Discover the latest industry news and audio post production.
At 344 Audio we like to lend style and flair to every project, that's why with RRAFAYC we forged Sound Design elements from Custom Forest Recordings and Effects.
November 23, 2021
During our remote Sound Spotting Session, we spoke with the Director Katie Smith about the world that she wanted to create. It was important that we construct the sound around the children characters' perspective of a large isolating forest, in which these children are trying to escape their adult pursuers. This film includes themes of childhood innocence, wonder, exploration, conflict and disease, all of which play a pivotal role. It was also important to note the difference between the adult assailants scenes and the children's scenes.
Katie asked us not to hold back with Sound Design on this project, we needed to add a sense of urgency in some scenes and downright fear and abandonment in others. We knew that this called for some custom recordings and because the world had to feel isolated, we planned to use only sounds from the forest in our design. We visited a large reservoir/forest area in the British Countryside, that had enough character to work and was silent enough to gather clean material. We hit trees, whooshed sticks, stamped in mud and recorded various ambient sounds to lay on the film.
With a clear plan in place and lots of material for inspiration, it was time to start tracklaying.
We were able to use 100% production dialogue for this project - which was necessary to ensure the children's performances were kept intact, any problem lines had almost identical takes to replace them, which was nice. We also were very light handed with noise reduction, using it only where absolutely necessary, to preserve the warmth and depth of the audio. Due to the nature of the forest, we did have to remove a lot of harsh twig snaps, but did so with minimal effect on clarity.
One storytelling tool that was very useful was the passage of time and location within the forest. 90% of the film is set within this deep and huge rural environment, with time shifting to the evening as the film progresses. The forest allowed us to build sounds to sell this, Crows, Ravens, Foxes and Owls covered the adult's scenes with a sense of mystery, fear and anger, while Robins, Frogs and Various Tweeting Birds offered a sense of innocence to the children initially, progressing into the darker tone of Crickets and Marshland sounds as time passed, showing the isolation of the children group, as they part ways.
Our custom recordings were used numerous times to accentuate moments and bring subtle detail to shots. Everything from the initial title sequence that had its 'pencil drawing' sound made from a pitched up foot scraping a tree to slow motion shots accentuated with pitched down impact sounds of hitting trees with branches and whooshing sticks past the microphone to create cinematic transition elements. We even designed a car engine with a pitched down Bear Growl as it creeps towards the children in pursuit. There were also some much softer and delicate sounds to design, the stunning meteor shower VFX shots were covered with fireworks sounds that had Doppler pitch shifting and subtle flangering. Manipulated sounds of wind chimes and bells were added, which gave some 'sparkle' to the intense night sky. Here is a sound we designed from hitting a tree with a branch, it was used as part of a slow motion shot:
We mixed the film in stereo and wanted to add a sense of 'width', as per Katie's instructions. The background sounds had to surround the audience, so we extended the stereo field and had lots of layers of animal and weather effects panned around in different scenes.
We also did some interesting things with the score, filtering it down in certain shots and heavily accentuating low frequencies in others to create a pumping sensation.
The mix also had to sell the dialogue and foley to the audience in this heavily forested area. To achieve this, we used a combination of delays and convolution reverbs, with forest impulse responses loaded. Automation of distance perception with EQ and Reverb also provided a sense of realism and hyperrealism in certain shots.
Run Run As Fast As You Can was a pleasure to work on and we are already working with Katie again which is great news. You can expect to see the film at a festival near you soon!
If you enjoyed this article please check out our ultimate guide to audio post- production: https://www.344audio.com/post/the-ultimate-guide-to-audio-post-production-sound-design
Badlands Sound are known for their affordable libraries with unique themes. Their latest venture offers a much needed fresh perspective on traffic ambiences.
November 23, 2021
Company: Badlands Sound
Product: Above & Below Traffic
Price: $18
Our Rating: 4.6/5
Badlands like to organise their samples into one folder, which makes sense with their libraries being quite compact in terms of file numbers. Everything here is neat and tidy, very lengthy files, all around 5 and half minutes each which is quite impressive - a total of approximately 70 minutes of content, all in stunning 24 Bit 96kHz WAV fidelity. We couldn't wait to open this one up, as the theme, cover art and past libraries from Badlands are all stunning.
