NARRATOR:

Sophie Sound always imagined the world of sound to be a hidden and mysterious world full of the weird, the wonderful, the dangerous and the fantastical, built on creativity, discovery and bravery. Yet she had no idea what would await her, on her way to Never Stop Never Stopping.


- FADE IN -


SOMETIME IN A COLD MORNING - MEXICO CITY


Sounds awaken the city. The first morning blue on the surface of the sky, from the distance, lightens up the streets. A man shouting on the street from the depth of his throat “El Gaaaaaaas”. A bell swung in the distance. No alarm needed, the city is its own way to wake up.


CLOSER SHOT INTO A WINDOW


We see Sophie Sound, sitting in front of a computer typing. Silent and endless, she seems to have been working into the early morning, tired but not stopping.


The past three years she’s tried to understand how to get into Never Stop Never Stopping, the land of sound. Studying sound wasn’t enough to get even close.


Sophie Sound has heard about a woman called Nia that people describe as the wizard of magic spells, sci-fi and fantasy. She is working for one of the oldest tribes in the sound world.


FADE IN: ON COMPUTER SCREEN 


So close it has no boundaries.


A blinding cursor pulses in the electric darkness like a heart coursing with phosphorous light, burning beneath the derma of black-neon glass.


A PHONE begins to RING, we hear it as though we were making the call. The cursor continues to throb, relentlessly patient, until --

Data now slashes across the screen, information flashing faster then we can read: "Call trans opt: received. 2-19-98 13:24:18 REC:Log>.

On screen: "Trace program: running."

We hear her hanging up. Sophie quickly writing down word by word what she just heard underlining Colima.


On screen: "Trace program: error."


She packs her bag with her recording equipment, her iLok and headphones, scrapbook, screw, bottle of water, toy trumpet, plastic straw and scissors. Just before she leaves the house she turns around …

Taking her recorder from the desk, her accidental gaze on the computer stops her. The computer still displays “Tracing program: error.” making her wonder why she would have said Colima and then turning into Sonora.


On her way to Colima, witnessing two people, MAN and WOMAN taking photos.

Observing them she recognizes a very low ceiling with pink, orange and purple lines. It seems abandoned. But looking at her phone she is not at Colima yet. Sophie keeps walking, passing Guadalajara. Still walking she just can’t stop to turn around and go back.


EXT. IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE


Sophie Sound pushes the door open, standing in an empty kitchen. Not just empty of people but empty of any previous use or even sign that people have been in this house for years, full of dust.



INT. KITCHEN

Sophie stands in an empty kitchen but sounds are surrounding her as if people are prepping for a big restaurant. The hot sizzle of roasting, loud dishes clinging, cooking utensils being dropped on metal tables, vegetables cut, pot lid dropped, footsteps. and movements. rhythmic and perfectly studied as if…

Sophie begins to hum with the kitchen's rhythm. Intrigued, she gets her recorder out and starts recording, but once she stops humming, the rhythm disappears, the kitchen becomes a normal operation.

The moment she stopped recording the whole kitchen goes back into the rhythm.

She keeps humming again to the rhythm and keeps varying with the notes and her transients and punctuations. 10 minutes pass. 20 mins. She seems to be lost in the sound and moment.


In front of her above a small hallway a sign. “On the road in terms of sound?”


A door at the other end of the kitchen shows up and opens while she’s still humming and even clapping with the rhythm of the kitchen. Enjoying it so much, not even noticing the new door that seems to be offended by her ignorance. In Sophie’s evolving ecstasy of joy a Dwarf comes through the door holding a tablet passing her.


A massive, and slightly enraged creaking sound appears. The affronted door is closing.


Sophie stops and holds her ears. Startled noticing...

Dwarf running into her intentionally.

Sophie Sound quickly grabs her bag, runs to the door, accidentally jumping over invisible pots and pans as she runs through the closing door and…A big fat smash as it locks behind her.

INT: EMPTY BAR


Hearing a crowd, glasses clinking, people talking, loud, boisterous, a woman singing an italian folk song “ Caso Sono Le Nuvole” being accompanied by a piano.


But there's no one here!


Observing if a rhythm appears, closing her eyes, standing in the middle of the bar, tapping with her foot, there is no rhythm to be found. No speaking to be identified. Only raw and dull sounds of a distant bar.


Thirsty, she leans over the bar, taking a glass to fill it with sparkling water. A fizz sound appears, triggering a thick rumbling in the toilet area. She takes her glass. Two doors appear. But which one to choose to get to NEVER STOP NEVER STOPPING?


Scratching accidentally on the wall the doors double, four door. Glass falls to the floor in fright. The doors double again. Eight!


