Steinberg has published an interview with Steve Tushar and Ron Eng, sound designers on “Coraline”. They talk about their work in the film and also the use of Nuendo for their sound work.

Hello Steve, hello Ron! You’ve recently worked together on the film Coraline, which was directed by Henry Selick. What was special about the collaboration with him?

Ron: The best thing about working with Henry was his creativity and dedication to detail. He has very acute hearing and knowledge of sound design.

Steve: Plus, Henry really stepped it up a few notches with this film compared to “Nightmare before Christmas”. It looks so good that I don’t think the average person would even realize that it’s stop motion animation. Sometimes even I forgot that fact while looking at the scenes. I would only be reminded when I saw an unfinished scene to work on.

What were your roles in the production process? How did you use Nuendo in that project?

Ron: My role as sound designer was to create sounds for things that you wouldn’t normally find in a sound effects library, for instance, making a sound for a haunting mirror squeak, weird crickets or a world crumbling around us. Steve Tushar’s role was to concentrate on all of the real world sound effects such as impacts, cars, doors, hits, bangs, squeaks, etc., and organize them for the final mix.

Coraline is a 3D film using the elaborate stop motion technique. The film is often described as a “visual masterpiece”. What was (technically) the biggest challenge during the post-production work on Coraline?

Ron: The biggest challenge was to cut sound while only having a storyboard and unfinished pictures. Some of the more complex scenes we didn’t even see till late in the final mix process.

Steve: I agree with Ron here 110%. That is always the biggest challenge for animation jobs. Especially when they drop in a rough sketch that is only one frame per three or four seconds and they expect you to come up with the sound for it and you end up scratching your head for an hour.

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Thanks go out to Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, and Al Nelson from TOY STORY 3 for taking time out to answer few questions about their work on the film!

TM = Sound Designer/ Sound Re-Recording Mixer Tom Myers
MS = Sound Re-Recording Mixer Michael Semanick
AL = Sound Editor Al Nelson

JAKE: “Day & Night” the short film that played before “Toy Story 3″ was so creative in the way it used sound. Were there discussions early on about how sound design would drive the story? Pixar has a rich tradition of selecting short film ideas from fellow Pixar employees’ pitches. Who does sound for these short films at Skywalker?

TM: The sound duties for Pixar’s shorts are split between Skywalker and Pixar. For some of the earlier shorts, we did all the work at Skywalker, but over the last few years Pixar has developed a small staff of very talented sound folk. On “Day and Night” the sound design was done by Barney Jones at Pixar with guidance from Sound God Gary Rydstrom who splits time between the two companies. I did the mix here at Skywalker with the director Teddy Newton and Barney present.

MIGUEL: When did you guys start on “Toy Story 3″? How did Lee Unkrich interact with the sound department and what was his take on how sound would be utilized in the film?

TM: We saw a storyboarded version of the film in early 2009 and then had preliminary spotting sessions with Lee and composer Randy Newman. I started sound design in late 2009 and the rest of the crew started in January of 2010. Lee was very involved in the process and knew the library very well having been the editor on the first film and codirector on the second. He is very detail oriented, even spending time with the foley crew. His first concern sound-wise was that we make the third film a continuation of the world created in the first two. All three films needed to feel organically part of the same aural universe, just as they were visually.

AN: I came on the show for the first temp mix in the fall of ’09. This was a great broad stroke introduction to how Lee intended the film to sound. We walked away with some great notes to think about for the final, though, I didn’t actually start cutting effects on the film until late February. So, I’d like to acknowledge Dustin Cawood, Terry Eckton and Tim Nielsen who fortunately did all the hard work before I jumped in.

JAKE: How much sound did the animators request before you guys started sound editorial in earnest?

TM: The animators had much of the toy movement sound library from Toy Story 1 and 2 for the returning characters, Buzz, Woody, the Potato Heads, etc. The only new character for which they really asked new material was Big Baby. We gave them a larger palette of vocals for Big Baby that Lee was quite particular about.

MIGUEL: Given the toys’ size in relation to the human world, how important was the sound POV of our heroes? What realistic sounds had to be embellished to convey their size or perspective?

TM: With Gary Rydstrom we continued the conceit that when the toys are interacting with humans, (when they are inanimate objects), they should sound smaller in scale compared to the human “real” world. But when they are interacting with each other, and walking and talking, they have a larger, almost human scale to their sounds. We always embellished sound when a threat was implied, especially in the finale scenes with the garbage truck, bulldozers, conveyor belt, shredder, claw, etc.

AL: We had creative license during certain toy POV scenes to even go over the top a bit. For example when Big Baby is doing that creepy march towards Woody, Bullseye and the aliens, we added low end sweeteners to his footsteps. We also added some rumble and actual diesel truck sounds to some of the RC trucks patrolling to add a sense of tension and danger.

JAKE: Did sounds for reoccurring characters established in the first two films carry over to “Toy Story 3″? Were they cut from libraries built for the first two films and or what new sounds, were recorded or expanded on for these classic characters?

TM: We used all the sounds from the first two movies for the recurring characters. This was part of our mandate from Lee about making all three films an extension of the same world. We developed new material for Buzz when he went through his transformations, first to what we called “Militaristic Buzz”, (when Buzz gets reset and does the bidding of Lotso); Here we sharpened his movements making them more precise, more clipped and less rattley toy plastic . And then for Buzz in “spanish mode” we made him more fluid and romantic adding swishes, castanets and whip cracks.

