Sounds in Cinema Podcast

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. Predator. Event Horizon. What do these movie have in common? Simple: a hyphen and the word "horror" somewhere in their descriptions. In the fourth part of our five-part October horror series, we take a look at the sound design methods in movies that try to maximize the terror while also embracing storytelling - and, therefore, sound design - traditionally kept for other genres. We also might have made a run at the world record for usage of the word "elements" in a sixty-minute recording.

The Blair Witch Project. Paranormal Activity. Late Night with the Devil. Tony Parham's Senior Prom After-Party. In part 3 of our 5-part October series on horror movie sound, we discuss how the principles of horror sound design explored in the previous two episodes translate to the popular (if not infamous) found footage subgenre. Tony shares his passion, and D-Rock spoils the fun, making this a totally routine exploration for Sounds in Cinema.

In this second episode of our October/horror examination, Tony and D-Rock get into the deeper details of how foley, music, and psychology are used to build an atmosphere of dread in both creating memorable movie scares and building up to them. Combined with Tony's opening monologue, this inquiry (almost) contains enough professionalism that we're curious as to what happened to the usual two boneheads that host this show.

Starting off our October jaunt through horror movies, Tony and D-Rock take their deepest dive yet with a look at and listen to movie jump scares. Whether you love them or hate them (jump scares - not Tony and D-Rock,) jump scares have been a fixture in horror movie productions for decades, so we took the opportunity to examine the unique sound design and music in some of the most notorious horror movie moments in history.

We all know some things just don't go together. Fire and ice. Oil and water. Tony and D-Rock. And yet, there are sometimes hidden elements that can draw similarities between even the strangest of bedfellows - a survival drama on Mars and a British gangster comedy, for example - to the eyes and ears of cinema fans everywhere. Join us as we take a dive into the sound design of two very different movies and discuss how they are both tied together by the re-recording mixes of engineer Mark Taylor.

Tony and D-Rock settle in for another episode on an under-the-radar sound design pick: 2000's Almost Famous. The boys dig into the stealthy sonic intricacies that tie several favorite scenes together, and we somehow get the added benefit of knowing that a skunk has taken up temporary lodging in Tony's apartment.

With Tony and D-Rock both taking (well-deserved) beatings from life over the course of the summer, we decided to lighten things a bit with a look at sound design in the movies of director Edgar Wright. From a zombie comedy to a heist/car chase movie, these movies bring fun, laughs, and plenty of ear candy for our boys to talk about as they ponder what on Earth to do for the next episode.

Rediscovered through research for the previous episode, Tony and D-Rock take a listen to and analyze the sound design for Peter Weir's Master and Commander. Tony takes a look behind-the-scenes as to how the sounds were created while D-Rock plays Whack-A-Mole with his mute button to prevent someone's pesky lawnmower from making its debut on the show.

When you think of certain genres, you probably don't think of sound design, much in the same way you don't hear Tony's name and associate it with peace and quiet. In this episode, the boys take a look at and give a listen to movies from over the decades that exceed sonic expectations by way of perspective. The challenge is to listen to movies - even familiar ones - in a different way as a means of further appreciating the craft of filmmaking.

Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, Saving Private Ryan - quite the resume. After a brief break, the boys return to the mics with a research project on one of the great modern sound designers in the world of cinema, Gary Rydstrom. Have a listen, go watch the movies with a fresh set of ears, keep a lookout for your favorite talents in the industry, and somebody please come clean my desk if you have an hour to spare.