We’re starting off September’s special with an exclusive interview with our guest Paul Davies, discussing inspirations, creative methods, techniques, and how an inappropriate sound can sometimes come in handy.

Designing Sound: How did you get started in sound design? What’s been the evolution of your career?

Paul Davies: My early interest was in electronic and experimental music, in particular people like Brian Eno, Cabaret Voltaire and contemporary composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen, John Cage, Terry Riley and Philip Glass. I set up a small 8 track studio with a friend, who was a sound artist, in the mid ‘80s, partly to produce our own work but also to record other bands and musicians around Cardiff, South Wales, where I lived at the time. I became involved with location sound recording for very low budget films by local filmmakers, and I also composed some music for these films as well.

With this material I applied for the sound course at the National Film and Television School which is based in Beaconsfield just outside London. For most of my time there I was mainly interested in location sound recording and re-recording mixing. It was only when the School obtained their first hard disk sound editing system, an 8 track AMS Neve Audiofile that I became more interested in the creative possibilities of sound editing, as I realised that with this technology I could start working with sound for film in a similar way to my work in electronic music. After graduation I worked for a time as a freelance sound recordist, sound editor and re-recording mixer on a variety of projects, factual TV, short films, corporate productions and low budget film.

Then in one of the most important developments in my career I joined the staff of a well-established family run London sound post company Videosonics, as sound editor. The owner Dennis Weinreich, showed in a great deal of faith by employing me, despite my limited CV at that time, he obviously saw something in me that could be developed in the future. At that time Videosonics was starting to branch out from sound post for TV productions in to feature film sound and Dennis had made a significant investment in building a THX accredited re-recording stage based around an AMS Neve digital console. Because of being in the right place at the right time I was given the opportunity to work on a large number of feature film projects as sound designer and supervising sound editor, including films such as Love is the Devil by John Maybury, Ratcatcher by Lynne Ramsay and The Filth and the Fury by Julien Temple. I became freelance in 2000 and worked with Lynne Ramsay on her next film Morvern Callar as well as sound designing the horror film The Hole.

I then set up a small independent sound editing company PDSoundDesign a couple of years later, which I ran for several years with premises in the West End of London and employed a number of people who have now gone on to become established sound editors in their own right, such as Jack Gillies, Antonia Bates, Anna Bertmark and Peter Shaw. During that time we worked on films such as The Jacket, The Merchant of Venice, The Proposition, Kinky Boots, The Queen, Hunger and The American.

I am currently setting up a sound design, supervision and mixing company called The Project, with an old colleague from my Videosonics days, the re-recording mixer and sound supervisor Andrew Stirk, who has worked with the likes of Shane Meadows, Pawel Pawlikowski and Paul W.S. Anderson. This year I have completed work as sound designer on my third Lynne Ramsay feature We Need to Talk about Kevin, and I have also been developing my career in film sound education with my appointment as external assessor of the sound course at the National Film and Television School in the U.K.

In another recent development and a return to my roots I’ve recently contributed additional music cues to two films I’ve recently worked on The American and We Need to Talk about Kevin, the material I’ve contributed might best be described as “ambient music/sound design”. I’m not intending to set myself up as a film composer as such, but I think there is an increasing requirement for elements in the soundtrack that fall between the gaps of sound design and music, that are tonal and atmospheric but also seem to convey some emotion and are distinct from the atmospheres and backgrounds that might conventionally be cut.

DS: Has working in the UK influenced the way you think about sound and film industry in general?

PD: We have a strong social realist tradition in the UK, which puts the emphasis on good location recording and good dialogue mixing with little apparent room for an expressionistic use of sound. However, I’ve discovered along the way and learnt from others that in even the most apparently naturalistic drama or rigorously observational documentary there is room for sound that subtly enhances the drama and narrative. The first significant film I worked on that I felt my contribution as a sound designer was crucial was a film about the British painter Francis Bacon called Love is the Devil, written and directed by John Maybury who came from a video art background and had been a collaborator of Derek Jarman, this film came out of another British strand that of highly visual art films as best exemplified by Jarman himself and Peter Greenway. I was able to create a highly stylised soundtrack for this film and one which was in tune with my personal tastes.

Working with Lynne Ramsay on Ratcatcher, however forced me to revaluate my work, one of Lynne’s major influences is the work of Robert Bresson and her instinct is for a simple, spare soundtrack (on the surface at least), as opposed to the multi-layered complex soundtrack I favoured and had employed on Love is the Devil. Ratcatcher is a film that at first appears to be in the British social realist tradition, however I soon discovered that underneath this was not quite the case and that its soundtrack could in reality be stylised albeit in a more subtle way then in the way I had worked previously. I must also acknowledge the work of Lucia Zucchetti, the picture editor on Ratcatcher and Lynne’s previous short films, her use of atmosphere and subtle use of sound effects in her cutting copy were useful indicators and clues about the direction I should head in with the soundtrack.

DS: What are your biggest influences inside and outside the world of sound?

PD: My biggest influence in film sound was the work of Alan Splet and David Lynch, with Eraserhead in particularly being a fundamental and profound influence. It was with this film that I realised that what I thought were two mutually exclusive worlds that of sound art and experimental music and film could be combined in a new and very exciting way. I was also influenced as were many sound designers by Apocalypse Now and the way that the sound in that film conveyed such a powerful, expressionistic and elemental energy.

Two filmmakers that had an early influence on me and made me realise that film could be an art form as well as an entertainment, were Nick Roeg and Werner Herzog. I think that Nick Roeg’s The Man Who Fell to earth was the first time I had left a cinema although a little baffled and bemused by what I had seen, I was unable to get the film out of my head and found myself thinking about it for days afterwards. I also admired the dreamlike atmosphere of Herzog’s films and liked his atmospheric use of the music of the German group Popul Vuh in his soundtracks. One other very important formative influence was a book written by the composer Michael Nyman “Experimental Music, Cage and Beyond”, exploring the work of John Cage, Gavin Bryars, Steve Reich and others which I had borrowed on a whim form the local library. Reading this book led me to the realisation that music could consist of sound as well as just musical notes and that “organised sound” could be an art form in its own right, and that the bedroom experiments I’d been carrying out using a cassette recorder, an old ¼” tape machine, electric guitar and amp maybe had some validity after all.

DS: What do you love most about sound design?