Then… there is no more sound, and the doors slowly disappear one by one. She gets up and opens the last remaining door, but it's just the toilet. She has to retrieve the doors to find the right one. She quickly runs to the bar bringing another glass of water she smashes on the floor. This time the doors don't appear. So she claps a rhythm, which doesn't work either, but dragging a bar stool along the floor, the door appears. She scratches with her foot and shoe sole along the floor. Another door appears. Now Dragging her bag along the floor, two more doors appear. She walks towards the doors, a Dwarf comes towards her, walking into her, intentionally.

She looks up, the doors are disappearing again. Frustrated, but quickly she opens the remaining door before it vanishes - urgh - it's the toilet.

She takes a piece of paper from her bag, and from the bar a cloth and bottle filled with liquid.


First the paper, then the bottle along the wall. Two doors are back. She picks up her bag, the chair and, dragging the chair, walks towards the doors that have just appeared, the Dwarf is in her way again, but she drags the chair further across the floor ignoring the Dwarf and letting go of the chair just as the door disappears again, this time with her in it.

Sophie sticks her tongue out towards the door.

CUT TO


INT. POST PRODUCTION SOUND STAGE

Sophie moves to the  mixing desk in a post production studio.. She presses play and watches the movie.

Then… she sees herself passing the women and man right before she entered.

Phone rings. Sophie picks up.

A whoosh sound appears in the air. Puzzled she looks around the studio. following the sound from LR to R to Ltf to Rtr and so on but so quickly that all she hears is confusing.

The whoosh getting louder and louder.


Sophie covering her ears.

She turns the fader down, whoosh becomes quieter. She takes the panning knob, turning it from left to right. She controls it now.


A Dwarf comes with his tablet above his head again.

She is moving volume and panning and the same time, from left to right Rr to Rtr to Rtf to R through C and L, repeating the movement in a loop, until it sounds similar to swinging a magic wand. The red light of the recording room turns on.

Running!


INT. BAR

A full room, dressed in a 60s style with a tree on the wall lit from below, graphic shaped stairs, and pillars, in dark blue, orange, purple, with people sitting on tables, a female chanteuse sitting on the piano singing Caso Sono Le Nuvole. Boisterous, low lights, soundproof walls with thick elegant velvet curtains. At the back of the bar its open, with high glass windows opening to a panorama view into Never Stop Never Stopping.

It is the bar she was standing in just moments ago. Filled with the same sound, she heard moments ago. But now she can see it for what it is - it's revealed itself.


Walking into a velvet dressed, curvy hallway, into a round room that seems to be a bathroom. Mirrors in the middle at an island of sinks. But the floor is like a huge big pillow to lay on. The ceiling a dome and open towards the sky with birds as magical and alien sounding as in a different world. A woman leaving one of the cabins.

Forgetting where she is, she lays down in one of the huge pillows straight on her back, closes her eyes and just listens to the alien birds fluttering in the sky of a world she doesn't know yet.

After a moment or two sinking into her mind, listening to Never Stop Never Stopping it dawns to her. The woman from the mirror is Nia.


Slowly but surely she left to meet the woman at the bar.

S: In the Tonebenders podcast you are saying that when you were starting out you “wanted to ask a billion questions” and you regret a bit not having asked them. Which questions did you want to ask back then?

N: Whatever came to mind! There were learning opportunities I missed by not inquiring when things came up: this could be someone’s process or organization, how clients were handled, why this or that sound choice or logistics decision was made over another option, how folks handle stressors, or even just a mechanical question about how something works. In hindsight I can see the accumulation of small moments where I could have learned more (or sooner) by being more forward.

S: Finding a style in sound design, is that possible and have you developed a style?

N: I feel that style develops naturally over time, and most of it comes from the individual’s own personal taste and preference. Taste shapes how we record sounds, what sort of sounds we reach for in the library, and how we edit. I did not set out to define a particular style for myself, but I’ve seen one emerge as my body of work grows—I can recognize that something has “my” sound to it. The project, of course, has its own aesthetic needs, so the finished product is always a meeting point between the designers/editors’ personal style and the character of the project.

S: What are your current obstacles in your work?

N: Beyond shrinking budgets and tighter schedules…one personal obstacle I’ve realized is that for the past ten years I’ve been on a lot of projects that are very much in my wheelhouse/comfort zone. Familiarity, ease, and output speed increases, which makes those projects more comfortable and keeps my quality high, but it can also become an obstacle to growth. There are still new sound challenges on every film, but I want to seek out more projects that push my capabilities and creative mind.

