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 … [Read more...]
Chuck Russom Special: Using Sound Libraries
One of the readers asked if I could give some tips on how to process library sounds and what to do when you can’t record your own source. It is a common misconception that sound teams that work on films, AAA game titles, or teams that do a lot of sound recording do not use commercial sound libraries. The fact is, no matter how large the budget, or how much time you have to … [Read more...]
Chuck Russom Special: Recording Dry Ice
Dry ice is a lot of fun to use for making noise. Touching metal objects to a block of dry ice creates some really cool squealing/whistling/screeching sounds. This is because the metal surface is much warmer than the dry ice and it causes the dry ice to quickly turn to gas. Some of the gas is momentarily trapped between the two surfaces, and when released through a small … [Read more...]
"The Hurt Locker" – Exclusive Interview with Supervising Sound Editor/Re-recording Mixer Paul Ottosson
Some days ago, I asked to Paul Ottoson for an interview on the sound of "The Hurt Locker". That was days before the Oscars night, so he becomes very busy, but he made an effort and sent me the answers to all the questions I did. Many thanks, Paul! Designing Sound: Tell us... How did you get involved with "The Hurt Locker"? Paul Ottosson: I got a call from one of the producers … [Read more...]
Erik Aadahl Special: Reader Questions
So, this is the end of the Erik Aadahl Special. Hope you've enjoyed it. Here are the answers to all the questions made by the readers on comments, email, twitter, etc. Thanks for participating! Designing Sound Reader: Hi Erik, I see you're using the 191 for most of your SFX gathering. Do you ever record in other stereo formats like XY or ORTF? Erik Aadahl: Some people find … [Read more...]
Erik Aadahl Special: Editing for the Mix
When it comes to preparing sound effects for a mix, there are lots of ways to approach things; I don't claim this to be the end-all methodology. For this article, I'll be slanting discussion towards sound effects, regretfully leaving out music and dialogue. I'll be covering two avenues of mixing: traditional mixes and Icon mixes. OVERVIEW The art of mixing is the art of … [Read more...]
Erik Aadahl Special: The Sound Design of "Transformers" [Exclusive Interview]
Unfortunately, the Erik Aadahl Special is coming to the end. Here's the last interview I had with Erik, this time talking about the sound design on the two Transformers films. We talk about everything, from the initial aspects to the creation of the robots sounds, the mix, and more. Designing Sound: Let's start with the beginning... what were your initial thoughts about the … [Read more...]