PD: That it is invisible, so self-effacing and often taken for granted, but that it is also so subtle yet powerful and fundamental in its effect on the image. How meaning can be changed by different sound choices and how there is always something more to learn and improve on.

DS: How has the evolution been for you as an artist of sound? How is the balance between your craft and art in your career?

PD: Film sound is a craft, indeed there are people working in the industry (perhaps a giveaway term), who regard it as no more than that, and that it is pretentious to think otherwise. However like photography it is a craft that can also become an applied art and also a fine art, and often all three at the same time.  What is unique about the craft of the sound designer is that although our work is often “invisible”, and we ourselves are often self-effacing, and reluctant to term ourselves artists, it is at its best when it is closely embedded with the image on the screen, then it is an art. But, also equally there is much to enjoy about the craft of sound editing, cutting foley/sound effects in perfect sync, taking ADR sessions and working with actors, solving technical problems and planning tracklay and mix schedules, all these can have their pleasures, though at the time in the midst of things it may often not seem that way.

DS: How do you deal with writer’s block? What kind of methods you have for getting ideas?

PD: When stuck, whether for what sort of specific sound effect or how to approach a scene or even an entire film, then I find a useful motto is “do something stupid”, by that I mean put an apparently unsuitable and inappropriate sound against the scene, and see what effect it has combined with the picture. It will probably not work, but will often by its presence provide a clue about what you should really be doing. On a more practical level, the best advice I was given when starting out was: “don’t get bogged down, keep moving on”, working in this way by just tracklaying, often when you go back to revise the tracks, you find that what you had cut is not so bad after all and provides a good basis to improve on, and I’ve always found it easier to revise, rather than looking at a blank set of tracks.

DS: You’ve been working in a lot of different formats – both fiction and documentary, both features and tv. Which things do you find interesting on each of those? Any favorite and why?

PD: Variety in my work has always been important for me, it has been good for example to move from my last film with Lynne Ramsay “We Need To Talk About Kevin”, onto a family fantasy drama “Neverland” and then to my current film a Luc Besson produced Sci-Fi action film “Lockout”.

Although what might be termed “art-house” or “independent” cinema is my natural home, I do welcome the opportunity to work on more mainstream or genre projects.  In the UK we have a strong television drama tradition, and most Sound Editors and designers work or have worked in both TV and Feature film. A background in television drama, encourages discipline, pragmatism and the realisation of the importance of hitting deadlines. Directors expectations, in TV drama are mostly no different from those of their feature colleagues, it’s just that the schedules are a lot tighter in TV.

I’ve worked on two very different feature documentaries, “The Filth and The Fury” about the Sex Pistols, and “Crimson Wing” a natural history film about flamingos in East Africa for Disney Nature. Both were extremely enjoyable to work on, and it is a regret of mine that I haven’t had the chance to work on more documentaries. It’s an even bigger regret that I haven’t had the opportunity to work on any animation in my professional career, as this was something I had enjoyed at the NFTS, which had and still has a very strong animation department.

DS: You’re quite often collaborating with the same directors over and over again. Does this mean that you’re involved early on in the proces? And how do you prefer to work with directors

PD: Not as much as I would like, this is certainly the way I work with Lynne Ramsay, and have done since Morvern Callar. With Lynne I see treatments and early drafts of scripts and discuss ideas and concepts for the soundtrack, which then influence the script. However, increasingly in the UK, the sound team is often bought in late in the day, and has little opportunity to discuss sound design requirements with the director beforehand, which I think is a matter for regret and a lost opportunity. Because, I think a film really does benefit, if sound concepts and ideas can be discussed in pre-production at least, if not earlier.

DS: Which are your favorite tools?

PD: Nuendo for sound editing and its midi capabilities, Mackie’s Tracktion for its simplicity and therefore suitability of use as a “sketchpad” and its time stretching and pitch shifting capabilities, Various Native Instrument plug ins especially Reaktor 5, for its idiosyncratic user library, and last but not least my Zoom H4n for its portability and 4 track capability, great for recording quad atmoses with its internal mics and a set of miniature DPAs.

DS: What’s your favorite films for sound?

PD: As mentioned above “Eraserhead” and “Apocalypse Now”, but also “A Man Escaped” by Bresson, “Solaris” by Tarkovsky, “Mon Oncle” by Jacques Tati, and other Lynch films such as “Dune” and “Blue Velvet” in particular were big influences.

DS: What has been your most challenging project and why?

PD: I’ve worked on a few films that have had their challenges, but usually for the wrong reasons! I think the most challenging project, but also the most rewarding I’ve worked on was We Need To Talk About Kevin. I feel this film represents a big development in Lynne Ramsay’s filmmaking style, and the soundtrack had to follow suit. This soundtrack is more obviously stylised then in her previous work , but still retains the minimalist aesthetic of her previous films. I wanted with this film to try and make the soundtrack as perfectly integrated as I possibly could with the image and narrative, and this was helped because I was able to come on board the film much earlier than is usual, and was able to work closely alongside Lynne, Joe Bini her editor, and Lynne’s husband and co-script writer Rory Kinnear.

The cutting room was based in an apartment in Islington and the atmosphere was a very family and collegiate one, far removed from being stuck in some stuffy Soho cutting room. I must also mention the very important contribution to the soundtrack of re-recording mixer Robert Farr and foley supervisor Barnaby Smyth, who were both a joy to work with and instinctively understood what Lynne was looking for in the use of sound for the film. I think we have succeeded in some small way with our aims for this film, because the imagery and narrative is so strong, the soundtrack had to live up to what was on the screen. This was my most challenging but also most rewarding project to date.

DS: What would be your advice for any sound designer out there?

PD: Always keep on developing and learning, never think that you “know it all”, as I move on in my career, I’ve come to realise how little I know and how much I’ve still to learn about what makes a truly effective soundtrack that exists symbiotically with the picture and truly enhances and serves the drama.

DS: What are you currently working on? And what’s next for Paul Davies?

PD: As I mentioned earlier I’m currently working as the Supervising Sound Editor on a Sci-Fi action film, produced by Luc Besson and directed by two Irish directors Stephen St. Leger and James Mather. We’ve just finished the sound edit where we’ve been based in Dublin, I’m happy that I’ve had the opportunity to work again with Vincent Hazard as my sound designer on this project, Vincent and I have worked on many projects together in the past most notably on “The Jacket” where we worked together on the sound design. We are going to mix the film in France and I’m looking forward to working at Digital Factory in Normandy in their huge main mixing stage.

