to my ear - with no extra gear required. Sweet enough to make me consider 30fps ASMR projects.

I expect to get my 830 by early next week. If it's easy to get the videos off I think this will be a great device for ASMR recording. Microsoft's marketing department are missing a trick, I think!

Economics of Filmmaking & Finding Your Audience

Hands up if your film has made a net or gross profit.

OK, anyone with their hands up, they can leave the room. You have nothing to learn here (although you are welcome to stay and gloat).

If you want to give up the day job and earn a living through the business of show, you have to have your content make money, right? I mean sure, "do what you love and the money will follow" is something people say to the aspirational but at what point can you make a profit from passion?

I'm not sure I have any answers, but I do have research. Data. 18 months worth of data.

I present to you, Exhibit A - an award winning short film made by a team of dedicated filmmakers with much care and attention - and a passion for storytelling. It was shot over a few nights in November 2014 and cut into its final form and uploaded to the public in January 2016. The film has been marketed to festivals across the world (as well as a lot of admin time this costs real money in terms of entry fees - arguably tax deductible as part of the marketing budget). It's now on Youtube with appropriate metadata tags for SEO.

208 views at time of writing.

Here I present to you Exhibit B - a genre and brand exploiting short video made in a few minutes by a single hack of a filmmaker with a focus on delivering an experience for a defined audience - and a passion for stereo sound. It was shot realtime and uploaded with no editing. Tagged in Youtube within minutes. The film has had no active marketing; only passive metadata tagging for SEO. Arguably someone had to buy the product in this video which is a negative cost - however, it is a tax deductible line item from the marketing budget, right?

423 views at time of writing.

I said I don't have any real answers. I don't. There can be no absolutes when markets are fluid.

Which movie would you rather watch, and why?

Which movie would you rather make, and why?

What I will say at this point is that both of these movies have generated revenue on Youtube - and at time of writing one of them has generated almost 400% more revenue than the other.

Relax. You're Quite Safe Here.

How new interest in VR could re-ignite the music video and album sales.

Not wearing headphones.

There's been a lot of chatter recently about VR (and AR) from the usual suspects. Apparently the tech is a lot better looking now, you know, realistic and immersive.

The immersive part always makes me laugh. I can be immersive with a pair of headphones and a decent binaural recording. I can be immersed reading a book. Imagine! I digress.

The point was, the narrative goes, VR failed in the 80s/90s because it was clunky low resolution shit.

True dat.

VR - then.

VR - now.

It was also true that gaming in the 80s/90s was clunky low resolution shit. It fucking rocked and a new industry was born - well documented in crowdfunded Bedrooms To Billions for one (I particularly like the founder of U.S. Gold admitting that he had no idea what he was doing).

So VR failed, 8-bit gaming skyrocketed through to the consolidated industry we know today. Stay with me.

Sitting passively wearing headphones. And that other thing.

I believe that VR may continue to fail whist it is physically non-passive. It will appeal to paintballers and lots of other people but who will actually prance around all day in that get up? I don't see it being as big as console gaming (famous last words of course). You can sit playing games at a console all day. VR all day? Be my guest.

Gaming, in common with watching movies, or watching a hybrid of the two - a Twitch stream - is largely passive, hypnotic.

Contemporary VR you must be awake standing up looking around bending reaching tripping over your furniture.

So even though today VR may look amazing it's is not a medium to be frolicking in for hours on end around staircases.

So, by my reckoning, VR must become a more passive activity to succeed - whatever success is nowadays.

VR reminds me of 3D in the cinema - it's going to be rolled out every generation to see if it sticks.

Anyway.

Passive VR. Immersive. Remember what I said about headphones and binaural? This has lead to a boom in Youtube videos promoting ASMR - sounds that make you feel good - and discussions around frisson - music that makes you feel good.

Strikes me that ASMR and frisson typically occur when the subject is passive rather than running around having all senses abused and bruised.

Still no headphones.

So if VR is to become a household medium, how could we shoehorn VR with sounds that make you feel good? Music, of course. Ambient soundscapes. More. No doubt over time a grammar would develop more akin to cinema than gaming (but Twitch is evidence that lots of people enjoy watching games passively and this goes right back to the days when computer games were in the arcade at the seafront - I remember watching that guy beat Space Harrier, awesome!).

Music video can be a great experimental landscape, as indeed can music itself.

VR is so fixated on the vision it forgets the wave.

Ignore the tech companies, ask an anthropologist.

