The excellent UK Sound and Music site has some fascinating articles but I only just discovered its Sound on Film section and the first article I read? An interview with Akritchalerm Kalayanmitr, sound designer on one of my favourite films from 2010, have a read In the mix: Uncle Boonmee Here’s a little excerpt:
The predominant sound in the film is that of the natural world: insects, birds, water and weather. While this is in the background of many films, in Uncle Boonmee it is brought to the foreground. Do you have a fascination with nature?
“Yes, I do really like to listen to natural sound, it’s such a relief and mysterious at the same time. It is a very subconscious element for me.
For the sound of this film, the first thing was to make it be realistic, then tweak later. I like to make the sound either hidden or abrupt, depending on the feeling and rhythm. Sometimes I just throw the sound in there just to see what happens. It’s like, expect the unexpected! I think the sound of birds, crickets, or even water are loud in the real life – although colder countries don’t have as many crickets as warmer countries. Some people like to mix the nature sound low because it could disrupt the dialogue; I just feel that the loud ambience might make it more realistic. It’s all about people’s perception: it [nature] is around you, but you do not recognize it.
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