MS: An interesting problem came up with voice futz’s from the original films to this one. Both Woody and Buzz have sayings or dialog built into them when a child pulls Woody’s chord or pushes Buzz’s buttons. These original futzes were done by Gary Summers. He used what we call a analog futz box. It is an inclosed box, with a set of speakers in them and a microphone. You route the dialog to this box , pick the speaker you want the dialog to come out of (might be an old am radio speaker, a telephone speaker, or a speaker taken out of an old toy) the microphone picks up the sound coming out of the speaker and comes back to the console to be mixed. Well, back on TS 1 AND TS 2 , They only futzed what they needed to, with no addtional lines. TS 3 Had new Woody and Buzz lines. Lee wanted the same effect or futz from the other films… no problem, right? Theoretically, we just pull out the old futz box and do it. Unfortunately, that old futz box had been thrown away. We tried every protools plug in, but we could not match the futz. Howie Hammerman, an engineer at skywalker who built the orginal futz box, is still working there. I asked him to rebuild it. With the new futz box and some tweaking we were able to match the futz’s very, very close, though still slightly different. I would say about-ten-years-or-so-of-wear -and-tear-from-Andy-playing-with-the-toys difference. Ha!

AN: Tom was very thorough about providing us with notes and references to the previous Toy Story films as well as providing us with new material that was consistent. For example, Ken’s neck and arm squeaks which complimented Barbie’s elements from TS2. I think those Ken squeaks are some of the funniest moments in the whole movie. Gary would also come in and review our material. He could recall verbatim sounds he had made ten years ago. Also, kudos to our foley artists, Jana and Dennie who performed many of the signature sounds for the original Toy Story and Toy Story 2.

MIGUEL: How did you distinguish what toy sounds needed to be foley and what would be recorded and cut as effects? Did you start with using the actual toys for their sounds? What toy sounds are designed using sounds that the actual toys don’t or can’t make?

TM: Generally, all the footsteps for all the characters were foley. The movement for all the characters may have been half foley and half effects. Specific character trait sounds like the Potato Head pops and hits, Rex chicken squawk head turns, and Barbie and Ken squeaks were effects. We don’t always start with the actual toys as often times they sound too small. We look for something that is slightly larger in scale. For example, of Stretch the Octopus we used a rubber bath mat with suctions cups on one side.

JAKE: How did the tradition of using Skywalker sounds from previous films (Rex’s “Jurassic Park” roar) in Pixar films come to pass? Does Pixar request using these specific sounds in their films during their spotting sessions?

TM: It has more to do with what is dramatically correct for a given scene rather then paying homage to a given sound or film. They will use other films as a reference but rarely request a specific sound, unless it is something they have used in the guide track and it works perfectly, both dramatically and emotionally.

MIGUEL: I love the playful relationship between music and effects in these films, especially when music seemingly acts as Foley for on-screen action (like classic Disney cartoons). How was featuring music or effects for specific sequences decided on?

TM: This all came from Lee and his work with Randy Newman and with us. One example was the scene of Woody’s first escape from Sunnyside when he flies over the wall on the kite and then gets blown up into the sky, the kite breaks and he falls down into the tree where Bonnie finds him. Lee specifically asked for Randy to give that scene the “Carl Stallings treatment” in which he hits all the movements with musical beats and the we support it with sound effects.

MS : Lee was always the one making these final choices. We would experiment from time to time, like: “Try dipping music here”, or “Shift it slightly so that some of the sound effects can live with it” or “Lets clean out all sounds and only add what we need”. The music was very fun to mix; it had a real throwback vibe to it, like you said, very “playful”, playing the action. Lee and Randy had designed it to be that way. I think it fits the film perfectly. It did make it hard at times for sound fx and music to live together, but Lee was very clear and decisive about what was to drive the scene. One of my favorites is the music when Woody gets up in Bonnie’s bed and walks across it. It’s just great. Listen to the arrangement and watch Woodys fingers.

AN: Lee was very specific about how certain sounds felt rhythmically relative to the music. Ambient elements like the crows during Chuckle’s flashback as well as specific hard effects like that last horn honk as Ken and Barbie arrive during the credit roll were all placed in time according to how Lee felt they would sit against the music.

JAKE: With all dialog for the film recorded on a ADR stage, how much of it has to be “placed” in the scenes with reverb and/ or delay? What other creative ways are you able to use dialog when it’s as controlled and clean as it is in an animated film?

TM: Michael can speak more directly to this but every scene and locale had a specific treatment of reverb, e.g., inside the toy box, in the garbage bag, inside the box and outside the box. One of the trickiest scenes was inside the candy machine. The voice treatment had to evolve as Buzz got closer. Lee was keen on all this and playing all perspectives. Also, as all the dialog is clean there is a tradition of panning all dialog in Pixar’s movies.

MS: Every scene had to have a specific treatment on it to fit the scene. It was mostly reverbs. I love the Lexicon 960, so I used it the most. I also used the tc6000 as well as the Lexicon 480. When Dialog is as controlled and clean as in ADR, it does allow you, at times, to get very quiet. When you do not have heavy background noise to fight through, (as you sometimes do with production dialog) it helps the music and sound effects give depth to the film. One of the fun moments of dialog effects, is when Mrs. Potato head sees with her other eye. I had to reach back to my days in the recording studio. I took her dialog, made a copy, advanced it several frames, put it in reverb, recorded only the reverb return, took that and reversed it or played it backwards, like taking analog tape and flipping it upside down and playing it. This effect proceeds her actual dialog slightly, so it had a type of “ghosting” sound. I then added a couple delays and reverb to her original dialog to help fill the room and surround the audience, and the sound effects from Tom helped the dialog sit in there. I think we got a fun “time warp” feel.