After this, I’m happy to say I will be working on a feature documentary with Andrew Stirk and I’m also working on a new project with Lynne Ramsay. In addition in discussions with a major music company about a production music library project utilising my ambient music/sound design.

It’s time for another “Behind the Art” interview, the section of Designing Sound created with the goal of studying the artistic and creative aspects of sound design. We’ve asked one of the most prolific sound designers right now, Craig Berkey, to share some thoughts with us.

Just recently, Berkey has been the sound designer for both the latest mutant magnum opus, X-Men: First Class, and Terrence Malick’s poetic The Tree of Life, winner of this year’s Palme d’Or in Cannes. Two very, very different movies which just goes to show the diversity of Berkey’s impressive career. Berkey has been in charge of the sound department on blockbusters like I, Robot and Superman Returns but has also collaborated closely with sound supervisor Skip Lievsay on the four recent films by the Coen brothers, including No Country for Old Men and True Grit – which resulted in Berkey receiving three well-deserved Academy Award nominations, two for mixing and one for editing.

The Vancouver-based Berkey shares thoughts on music, philosophy and experimentation – and how the net has helped his creative process.

Designing Sound: Could you describe your sound design philosophy? What’s sound design for you?

Craig Berkey: Sound design for me, in the world of film, is the overall thought/concept and execution of the entire sound-track. Philosophically my role as a sound designer is to help filmmakers achieve and exceed their aural aspirations for their films. I approach this with an ears wide-open attitude. I like to get a feel for the film I’m working on, not by me deciding what I think it should sound like, but by letting the images and sounds present at the time of my initial viewing soak in. This experience, in conjunction with discussions with the filmmakers, helps me discover any unturned stones the sound team can work towards revealing. If I am not open to original ideas at the start and forge ahead with the soundtrack, it can be nothing more than previously expressed concepts, perhaps with different execution.

DS: How has this philosophy and approach to your work changed through the evolution of your career?

CB: As I have grown in my career and learned more about the effect that sound can have on the viewer, I’ve learned to disregard my initial reactions to instead explore new ideas. Basically I’ve been trying to unlearn everything I’ve learned along the way as early on we are taught to approach sound in a more predictable manner. This doesn’t always work out but sometimes you get to a place that you never would have otherwise. This approach can be like photography where you may take one hundred photographs and have only two or three worth keeping. At the beginning of my career I was frustrated at the lack of a creative vision around the soundtrack. This was the result of having many sounds from various departments appear at the final mix each feeling independent, missing a sense of wholeness. These results were inevitable as traditionally most of the people would have worked on these elements in isolation and when they arrived on the stage it would be the first time everyone had heard their materials together. Sometimes this approach would work out however typically we could only get to the point where everything was covered and nothing was too loud leaving no room for new ideas or time to explore. With this in mind, I started to take the approach of pulling sounds together early in the process and make some decisions around what to lose and what to keep before the final mix. I felt this worked better but at times may have gone too far and tried to control the process too much. Now I try to combine the two styles of working by still trying to find a creative direction early but still leave room for experimentation.

DS: How do you like to start a project? Do you start building a sound map from the script, storyboard or any early description of the project?

CB: Ultimately I am looking to define a method to help the filmmakers and sound team work together during the editorial process to integrate sound and picture early on. I like to start a project by determining what the narrative is “really” about; this is where the ears wide-open part comes in. It’s really all about understanding the Filmmaker’s vision. We’re there to bring their vision to life and if we don’t fully understand it then we won’t be successful. Every situation is different, sometimes I can gather lots of information through the script, other times watching the filmmakers previous films or sometimes just through in-depth discussions around themes, character arcs, etc.

DS: How much experimentation is present in your sound design process?

CB: The more I do this work, the more I try to move away from known concepts. A simple example would be when I bring a sound onto the Pro Tools timeline I tend to drag and drop it somewhere near where I think I might want it and play it as opposed to the exact spot one would expect. It may be completely wrong in that position, but once in a while something magical happens that sparks an unexpected idea and result. Another idea would be to take several random sounds and place them on adjacent tracks and play them all together and see what happens. The key is to be open to new ways of working at all times so that I don’t get stuck into one specific approach but rather keep my mind open to experimentation.

DS: How do you prefer to work with directors? You have a very tight collaboration with a handful of directors, Terrence Malick, The Coens, Joe Wright – they all seem to be very different personalities, though.

CB: I have been very fortunate to work with an amazing array of highly creative and talented directors that value the critical role sound plays in the filmmaking process. It is my goal to create a unique sound signature for each film I am involved in. To do this, I prefer to work over a long period of time as opposed to the more traditional approach of doing all of the editing in the last few months of post production. Having enough time to get into a filmmaker’s head and experiment with multiple ideas is optimal. This approach gives us the time to reflect on approaches taken, and provides us with the ability to iterate and elevate a soundtrack. Every director has a different style. Joe has a rhythmic/musical bent, The Coens a precise sparseness to their direction and Terry with his separation of image and sound is each served best by a longer term sound development period. For me this also includes the mix. Having existing relationships with filmmakers dispenses with the “getting to know you” period and allows us to spend our time focused on the film.

DS: You spent two years on and off working on The Tree of Life. How do you maintain inspiration and creativity during such a long process?

CB: The entire experience was creative throughout thanks to Terry who is a highly inspirational visionary. Terry didn’t want me to watch the complete film for quite a while, he was more interested in discovering ways to use sound in the smaller sections to help us feel something different than what the image may be telling us. Initially he had me create sounds based on his verbal descriptions without any imagery. He then followed up with targeted sections of film for me to design to but they were in black and white. As the film progressed, he then sent full black and white reels for me to respond to. Eventually we got to the point of viewing the whole film, which led to further explorations of using sound to relate sections together. For example, the backgrounds used in the forest in the “natural history” section are the same as in the forest where young Jack and his brother are shooting the BB gun. When I’m mixing with Terry he directs me as he would one of his actors. “Craig, imagine you’re a drunken baby, take those whispered lines and weave them around”. How could that not be something that keeps you creative?

DS: What are your biggest influences? Which are your favorite films for sound?

