Filmmaking Deep Dive: Sound Design
Added 2023-09-13 15:01:13 +0000 UTCFilmmaker Alan Seawright does a deep dive on sound design - what it is, how it works, and why it's important. He takes a look at two films with very different sound design, a "big" sound design scene from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and a "small" sound design scene from A Quiet Place. Let us know in the comments what other deep dives you'd like to see from Alan!
Resources:
Sound Design of the Lord of the Rings trilogy: https://youtu.be/J1SRFZo2IXI?si=VqL2UdYtAnwfW2WH
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Sound Design with Ben Burtt: https://youtu.be/Gmt1t-BOGCA?si=MmunRa1ZSkaJ0gl0
RocketJump Film School Sound Design ft. Kevin Senzaki: https://youtu.be/zkNNeZ_NrSQ?si=P_7sR5ndVASiNpaY
Comments
I would love to hear more about the stuff you mentioned towards the end- footsteps, ambient noise, wind. Thank you for all your videos!
Emma Thomson
2024-07-18 13:14:56 +0000 UTCI think sound editing differences of how sci-fi movies and televisions show handle "filming" in space would be great. From the unrealistic loud noises of Star Wars to the more realistic silent void of Firefly. Would be really cool to compare and contrast between those and other wonderful examples 😁.
SaucyJTD
2024-04-13 18:31:23 +0000 UTCThanks so much for doing this, Alan! I love to learn about all of the different facets of telling great stories. I hadn't thought about that intent behind the battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort but I remembered that feeling when I watched the clip and having you put words to it made it click instantly for me. I'd love to see a wide variety of technical topics, costumes, make up, lighting, camera angles and the length of a shot, props, sets, I wanna hear about all of it!
BJ
2023-12-25 11:50:15 +0000 UTCThese deep dives are amazing for those who want to do something in film and maybe don’t know what all’s out there. Really good (but couldn’t go too loud as I wasn’t watching with headphones 😇…)
Kristin Fitch
2023-11-20 00:12:30 +0000 UTCOh cool! I will look his stuff up!
Donut_Worry
2023-10-01 06:44:54 +0000 UTCJosh Harmon popped up on my feeds recently (probably because I typed foley in this post) and he’s been a fun find. He’s not an actual foley artist (I don’t think), but he does fun bits. He’s on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. Thought you might enjoy following him too.
Heather Scherr
2023-10-01 00:37:25 +0000 UTCAs for other technical topic ideas: I’m interested in light and colors. Not just the lighting of scenes, which is for sure interesting and worth discussing, but also how they choose to manipulate light and color in post (saturation, tinting), what colors are chosen for sets and costumes, and probably lots of related things I don’t even know about. I had never watched Treasure Planet, but, of course, I had to before I could watch the CT video, and I was really struck by the light and illumination used in the animation. I didn’t really come to a conclusion about what it meant (besides highlighting the actual treasure), but I really noticed it. Not saying you need to go into that specifically, but it’s an example of thinking about light “beyond the bulb”.
Heather Scherr
2023-10-01 00:28:51 +0000 UTCSound design or being a foley artist seems like such awesome jobs! But also a lot of work haha.
Donut_Worry
2023-09-28 04:57:06 +0000 UTCOoh! Yeah, most modern shows still use foley! This is a great idea. We'll see what we can conjure up. -alan
Cinema Therapy
2023-09-27 22:01:13 +0000 UTCI am not sorry at all. -alan 😈
Cinema Therapy
2023-09-27 21:59:38 +0000 UTCDon’t be, like I said it was very amusing. 😂 Also, I’m a very anxious person, so jump scares are like leap scares. On top of that, Raycon headphones…so great 360 audio. 😊
Hannah Rose 🥀🎵
2023-09-26 00:35:47 +0000 UTCVery interesting! Would love more examples or discussion with a pro in the field. I used to watch BTS about foley artists when I was growing up. Do modern films still use foley artists to generate custom sounds for each scene or do people pull from digital libraries of sounds instead?
Heather Scherr
2023-09-22 23:56:49 +0000 UTCSorry (kind of!) about the jump scare! 😆
Cinema Therapy
2023-09-21 03:44:47 +0000 UTCSo, I followed the directions (like a good student) and turned up the volume…I nearly had a heart attack. I didn’t see the jump scare coming because I haven’t watched all of A Quiet Place. So, I literally jumped out of my seat and let out a huge f bomb. It was very amusing.