MIGUEL: How does the new dolby 7.1 standard allow you to do in the mix that 5.1 didn’t? Is this new channel layout addressed from predubs to printmaster?

TM: It allows you to be more precise in placing things in the acoustic space, pulling things, music, backrounds and effects off the screen and into the room which has the added benefit of clearing up dialog on the screen. We premixed all the effects in the 7.1 format and carried it all the way through to printmaster.

JAKE: Since filmmakers may change a cut to allow some breathing room after a big laugh in a comedic film, was there any attention paid to the potential of sniffles from the audience mucking up your mix during some of the movie’s sadder scenes?

TM: We were very clear where the big emotional moments were and worked hard, mostly through a process of elimination to not undermine or cut short any of these spots. The same goes for the jokes, though those are more precise and rhythm dependent where as the emotional moments are longer and more fluid. It’s a tribute to Lee and the story that there are so many of both kinds of spots in the film. I think of the film as being so funny but much of the feedback I get is of the emotional wallop the film has at the end.

SoundWorks Collection has just released a new video (on top) with a tour of the post production facilities on Walt Disney Studios.

Take an exclusive tour of the Walt Disney Studios located in Burbank, CA hosted by Gil Gagnon, VP of Post Production Services.

The Walt Disney Studios Post Production Services has a rich history in Dubbing dating back to the early 1940′s when Fantasia was mixed in the Main Theatre. Fantasia went on to win several technical achievement awards from the Academy as it was one of the first to mix in “Stereo” and it actually incorporated an early form of surround sound termed “Fantasound”.

The Sound Editorial department is staffed by a talented crew including two-time Oscar-winner George Watter II along with Robert Sephton, and Thomas de Gorter. The facilities include Pro Tools Digital Audio Workstations and 5.1 sound design rooms that are truly state-of-the-art. In addition, this world class facility provides complete sound integration and compatibility with the mixing stages in a conveniently located campus-like environment in Burbank, CA.

I went to the theater yesterday to see “Toy Story 3″, and all can I say is that you will have a lot of fun. What a fantastic adventure. The sound was great. If you want to know about it, let’s check the new profile of SoundWorks Collection:

Join Skywalker Sound’s Re-Recording Mixer and Sound Designer Tom Myers, Sound Re-Recording Mixer Michael Semanick, Director Lee Unkrich, and Stuart Bowling, Technical Marketing Manager at Dolby Laboratories as they take you behind-the-scene and discuss the sound of Toy Story 3.

Toy Story 3 will be released in Dolby Surround 7.1 in 12 languages in select cinema chains throughout Australia, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latin America, New Zealand, North America, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.

And stay tuned for our interview soon ;-)

SFGate has published an article talking about the Dolby Surround 7.1 Mix on Toy Story 3, the future of sound for 3D films, and how the people could take this new sonic adventure.

Walt Disney Co.’s Pixar made the latest installment of its “Toy Story” franchise in 3-D to satisfy the growing appetite for immersive visual effects.

Its next challenge: getting the sound effects to match.

The current setup in most theaters, known as 5.1, couldn’t direct sounds precisely enough to specific parts of the theater, says Paul Cichocki, post-production supervisor at Pixar. The audio didn’t feel like it was putting the viewer in the middle of the action, he says.

“We really wanted to take sound to the next level, and we just weren’t able to do much in 5.1,” Cichocki said. “If we could put sound in the right places, it helps your brain look in the right place.”

That’s why Pixar urged Dolby Laboratories Inc. to develop a new version of its sound system, the dominant audio technology in theaters. The resulting Dolby Surround 7.1 standard lets movies deliver sounds through seven speakers, plus one subwoofer, which handles bass. For Dolby, the technology helps the company keep pace with other cinema improvements — from crisper digital images to reclining seats — and give audiences a reason to keep coming back.

Sound technology alone doesn’t compel people to see a movie, says Paul Dergarabedian, president of Hollywood.com’s box-office tracking division. It’s just a subtle part of improving the experience, he says.

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I loved “How to Train Your Dragon”, the latest Dreamworks animated film. The storytelling and animation was top-notch, luckily the sound dept. followed suit. Below is an interview with the leads of the post sound crew discussing their work on the film. Many thanks to Sound Designer Randy Tom, Sound Supervisor Jonathan Null and Sound Designer Al Nelson for answering the questions regardless of their busy schedules.

Miguel: When did you guys start working on the film? What were the filmmakers thoughts/direction for the sound design? How was the sound crew’s relationship with the directors, animators, etc.?

Randy Thom: First, I want to say that this is the first time I’ve worked with Jon as a Co-Supervisor and Al as a Co-Sound Designer. It was an incredibly rewarding team effort all the way, and I can’t say enough good things about the work each of them did on the movie. When you can create believable and dramatic creature vocals with a range of emotions, you’ve reached the upper echelons of sound design. In my opinion there are only a few people in the world at that level, and Al is one of them. Likewise, Jon is a master at subtly manipulating the human voice… finding, editing, and when necessary “tuning” voices in ways that are absolutely faithful to the actor’s performance, but also an enhancement. Both these guys are just the best.
Also a shout-out to Gary Rizzo, who mixed the movie with me. We’ve mixed many films together, and I’m always impressed with his attention to detail and his creativity.