CB: Growing up I rarely went to the movies but I do remember seeing Barton Fink and hearing the desk bell ring endlessly over several strange cuts of the lobby. It moved me and inspired me to follow a path in sound. Little did I know that years later I’d get the opportunity to work with Skip Lievsay and that he would become an amazing collaborative partner and inspirational force in my career.

DS: Do you have any kind of musical background? Your work in films like No Country for Old Men, The Tree of Life and The Soloist has been extremely musical – do you collaborate closely with the composer?

CB: I am a musician at heart. I have played guitar for almost forty years. When I graduated from high school I worked as a classical guitar teacher while also playing in a rock band at night. During this time I played about four hours a day. I believe this immersive experience influenced my work profoundly. I much prefer to have sounds play in some kind of rhythmic relationship as opposed to being just in sync with picture.

Whenever possible I prefer to collaborate closely with the composer. However because of everyone’s demanding schedules it rarely works out that way. At the very least, because of my preferred work method of having mixes done early and integrating the sounds into the editor’s tracks throughout the editorial process, the composer can hear what we are up to by working with actual materials and building upon them.

DS: Quite often, you’re working as both sound designer and re-recording mixer. What does this mean for the way you work?

CB: I can’t really delineate between the two it is all interconnected in my mind. How can I know if the sounds that I am working on are appropriate if they are not mixed? How can I mix without sounds that I think will work in the film? I mix as I edit. As a sound ends up in the timeline volume, eq, panning and reverb etc. are addressed. After I finish a section I’ll go back and tweak and try different things. I used to cut the start and end of sounds in sync with picture, but now I generally toss it in there and grab the fader and mix it in and see what inspires me. On a surface level, the session doesn’t end up “looking” very good. There are sounds all over the place that look like they cut on and off but if you look at the volume graph and hear the result you’ll see what’s happening.

DS: You live in Canada but mix in several different places – LA, NYC, London. Does this influence your approach to sound design in general?

CB: The internet is a great thing. I am very lucky that I can work in my home studio and travel to mix projects. This has an effect on my approach in that I have to be very self contained. I have to be able to easily take my mix anywhere in the world, set it up quickly and have it translate. I travel with my drive, iLok and Wacom Cintiq. Although I’ve mixed on several different consoles, I discovered a while ago that because of the way I work I don’t really need a traditional console for the final mix. Instead of having to get used to a new setup for each final I have started bringing my setup with me. When we mixed Hanna in London, the engineers at Pinewood asked me how I would like the System 5 setup. I kindly asked them to take it out a put a flat surface in its place, after they stopped laughing they said “really”. They removed the System 5 and it worked out great as I could work with gear I was comfortable with which is best for the film. We had a D-Command for dialogue as well as the System 5 for music. One thing to keep in mind is that this approach only works if the filmmakers have heard and tweaked the mix up until the point of the final mix.

DS: Finally, what would be your advice to any sound designer who wants to find/enhance his artistic vision and personal creative approach?

CB: The most important thing is to listen…. Listen to films, listen to your peers, listen to your instincts, listen to music, listen to nature……

David Poland has made two great interviews at DP/30. In one he talks with Greg P Russell about the sound of ”SALT”. The other one is with Mark Stoeckinger, talking about the sound of “Unstoppable”. Both are relatively “long” (33 and 45 min respectively) but fascinating.

And even better: they not only talk about their respective projects, but also discuss a lot of interesting thoughts about the craft and art of sound, including sound recording, editing and mixing, relationship with clients, conceptualization on sound, collaboration in a team, technical and creative challenges, different roles in post-production sound, and more.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Via CSS Studios | DP/30

I’m not talking about ambiguity. When the viewer or listener comes to your work, it’s OK to be ambiguous. The best art and design only goes halfway: The viewers themselves must ideally step up to the work and actively engage with it (or be engaged by it) in order to leave a significant emotional impact.

This is where a lot of abstract art fails. Too much mystery with too little to draw emotional interest can render the piece inaccessible even to willing viewers, a reaction that many have to the works of Rothko and Pollack, and even the much-maligned Wolff Olins Olympic logo design. Music can do this, too, when compositions are too abstract and even alienating, whether it’s some of the later works of Autechre or the atonal and complex works of Ligeti. But by leaving a few things tantalizingly uncommunicated, the audience can really engage their senses and curiosity to create a lasting impression which they, themselves, have helped create.

Ambivalence doesn’t lie in the work, or in the audience…it comes from the maker of the work. Ambivalence can be the result of making arbitrary decisions for the sake “done.” It can also come from facing an issue with the work and ignoring it or punting on it for later, and never circling back around to it.

Continue reading…

Welcome to the first installment in a series of articles featuring our amazing guest Peter Albrechtsen. This one is an interview I had with him, where we talked about several things, including the evolution of his career, influences, creative methods, techniques, and more. Hope you enjoy it.

Designing Sound: How did you get started in sound design? How has the evolution of your career been?

Peter Albrechtsen: As a kid, I loved two things: movies and music. My dad had an enormous collection of classical music and I was trained in classical piano for ten years – without ever becoming a virtuoso in any way. But it meant that music was all around, and when I got into movies – I was a big, big fan of Hitchcock – I also listened to soundtracks. It wasn’t until I attended the European Film College in 1995/96 that I had this epiphany that sound for film was the way to go, the way to blend music and movies. It felt like entering a new world that I wanted to explore infinitely.

I got into The Danish Film School in 1997. I was still very much a youngster, but during those four years I learned a lot of technical skills and met a lot of inspiring people. My graduation movie had a pretty crazy soundtrack – it was my attempt at saluting Rumble Fish, one of my all time-favorite sound design movies. One of many wild ideas was to put some of the dialogue on vinyl and get a dj to scratch the lines into the film. Some people thought we went much too far, but a lot of people loved it as well and it meant that I got this reputation of being ’the crazy sound guy’. And it got me working with a lot of people who really wanted to explore what sound design could do.

I’ve been working as a professional sound designer and re-recording mixer for 10 years now and I’ve had the good fortune of working with a lot of wonderful directors and being part of a young generation of skilled sound designers – and at the same time learning a lot of tricks from local veterans of the game. Here’s some shout-outs to Kristian Eidnes Andersen, Peter Schultz, Nino Jacobsen and especially Kasper Val, who’s one of Denmark’s most experienced mixers, lately he did The Killer Inside Me – I’ve worked with him on 10 feature films. Thanks!