This library has got to be one of the best value for money products that we have ever reviewed, time has been taken to capture true to life moments here with a theme that I have never seen covered before. The 13 files offer a variety of passing vehicles which will liven up any residential area, city, or highway (the car chase scene from The Matrix Reloaded comes to mind).
The great thing about the above and below perspective on these sounds is that they have multiple uses with some tweaking: traffic beds under your spot effects, external traffic noise from an interior shot, LFE rumbles and more. The even better thing about this library is the price - $18 (also 30% off currently). I think is a steal for the amount of work involved.
The best thing about them is the sound. They have that gritty 'field recordist' vibe, which makes them sit in scenes with a sense of reality without over accentuating traffic noise. It could even be worth purchasing this library just for an alternative BG perspective in a complex scene, they work great where the audible focus should be in the foreground.
The only constructive criticism we can give on this library is that it is much more 'above' than 'below'. I feel Badlands should have recorded more content below vehicles in strange locations and increased the price to reflect this.
Bare in mind that this does't take away from the fresh content that this product delivers, I know we'll be using it a lot for distant traffic backgrounds and more.
Need some earthly recordings to liven up a city scene? Tired of using the same traffic samples, that are too obnoxious to work? Get 30% off Above & Below Traffic now and you won't be disappointed!
Sound Response's latest product Binary Code helps further push their aesthetic for high end, futuristic sounding sample libraries with it's user interface theme.
November 23, 2021
Company: Sound Response
Product: Binary Code
Price: $45
Our Rating: 4.3/5
After opening our review copy, we put the library through its paces, using it to cover some infographics in a documentary. The library is split into three sections for easy sample searching, and sounds are numbered by their variation. They also have extensive metadata and are provided in 24Bit 96kHz WAV.
Due to the nature of these sounds - the metadata search terms can become mostly be irrelevant, listening and selecting multiple options in the 3 categories will provide more worthwhile results.
All of the content here is well selected. Nothing feels out of place and Sound Response took the time to make everything tidy for the user. It's a great time saving tool if you are working on an extensive Sci Fi scene, which has rooms of alien computers, robotic auto aiming plasma cannons and head up display systems.
It also works well in other contexts, things like video game menus, infographics and anything with a touch of futurism. The three sections on offer are Beeps, Readouts and Calculations, Typing, which offer enough variation to cover extended scenes with close up shots of an interface. The sounds on offer also have a decidedly chirpy tone, heavily processed with EQ to fit straight into your UI with ease.
The artwork gives an impression of what to expect (The Matrix and beyond) style granular and synthesised sounds, that mostly carry an almost positive and sometimes neutral connotation.
One of our only criticisms to this library is that it doesn't cover every base for this theme. Sound Response should have included 'negative selection' sounds, alarms and more - it covers more of the general usage of sci fi devices and may not be enough to cover a whole film.
The neutrality of many of the sounds did mean that when placed in a non future themed documentary, it worked well on infographics.
While it's not a bad price point at more than 10 sounds per dollar (570+ sounds total), it would work better if it had less sounds per category and more categories to cover other UI necessities.
This Library is a great time saver for those excursions into the future with Sound. Be it in Film, Audiobook, Videogame, Documentary - these UI sounds have you covered. With our exclusive 30% discount code below (valid until Sunday 23rd April) , you will get this library at an exceptional value.
Get Binary Code at 30% off with code: BINARY21
At 344 Audio we know when it is time to go full throttle with sound and when it is time to keep it minimal and let the story unfold. On one of our recent sonic ventures 'Choice. Regret.' we chose to save Sound Design for pivotal moments in the film.
November 23, 2021
When sat with the Director Christopher Schönning, we talked about holding back quite a lot, creating a sense of desolation in the opening scenes but ensuring nothing would give away what is to come. We won't mention any spoilers, the title gives a sense of what to expect in this Drama short. There are a couple of moments where many would tracklay extensive effects and design, but Christopher was clear on the fact that he wanted to keep as much of the production sound as possible.
Previous viewers of the early edit had said that the sound already hit many of the emotional cues needed - we didn't want to take away from that but instead enhance it. Paired with Lukas Loughran's amazing performance, the dialogue gaps in some scenes are awkwardly damning.