I started working on HTTYD about three years ago, but only a day or two here and there until about six months ago. The filmmakers wanted sound effects to be an early influence on the animation, especially for the dragon movements and vocalizations. This is an approach I’ve been publicly advocating for many years, and it’s great to see it gaining some inertia. Sound shouldn’t be a decoration you add to an otherwise finished movie. It should have an influence on all the other crafts while there is still time for them to be affected by it. Dean and Chris, the Directors on “How To Train Your Dragon”, were 100% in favor of that kind of reciprocity between the sound and image crafts on the film.

Jonathan Null: I kinda don’t want to jinx it, but I haven’t worked a day since I started at Skywalker Sound in ’93. Yeah, I come to work and spend my days cutting sound and hanging with my friends whom I am closer with than many of the people in my extended family. Skywalker actually lets me supervise and cut from an office that has French doors leading out to a deck that overlooks a vineyard and a lake. Maybe I shouldn’t be taking such advantage of them, considering I’ve gained a bit around the mid section because of all the wonderful food that’s available at the multiple locations on the ranch. I guess that’s why they put in the new tennis court near the pool, right outside the indoor basketball court and gym. They even pay me to hang out and learn from the most incredibly talented sound designers and sound editors in the business!

I really would like to thank Randy for having me be a part of this and the many projects I’ve had the pleasure to work on with him at Skywalker. He has always empowered me to do my best work. He is quite a talented sound designer, an extraordinarily intelligent man, and a close friend. Al, on the other hand…just kidding Al. Al is my number one choice for a sonic partner. He has such a love for the art of sound design and has tireless amounts of energy. What he did on this film was truly amazing. Al and Randy made designing nine dragons look easy. (It’s not!) We had the opportunity to play our work for each other on almost a daily basis and for the clients weekly. I highly recommend playing material for your peers and clients as often as possible during a project so there are no surprises at the final mix. When peers listen to your work with you, you listen to your work differently as well. It’s a powerful and productive exercise. Because of these playbacks, I think our bond as a crew was much stronger. The Dreamworks folks were also a pleasure to work with. Their clear and focused vision for the sonic landscape and their trust in our ability to deliver made this a dream project. It was very productive, having them up to the ranch to sit in on and participate in the foley sessions and to have the opportunity to play our design for them in our environment. It put us all on the same page very quickly. I wish Chris and Dean the directors, and Bonnie the producer would make a film every year! They were a joy to work with as were their picture editorial department. I hope you put a link to IMDB in this article so folks whom are interested could look up all the members of our sound crew. They are all so talented. Each of them pushed the envelope on this film and it shows in the final mix. I am so proud of this film and congratulate everyone at Skywalker on a job well done.

Al Nelson: Thank you, Randy. Yes, when the Director of Sound Design for Skywalker Sound taps you to co-sound design, you definitely try to put your best foot forward.

This was one of those dream sound jobs where everyone from the directors to the interns was excited about the audio. We all tried very hard to give these characters and creatures their own unique voices.

I was brought on the project about a year before its release. It was one of those memorable career moments I’ll be telling my grandchildren about. Randy Thom called and asked me if I’d like to help out with some sound design for a dragon movie. My first task was to work on the scene where Hiccup first discovers Toothless entangled and barely alive. Randy’s direction was to make the dragon sound powerful and dangerous but we should also empathize with him. I came across appropriately eager for the task but inside I was thinking, “WHAT?” Randy, being the sound design historian he is, suggested I review “The Black Stallion” – specifically the scene on the beach where the stallion is caught. That scene is a classic example of using creature vocals to evoke human emotion. And I was off and running…

Throughout the sound process we were very fortunate to have multiple reviews with the filmmakers and picture editors. They gave us constant feedback about both the physical characteristics of how things should sound as well as the emotions we were trying to convey. It was a wonderfully collaborative and creative process.

Jake: A period piece, whether animated or not, brings with it an extra set of challenges in regards to crowds and call-outs. How did you guys record and design the Viking crowds and what specific ADR group call outs we’re cued to accentuate the Norse town atmosphere?

Jon: Mad Dogs Loop Group are my secret weapon for this sort of film. Having used them on period films such as “Beowulf” and “A Christmas Carol”, I had complete confidence in their esthetic and ability to create a realistic crowd track for “Dragon”. After hiring the Loop Group, I spent some time researching Viking nautical terminology such as “Hard to port!”, “One length to your stern.”, “On your starboard flank.”, and “Ahead at your bow.” Battle cries were created mostly by screaming with the occasional “Prepare the catapults!” , “Plant your spears!”, and “Great Odin’s Ghost!” Although, Vikings are Nordic, it worked better for this film to tend more towards a Scottish accent. A quarter of our group were actually British, so we payed close attention to reign in the deliberate diction of a Shakespearean stage actor and concentrated our efforts on more of a southern Scottish twang.

Jake: Since dialogue is usually shot before principle animation begins are there ever problems with lip sync or any other ADR related challenges that arise during editorial and mix? What other ways do the dialog/ADR team approach an animated film differently?