I simply feel very privileged to be able to do this for a living. It’s very rare that people’s greatest passion is also their work. It’s amazing.

DS: How has living in Denmark changed the way you think about sound and film industry in general?

PA: As far as I know, The Danish Film School is one of the very few film schools in the world where sound people are trained both in production and post-production sound. This means that you’re learning the needed professional skills not only as a boomer and a production sound mixer but also as a sound designer and sound re-recording mixer.

For the first couple of years after the school I went back and forth between production sound recording and sound designing and that taught me a lot about the whole film process. Of course, I got to know about the technical issues about production sound and how much skill it takes to capture clean dialogue on set. But just as important, I got to know a thing or two about what happens on set: How is the interaction between the director and the actors, and what does it take for an actor to create a believable character? These are valuable lessons for everyone working in post-production as so much of our work is based on the performances captured on set and we need to know how to enhance them and tell the story.

No matter what your job is on a film it’s important to remember that we’re all storytellers and the more we know about all the elements of a story, the better storytellers we become.

I love to work abroad, but generally I just feel very lucky to be part of the Danish film business at the moment as there’s so many gifted directors working here right now. Denmark is a very small country – only 5 million citizens – but the movie business is pretty healthy and several Danish films are travelling the world on the international festival circuit. It feels good to know that someone out there is watching. And hopefully listening, as well.

DS: What are your biggest influences inside and outside the world of sound?

PA: I will evaluate on this in one of this month’s articles but music is really a key inspiration for my work. I’m a big fan of the music magazine The Wire, and each month when it hits my mailbox I always get new amazing input for my work – it’s filled with brilliant articles on modern music, all the way from electronica and sound art to noise and pure avantgarde. Reading about the musicians’ working methods and their use of sound manipulation is immensely inspiring. And it’s so well-written that it doesn’t even matter if I know the musician in advance. Quite a feat!

Generally, though, there’s so many fantastic sources of inspiration out there. The internet is filled with great sites dedicated to movie sound design and it’s so cool how the net has made the global sound community come together. I’m in touch with a lot of sound guys and girls on both Facebook and Twitter which has even made it possible for me to travel around the world and meet foreign sound designers. I’ve met several of the sound people that I admire the most, and who have been a big influence on my work. I’ve even been able to collaborate in some way with a few of them – an amazing privilege!

Biggest influence outside the world of sound? Well, is there a world outside of sound? I think it was A Guy Called Gerald who once said that the world is built of atoms revolving around each other and these create waves which basically are sound. This means that the whole world is actually built upon sound. But joking aside: It’s worth remembering real life now and then – it can bring some awesome gifts and input.

Peter Albrechtsen at Abbey Road

DS: What do you love most about sound design?

PA: It still feels unexplored. There’s still so much to investigate and so many possibilities which haven’t been tried out yet. You can keep on recording sound and own the world’s largest sound library and still you won’t necessarily have the appropriate sound for a certain moment. If you think about it, it’s a bit nervewrecking as you can never feel safe. But I love that there’s no definite answers and so many unique ways of playing around with sounds, on several levels and at several levels.

At the same time, I love that sound has such an incredible influence on us and we’re not really aware of it. Of course, this means that sound is now and then the neglected part of filmmaking because people aren’t really aware of its indescribable impact. But it also means that we can get away with amazing things: When I see a door getting slammed in the picture I quite often cut in a frame of a hand grenade exploding to make the slam seem bigger and give the door a bit of personality – you can feel that the person slamming this door is really angry. It’s a subconscious way of telling a very basic story. But you would never be able to do something like that visually – obviously you couldn’t cut in an explosion visually without everyone noticing it. But when you’re in the audience and see a door getting slammed, you automatically reckon that the sound you’re hearing is the actual door. That for me makes sound the most powerful and incredible part of the movie experience.

DS: How has been the evolution of you as an artist of sound? How is the balance between craft and art in your career?

PA: I am a craftsman, of course, but I try to avoid getting too caught up in all the technical issues. I think there’s too much focus on the technical stuff in the sound world. I love finding a new plugin that can inspire me creatively, and I try to stay in sync with all the technical updates I need for the work I do. But at the end of the day, those things are just nice gadgets.

Last year, I did a documentary about a couple of wounded Danish soldiers in Afghanistan, and the thing that inspired my work the most wasn’t a new sample package or a new hyper-advanced digital tool. No, I had the fortune of talking to a soldier who had been part of the war and his stories were really inspiring – he told me about how he heard the war and this experience I tried to channel into the sound design I did.

Generally, a lot of our work as film sound people is about communication. It’s important that we’re able to communicate with producers, picture editors, composers, other sound editors and, most importantly of all, directors. I’ve actually argued that communication courses should be a part of the training at the Film School.

I’d say that a big part of my evolution as a sound artist comes from me getting wiser, older, more experienced and a lot better at communicating with people and understanding what a director wants. And yes, I’ve also learned a lot from just goofing around with weird sounds and working on lots of very different projects with so many inspiring and talented people. Of course you have to learn the craft – but there’s many ways of getting there. And would I really call myself an artist?

Nope, not really. I’m a sound nerd who loves to tell sonic stories.

DS: What would be your advice for any sound designer out there?

PA: I guess the above covers a lot of my answer for this one: For me it’s important to be creative, experiment and challenge yourself. Be brave and have fun. I don’t think I’m in a position to tell people what to do, though. I just hope my upcoming articles this month will be a bit of inspiration for someone out there. Otherwise, my advice would be to read some of the other articles on this wonderful site. Miguel, keep up the great work!

DS: How do you deal with writer’s block? What kind of methods do you have for getting ideas?

PA: Once again, this really links back to my previous answers. There’s many, many ways of getting inspired, and this site is filled to the brim with inspiring input. Indeed, the web is a wonderful source of inspiration, including all the brilliant personal sound effects libraries that are popping up at the moment. Music is often my way out if everything fails, though, and just taking a walk with my invaluable iPod can be a real eye-opener. Or ear-opener.

DS: You’ve worked as both editor/designer and mixer. What is the relationship you find between those crafts?