Hannah Rose 🥀🎵
2023-09-20 22:38:59 +0000 UTCi absolutely loved this. i often wonder when - besides the Oscars - sound professionals get a magnifying glass on their work. i too loved the Harry Potter scene and the Quiet Place movies for the exact same reasons. i also tend to enjoy westerns like High Noon and No Country for Old Men that use less score and more sound design to tell a suspenseful story.
Lynettra
2023-09-20 19:31:02 +0000 UTCYYASSSSSS 🤩 I couldn’t love this more. And it makes so much more sense to me and my brain (and is just extra nice ofc) coming from Alan :) This is exactly what I’ve been dyin to hear about (and keep bugging y’all about in the Q&A 🙃) So, yes, please more. More on sound design (esp what sound design helps a space feel open/vast or close in/tight and what is it in sound that causes that sense of impending doom) and on the other areas production, too. I particularly wanna hear about camera angels and movement and how they can nearly determine the viewer’s experience or interpretation of what’s happening in that moment. Love this. Thank you Thank you! 🩵💛🍿🥤
slothtopus
2023-09-20 08:06:04 +0000 UTCThis is great content, thanks for giving us some insight!! I also loved the 101-style video where you taught a knowledge-challenged person (in this case Jono) and teach them about the filming process (in this case, setting up lighting). I learned a lot and would absolutely watch more!
Jennifer Veloso
2023-09-20 02:27:16 +0000 UTCLove it! The details, including all the sound details, are what make movies work!
Sara Hall
2023-09-18 19:28:16 +0000 UTCThank you Alan! This is great. Yes please, more! Interviews with Sound Designers like EJ Holowicki (Brave, SW7:Force Awakens, Ready Player One) or Walter Murch (The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, The Engligh Patient) would add amazing insights into the sublime magic of the work we have the pleasure of experiencing. I've been fortunate enough to have talked with each of them and their passion for the process and subsequent results is inspirational.
Dave Shultz
2023-09-17 08:31:18 +0000 UTCThis was so good!! All the things you mentioned at the end of the video sound great. I’d also love more things on musical scores and soundtracks and how music is almost like another character in the movies, cuz I strongly believe that it is. Or at least that it can be when done right. 🎶
Elizabeth McDowell
2023-09-16 03:36:32 +0000 UTCSo interesting, thank you! Would love more content on technical stuff. For example camera perspective. I haven't seen A Quiet Place yet but I noticed the camera placement for the shot of Emily Blunt and how it's directly in front of her and her face is open and "readable" and the next shot on John Krasinski is from the side and a bit frog perspective and it gives the feeling "Okay he's the hero". Could maybe be a Deep Dive with Jonathan because why does the "hero" always have to be unreadable? :D
Raika
2023-09-14 20:55:39 +0000 UTCAgreed!
Sadie
2023-09-14 02:24:42 +0000 UTCThis was awesome! Thank you. Yes, I'd love more of this and more of anything that goes into making the magic that we don't necessarily usually think too much about.
Emily Powers
2023-09-13 17:37:50 +0000 UTCI see what you did there. I mean... hear what you did there.
Cinema Therapy
2023-09-13 16:50:19 +0000 UTCYay! More Alan wisdom! Sounds like a great time; I'm all ears!
Smidge
2023-09-13 15:57:51 +0000 UTCThis was fascinating and I'd love to see more, not only on sound design, but on all those different jobs that contribute to the art of filmmaking. Thanks for the deep dive!
Michael Charboneau
2023-09-13 15:45:33 +0000 UTCI’m wondering if you could do a compare and contrast between different studio designs of the same movie or series. I commented on the My Neighbor Totoro video on YouTube that there are 2 different versions of the film, Disney and 20th Century Fox. Other than the voice actors, they handled sound design differently. For instance, the Disney version’s opening song is off rhythm by a split second compared to the original and the cat bus sounds are more subdued. I’m wondering what the reasons for some of these changes could be and your opinion on them. Also I love you guys and what you do immensely. Please never stop.
Rayne Summers
2023-09-13 15:18:44 +0000 UTC
