Sound
Let's face it, sound is the most overlooked aspect of the filmmaking process. Mostly because all other departments are working towards the same goal, the image. Costumes, lighting, make up, casting, locations, camera department...all working to assemble shots that the director and producers have in mind. However, it is ironic that if the sound isn't done correctly, no one will watch the product. All the hard work that the lighting team did, costumes, make up, the list goes on....all wasted because the audience can't stand to listen and therefore misses the image or at best is distracted by the awful sound and still misses the image!
When sound is done properly it's presence is unnoticeable. Think about it, when was the last time you walked out of a theatre and said, "the sound was amazing! I have to go back and listen to that movie again!"? Unless you're an audiophile like yours truly you've probably never said that and that's fine but we must understand the gravity that sound brings and its importance in cinema.
Great, high quality set recordings coupled with intelligent and well planned sound design can yield some truly amazing results! Sound just helps you “sell” the image a lot easier too. You see, a unique thing about sound is that it's the only thing that can transmigrate itself from one sense, hearing, to another...touch. You "feel" the bass at a live show or the rumble in a theatre the same way a deaf person would. But that's not the only place sound also "goes"…when executed properly, both music and sound can very easily evoke cascades of emotions too. Think about your favorite love song, the sound of your mother's voice, soft calm winds, or a violent car crash twenty feet in front of you. All of these things have the potential to elicit emotional responses from the viewer. In other words, sound can be a great tool for every filmmaker to use and should never be overlooked.
Production Sound
Production sound. Now there's a tricky department. As a director or producer this field can sometimes seem illusive. "Who do I hire? Do I even know a good sound mixer? How many lavs? The last person I had was terrible. I hate/can't afford ADR!" Sound familiar?
As a post sound designer I've been approached far too often by a production asking if I can fix the audio on their project after they have shot it. But, why spend more money in post trying to achieve a natural sound when you can just hire someone who will give that to you on set? Any money spent on post sound should be spent to make the project sound better, not fix it. Better score music maybe, additional time to clean up tracks, or a more solid mix. Whatever it may be, the project will benefit but capturing your sound properly is the first step. To do that you will need someone with creativity and experience. (hint hint) Besides, who wants to do ADR?!
Currently, I'm looking back on over two decades of audio production experience. I started in music around 2001 and quickly graduated to live sound and touring then to sound for film/television, studio recordings, sfx creation, foley, 5.1 mixing, you name it and I've probably done it. For me though, production sound is not just another notch on the skill set belt, it's something I pride myself on because the most important part of a sound’s journey is how it is initially captured.
Whatever your production calls for I guarantee you that I can accommodate. Every set and every situation is a potential problem to solve from an engineering standpoint and I've done everything from shorts, to commercials, to TV shows, and feature films. I've worked in several countries and recorded dialog in many languages and have had to think outside the box on many occasions, including using the behind the scenes camera for it’s microphone XLR inputs on a shoot where we lost our recording device! Saved the day! (whew!)
I'm an award winning production sound mixer who understands the post sound process and knows how to read a set. I see this as an advantage and I often use both my production and studio mindsets on set and during post production. This helps me keep a “global” view on the overall sound.
Post Production Sound Design
One of the last and most important steps in the filmmaking process is your post production sound design and mix. As a certified post production operator in Pro Tools and award winning sound designer, I can help take your sound to the next level.
Sound designers and re-recording mixers like myself can make your film’s audio “top shelf” but we need clean production sound, bullet-proof dialog, organized tracks, intelligent foley and sound design, and all that under a solid final mix. To your audience, poor sound automatically equates to an amateur level production, immediately lowering the overall perception of the film’s quality as a whole. A beautifully shot scene is not appreciated as much unless the sound is done just right and it’s our job as sound designers to enhance a scene, not to take away from everyone else’s work. We negate any chance of that and avoid wasting the efforts of all the other departments involved by scrutinizing every single frame of your project. We look at the image, the script, and any notes we may have from the director and video editor and we dive in…working frame by frame and adding necessary sounds as we go along, each and every sound is analyzed, adjusted, and mixed in perfectly. The result is always a pleasant listening experience that never takes away from the image and only enhances and further envelopes the audience into your story.
Great sound design starts on set and ends in the hands of your sound designer during the final mix stage. Let Synthetic Films take your project’s audio mix to the next level with options ranging from stereo and 5.1 to 7.1 and Dolby ATMOS. We can design and mix it all.