PA: I really love going back and forth between supervising, effects editing and mixing. Supervising a movie is a lot of fun because you oversee the film from beginning to end – I often get involved at the script stage when I’m supervising. It’s also a lot of hard work, though, because there’s so much logistical stuff to take care of and sometimes it can be a bit frustrating spending all day on the phone and writing mails instead of playing around with sounds. That’s why it’s nice getting hired as a sound effects editor now and then – I don’t have to worry about any practical issues and I can just play around with sounds and be creative. Being a mixer, on the other hand, is a very demanding job as you’re finalizing the whole film – but it’s also a very fascinating process as it feels like you’re sculpting the whole soundtrack and making the film come fully alive. I think you become a better sound editor if you know a lot about mixing, and vice versa. These crafts are closely connected and for each project I learn new tricks for one of them which inform the other: Both on a creative level and especially when it comes to organizing the sessions and sounds. No wonder that more and more sound designers and supervisors in the US are mixing as well – it just feels natural.

DS: What are your favorite tools?

PA: I’m sorry, but I haven’t found a secret tool that no one else has told you about. I use Pro Tools. I use a bunch of plugins which aren’t that fancy. And I record lots and lots of sounds on my recording devices: a Sound Devices 744T, a Schoeps MS set and three small handy recorders, both Edirol, Zoom H4 and M-Audio Microtrack (yes, I’m a fan of those small devices as it’s now possible to do quality recordings of all the amazing sounds you stumble upon each and every day). It’s a cliché, but it’s true: It’s not about the tools, it’s about who uses (or abuses) them.

DS: You’ve tasted several flavors of sound design. From feature films, to short films, documentary, TV series, etc. What things you find interesting on each of those? Any favorite and why?

PA: I really like going back and forth between these different formats and categories. It’s inspiring. When I’m in the middle of my work, I’m not really thinking about the genre or the format, though. Of course there are some pratical issues regarding the sound mix that makes, say, a tv series and a feature film very different – and I really miss the dynamics of the cinema when I’m mixing for tv – but basically it’s all a question of how to use sound as a storyteller. I couldn’t really say that I have a specific favorite format. I hope that I can keep on working on all of them.

DS: What has been your most challenging project and why?

PA: For me, every project is a big challenge: The challenge is to stay creative and not just fall back on your usual bag of tricks. Evolve, improve and tell stories which will hopefully touch or affect people in some way.
Being a bit more specific, though, it felt like quite a challenge to work on Lars von Trier’s Antichrist. Trier’s brilliant sound supervisor for many, many years, Kristian Eidnes Andersen, hired me to do ambiences and supervise and record the foley. For me, Trier is one of the most interesting and original filmmakers alive today and of course I wanted to do the best job I possibly could. And I think the hard work paid off.

Generally, though, I get closely attached to the work I do, and I can’t really highlight one project at the expense of another – it’s like having to pick the favorite between your kids. It’s. Just. Impossible.

DS: What are your favorite films for sound?

PA: For me, Apocalypse Now is really the film. It’s a mindblowing masterpiece that keeps on inspiring me and the sound design has all the qualities I love: It’s deeply subjective and highly creative, dynamic, wonderfully textured and very, very musical. But of course there are lots and lots of movie soundtracks that have inspired me during the years. I already mentioned Rumble Fish and generally Coppola’s films from back then are mesmerizing: The Conversation, The Godfather etc. He even produced another sound classic, The Black Stallion. The sound designer of that one, Alan Splet, did so many amazing tracks in collaboration with director geniuses such as David Lynch, Carroll Ballard and Peter Weir. Other milestones of sound design history are of course the works by Ben Burtt and Gary Rydstrom. And, in my opinion, Ren Klyce is now continuing that impressive Northern Californian legacy.

But besides all the US stuff there’s so much great sound being made around the world. Mexico has the wonderful sound designer Martin Hernandez, in Argentina Lucrecia Martel’s movies utilize sound in extraordinary ways, and here in Europe I love the sound being done for the films of Dardenne brothers and Michael Haneke – both aren’t using any score. In the UK there’s also great stuff going on, and sound designers such as Gleen Freemantle, Joakim Sundström and Paul Davies are doing awesome things. Davies’ collaboration with Lynne Ramsay and his work on Hunger has been a significant inspiration to me. As I said, there’s so much good stuff and I didn’t even make place for film history giants like Sergio Leone, Jacques Tati, Robert Bresson, Andrej Tarkovsky and Terrence Malick. The list just goes on and on.

DS: What are you currently working on? What’s next for Peter Albrechtsen?

PA: At the moment I’m in Norway mixing a film called Babycall. It’s starring the wonderful Noomi Rapace who played Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo which I also worked on. This new film reminds me a bit of Roman Polanski’s great work – it’s a fascinating movie with lots of great sound opportunities.

2010 has been an incredible year for me: I started a sound studio in Copenhagen with five other Danish sound designers, tonemasters.dk, and I got to sound design a US indie film, which is something of a dream come true – and, most amazingly, I became a father. I agree when people say that having a kid just gets more and more mindblowing for each day and I actually have the same feeling about doing sound for movies: it just keeps on getting more and more interesting for each project as you learn new skills, get new ideas and uncover new sound secrets. It’s a wonderful ride and I hope it never stops.

Courtesy of Skywalker Sound

Welcome to “Behind the Art”, a new section of Designing Sound created with the goal of studying the artistic and creative aspects of sound design, featuring several interviews dedicated to explore the minds and creative approaches of professional sound designers out there, with the goal of expand our creative worlds and learn how others tell stories with sound.

There are a lot of fantastic articles and interviews dedicated to the technical side of sound design, but what about creativity? influences? collaboration? What make us unique in our jobs? How sound designers get ideas that help to create those fantastic sonic worlds from scratch? That’s what we’ll discover in this section.

For the first installment of the series, it’s a pleasure to share an interview I had with a man who needs no introduction in this site. Director of sound design at Skywalker Sound and one of the most brilliant minds of film sound: Randy Thom.

Designing Sound: How is the balance between art and craft in your sound design job?

Randy Thom: I sometimes think of the work as being about 33% art, 33% craft, and 33% human relations. I’m always disappointed when I see 95% of the energy in discussions about sound design being devoted to the craft part. It’s the easiest aspect to talk about, and the easiest to accomplish. The art and the human relations are hard to nail down conceptually, and difficult as hell to master in the day to day work. I see so many people who are ProTools wizards but don’t have a clue how to relate to clients and collaborators, and who seem lost when trying to make artistic decisions.

