The right blend of subtlety and hyper-realism varies in any successful effect, be it in light or in sound. The SoundWorks Collection has brought us many insightful looks into the sound design and mixing challenges of several films -- in a recent case, though, a specific scene (to which sound is truly integral) is broken down, layer for layer, sound by sound, and shot by shot. Check out SoundWorks' look at the crash scene from Flight below.
Before we get into the SoundWorks Collection piece, here's the trailer for Flight, which will demonstrate the vital importance of the sequence highlighted below. The crash, after all, is the narrative nucleus of the film -- which, on top of everything else, marks director Robert Zemeckis' first live-action film in years -- so it had better downright impress, sonically as well as visually. The key to putting you right onboard with Denzel and crew, nearly feeling every vibration and gut-wrenching bout of turbulence, starts with hearing it.
It's always great to see such professional aural artisans at work, and I think this is a particularly excellent look thereof -- because again, we don't as often get a chance to watch a scene gain its sound design layer by layer, waveform views and all. Some of the stuff being recorded (the rickety ladder comes immediately to mind) is so obvious that's it outright ingenious -- but each element's impact really takes off in the context of the sound textures around it, with no apologies for that pun. Before the score even comes into the soundtrack here, the scene's intensity shoots way up once the ambient and incidental sounds (a line that becomes blurred in a scene such as this) are introduced -- the way the sequence is shot is already primed for the flow of adrenaline, to be sure, but watch again on 'mute' and try to tell yourself you're half as excited by the imagery alone.
What's the strongest example of when sound design 'made' a scene in your own films? Are you reminded by this clip of any seemingly silly but ingeniously effective object you used to craft a sound effect?
