Comments on: The Sound of “Prometheus” https://designingsound.org/2012/05/25/the-sound-of-prometheus/ Art and technique of sound design Wed, 06 Jul 2016 17:09:44 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.9 By: Michael O'Connor https://designingsound.org/2012/05/25/the-sound-of-prometheus/#comment-3407 Sat, 09 Jun 2012 20:33:13 +0000 https://designingsound.org/?p=12774#comment-3407 Just saw Prometheus last night and I don’t want to give anything away, but in regards to sound the movie certainly conveyed an amazing variety of atmospheres, emotions, and thrilling effects with their approach to sound design.

I want to congratulate the sound team as the film sounded amazing as far as technical qualities are concerned, as well as their conceptual choices for the movie as a whole. (I could talk praise for a good day on this movie there’s so much I enjoyed)

However….
One element that really took me out of the movie was the fact that inside the spaceship which the humans arrive in, all the dialogue sounded way too dry/ADR’d, and the performance which the actors gave seemed unbelievable to me. For example:
As the crew is either landing/taking off, and there is obviously a lot of ambient sound in the spaceship with the engines boosting and the ship shaking, they all speak at a really calm and low volume, as if they were on a perfectly quiet ship (which I am sure they originally intended to have) and in real life there is no way, being 5, 10, 20 feet apart from one another, would they hear each other. I thought if their dialogue levels were more true to the environment, where they were raising their voices to hear one another, the sound designers could have taken advantage of the use of reverbs to form the acoustics of the ship and make the audience feel like they were there in the ship.
I asked my friends who went with me if they noticed this, and they didn’t, so I know it’s likely something only sound people will notice, but I believe the power of acoustics is very strong on the viewer’s subconscious, especially in helping them truly believe the performance.

I’m curious to see what others who saw the movie thought about this subject in particular, so please, share your thoughts on this topic if you have any.

]]> By: matous https://designingsound.org/2012/05/25/the-sound-of-prometheus/#comment-3406 Wed, 30 May 2012 12:59:48 +0000 https://designingsound.org/?p=12774#comment-3406 I think hybrid is the way to go. Weird HW fx chain can bring much more personality than you’d get with plugins. But on the other hand big part of the whole process can be done ITB very effectively and without loosing anything.

]]> By: ToddsterPonyhof https://designingsound.org/2012/05/25/the-sound-of-prometheus/#comment-3405 Sat, 26 May 2012 03:41:14 +0000 https://designingsound.org/?p=12774#comment-3405 I can’t believe so many movies are still mixed using this workflow. I”m sure it’s gonna sound great, but. Using external processors, fx pedals, recording for each pass. Just seems crazy given where the technology is at. I worked on a film where all the audio / score was done in the box and it was amazing how smooth the workflow was. Sounded amazing as a bonus.  I know some folks (usually older folks) say “You gotta use a big analogue console and, and outboard gear!” but I just don’t buy it. Folks used to say you had to edit film using actual film as well. 

]]> By: Graham Donnelly https://designingsound.org/2012/05/25/the-sound-of-prometheus/#comment-3404 Fri, 25 May 2012 11:45:42 +0000 https://designingsound.org/?p=12774#comment-3404 Fantastic Article. Really great to read about certain processes and methods that were used throughout the design and mix.

It’s also nice to note that this review names the majority of the sound team, not just the supervising sound editor etc.

Anyway, I didn’t think it was possible, but I am even more excited to see this Film now.

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