Jon: Dreamworks has some of the best animators on the planet. Even with that said, we still need to re-sync the dialogue from time to time as the finished shots come in. Lighting tends to change the lip plosives and interior of the mouth. Sometimes, the hard sync of an unlit shot looks early when lit. And, even in animation we sometimes cheat a line instead of re-animating. The best thing about animation in regards to dialogue editing, is we don’t typically have to cut fill since all the production and all the ADR are recored in a controlled environment. Chris Gridley and Brian Chumney did a fantastic job of whipping this track into shape. I’d also like to thank Rich Quinn for helping us out in a pinch towards the end.

Miguel: I love the way sound accentuated the character design. Specific attributes set them apart visually, so how did you guys deal with the character design aurally?

Randy: From very early stages of animation we talked with the filmmakers about shaping the visual aspect of the dragon design so that it would open doors for dragon sound. Often, we wanted the dragon’s whole body to move or vibrate when it vocalized or shot fire. That way the sound could be more complex, and feel more fully integrated with the visuals. When a creature like a dragon simply opens its mouth and closes its mouth, without any other related body movements, it severely limits the kind of sound you can create. Toothless is a great example of the opposite. There are scenes where he does all kinds of interesting things with his mouth and lips during each vocal. That opens the door to creating a voice with more character.

Al: In addition to vocal aspects of the dragons, as Randy describes, I’d like to credit our foley team with helping to create the body language of the creatures. We were looking for specific characteristics of skin and body movement for each of the dragons. They did a fantastic job of making Toothless sound “reptilian”, creating the perfect claws for the Monstrous Nightmare and the Zippleback and adding wing and tail sweeteners for the others.

Jake: One dragon related aspect in the film I wish they would have explored more was that loud sounds affected the beast’s vision. I can remember just the one shot of sound blurring the dragon’s POV. It could have been such a cool sound element for the film! Was there any desire from the filmmakers to expand this plot device? Were there any sounds that you created that motivated the filmmaker’s direction, editorial, or design?

Randy: I remember having some early discussions with the filmmakers about the Gronkle having blurred vision when it’s confused by loud sound. As you know, I always like to take sonic advantage of POV moments. We didn’t use it extensively in the film, but I agree it’s a cool idea, and worked well.

Al: One important and obvious use of sound to motivate was Toothless’ “sonar”. A concept implied in the movie is that the dragons can sense and possibly communicate with each other outside of our human perception. This concept is presented in our first flight to the hive – the cave on Dragon Island. Astrid and Hiccup are riding on Toothless and their romantic flight is interrupted when Toothless senses danger and is aware that he is surrounded by thousands of other dragons. Later when Stoick has captured Toothless, he uses Toothless to direct the ship to the island. You’ll notice a specific flutter that Toothless produces. This is a sound that the filmmakers spoke of very early on. They wanted to imply that dragons communicate the way whales or insects do. Randy created a few ideas early on and they literally dropped right in on final animation.

Miguel: Let’s talk about “Toothless” the “Night fury” dragon, who is a really important character in the film. He doesn’t have recognizable dialogue so the sound design did all the talking. How did you handle the “voice” of this special dragon and can you elaborate on his fire breathing attack? (You can hear the fire blast but it also has a kind of plasma gun feel to it…)

Randy: The Toothless voice has some horse elements, whale elements and tiger elements in addition to vocalizations and breaths that Al and I did. The big cat stuff was useful for the aggressive Toothless; and the horses, whales, and human stuff was the “softer,” more sympathetic side of the character. Al, what about the “plasma gun”?

Al: Toothless endears himself to us pretty early on and he’s pretty darn cute. But, as Hiccup reads in the book of dragons, the Night Fury should not be engaged. The best thing to do is “pray he does not find you.” So, this dragon is dangerous. With that in mind, the directors wanted to present him almost like a fighter jet in attack mode. He has that rising tone and various tonal whooshes that aurally represent his stealth and speed. In addition, his blasts are more than just gas and flame. Toothless packs a mean punch with his fire. We based his fire sound on this concept and then ultimately on the visuals. They are these colored, laser-like blasts. Also, fire contains such broad, noise based frequencies which are hard to articulate in a fierce battle. Quick, plasma like blasts stand out amongst the roaring and screaming and percussion and brass.

Jake: From accentuating anger to evoking contentment, why does vibrato (the best way I can describe the sound) in animal vocals/breathing create such emotive sound? One scene in particular was when Hiccup finally gets to touch Toothless. How were the dragon’s vocals used to convey what it was feeling as it touched a human for the first time?

Randy: Purring is a sound that humans respond to very emotionally. I guess it’s some sort of primitive, brain stem thing that gets passed on through the genes. I had conversations with Chris and Dean very early about Toothless purring when he’s happy. It works so well in that sequence because the animators made him vibrate a bit as he purrs. One odd thing about the emotional spin of a purr is that there is a fine line between purring and a certain kind of low growling. A purr strikes us as being a happy or sympathetic sound, but a growl is almost always angry. I remember listening to some big cat purrs that were right on the border, and I was concerned they might be interpreted as a growl.

Miguel: How did you approach the work on the queen dragon? The sound made the audience feel it’s enormous size. I especially love those moments when you start to hear it’s growls in background, makes you feel there’re something unimaginable lurking in the shadows. How was sound perspective at play when much smaller dragons we’re battling this Juggernaut?

