Insight

Getting My Master’s at SAE

What made you want to do a master’s in creative media industries at SAE?

As a professional practice master’s in creative media industries, the programme is set up to work in tandem with your professional commitments which is exactly what I was looking for. The supervisors and the support staff have a very pragmatic view on the MPP working alongside your career as a mixer, and in fact, encourage you to cross-pollinate between these two worlds. Also, there aren’t many reputable avenues to do an MA in audio wholly online, and SAE’s expertise in this area combined with the academic oversight of Hertfordshire University made it a really attractive choice.

Can you talk me through your final project? What inspired it?

My final project involves different approaches to film score mixing in Dolby Atmos, and includes a prototype immersive mic array that I designed and tested in trimester 2. As someone who works mostly in surround sound, I’ve always been very keen on spatial audio for media mixing and felt that while Atmos afforded a real opportunity to engage with immersivity, especially against the narrative of film music, film scores weren’t been given a fair go in running with these new and exciting tools. Ironically, most of the albums I mix are still in stereo, even though that’s where Atmos has really become a trend! Yet music-to-picture is still often done as it always has been, or a version thereof. I was very keen to look at techniques that could work alongside the storytelling aspect of film scores, and workflows that would make it easy enough to ingest at the dub stage.

So after a lot of research and experimentation, my final project are three different Atmos mixes of two very different film cues from projects that I had previously mixed for general release in 5.1, and being of two different genres, one orchestral and one more gritty and lo-fi. These were then assessed through a questionnaire and focus group that I had designed with industry stakeholders during a listening session at our theatrical mix facility at Sound & Motion Studios. As a matter of interest the two projects I used are the animated action-comedy Seal Team, which can be found on Netflix, and the African Western Five Fingers For Marseilles which is on Amazon Prime (in their 5.1 form, of course).

What were the three biggest challenges you faced during your master’s? And how did you overcome them?

Time is, of course, always the killer. Trying to balance out a career with a masters in any discipline is tricky! I also travel quite a lot for my work which poses some challenges. In terms of the course itself, getting my head around methodologies and theoretical perspectives took a lot of RAM, haha! But I really enjoyed it.

What were the three most rewarding moments you experienced during your master’s?

Seeing it actually come together! I mean, having all these plans and ideas, which change as you learn more and work alongside your supervisor, and seeing how it goes from concept to action and finally to completion is deeply satisfying. Also working with your supervisor and seeing the obvious growth in analytical thinking throughout the programme, especially on reflection. And of course, recently I applied a lot of the techniques I had been experimenting with during a score mix, and the hugely positive reaction of the composers really did make it all worthwhile.

How do you think doing a master’s degree at SAE will help your future career?

Well, I chose to research in an area that is directly applicable to my work and, luckily, a technology that is still relatively fresh in it’s adoption. Doing the MA has pushed me to experiment with techniques (including some “well THAT didn’t work” moments) and develop aesthetics that I can use not only in my mixes, but in the way that I think about music, how people hear it, and how artists and composers feel it. For example, just trying to answer the question “what is immersivity” is probably a whole masters in itself!

What skills did you learn through your masters at SAE?

Since the MPP programme is a combination of coursework in the first trimester, and then followed by a masters by research, you’re equipped with certain analytical and writing skills that aren’t the normal stock and trade of the sound engineer! Having a working grasp of research methodology is something a real positive take away, and has given me the confidence to put the research out there for conferences and so on.

What advice would you give to students for making the most out of their masters at SAE?

Do it in something that is directly applicable to your career, that you are passionate about. It’s a self directed programme, and you design the masters with the guidance and input of your supervisors. The real world value of what you get out of the programme very much depends on what you choose to research.

What would you say to someone considering applying to do a master’s at SAE?

That’s a good question! Honestly, I think just being as clear as possible on what it is you want to achieve in the masters, or at least a version of that. It’s going to change as you go along, but the more specific you are then the easier it will be for the programme director to connect you with the right supervisor. Personally, I couldn’t have wished for a better supervisor than Hardie Tucker and couldn’t imagine doing it with someone else. Your relationship with your supervisor is really important and having someone who has a real interest in what you’re doing and passion for the subject matter is super important.

Getting My Master’s at SAE

What made you want to do a master’s in creative media industries at SAE?

Can you talk me through your final project? What inspired it?

What were the three biggest challenges you faced during your master’s? And how did you overcome them?

What were the three most rewarding moments you experienced during your master’s?

How do you think doing a master’s degree at SAE will help your future career?

What skills did you learn through your masters at SAE?

What advice would you give to students for making the most out of their masters at SAE?

What would you say to someone considering applying to do a master’s at SAE?

are you interested in doing a master’s with sae? Read about our course here.

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