‘Poor Things’ Sound Designer Talks “Power of Silence” and Audience’s Intuition

Pressure-cooker horror films come with their own plethora of uniquely used sounds. Recently explored more widely by studio A24 in projects like ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’ and other daring productions, the subtle details in the aural world of film are unsettling, unnerving and often confusing.

Similarly, ‘The Lobster’s soundtrack comes in and cuts off abruptly, to shake the viewer and then quickly return them to a sense of false comfort through natural, real-world sounds. ‘Real’ sounds were also the key to ‘The Favourite’, almost in a documentary-like fashion, but without overwhelming the scenes. 

Above: Johnnie Burn

All three of these have more in common than just winning big with the critics (and a brilliant director in Yorgos Lanthimos). Their auditory lore was built by none other than Johnnie Burn, who today stands in shoes much bigger than those of the humble sound designer. He himself told Designing Sound that when working on ‘The Favourite’ had to think more “as a filmmaker than a soundie”.

This kind of approach is what provides Johnnie with the insights necessary to build a level of sound design that, while doesn’t weigh on the viewing experience, alters it irrevocably to the point where a film he’s touched would be unrecognisable without it.

That happened with Jordan Peele’s ‘NOPE’, the fever-dreamish and famously genre-bending horror sci-fi. Johnnie had, in fact, wanted to work on a sci-fi for some time and after being part of a few incredible projects with long-time friend and collaborator Yorgos, ‘NOPE’ came as a fateful gift.

“Working in films, you have such a long tapestry to tell a story,” says Johnnie. “Sound is a huge part of that – especially in films where dialogue is minimal.” ‘Show, don’t tell’ is the instinct that guides the films that attract Johnnie, it seems. 

Involving himself during the script stage to discuss separate scenes and their emotional impact is another stepping stone to fully spreading the soundie’s wings later in the projects. “Then, I want to attend the shoot and capture as much real sound as possible from all the different locations because that is going to sound much more authentic than stuff that you recreate later in the studio. The more the audience believes, the deeper the immersion is.”

Working with the editor also helps Johnnie zero down on the key quiet elements that are important to making the early drafts of a film, especially of those that Johnnie tends to work on. “Then, myself and the team at Wave will start fettling out all the different possibilities for how to use sound to lean harder on the emotional or narrative aspects, and start bringing together a sculpture of a mix.”

Yorgos, he adds, is the one who taught him that a sound designer doesn’t really need to offer the director three different options for sound approach: “There will be a best one that you can work out for yourself. You just have to think like a director.” 

"The more the audience believes, the deeper the immersion is."

Thinking like a director is also what helps Johnnie connect with everybody else on the team. “Once you see yourself as as primary as the filmmaker, but just one who happens to wear the ‘sound’ hat, then it’s quite easy to align to the goals of any project.”

Johnnie found the sound hat fits quite well as early as his teenage years. Back then he loved playing with all the electronic musical equipment that was undergoing a digital revolution. “I saved up to buy a sampling drum machine, and was such a happy geek,” he remembers.

But he had no idea there was money to be made from that kind of hobby, so instead of continuing with its pursuit, he headed to City University in London for a business degree. Naturally, he hated it, so quickly dropped out and went back to the drum machine.

“Then, an old friend told me about a job as a runner in a recording studio in Soho. I went there and didn’t look back.” Johnnie started off like all the greats – running and making teas in the studio by day, and experimenting with million-pound, high-end equipment by night. His break came when the engineer that day didn’t turn up for work. “As I brought in the tea to the producer and actor, she asked me if there was anyone else who could record the actor as they had to leave. I put the tea down and got to work.”

Later on, Johnnie spent almost 10 years at The Tape Gallery, where Lloyd Billing, his boss then, taught him a great deal and he got to work with the likes of Jonathan Glazer, Tom Carty and Walter Campbell. With that, came a tough work ethic and a yearning to use his imagination to its full potential. 

Johnnie’s first ever project was ‘Under the Skin’ with Jonathan Glazer. “Most challenging part was that really, it was my first proper go at sound supervising a film. So, I had to learn how I liked to do a film whilst doing one of the most challenging sound films around. Jon and I both realise that credibility in the sound you use is key, so many months we spent recording, then a month auditioning that with Jon. Then, a year editing it into place. I was physically exhausted by the end of it, but I look back on it with such fondness!”

While back in the day Johnnie was well into electronic music from the ‘80s and ‘90s, today he enjoys music with high production values and points to producers like Jack Antonoff as somebody who can “put sound together to excite the ear.” Among other ear-exciters, such as Tarkovsky and Bergman, who Johnnie admits would likely emulate if he’s allowed to on a project.

It’s quite a wide range of references, but diversity is no stranger to Johnnie. After all, he did work on ‘NOPE’ and about the experience he says: “With crossing genres, it’s like a musician changing instruments. Different sound, same artistry.” To him, horror is all about creating tension knots and then releasing them – similarly to how directing horror goes. Peele’s masterpiece had large elements of exactly this, along with “demands of dialogue-driven scenes.” “To be honest, changing genres on a yearly basis is what keeps it really exciting,” admits Johnnie. “Fresh challenges. I never worked a day in my life!”

Johnnie doesn’t only enjoy jumping through genres, but through points of view too. To him, with every scene, no matter how ‘POV’ the camera might or might not be, there is an opportunity to make it more subjective to a particular character. “By exploring that I really lean on an audiences’ intuition.”

For ‘NOPE’, Johnnie believed in the imaginations and intuitions of watchers by creating one of the most notorious scenes in the film using only a few sounds made with wet vegetables. As he told Forbes, he himself often reads reviews where people describe ‘NOPE’ as having “hyperbolic sound” which in reality “they have made up themselves.”

Today, Johnnie is working on another Yorgos Lanthimos project – the infamous and eagerly awaited ‘Poor Things’. And while the sound magician is partial to leaning into the audience’s intuition, the director often leans on Johnnie’s. “Yorgos kind of says to me ‘You’re the sound guy, you do the sound’. He likes me to get everything how I want it before involving him.

“So I get pretty far down the line with finishing it all up. We’ve now made five films together, so we have a pretty good shorthand. Which is great, because Yorgos is so prolific, he has cleverly created an environment where he can keep himself busy pushing forward on new projects. ‘Poor Things’ was about creating beautiful and somewhat surreal soundscapes that sound ‘normal’ over these extraordinary images, acting and set designs.”

Johnnie loves when the team and director all have something that is really working, which sounds like what’s happened on the set of ‘Poor Things’. “When you have a little time to dwell on every scene and really polish it up, technically, but also in the way it works on the viewer. Things like deciding to remove things you once thought were key because silence is just more powerful.”

Looking more broadly at his specialism, Johnnie doesn’t hide away his excitement and nerds out about AI: “I’m beyond thrilled and excited by the technical and creative possibilities AI will shortly be giving us! And I really get excited when I read a script that feels so fresh.”

From a personal perspective, Johnnie shares he’s excited about his two current projects: Jonathan Glazer’s ‘The Zone of Interest’, releasing on December 15th in the US and February 2nd in the UK, as well as ‘Poor Things’ on December 8th in the US and January 12th in the UK. So, watch this space!