This week I have mostly been working on sound effects for a flash game. We spent a whole morning last Tuesday recording as many different sounds as we could using, well, anything we could find. I actually took all of my daughter's musical instruments and rattly things to the office just for the occasion.

I also took in a USB stick with a library of sound effects that I happen to own. I mean, you can't be a used-to-be-filmmaker-come-filmaker-again without having things like sound effects kicking around on a hard drive somewhere.

I also spent some time searching for sound effects online. There are plenty of websites around (soundjay.com, for example), however, the game that we're making is for commercial purposes, so, I really had to make sure that whatever we downloaded was free for such use.

It's a whole different level, in a way, than producing projects at school. I mean, we borrowed all sorts of media for school projects because we knew they'd not really go beyond the realms of the school. But. Out in the commercial world of website and multimedia production you really have to make sure you have the rights to use the media you find online; it'll be the company you're working for and you who'll get into trouble if you don't check the rights.

We made many of the sound effects we're using for the flash game. Supplementing any gaps from the library I already have the rights to use, and, some sounds from soundjay.com -- a useful site, as most of the sounds there are free for personal and commercial use.

Having recorded our own sounds for an entire morning, it was then my job to process them. This involved running the sounds through Bias Peak Pro 7, using Sound Soap Pro to clean away any unwanted background noise, etc. I then had to clip each piece of sound as tightly as possible, and, export each one as an mp3.

(Photo by @CBennike)

We ended up with about 150 sound effects, which, took me 12.5 hours to process.

Why am I being so exact about the time spent? Well, now that I am out in the big wide world of commercial web and media production, I have to account properly for my time. The same will hold for anything I do in future at redWEB. For example, I am starting to film the mini-documentary about the company next week, so, as soon as I start a particular part of the process -- like editing, for example -- I need to track how long it takes me.

This isn't because my boss at redWEB is breathing down my neck. It's because if redWEB is going to keep making videos for their clients in future, we need to know how long it takes to do certain things. We'll then know, for example, that editing a 3 minute video takes 16 hours. That way, we know how to budget projects for clients, and, give accurate estimates on how long the process takes.

This is a whole new way of thinking for me. I have never been one to track my time. I mean, as a student (especially one with a family), I just worked as long as I needed to work to get a project done. The same went for writing, and, making the films I have made previously; we had a schedule, but, we were young and reckless and thought nothing of pulling a string of all-nighters just to get things done.

All-nighters are a thing of the past for me. I have a family. A daughter who wakes up early, even at the weekend. Also, I am forty! When I was twenty, I could pull an all-nighter and not think twice. These days, well, it takes days to recover from missing a night of sleep.

So. Learning to be older and wiser. I realise it's time to track my time. Figure out how long it takes to edit a three minute video or process 150 sound effects for a flash game. That way, I (and redWEB) know how long it will take the next time we do it, so, we can schedule the correct amount of time during sensible working hours to get the job done right.

It takes 12.5 hours to process 150 sound effects. It might take a little less time the next time as we'll find ways to do things quicker. But. For now. It takes 12.5 hours. Not a minute more. And certainly not a minute less.

Sounds like this:

Why?

Well, I am 40. I have a family. Writing and film weren't paying the bills. This is partly why I dived into becoming a Multimedia Designer. I have always had a great interest in all things webby, so, changing direction wasn't a huge issue for me -- infact, I am pleased I did it.

Taking a degree in Multimedia Design was a great decision. I discovered the joy of coding; actually building a website with nothing more than a text editor and a browser. Learning to build the web, rather than just surf it, has changed the way I think and do things, for the better.

During my degree I became aware that my filmmaking skills weren't something I'd leave behind. Being a Multimedia Designer isn't just coding, it's about creating all sorts of things for the web, and, video for the web is one of them.

In fact, I ended up running workshops for other students, teaching them the basics of filmmaking. Showing them how to handle a camera and set up lights. The last workshop I did a few months ago was attended by over 80 students!

The interest and need to produce good quality video for the web has become hugely apparent to me (and, no doubt, to that room full of eager students I taught a few months ago).

These days it's easy to film, and, easy to cut video together -- iPhones and iMovie made it that way. But. Making a video production look professional is more than just the tools you use. It takes skill. Knowledge. And, well, a splash of talent, too.

I know I have the skill. And the knowledge to make films. I went to film school in my early twenties, worked freelance on and off for a number of years, and, I have even written and directed my own short films.

So, it's ironic in some way that, having changed direction into Multimedia Design, that I find myself coming out of the other side of my education moving back towards film.

I am almost two weeks into my internship at redWEB.dk, and, it seems my purpose there is all about film.

Yesterday, Karsten (redWEB's flash developer) and I spent the morning recording sound effects for a game he's producing. It's now my job to process the sound and make it usable for the game … Producing sound is part of video production, something I am more than familiar with.

Once I am finished processing the sound effects I will start producing a short video to show off one of redWEB's products, redSHOP. redWEB has another department called, redCOMPONENT. This department produces some backend solutions for Joomla (an Open Source content management system for building websites). redSHOP is one of their backend solutions for turning a Joomla website into a web shop or e-commerce site.

As you can imagine these kinds of products are useful, but, also difficult to nutshell for potential clients. So, it's my job to make a video to nutshell what redSHOP is all about.

On top of producing this small video, I am producing a short documentary about the company as a whole. The idea of the documentary is to show what the company is all about … In fact, show more than just what the company is about. I want to capture the process of making a website. I want to capture the passion, hard work, and dedication of redWEB's developers and designers.

The company has two very strong founders, Christian Bennike and Ronnie Christiansen. Strictly speaking, Ronnie founded redWEB. He started the company alone and built it into one of Denmark's top web companies.

Christian started a company called, Web Zoo. Web Zoo is known for it's strong design ethic and visual identity.

Ronnie and Christian found their companies working together rather a lot, so, it made sense to them to put the two together under one name, redWEB.

Of course, one aspect of making the documentary is to help promote the company. But. I am not going into this with promotion in mind. For me, it's about capturing the company as it is. Capturing the people as they, and, the process of how they go about doing what they do in a way that makes it clear that producing a website is more than just writing code -- it really does take commitment and passion to make something that's right for the client, which, isn't always what the client wants. It's about what the users of the website need. That is what a web designer and developer strives to achieve.

The first part of making the documentary starts with redWEB's foundations: Christian and Ronnie. I will be filming interviews with both of them next week. This will form the foundation of the film, it's spine, I guess. Once I have those interviews in the can, I'll start building the film around them … Building a picture of redWEB as a company to show what it really takes to build for the web.

So, next week I will put up lights, set up a microphone, and stand with a camera in my hand. Full circle. A filmmaker once again.