Al: The visuals for this beast came later and I remember thinking cool and at the same time holy cow. Or holy dragons! I think it’s final name became The Red Death. This creature is much more the classic dragon we’re used to. It’s not emotive. It doesn’t have inflection. It’s just pissed. Her source of food has been taken away and her comfort level is at an all time low. The goal was low lows to define the size of this thing but also high screeches to let us know it’s angry. Also, knowing it was going to be part of a battle involving multiple dragons, we wanted to keep her voice separate from the others. Her lows were pitched layers of animal vocals mixed with my own bellows through a huge 12” round by 16 foot long pvc pipe. I was hoarse for a few days after that one. The highs were Styrofoam and metal scrapes combined with bird vocals. In the end, Randy saved the day with some bellow sweeteners that really sold the creature.

The other thing to note (due credit to the directors) is the first time we’re introduced to this creature is just after we meet the smallest, most pathetic Gronkle in the history of dragons. This is a great example of how to establish scale.

Miguel: The moments where Hiccup rides “Nighty fury” are just amazing! Lot of mixed cuts, different POV’s, and beautiful landscapes. How were those dragon-flights scenes approached? And what about the mixing process there?

Randy: Lots of decisions to make in sequences like that, and mixing is all about making decisions. John Powell’s beautiful score rules certain moments and sequences; wind, wings, and whooshes rule others, and in a few the music and sound effects are about equally strong in terms of loudness. I love POV cuts. It’s one of the things you can take advantage of in film sound that you could never do in theater sound design, where the point of view of the audience never changes.

Al: Pete Horner cut many of these scenes using Randy’s palettes of winds and whooshes. Every single perspective change was cut and split for the mix. In addition to the many winds and whooshes, there were multiple layers for the wings, various cloth and leather elements for Toothless’ flight apparatus and a variety of low end, sub sweeteners. We kept all of these elements discreet throughout the final mix process.

Jake: During the scene where Hiccup and Astrid fly together there is a section where Toothless’s wing flaps become very delicate, almost serene. Are delicate effects like that more challenging to design than louder ones? What other examples of overtly graceful sound design like that can be found in the film?

Randy: Everything Al does is overtly graceful. I’m the sledgehammer guy. Just kidding, Al isn’t that overt. It’s true that sometimes delicate or quiet sounds ARE more difficult. The kinds of wing sounds that are the easiest to make are short duration flaps. Slower wing movements, and soaring kinds of sounds are harder to fabricate. I often start with a recording of wind, then doppler shift it at various durations. The real trick is in finding the right kind of wind. In the Skywalker sound effects library we have more than a thousand different wind recordings, and every one of them has a unique set of spectral characteristics. For a subtle wing flap I often like to start with a wind that has lots of highs and some lows, but not much between 400Hz and 4000Hz. The mids will make it seem harsh, but there is something ethereal about the highs and lows together.

Al: In the beginning I found it curious that Randy was so specific about exactly these scenes. I figured, its flying and music, what’s the big deal? I’m flattered that Randy says I’m not overt. It took some work. In the beginning Toothless’ wing flaps were like grandma in army boots. The lesson is, don’t play the visual, play the emotion. Ultimately, what’s the most romantic sound? It’s wind. The wings are almost implied.

Again, it’s this wonderful opportunity to take advantage of the mentorship that Randy provides. He’ll explain conceptually what we’re going for – subtle, romantic. And then, he’ll show you techniques such as volume graphing the peaks and using eq to eliminate the mids. Then, suddenly, you’re overtly graceful.

Erik Aadahl has worked in animated films such as “Kung Fu Panda”, “Monsters vs Aliens”, and currently in “Shrek: Forever After”. Here is an interview I had with him, talking about his work on that kind of films.

DS: Animation is not a genre and the way to deal with sound in animation films is different from the way you work with sound in a typical film, but there’s one thing: you have to create a whole world starting from computer animated graphics. Do you find something special in animated films? Any difference you find compared with the rest of films?

EA: Animators are extremely detail oriented, and compared to other filmmakers can be much more detailed in their notes.

In sound, like animation, we start with a completely blank canvas. Actors’ dialogue is typically ADR, so the production track is exceptionally clean. This helps our sounds live clearly and precisely in the track.

Beyond clarity, animation is a very fun medium. You get a little more latitude with what is believable. Starting with “Kung Fu Panda”, and continuing with “Monsters vs. Alien”s and “Shrek: Forever After,” we’ve tried to stretch the boundary of the believable.

For “Kung Fu Panda”, the challenge was to keep things whimsical. Our first instinct was to go “big and bold”, which is what our directors John Stevenson and Mark Osborne had asked for. But after playing a first pass of bad guy Tai Lung’s prison escape to Dreamworks Animation studio head Jeffrey Katzenberg, we learned that we were definitely working in a different medium, with different acceptable decibel and violence thresholds. “Panda”, which was aimed at family audiences, challenged us to find ways to make the track interesting without being an assault; to make things dynamic and exciting, but also pleasant, playful and easy on the ear.

So for “Panda” making things musical became our central strategy. This is not new to the Kung Fu genre. Kung Fu films are all about rhythms, beats and hyper-expressive, often musical and tonal sounds. Sound effects editor P.K. Hooker put together a collection of Kung Fu movies, from classics like “Iron Monkey” to newer films like “Hero” and “House of Flying Daggers.” What these films all have in common are intricate rhythms, where punches sound like percussion, most impacts have a WHOOSH leading into them, and the sound effects are often indistinguishable from music.

In “Monsters vs. Aliens”, we felt we could be more comic. The movie is a spoof on monster and sci-fi films from the ’50s, which is fun because we could pay homage to classic vintage-type sound effects, playing on clichés with a wink to our film sound history. This was the film that led to our first theremin experiments, which we elaborated on in Transformers 2.