S: I made a career change into sound design and I am quite old for starting something like this that late. I didn’t have access to a university, dedicated to sound or film, but went to an audio school in Germany to learn the basics but that was not focused on Film at all. So I feel like I'm teaching myself a lot at the moment. I love Film and Sound because it a lot about imagination and it is a big group effort and brings together so many different creative departments and people. I think I am similar to finding film a midpoint for many interests of mine. I love writing, music, philosophy, the universe, strange animals, complex systems and stories. And I am craving to work in a group and be part of a team to find solutions. In a recent interview with Vadi Sound Library you said that in your team you “together refine workflows and communication, tracking new sound challenges” etc. In your opinion, why is it so important to work in a group and what drives it? 

N: I really believe it’s never too late to dive into a new creative pursuit, and all the different interests you’ve mention will cross-pollinate into a unique way of approaching sound problems, collecting materials, and trying out new processes!

On the importance of team, I’d break it down into several benefits:

Enhanced learning, and leveling individuals up — Naturally, we can learn so much more from others than just working solo. My co-supervisor and I started designing our sound team so that as one person moves on into a different/higher role, they’re still available to support and teach the newer person who has filled their shoes in the previous role. The new person feels they have a support cushion and a means to learn, and the rest of the team feels secure that that role will be strong because there’s backup—the experienced person can step in if we run into problems.

Familiarity — Everyone on a consistent team knows the templates, the color-coding, the schedule, communication style, how things move along, and they know each other. Things move efficient and smooth when we don’t need to explain the workflow quirks to new people on every project, also makes us better at dealing with the unexpected.

Input — In a team, we have different perspectives giving input on the workflow, on problem identification/solution, and on sound quality or ideas. As long as there is minimal conflict, more brains at work makes everything more streamlined and sensible. Someone working alone is always going to have a narrower perspective, and not be able to innovate in the same way as a team.

Emotional regulation — If you have an ideal team, where everyone enjoys one another’s company, takes lunch or breaks as a team, supports each other, jokes and makes the best of tough circumstances, brainstorms solutions…you can weather through a lot of physically or emotionally stressful situations.

S: “I also use organic source instead of synth or over-processed sounds (unless it’s science fantasy like Marvel!), because it feels more visceral, unique, and sticks to visuals better imo.” Do you have some examples of organic source material for weird texture ideas?

N: Things like… Various materials scraping against a metal pottery wheel, for steadies. Fingernails scraping on surfaces like metal grills, hollow cloth walls, stone, etc. Tree bark, moss, and big leaves peeling slowly. Effervescence and water bubbles inside a metal vessel. Wet paper tears. Slow, controlled balloon air releases. Frozen water balloons peeling. Grass sliding against a metal rod. Think of material-against-material, or destruction, agitation.

For textures, I’ll often mic things very closely for detail that doesn’t show up at a distance. And sometimes all I’m after is the sound character in a narrow frequency range, so I try to listen selectively while recording/playing with that end idea in mind and not reject things that sound inappropriate or bad as a whole.

S: As I keep learning I love the experimental side. What are some projects where you had to do a lot of experimentation?

N: Doctor Strange is one project where I did a lot of preliminary design of magical, surreal concepts, well before the visuals showed up to help the creative process. I had less experience under my belt at that time, so was experimenting a lot more to find my process and what sort of sounds to record and play with to reach my target. The subject matter also wasn’t straightforward—things like ripping space time, mirror dimensions, reality bending and warping, portals changing—so it took more trial and error to find the sounds that would sell such wild, subjective concepts.

S: Do you have design examples for particles?

N: I’ll often find good particle source in the higher frequency range of textural sounds like those listed above. Some of the sound in that high range is tinkly or sporadic even if the lower frequencies are steady, and so has a particle feel already. Rhythmic sounds like rain patter, glass or metal clinking, chimes, and other pattering actions can also yield good particles if EQ’ed and pitched up to feel smaller.

I’ve also used granular synthesis, especially for lower-frequency particles—not synthesizing from scratch, but feeding in a sound that already has characteristics I want, and turning that into particles. There are a lot of new granular synthesis software options these days that I have yet to try!

S: How do you balance twelve super powers at once without making it sound like a sound sauce?

N: So much of avoiding muddy sound comes out in good editing and mixing: making very clear decisions about what to hear when, keeping the focus tight, varying the sounds so it doesn’t feel tiring or too similar.

Multiple sound designers have been working in the Marvel Cinematic Universe over the years, which helps immensely with characters sounding distinct from each other, simply because designers have different tastes and styles. I tried to keep in mind the sonic palettes that had already been established, while practicing actively reaching away from my own style and trying to build new sounds that were different but still fit the character and moment.

S: Foley Moment you remember the most?

N: On Big Hero 6, I was using a large yoga ball as my desk chair, and ended up recording it for some of Baymax’s squeaks and inflatable rubber body sounds.

S: You’ve worked on so many projects already, but what is on your wishlist?

