"The ultimate metaphoric sound is silence. If you can get the film to a place with no sound where there should be sound, the audience will crowd that silence with sounds and feelings of their own making, and they will, individually, answer the question of, "Why is it quiet?" If the slope to silence is at the right angle, you will get the audience to a strange and wonderful … [Read more...]
Game Audio: Getting in
While this blog is usually reserved for Sound Designing and the Designing of Sound, a recent blog post by Samuel Justice titled: "Getting your first gig in the world of game audio" woke me from my sound bathed complacency and desperately urged me to put pen to...uhh...blog post. Readers of this stream of sound related goodness will be no stranger to the idea of getting in, … [Read more...]
Harry Cohen Special: Opening Inglourious Basterds
I got Harry Cohen on the phone to talk about one of my favorite scenes, the opening of Inglourious Basterds. There's nothing big or over the top in this scene, it just an excellent example of subtle technique in support of the moment. In the course of the chat, we occasionally diverge into some interesting work-flow tangents. Hope you enjoy it. Designing Sound: The scene was … [Read more...]
Harry Cohen Special: Collaborating with Oliver Stone and Quentin Tarantino
It’s still Harry Cohen’s month here at Designing Sound and now is the time to dig into two of Harry’s most celebrated collaborations: his prolific work with Quentin Tarantino and Oliver Stone. Harry has been an integral part of the Tarantino Sound Team since the first Kill Bill in 2003 and was the sound designer on Oliver Stone’s three latest films, World Trade Center, W. and … [Read more...]
Harry Cohen Special: Sound Design Moments Re-visited
[Written by Harry Cohen] I wanted to write a different kind of article, one that indulges my more geeky-tech side. While the main source for material remains great recordings, there are lots of times when we find solutions to problems in processing; these days that mainly means plug-ins, but that was not always so. Sometimes, looking back, I see creative sound design moments … [Read more...]
SoundWizardry – Sound for Heroes of Newerth
It's great when you come across someone who is open enough to post a step-by-step brain dump of their sound design process, and especially welcomed when the audio comes married to video pulled directly from a game you can all run off and play. After digging through his spell book of secrets, it's clear that Glenn Goa (@SoundWizard) has got the sound design bug and a deep urge … [Read more...]
SFX Lab #3: On Transformation
[SFX Lab, the laboratory of sound effects, a place dedicated to experiment and explore sound libraries. The main goal is to hear what happens when sounds of a specific kind are combined, processed, and transformed in several ways.] Over the years, transformation of sound has become a giant field that barely touches the infinite. Sounds can be manipulated in a lot of … [Read more...]