I think my favorite thing, looking back, in “MvA” was one sound challenge we gave ourselves. When we designed Galaxar’s giant space ship, the principle for making the sound effects was to make every sound using our mouths only. Almost everything in the ship, from the space hatches to the hover bike to Galaxar’s laser gun was recorded vocally and then processed (or not). This sort of thing would be a lot harder to pull off in a live action film.

DS: How is the work with the directors and the animation crew? What is their interest to sound in the pre and production process?

EA: I think most people in animation are very aware of how important sound is to bring the picture to life. That’s why so much work is put into sound on these films very early. In fact, it’s the first thing they do. All the actors’ voices are recorded first, and animators then spend years animating to those vocal performances. Similarly with sound effects, years before we start on the film, the picture editorial crew puts together an intricate temp effects track. Over time, as shots go from storyboard through animation and lighting, the picture slowly catches up to the temp sound track. Then we jump in with our sounds.

We could see how energized the “Panda” team became when we first started sending fresh sounds; that in itself became an inspiration to us.

We sent picture editor Clare Knight FX mixes as often as we could, getting notes and evolving the track so that by the time we got to pre-mixing, everything had been heard and approved by the filmmakers.

We also got a longer schedule on “Monsters vs. Aliens”, but one comment we got in the early days from directors Conrad Vernon and Rob Letterman was: “It doesn’t sound big enough”. We realized the problem: our sounds were being monitored on stereo speakers in the editorial room, often dialed down to play against the dialogue and temp music. So we thought we’d better get a full 5.1 presentation with a bunch of scenes temp mixed in the ProTools to squash the “size issue”. With a sub channel the size complaints stopped.

One of the sequences we chose to present was Susan’s (a.k.a. Ginormica’s) arrival to Area 51, where she slowly learns that she’s trapped in a monster prison. This turned out to be our favorite sequence. The entire bit relies on sound design, with no music for the first few minutes, cuing Susan to explore her mysterious new home. We pitched the idea of playing sound effects only. Perhaps by luck, or maybe by design, we avoided going the music-driven and traditional route.

DS: In “Monsters vs Aliens” Ginormica has to sound “big”, Insectosaurus is a beast-insect, or in Kung-Fu Panda you have the little master mantis and the beast Tai Lung. What were your thoughts about the sound of these characters when you saw it on the sketches and then in the animated sequences? How does the sound help to improve the character design on those films?

EA: I think character design is one of the most important parts of our job. We are literally doing a performance for a character, the same way an actor would.

Po the Panda’s style of fighting is using his rolly-polly body weight to deflect and bounce an attacker’s power right back at them. So for this, we played with “boing” sounds. Supervising sound editor Ethan Van der Ryn built a “gut-bucket,” basically an iron bucket with a tensioned string that we could pluck and bend notes with. I did a design pass on these recordings, making escalating magnitudes of bouncy deflection as Po’s skills developed.

In “Kung Fu Panda”, each character represents a different style of Kung Fu, represented by a sonic signature: Mantis is based on wood-instrument ratchets, with doppler zips as he flies; Tigress is based on swift vocals, tennis racket whooshes and precision jabs; Crane is based on feathers and wings; Monkey is based on swingy whooshes; Viper is based on snake rattles (made out of serrated air hisses), and villain Tai Lung is based on sheer brute force, contrasting Po’s rubbery-ness.

Making sounds for characters in “Monsters vs. Aliens” was pretty similar. Our heroes, Susan (the 50 foot woman), B.O.B. (the blob), Link (the swamp thing), Dr. Cockroach, and Insectosaurus (the giant furry bug) all have their own individual soundscapes.

Susan has thunderous feet, designed by sound effects editor John Marquis.

Bob has gloopy blob sounds, created with our mouths, suction cups and latex stretching recorded by sound effects editor P.K. Hooker. Link is all about flippers and gurgling water (my throat was raw after this session). The Doctor is all about the sci-fi mad scientist inventions surrounding him. And Insectosaurus, voiced completely with sound design, is a cute version of the classic giant monster Godzilla, created with metal wails, a pig and a kazoo. The filmmakers mentioned “Godzilla’s” vocal as being created by a sharp metal screech, and wanted to achieve that feel.

DS:  One of may favorite characters on “Monsters vs Aliens” is Bob. Great and funny sound design on it. I think you had a lot of fun, I guess). How was the sound of “Bob” created?

EA: BOB was lots of fun. P.K. did a bunch of recording sets using pudding and jello, and actually got sick after eating too much while recording. After the session, there was pudding splattered all over the canvas tarp we had protecting the carpet. Listening to those recordings still makes me nauseous.

P.K. also found some big sheets of latex off the internet. To this day we’re not sure about the true business of the supplier. Those sounds wound up being used for BOB’s stretchy and elastic components.

The core design elements used for BOB were made using our mouths; suction pops, juicy lip smacks, wet tongue wiggles. BOB’s eye movements were exclusively mouth sounds and tongue clicks. For his arms and body, I layered these mouth sounds with our latex and foley toilet plunger sounds. Depending on the moment, we’d adjust the proportions of mouth to latex or plunger, and that combo of sounds was basically the sound of BOB.

DS: Do you have some filed recording stories on the sound of those films?