Or, of course, not.

Persuading anyone that they need a helmet to listen to the latest album by the current big thing won't be easy. That's why a new category needs to be invented, and a progressive company needs to be first in it. Which is where it all falls apart. No smart money here! (unless the helmet plugs into a lightning port).

'EyePhone' VR, 1989. Note single cup headphone, d'oh.

Wireless Binaural Recording Coming To Smartphones ... probably

Whilst I refine my own smartphone binaural recording technique (very much wired as at now - if you are able use a cable, right?!) it seems at least two wireless bluetooth binaural products are in the works.



One is OpenEars by Binauric.





The other is the Hooke Audio Verse.





Whilst prototypes are in use in both these wireless cases, I've been using my wired OKM-II for quite some years now and always pleased with the results when the iPhone actually bothers to record the video with a stereo soundtrack.



That's the biggest issue turning me off my current wired solution: unpredictable with iPhone video recording - sometimes you end up with a mono video. I could record double-system reliably but it's just not cost effective and just adds a layer of complexity.

What turns me off the wireless solutions, assuming they make it to market, is yet more battery management/recharging in the field. Boring!

This does however show that binaural recording is getting a respectable foothold in the modern market, albeit nascent from the mainstream perspective right now.

☴ Watchlist: HFR & ASMR

I've noticed an emerging trend amongst progressive filmmakers. Firstly they treat online as their primary global distribution platform (natch) but secondly I am seeing more and more content produced with HFR and ASMR.

HFR has largely been rejected by cinema going audiences, but I believe long-term it will become de-facto standard and 24fps will be regarded by my grandchildren as I regard the quirky looking 18fps footage of a hundred years ago incorrectly played back at 24fps.

Everyone can be a filmmaker using a single device.

It's ironic that as a young filmmaker stuck with 50Hz PAL video, I hated that horrible 'soap opera' look of 50i. I strived for that 'film look' just as some modern filmmakers strive for that 'VHS look'. Madness! I yearned for D1 720x576 but when it was finally affordable it was basically obsolete. I wish I'd discovered Laver's law in my twenties then it may have all made a lot more sense to me.

I remember reading, I forget where - other than in print in the early 90s - that when developing Star Tours the boffins got great reactions from audiences when subjected to HFR (60fps was trialled IIRC) - not interlaced like TV, but progressive, actual frames, like film. It wasn't to be though, probably due to reasons of expense and available bandwidth in existing technology. Wish I could remember what the article was and where I read it!

Reading that, it stuck with me to this day. So HFR came as no surprise to me. I believe more motion data is just as important as UHD and beyond. Kids growing up on console gaming just see a blur when they go to the cinema. In fact, so do I (and I don't even own a console).

Cinema may stick with 24fps (for that extra stop in low-light during acquisition), but it's doubtful if IMAX will. I firmly believe IMAX will supplant contemporary cinema as the 'narrative event experience' because home cinema is more comfortable (and a whole lot cheaper) than going out to the cinema. Audiences are split about 3D at the cinema but frankly that's a big fat red herring that gets rolled out every couple of decades. If you want 3D go see a stage play, they are awesome nowadays.

There's an argument that the dating scene will sustain modern cinema. I call bullshit on that, as Netflix & Chill has been marketed so successfully to the younger generation who have grown up with choice and abundance.

EXT. Star Tours.

No way home cinema will stick with 24fps, it will cater to the console kids who grew up gaming at 60fps and will demand their own normal when voting with their wallets (well, assuming the concept of a wallet survives ...)

HFR, especially at 60fps, solves a lot of problems for the progressive filmmaker.

ASMR hasn't made it into cinemas, mainly because 'true' ASMR required the listener to be wearing headphones. It's unlikely that traditional production technique will ever cater to ASMR. However, again, I believe my grandchildren may be more au fait with it than the general public of today. Whilst it may never be mainstream, I believe its benefits will ripple out just as Hi-Fi has done over the last 40 years or so.

There's no doubt that ASMR is pseudoscience, however I have definitely experienced emotional and 'tingly' responses to sound and ASMR is a good an explanation as any.

Essentially ASMR boils down to two things, of which in my experience only one needs to be present (but both is better).

POV often neglects audio completely.

Firstly, perhaps most importantly, ASMR is positional stereo. This usually means recorded binaurally POV. Not practical for most narratives (great for first-person-shooters that the kids play on their consoles - are you detecting a theme yet?). However, I believe a good stereo sound stage reproduction will suffice (more practical for production of traditional narrative).