Designing Sound: How has your philosophy and approach to your work changed through the evolution of your career?

Randy Thom: Honestly, I don’t think it’s changed much, except that I’m quite a bit better at what I do now. Everything is informed by having worked on Apocalypse Now, The Empire Strikes Back, and Never Cry Wolf very early in my career. I was incredibly lucky to be able to work with Walter Murch, Ben Burtt, and Alan Splet when I was getting started. They all had very close and trusting relationships with their directors, and they all typically began working on each project very early, often before shooting even began. I think that early involvement is the single most important factor that allows you as a sound designer to do something interesting and truly useful in terms of storytelling on a film.

Skywalker Ranch, via Flickr

Designing Sound: When and how do you find inspiration/creativity? How does working at a wonderful place like Skywalker Ranch affect your creations?

Randy Thom: Inspiration is everywhere if you’re lucky enough to tap into it. Unfortunately that luck isn’t something we have much control over. At the beginning of a project I often listen to lots of sounds at random, with the script hovering in the back of my mind. Often I’ll hear a sound that makes a connection with something in the story that I wouldn’t have anticipated otherwise.  George Lucas has certainly given us an amazingly beautiful place to work at Skywalker, and I think the beauty of the location and the buildings does facilitate the work. I tend to feel at ease there, my mind reasonably uncluttered, and that helps.

Designing Sound: What are your biggest influences?

Randy Thom: In terms of people who design sound and mix, the three gentlemen I’ve already mentioned are way up there.  Gary Rydstrom is an amazing talent, awe inspiring. Ren Klyce is another unique talent. I’m influenced by other art forms too. I think painting has more in common with sound design than most people would imagine. The impressionists influence me, as do more modern painters and photographers. I tend to think that film sound design is more of an impressionist form than most people think. I’m writing an article about that now.

Designing Sound: How do you deal with writer’s block? What do you typically do in order to find the right sound or the right mix of several of them in a particular scene?

Randy Thom: Imminent deadlines often help alleviate “sound designer’s block.” Listening to sounds at random usually helps.  Thinking of the sounds in purely emotional terms, and trying to avoid thinking of them so literally often helps.

Designing Sound: How do you analyze the material you work on? What elements do you think are the most important to analyze in a particular scene or film?

Randy Thom: My main job is to serve my client. The client wants me to have ideas of my own, but sometimes my idea of what is best for a scene isn’t what the director is likely to think is best. So, I pay very close attention to what the director says, what he or she implies, and what the previous choices they’ve made tell me about what they will probably want for a given moment or scene.   So, I analyze everything I do through that filter. When I feel a potential conflict between what I want to do and what I think the director may want I will usually offer two alternatives, or at least prepare two alternatives.

Designing Sound: What do you expect from a script? How do you start to build a sound map from the script, storyboard or any early description of the project?

Randy Thom: I’m always hoping that a script will acknowledge that the characters in the story have ears. It’s heaven for me when a writer knows that the way a character hears the world around him has huge storytelling potential. The writer will then design scenes in a way that opens the door for those possibilities. I don’t try to build a sound map or a sound storyboard per se. I find that if I can make one of the crucial scenes work in terms of sound design early in the project that will inform the style of everything else I do for that project.

Designing Sound: How do you prefer to work with directors? What kind of things do you do in order to give directors what they want and without loosing your artistic style?

Randy Thom: I like to start very early, before shooting begins, but I don’t have to be on full time at that point. Sometimes just a few meetings and some email exchanges in pre production can make a huge difference in terms of the success of the sound design. That said, every director is different. I like to think I’m good at modifying my style to conform to what a wide variety of directors will need.

Designing Sound: You said in a SWC Profile that you have a philosophy in Skywalker about “editors thinking as mixers and vice versa”. Could you explain us what are the concepts behind that?

Randy Thom: That philosophy started with George, Walter, Francis, Ben and the rest of the Norcal bunch in the 1970s.  When you are editing sounds I think you need to experiment with and be conscious of the way the sounds work together in terms of spectrum, dynamics, dramatic flow, etc. though those are all characteristics usually more associated with mixing than editing. When you’re mixing sounds I think you need to experiment with making editorial decisions, by which I mean sometimes eliminating sounds, truncating sounds, and even rearranging sounds, though those are all actions usually more associated with editing than mixing.  We all know that the borders between the two disciplines are slowly disappearing. They haven’t disappeared yet, and clearly some people are better at editing than mixing, and visa versa, but the evolution toward one discipline is proceeding, facilitated by changes in technology.

Designing Sound: You talk about mistakes a lot, which you describe as something like “tools for the artist”. Could you tell us about some important mistakes that have changed the way you work with sound?

Randy Thom: Crazy though it sounds, I do think that accidents and mistakes are probably the main “technique” that drives innovation in every field. The trick is being able to recognize the potential benefits from events that are completely unanticipated.  The history of art, science, and engineering is filled with instances of accidents and mistakes leading to great insights.

Designing Sound: In an article on Filmsound.org, you say “The best way to find unexpected storytelling elements is to experiment”. But… When we should experiment? How much and how far do you think sound designers should experiment in their projects?

Randy Thom: Experiment as early as possible and as often as possible. Try lots and lots of things, whatever time will allow.  Make lots of mistakes early when they’re less expensive.

Designing Sound: You worked on the Scarface video game some time ago. Does gaming hold any interest for you today? Would you like to participate in another video game some day?

Randy Thom: Sure, I’m working on another one now. I think there is enormous potential for sound design as a storytelling tool in video games, though it’s still in its infancy.

Designing Sound: Finally, what would be your advice to any sound designer how wants to find/enhance his artistic vision and personal creative approach?

Randy Thom: Listen to the work of the masters, analyze it carefully, and then do lots and lots of wild experimentation on your own. There is no craft where you learn by doing more than in sound design.

Waves has published an interview with another guy from its artists team. This time is not a sfx guy… it’s a dialogue editor! and a great one: John Purcell, author of the wonderful Dialogue Editing for Motion Pictures: A Guide to the Invisible Art book. A very cool read for anyone:

What’s the main goal of a dialogue editor?