N: You know, I try not to be wishful about projects anymore! I’ve seen some films come by that I thought, “cool, I wish I could be working on that,” but then I hear from the crew what a nightmare it was, and like I dodged a bullet. The team, the clients, and the general work experience have come to matter so much more to me than what the specific film is. That said, I would love to veer into some adjacent genres someday. Like horror or action comedy.

S: One project where you sat in the mixing room for the first time hearing your sound design and went “…”. 

N: Captain America: The Winter Solider was the first film where I got design/editorial experience that allowed me to sit with my cut sound effects material on the mix stage while it was being premixed. I was “in charge” of all of Captain America’s shield sounds. That was a small part of the whole soundtrack, but it was a thrill to hear it mixed into the context of others’ work around it.

S: Are you ever going to make a sound design tutorial?

N: I’ve meant to make tutorials, or just show off workflow and design process, but I’m always working under NDA so there isn’t a good way to do this organically, and I haven’t had the time to engineer a step-by-step sort of tutorial. Maybe one day!

S: What is the best condition to work and learn in?

N: My answer about teams covers a lot of benefits of a team environment and also a community environment like a larger post production house that assembles different teams depending on the project, or even a community like an online space. The best conditions for work and learning is somewhere you feel supported and positively challenged.

S: I love that you write fantasy books. I am creating my own fantasy world and character Sophie Sound. I want to ask two things: How important do you think it is, to keep your imagination and fantasy world alive and vibrant, and how?

N: I’m a big fan of cross-pollination of creative disciplines and departments. It expands our ways of thinking and the approaches available to us. Imagination is always important in sound design within the science fiction and fantasy genres in particular, as we can’t always just go out and record what we need—it takes creative thinking and deliberate construction.

On a personal level, I feel that writing imaginative fiction helps develop empathy and an open mind, when we seek to imagine other circumstances, worldviews, and perspectives. To maintain this flexibility means learning more about other people and the world we live in, being observant in the moment, and asking questions internally and externally.

S: And how do you see the relationship between knowing how to describe sounds and then write a book? Does that play a big role and make the reading even “sound”? Because I as a junior quickly come to the end of my vocabulary and have to search for synonyms or literally write down lists and lists of words to learn to describe a sound I have in mind.

N: I definitely write in a very sensory style, with attention to environment, body, and material, which makes sense because that’s where my focus is in sound work. I have a synesthesia that makes the experience of sound very physical and tactile to me, so I usually describe sound in terms of physical properties like shape, texture, movement, weight, and brightness.

I wrote an essay a while ago on the topic of similarities between writing and sound, here: https://electricliterature.com/writing-science-fiction-sound-effects-sound-design-avengers-endgame/

S: That being said, when you daydream about a sound for a movie, do you hear them clearly in your head?

N: I do usually hear what I want to achieve. Sometimes it’s very clear, sometimes it’s vague until I start trying to make it and I can hear how far I am from the goal. Sometimes I hear what I want, but I’m not sure how to get there…what sounds to use or how to process them. A lot of my field recording or library searching is gathering sounds that fit a concept I can hear in my head.

S: Two-Three moments where you sat in the cinema watching your designs and went, hell yeah!

N: Oh that’s a tough one… I actually don’t always see the films I work on in the cinema after we’ve done all our final playbacks on the mix stage and theater checks, and during that time my head is still in work mode and not audience mode. I’d have to say Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame were the most satisfying to see completed: partly because they were very challenging but we pulled together a lot of high quality work, and partly because there were so many films building up to those finales, it felt like a big accomplishment, and there were so many fans eager to see it and energetic in the theater.

S: What are in your options the main ingredients for emotional moments in sound?

N: Hmm…It depends on the moment: what emotion you’re aiming for and what you have to work with in terms of story and visuals. Sometimes the path is already there and the key thing is connecting to the audience, and other times sound has to do a lot of the heavy lifting.

S: I would think that everyone has awakening moments in their lives and so in their careers. Did you have awakening moments in your career and what did they lead to?

N: I tend to have a lot of smaller awakening moments cumulating into big development, rather than lightning-strike-style moments that change everything. They’re usually new perspectives or experiences, for example, seeing how it’s possible to think very deeply and granularly about storytelling in sound, or first getting a section of sound effects to take charge of and cut on a big film, or the first time I took on client-facing responsibilities as a sound designer.

...

The sound of wind, like a book page turning, appears above their heads.

Heading towards the bathroom, with a perfectly studied combination of scratches along the door, clinging on metal, knocking on wood, stomping on the floor and scraping on glass creating a twisting sound, leaving into a channel.


Restless, Sophie Sound stares out of the open panorama behind the bar thinking about how to get deeper into a world of sound she is about to discover.

Nia Hansen

Sound Designer