Secondly, frequency response. Not necessarily flat, but it needs to be 'clean' rather than 'muddy'. This is because the ear cannot discern the direction of bass frequencies but higher frequencies can be highly positional. Higher frequencies tend to lend more air, and thus feed into those ASMR tingles.

It's totally possible for ASMR to be mono, but it is far more effective in stereo. Stereo allows the ear to pick out positional details due to time differences in the sound wave hitting each ear.

This is why it annoys me that Apple's iPhone cannot record stereo with its three (count 'em!) onboard mics. In every other way, the onboard audio always amazes me except for this glaring omission. Sure, external mics are available (and very decent M/S mics they are too - see video embedded below) but sometimes the onboard mics are all you have - typical during the frugalwave. Onboard stereo mics on an iPhone would no doubt be thought about and positioned correctly in relation to the camera lens (or the corrective/adaptive DSP would be spot on).



So Apple has 800 engineers working on the iPhone's camera that they buy from Sony - so what about the audio-visual?


UPDATE: Yes, I should have mentioned the digital bits that represent latitude and all that good 4:4:4 stuff but I think something akin to Moore's "law" in CCD / CMOS / NEXT TLA will see better and better low-light performance over time - it's going to happen anyway.

Sound Really Is 50% Of Your Movie

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God – it’s the big bang that started it all, not the big picture!

The sound wave, not the light wave.

Sooner or later you’ll hear someone say how important sound is – but rather than wave them on and uttering “we’ll fix it in post”, have you stopped to consider what it is that sound actually brings to your movie?

Here’s a quick test. Watch your favourite movie with the sound turned off.

Does it still engage you fully? Honestly? Would you sit so long through the end- credits (or opening title crawl) if it weren’t for the choice of music?

Does that really constitute 50% of the movie? Well, on a purely “count the senses” – vision and hearing – yes, yes it does. Arguably sound can improve the visual, and even make people see things that aren’t there.

Good sound can really help prop up a substandard visual but bad sound is, well, just bad sound. Our eyes provide vision as a dominant sense, our ears provide sound almost as a secondary sense – a sense waiting to alert us to events rather than continuously inform us in the foreground. Vision gives us actual information – “that bloke is closing a door” – sound gives us implication – “I heard the door shut, it must be shut”.

Seeing is believing; hearing is implication. Implication can exercise far more of the imagination than actual seeing (afraid of the dark? things that go bump in the night?) – yet so much sound today is used with direct correlation to the visual, giving little room for imagination amongst the (im)perfectly rendered CGI.

Imagination is possibly the most visual weapon in your arsenal as a moviemaker – and that can be driven by sound moreso than picture.

It’s not all about imagination though. Most directors agree that a performance recorded on-set will be better than any looping session (looping, or ADR, is the re-recording of dialogue in controlled studio booth conditions), although often certain environmental conditions will mean that the production sound recorded on-set or on-location is not useable.

Sound is also positional in a way that vision is not – the cinema screen is immersive, yet sound allows you to hear things off-screen (given at minimum a stereo soundstage to work with). Even with the latest 3D visual technology, you still need glasses and everything is still contained within that rectangle. Sound is reproduction of actual physical waves in the air, broken free and authentic in ways that photons are not (and, of course, vice versa – arguably – headphones are entirely optional!).

We could get into stereo miking techniques here, but I suspect that’s best saved for another post. Suffice to say I’ve been a convert to stereo recording for several years, yes, even for production audio. It gives so much more depth and spatial precision versus the cost of full sound design – cost usually being a major factor in the indie moviemaker’s world (whether that cost be in time spent or money spent).

“Real” sounds obviously work best at “real” locations and not those recorded in the fakery of the staple studio system. In the late sixties, “Easy Rider” and “Midnight Cowboy” promised to liberate the moviemaker from the shackles of over-engineering. Then Star Wars happened and moviemaking was never quite the same again.

What do you think? Is sound under utilised in modern movies? Can indies get one up on contemporary Hollywood by tapping into imagination drawn from intelligent sound rather than absolute CGI that uses sound as a crutch only?

Since originally writing this article in 2012 for OTTfilm (now defunct), it's interesting to see the rise of popular ASMR related content on YouTube vs the cinemas push for 3D glasses and a general overall industry push to 4K imaging, IMAX, and resolutions beyond.