Organic and free range sound design

Abstract

The all-encompassing term ‘sound design’ originated in, and is synonymous with, movie production; although it is accepted as not being the sole province of Hollywood blockbusters - every self-respecting filmmaker these days will allocate at least modest resources under a budget-heading of sound design – does the producer actually understand what they're paying for? Is sound design merely the creation of a film's sound effects or room tones, or is it a figurative hand on the tiller of the complete soundtrack, steering and defining the mood of a motion picture, from first to end frame? And how does this quixotic phrase manifest itself in other moving picture media, less familiar with the use of the terms sound design or sound designer? Today's broadcast television, for instance, is routinely delivered in surround sound, so are there similar artistic and aesthetic, technical and technique implications for sound design to present itself, other than in feature films? It is no plot-spoiler to assume that my answer to that question is a resounding ‘Yes’. In this discussion I will draw on my thirty-something years as a sound practitioner in film and television to explain why sound design has become an integral and inseparable consideration in every task I undertake as a sound professional: from location recording for drama and documentaries to outside broadcast mixing at major sporting events, or overseeing the audio post-production of feature films and television series, in the more controlled environment of audio post-production studios and mixing theatres.