Sat with Christopher, we took a very bold step, deciding to fade out the theme music after 8 bars and bring a touch of background ambience, only to then continue the music on an offbeat - giving the audience a sense of the characters thoughts on past choices; an uncomfortable silence.
We cheered in the spotting session with Christopher, even receiving a high five for the moments we had created - a combination of luck and bravery in breaking the mould.
After some audio restoration, we were able to use 100% production dialogue - which was necessary for a project like this, the great performances had to be real for me and Christopher. We even shuffled around some off screen dialogue in an intense scene, completely changing the mood and escalating the drama.
The great thing about drama is that sound remains 'invisible' and only shows it's hand in pivotal moments. The establishing shots in the film open up to a rural village somewhere in Northern England, we filled these with heavy gales, the subtlety of windswept metal fences and haunting creaky trees, giving a sense that you are trapped within this small world.
Shortly after, as the characters leave their venue, in search of refuge, the world falls silent, we focus in on their foley movements, something is coming. A sense of mystery was formed with heavily reverberated sounds and an interactive rural wildlife.
An intense narrative moment occurs and again we're back into reality. A common theme that runs throughout this film is the use of almost magical hyper-realism followed by the harsh and brutal reality of 'silence' and moments of reflection (hence the title).
We managed to fill some scenes with sounds we recorded at the real locations, bringing a sense of authenticity to the film.
The mix on this project was mostly about grounding everything in reality with balance and distance perception. The use of perspective EQ and impulse response reverbs gave a sense of believability to the film - especially in 5.1.
Many of the moments that hit you are location recordings, layered subtly with effects to let them come to life.
Choice. Regret. was mixed on an Avid S6, with a wonderful 5.1/7.1 Exigy system. We don't believe that technology should be an obstacle to creativity, but the S6 is so intuitive when surround mixing, using its touch screen surround panner allowed us to instil movement into even the most static effects.
We also upmixed the theme music from stereo to 5.1, which made it feel more powerful and engaging.
Choice. Regret. was a pleasure to work on, no doubt we will be working with Christopher again. You can expect to see the film at all major festivals soon!
If you enjoyed this article please check out our ultimate guide to audio post- production: https://www.344audio.com/post/the-ultimate-guide-to-audio-post-production-sound-design
Pasi's latest library offers users a wide variety of well recorded swish and whoosh sounds from various obscure items.
November 23, 2021
Company: Pasi Pitkänen
Product: Swish & Whoosh
Price: $71
Our Rating: 4.2/5
The artwork is wonderful, the accuracy of the file structure and naming conventions are a testament to Pasi's experience in releasing libraries and working in a professional setting. The metadata and organisation make the library a joy to use, while the well recorded sounds leave no stones unturned in this theme.
Think Indiana Jones style swish sounds with a hint of Scandinavian design and a sprinkle of Star Wars laser rifles. The sounds here are well recorded, swishing and whooshing with everything from didgeridoos to violin bows.
You won't find heavily designed cinematic whooshes and transitions here though, these are bare bones elements intended for further design - the sounds are in 24bit 96kHz which leaves some room for pitch shifting.
The metal slinky sounds are a very, very nice addition. They sound really authentic and leave space for processing to make laser gun sounds in the style of Ben Burtt. There are so many variations of these too that we don't think you'll ever be hitting metal slinkys again!
There are variations on each effect (slow, fast, multiple etc.) which also contain multiple performances within the files - a wealth of content reaching almost 5GB with over 5300 sounds.
We initially had a hard time understanding the use for this library - the type of whoosh sounds found here work in quite specific scenarios if left raw (mainly fight scenes, animation and comedy). They really need to be creatively processed to come to life - but this was Pasi's intention. With some heavy design you could turn these into nice cinematic transitions, soft slow-motion moments or organic user interface sounds.
The price is what makes this library fall short - it has great accuracy and design but unfortunately feels overpriced - not by quality or consistency - but due to the theme and content not being applicable to enough situations. Some people may find it suits their needs better though; it is down to the nature of your work.
If you want an extensive library of whoosh sounds but need to have the raw elements in a well recorded form factor, this is the library for you. There may be cheaper options available, but some of the source sounds used here are priceless.
