I certainly hope this means we are doing well with the animation department. The super productive team at Curveball Media has done us all proud with an animation for Oxford University Press. But this one is a little different; with no backing music or VO the sword came down on dynamic sound design to carry the narrative and emotion for the entire piece. A rare opportunity in the world of advertising, and one that we welcome with open arms. A wise sound guy from Pinewood Studios once told me that sound can in fact be as emotive as music; “its not just about door slams and car alarms”. “Think of every sound as an instrument, what qualities does it carry? How do these qualities make you feel and therefore how can they be used to support the narrative of the film?” I keep this sound advice with me through every project, because it’s easy to miss these opportunities if you underestimate that every sound can project an emotional identity, just as much as a functional one. If a sound doesn’t appear to have one on the front page, well just play around with it, flick through the pages and see what you can uncover with the right techniques. I apologize to door slams and car alarms, I wouldn’t want to undermine my fundamental point here: where would our horror genre be without inventive door creaks! As for car alarms, I can’t think of any seminal ones but please do email me for suggestions. Thank you to Olly, Marina and Daniel at Curveball Media for batting this one our way!
