Kill two birds with one stone with sound storytelling

Too many sounds in feature movies get in the way of good storytelling, and the sounds that survive should support al characters and narratives of the film.

Ben Meechan, sound effects editor on Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation, teaches us another valuable lesson: “I enjoy multilayering sfx to give detail, and by taking different sounds I can give a sound character. But I also find that too many sounds can really overcomplicate the experience of a film.”

These are tactics we clearly experience when seeing e.g. Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015). A film where sound practices are supportive to the characters, so each one has their own sound sphere. Off course the one of Tom Cruise, Ethan Hunt, is supported with the original track of Lalo Schifrin from 1966, in all kinds of variations. This one differs clearly from other characters, like the Solomon Lane part, the villain. All through the movie the character and the sound sphere are inseparable. A tactic which is very supportive to the movie storytelling.

In many movies sounds are having a far bigger part than we, viewers, are aware of. Just have a look at the scene from the Great Gatsby scene above where sounds functions as a connecting tool in a very inspiring way. Big thanks to the great edit, true. But what a way of bringing together the ingredients to deliver a good meal, opening up our senses and intuition. Take your time to listen to every sound in the final of the scene where the water sound becomes one with the gun shot. It makes you want to see the movie again, doesn’t it?

The rumbling and piercing metallic scream just before Michael Corleone kills Solozzo and McCluskey in a restaurant in ‘The Godfather’ is not linked directly to anything seen on screen. The screech is from an elevated train rounding a sharp turn, so it feels like it is coming from somewhere in the neighborhood. The metallic scream does not only locate the scene in a restaurant in a low-income urban neighbourhood, but works as a clue to the state of Michael Corleone’s mind at the moment as well. A great way to ‘kill two birds with one rock’. Or one sound, in this matter.

We would love to get started on the topic of sound sweetening as well, but our space here is limited. It is clear that this is a side of storytelling we will get back to, we think sound is underestimated as an important part to get your audience fired up.

Please keep your ears open!