EA: When we started recording for “Panda”, we tried to get into the spirit of the genre. It seemed the classic Kung Fu “whoosh” and “punch” could be a starting point. We spent some days on the Hawks Stage at 20th Century Fox when its DFC mixing console’s system software was being upgraded, an used the space to do a complete “whoosh” recording set.

Foley stages are sometimes a little small when recording things on long tethers swooshing around the room. The Hawks Stage is a big space and has an exceptionally low noise floor.

One of the the first things we recorded in there was a jagged piece of metal that we attached to twine and began furiously swinging past the microphone. The slicing sound it made whipping though the air was fantastic. As I checked my recorder meter, I heard a SNAP! and looked up to see the jagged piece of metal, no longer attached to the twine, hurtling through the air.

My heart skipped a beat as I contemplated the damage that jagged metal piece could do to the extremely expensive and newly-installed silver screen in the mixing theater.

It missed.

whew.

We continued to record anything swing-able, from bamboo sticks, to pool cues, wood flutes and spatulas. I think we have around a hundred different varieties of whooshes from that session. Certainly one of the weirdest was a suggestion of sound effects editor Paul Pirola: 30 feet of bungee cord stretched and released across the stage. That sound became Po the Panda’s slow and relaxed whoosh.

We also recorded a bunch of Chinese instruments for “Panda” that later became character sounds: wood blocks, Tibetan chimes, a ringing bowl and gong.

At one point, John Stevenson requested a “sloshing of noodle soup” in Po’s belly as he moved. To attempt this sound, Ethan Van der Ryn wrapped a Sparkletts water bottle in thick cloth, and we recorded those sloshes with varying amounts of liquid. Dan O’Connell also contributed some water balloon gurgles and squishes to the mix. We kept these elements on their own pre-dub to dial in as needed.

We also had some fun recording crowds. Two hundred Dreamworks animators volunteered themselves on “Panda” and “MvA” to perform big exterior crowd sounds; sceaming and cheering for a whole variety of situations. At Dreamworks Animation studios in Glendale there’s a lovely courtyard with a massive fountain that was shut off and surrounded with hoards of sleep and UV-deprived animators that were ready to seriously release some steam.

DS: And what about foley?

EA: Working with Dan O’Connell, John Cucci and James Ashwill at “One Step Up” Foley is always a pleasure. The team is so creative and fast; they just nail it. On each of the three films we spent several days each recording “Wild Foley,” big sets of sounds that fit into the effects palette we need. For “Panda” we recorded punches, which we designed into Kung Fu smacks, and bells, swords and knives, snake slithers, whooshes and whip cracks, mystical chimes and anything pertinent we could think of.

We also spent this time establishing personalities for all the character’s textures and footsteps.

For every film, we typically shoot “cloth tracks” that for animation is especially important. It gives movement and life to a scene, subtle movements of the characters that is critical to create intimacy when a production track is absent. On these animated films, our cloth track is a dizzying melée of cloth, silk, nylon, fur, feathers, hair and any texture required.

For “Monsters vs. Aliens”, Dan gave us tons of great foley material. We did extensive sets of metal screeches, metal slides, air hatch releases, weapon action, and coiled spring twangs and zangs. The more I do this, the more I realize that there is no difference between sound effects and music … both tell a story, it’s just the instruments that vary.

DS: There are a lot of intense fight scenes on Kung-Fu Panda. How were the sound design decisions there?

EA: It’s all about the rhythms. Bottom line. Period. Whoosh and punch. I think of the punches like musical beats, like a drummer drumming. We pick the rhythm: musical and expressive.

The classic “Kung Fu” SMACK! was a sound that took a while to figure out. Both Dan O’Connell and I suffered some bruises smacking a variety of objects into our legs. Interestingly, the sound that reminded me the most of the classic Kung Fu WHACK! wound up being a slowed down chopstick impact.

DS: In Kung Fu Panda the story is in China, in a very cultural valley, and in “Monsters vs Aliens” you have earth, monsters, space and sci-fi stuff. Two different perspectives but the same things to deal with: time and space. How was the sound design approach to give believability to the historical time and the space?

EA: We’ve heard from some Chinese fans that our sounds were very authentic — a lot of this may have been accidental luck, because realism was secondary for us in these films.

We did pay deference to certain cultural sounds. We recorded a bronze singing bowl, ancient prayer bells and chinese gongs for sounds for Master Oogway’s mystical sonic palette. Shifu was much more authoritarian in his sounds, precise and quick whip slashes. We used a slicing spatula for a lot of his movements.

But when it came to “MvA,” there was little connection to reality. The sound for Galaxar’s spaceship was a Didgeridoo.

DS: Every DreamWorks animated film has a lot of funny scenes and unexpected dose of laughter. There’s a way you treat the sound to enhance these comic moments?

EA: Comic timing is a lot of it. With “Panda,” I think the filmmakers wanted to treat the genre with respect, but still be playful. In their storytelling, they timed the scenes out for certain beats, certain realizations and moments. I think it’s important to think of sound “in the moment”, a constant “river of tao” experience that helps tell the story in an unfolding, visceral, and emotional way.

With “Monsters vs. Aliens”, we played our sounds more hyper-real, more neon. I love listening to the old Hanna Barbera collection of sound effects. The sounds are pretty low-fi and gnarly, but also very fundamental and expressive. From the Dreamworks logo on, we tried to capture that spirit.

When it comes to comedy, it works a lot like music does: if you time it to follow a certain rhythm, it’s funnier. Try it.

A Bug’s Life at IMDb