Farewell Don King

We’re busy recording everything we can lay our ears on this week, over in Spain. It’s pretty scorchio! Hope everyone’s had a great week and has something exciting planned for the weekend. I can’t wait to write about everything I’ve heard here when I get home to NI. Spain, I’ve missed you!

View fullsize

Photo credit to my friend Chabeli

In other news, have you seen the new Super-Softie Windshields from Rycote? I’m planning on trying them out as soon as I can lay my hands on some. I think it’s going to be the end of microphone aesthetics as we know it. The new stuff looks much slicker, but it’d be sad to say goodbye to the fluffy exteriors synonymous with sound for decades now…

View fullsize

My wife thinks most of them look like boxing promoter Don King

But it’s about time for an update. Will try and do a product review on them soon. Has anyone else started using them yet? What do you think?

Super Slick Rick

Hope it’s a great weekend for everyone. Here’s some cool stuff to hit up…

Sound's Big Moment

“There is no terror in the bang. Only in the anticipation of it.”

— Alfred Hitchcok

Following on from last weekend at Frightfest, we’ve been deep in the zone of all things scary. And is there anything scarier than a great suspense moment? I’m definitely with Alfred on this one, that the actual blood-gore isn’t half as impacting as simply feeling the anticipation.

Very few people are aware of sound in a film. Even to Directors and Producers, we as Sound Designers are often given little credit and our input can be seen as ‘necessary’ rather than be viewed as an artistic element in it’s own right. Of course there are amazing directors such as the Cohen brothers, who hold their sound departments in high-esteem, but it’s a sad fact that they are a rarity. Rarer still is an audience that identifies sound as a reason they found something moving.

That is, until, you come across a great suspense scene. Suspense moments are sound’s ‘big money shot’. Of course a subtle sound tapestry may be just as important to a film, but a lead-up to a big boom moment is the sound man’s moment in the spotlight. It may be the only point in a movie that the audience is actually aware of your work at all.

Because of this, I always get a kick out of working on suspense and thriller movies, and I’m going to try and make it a focus of mine to study them in more detail- to try and analyse what makes some work amazingly, and others not so much.

Here are some of my favourite examples of sound putting the fright into a scene…

(Spoiler Alert - if you haven't seen these movies, get on the case!)

1. Jurassic Park (1993) is riddled with sound moments. This is probably the most famous one.

2. War of the Worlds (2005) - Alien Probing Basement

3. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) - Night Vision

4. No Country for Old Men (2007) - Eagle Hotel Scene. Another sound gem of a movie.

5. The Birds (1963) - Gas Station Explosion. Classic Hitchcock

A big reason as to why sound is so important in these scenes, is because the visuals often become static or slow down. And isn’t that how it is in real life when you panic? What you can see becomes less important, as you’re mentally running other images of possible outcomes through your mind, your other more animalistic senses kick in- namely sound and smell. Like a dog who senses danger, he becomes stationary, his ears prick up and he stands to attention ready to see if it’s fight or flight time. In the anticipation, movement becomes less important and sound is relied upon to judge what is happening. 

Do you have a favourite suspense scene? Have you been working on something with a lot of tension in it lately? We recently worked on The Quiet Hour, to which suspense and a sense of waiting is pivotal. It’ll be shown in London’s Soho next month. Congrats Stéphanie & Sean (and all the team) for the Raindance nomination also!

Hope you're having a great weekend- here's some cool Sound stuff to check out...

Frightfest 2014

How was your bank holiday weekend?! We were at Film4's Frightfest and had a ball.

The first time we went was for The Human Centipede (first sequence) and we were back again this year to watch The Mirror, which we were very much proud to be a part of! The film was well received and it's always nice to put faces to voices after working long distance. Congrats to Ed Boase and all involved! Production Company / Crew. The Mirror will be released on DVD the 8th of September 2014.

View fullsize

View fullsize

Q&A with Director Ed Boase

Festivals like this are a great platform for film makers. They put the spotlight on up and coming talent and also allow fans of genres like Horror and all it's sub-genres to see the kind of stuff they love in all their glory- where they should be seen; on the big screen. Some other great local film festivals...

What have you got planned for the weekend coming up? We did an interview with the infamous Dean Humphreys this week which we'll be writing up- will be posting it soon. We also got inspired by all the blood and guts of Frightfest, so we're onto some Halloween themed sounds in the studio. In the meantime, have a good'un and here's some cool stuff from around and about...

Sound Postcard 01 // Perito Moreno

Whenever I've been away, either travelling or for work, I've sent Sound Postcards to family and friends. I find the combination of a still image with audio to be more moving than a quick video. A bit like audio books, part of the work is done for you but you still need to use your imagination to build the full picture, and I think that stays with you for longer.

Sound is almost always coupled with moving images, but photos allow you to keep the auditory sense at centre stage. Something we're always aiming for!

View fullsize

Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, 1/6/2010

Dear May,

It's early in the morning and I finally made it to this amazing corner of Patagonia. I tried getting inside the park in the middle of the night to beat the crowds but the guards wouldn't let me so I set camp in front of the gate and waited anxiously between snoozes, like it was the first day of sales at El Corte Inglés. 

I managed to wake up on time and still be the first car in so got a good hour one-to-one with Perito Moreno. And the wait was all worth it as the monstrous glacier offered itself up in full; rips, cracks, booms and splashes continuously animating the morning. You know Perito Moreno is one of the few glaciers in the world that isn't receeding? 

Thank you Perito, thank you Patagonia. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. One day, we'll go back together.

Love, 
A.

Recording Locally

View fullsize

Whispy Mountain

We all dream of working in far off exotic places. There's no denying travel is enriching, but what about all the stuff that's in your own back garden? Have you ever really looked around you? Or more importantly, stopped and listened? Wherever you live, there is someone else in the world who sees your home as exciting and worthy of discovery. Even if you live in Wolverhampton.

This week I've been focusing on what I can hear around me, both from an enriching point of view, and a practical library-growing angle.

So without further ado, I give to you, My Back Garden... (or a few miles radius from my house)

I wanted to encompass some varied atmospheres, as well as finer sounds to be edited and stashed in the library. When I arrive to a location I like to start with atmospheres and then record more specific sounds afterward. Because, I can guarantee that only by sitting in silence for quite a while will you hear the most noteworthy. For example, maybe on arrival to a beach location you plan on recording lapping waves, seagulls and the sound of water hitting the rocks from varying distances. But if you take time out first of all, you might instead notice the patter of a tiny crab across the sand,  or how the grass between the dunes sounds from different locations, or the dull thud of distant footprints when you lie on the ground. 

This doesn't only apply to mystical empty beaches, or rural locations like my own. In a factory there will also be less obvious sounds that are worthy of recording, it only takes a little patience to find them, and then isolate them so they can be preserved as best you can manage given your circumstances and equipment. You can also make a note of these details and recreate them in the studio later.

The examples given in this post are all country-side based, but I implore you to apply the same mindful method wherever you are- there's always something hidden!

Anyone else have any local finds to share? Would love to hear other hidden spots you've found in Ireland, the UK or beyond.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! And here's a couple of links to some sound related further listening...