“A Puffy Breath Goes a Long Way” in Hole 19’s Latest Comedic Spot
It’s not often that a film lands in the hands of a sound designer with no sound whatsoever yet that’s exactly what happened recently to Dan Rimmer, junior sound engineer at Clearcut Sound Studios. The spot, comedic and action-packed, depicts an energetic chase scene where the protagonist must save himself from another bad golf game.
Dan relished in the process of building the spot’s sonic identity from scratch and as for the inspiration, he rewatched action scenes from Mission Impossible and Jason Bourne to see how music and sound design were used to amplify high octane action scenes.
Getting the breathing pattern right was essential to the realism and the physicality of the spot with Dan paying extra attention to the close-up shots of the protagonist’s face. It was the starting point for the whole soundscape which, once solidified, allowed Dan to layer the rest of the music and sound effects to fully build out what we hear in the final spot. Dan worked closely with Andy Roberts, co-founder and production partner, and Dave Bedwood, co-founder and writer/director, at Seven Iron. The process required a lot of trust since, “It is easy for things to sound incomplete until you’ve had a chance to layer each sound into a cohesive idea,” in Dan’s words. A mix of creative freedom at the start and a final collaborative push ensured that everyone walked away pleased with the result.
Below, LBB chats to Dan about the pleasures and pains of working on a spot with no sound and how he revisited action film classics for inspiration.
LBB> What was the brief from Seven Iron like for the spot?
Dan> The film, having been shot with no sound, provides a fantastic opportunity for foley and sound design. We were asked to focus on realism highlighting the footsteps, breaths, and grunts, whilst also working on a suitable sound for the internal voice of the character. The drama needed to increase throughout the film, so the music edit was important with the climax being the heavy hit during the fight scene.
LBB> What were your initial thoughts when you first saw the video itself?
Dan> I was excited to dive into the sound. A lot of creative thought and hard work had gone into making the film, and the shooting style and overall narrative of the pic really appealed to me. I loved the main character from the get-go - he just seems to be the perfect parody of a Mission Impossible or Jason Bourne film - particularly the way he moves his arms as he runs in that first shot. It felt like watching someone do an impression of Tom Cruise or Matt Damon during a game of charades.
LBB> What’s it like working with a video that’s completely devoid of sound? Does it make your job harder or easier?
Dan> It’s a lot of fun - you get to put your stamp on every step of the process, from the music edit, to the type of reverb you use, to the breed of bird you hear in the background!
It can make things a little harder though - your client has to put a lot of trust in you as you build the sound up in stages. It is easy for things to sound incomplete until you’ve had a chance to layer each sound into a cohesive idea.
LBB> Tell us how you went about creating the sound - what moments in the spot did you want to emphasise in particular?
Dan> I loved the fact that the protagonist wasn’t a typical hunk, and I really wanted to emphasise those close-up shots - the way he breathes, the way his mouth moves in that over-exerted way - so I didn’t make too many broad-stroke moves at the start of the project. Chris (Wrigglesworth, MD and sound designer) and I spent a fun few hours in the studio running through the breathing pattern. It felt odd, starting with what would normally come much later in a project, but it really helped build the character and the rest of the sound seemed to flow naturally from this.
LBB> The spot is comedic and dramatic at once - how did the music/sound design help to create that?
Dan> A puffy breath goes a long way - the listener can get a real feel for a character very quickly from something that simple, when coupled with an image to match.
However, sometimes subtlety doesn’t work. I decided to over-egg the sound design during the fight scene to try and achieve something punchy and dramatic. In isolation, this fight scene would be at home in a more serious piece, and to me, that makes the climax all the more funny.
A small amount of side-chained delay and reverb also went a long way for the inner voice during the main body of the film. I personally would have wanted to be a bit more intense with it, but I think that may just be the psych-rocker in me from years ago talking… I think we found a happy medium that captured the essence of the brief without taking away from the sound design itself.
LBB> Did you use any particular references?
Dan> I watched action sequences from the Mission Impossible and Jason Bourne films. I wanted inspiration as to how sound is used to build drama and compliment the action in a chase sequence, and how best to balance all the different types of sound in the mix.
LBB> How closely did you collaborate with Seven Iron on this and how much creative freedom did you have?
Dan> Andy (Roberts, co-founder) and Dave (Bedwood, co-founder and writer/director) from Seven Iron allowed me a lot of creative freedom at the start of the project so I could get ideas in place. We then delved deeper together as the final mix approached. It was very much a collaborative piece.
LBB> Did you run into any challenges while working on the spot? How did you solve them?
Dan> We spent a lot of time working on the right tone of voice for the two VO artists. We made sure to record a lot of takes and Dave would tweak the scripts to make sure it was working as well as it could.
There were a fair few cutdowns involved too, and that can often present challenges. It was pretty tricky getting the same feel of the music edit across six much shorter pics, but I love editing tracks, and once we’d identified the key areas that needed to ‘hit’, it came naturally.
LBB> What was your favourite part of working on the spot?
Dan> I loved the foley - I think it’s one of the most rewarding aspects of the job. There’s something incredibly satisfying that comes with focussing on the smaller details and making sure what you’re recording is accurate. Also being able to build a sonic personality for a character on screen always feels like a real achievement.