A dialogue editor is responsible for every sound that was recorded during the shoot. He takes the more or less finished film from the picture editor, makes sense of the edited sounds, organizes them, and finds out what works and what doesn’t. The dialogue editor wades through the outtakes to find better articulations, quieter passages, sexier breaths, and less vulgar lip smacks. He replaces washy wide-shot sound with clean close-up takes, establishes depth in otherwise flat scenes, and edits tracks for maximum punch and clarity.

Dialogue editors also work to remove the filmmaking from the film. Dolly squeaks, camera noise, crew rustling, and light buzzes must go; otherwise, the magic of the movies is compromised. These editors help present the actors in their best light, quieting dentures, eliminating belly noises, and sobering slurred syllables. And when the production sound can’t be saved, the dialogue editor is involved in the ADR process, that is, the re-recording of voices in the studio, to replace problem field recordings or to beef up performances.

Dialogue editing is all of these things and more. Dialogue is what makes most films work. The dialogue editor makes the dialogue work.

What are some of the problems you encounter as a dialogue editor?

There are two basic kinds of problems: production problems and problems with the tracks. Production problems include not getting all the materials that you need to get started, receiving materials that aren’t to spec, endless changes after the picture is locked, actors who can’t perform ADR, inexperienced directors who don’t have a clue, and producers who don’t pay.

Track problems range from problematic recordings to noisy locations to clothing rustle with lavaliere mics to off-microphone shots, to scenes that just won’t cut. The list goes on and on.

The greatest frustration of any editor is that there’s rarely enough time or money to give the film the love it deserves.

Continue reading…

Ben Burtt will give a lecture called “The Sound Behind The Image” at the 129th AES Convention.

Much has been documented about the technical history of motion picture sound. We know a lot about the story of microphones, loudspeakers, and optical, magnetic, or digital recording processes. Very little has been said about the aesthetic history: Why do sound people do what we do? What have been the creative achievements? The great ideas? How has sound been used to enhance the image and give vast dramatic power to the feature film?

“The Sound Behind The Image” will walk us through cinema history from the silent film to 1977 when Burtt designed sounds for Star Wars. He will talk more about the ART of film sound than the SCIENCE. He will pinpoint and show the moments in American film history that inspired and allowed him to learn his craft in sound design. Burtt believes a Language of Sound developed in the classic era that is still the basis for all our creative sound work today. Let us study, learn, speak, and enjoy that language together.

For more information about this lecture and the rest of the activities of the event, please visit the official AES website.

Via @RandyCoppinger

Detailed analysis on the beginning of cinema. The possibilities of film-making as a languaje, exposed from the perspective of the great editor (and first to be referred as “Sound Designer”).

Vía: U.S.O Project

Writing a piece on my approach to sound design is trickier than I thought it’d be. Being purely technical isn’t any fun. Creativity needs skill to thrive, so being overly philosophical was just noise. Plus no one works in a vacuum, so how does process and influence fit in? After a few failed attempts this is how it makes sense to me…perhaps it’ll make sense to you. Whether it does or doesn’t I’d love to hear your thoughts. Here we go.

Art vs. Design

A Designer uses skill and creativity to produce works beyond their own specifications and desires. I make this statement so that we all know why we are here. There is a lot of overlap with design and art, but what makes you successful as a designer are the very points where art and design differ. It’s like the difference between these two chairs:

In a prior interview I was asked, “What’s the most important thing about designing a sound?” The answer is, “Knowing why you are designing it.” As with any trade, there are many skills to master, but collaboration is the key piece connecting me to the answer of “why”.

I’ve broken Sound Design into the following skill sets; Technical, Creative, Experience and Collaboration. The first 3 overlap with art. The final…”the collaboration” or “the why”…is where I feel like it differs, and should probably be replaced with something like Vision for an artist.

In general, development for sound designers will start in the upper left corner and progress to the lower right corner. However, I can tell you that all of these quads should be lighting up through out your career. I’ve travelled recently to Africa and Japan and it made a huge impact on how I hear the world. You’ll have natural strengths and weaknesses on this grid…such is the case with me and coding. I’m incompetant as a programmer, and it is something I try to learn every chance I get. This is important because these quads are interconnected. Learning a computer language doesn’t just give me technical skills. Someday it will click for me, and I will be able to explore the other quads deeper.
…and now for my approach

Sound design really is a powerful tool for narrative and experience. Ultimately its my job to advocate, collaborate and excute this on behalf of the project. I look at the overall picture…understand what the project wants to be…hear in my mind what it is missing…and start thinking about how to do it. To help with this, I often imagine the director or producer as the 15 year old kid sitting there playing the game or watching the movie. They are the audience. What experience should they have and what should it sound like?

Now that I’m collaborating and the project’s sound design vision is forming, I can start production. I pull in past experience and intrinsic creativity; then execute based on my technical skills. If you’ll notice, I’m moving backwards on the grid I refered to above. The project collaboration provides the starting point for the other 3 quads. Now comes iteration. What you produce will eventually need to be evaluated…and so we flow back to collaboration…and thus the cycle continues.

Self Serving

The project is paramont in my sound design approach, but there are some wonderful self serving bonuses.

1) An audience or gamer will always have a unique aural experience. Even on projects firmly planted within an established genre, chances are there is something unique about it. You can use that for endless inspiration.

2) It keeps me fresh. With this approach, l often find myself in new territory. That could be recording interesting source material, using a new sound process, designing a new audio mechanic or reading philosophy (thats happening for me now). When I pull something off for a director from a long shot idea or something never tried before…its a thrill.

3) I keep learning. Letting a project challenge you outside of your comfort zone means you’re innovating. Our biz moves fast and breaking new ground is really highly valued

4) Producers and directors want audio to be a part of the creative process for purposes of influencing the design. It used to be that you did a great job when everything sounded amazing, but no one was supposed to notice. On a fundamental level it is still the role of sound to enrich the narrative without being distracting to the experience, but that is the case with ANY aspect of a game or movie. Furthermore, sound is now widely critiqued by media and fans. Its common to see fairly sophisticated analysis of sound in reviews and in fan comments. It becoming increasing clear that audio has graduated to being a part of the greater opinion feedback loop of director/producer> sound designer > reviewer> fan> director/producer > sound designer…etc.

Again I appreciate the opportunity to share my thoughts on sound design. I’d love to learn a little from you, so if you have questions or comments please don’t hesitate to ask.

Written by Andrew Lackey for Designing Sound.