WRITTEN BY VIVIAN WILLIAMS
SOUND EFFECTS EDITOR, BOOM BOX POST
Recently, Vivian created a sound build involving a character magically growing three stories tall! Continue reading to find out about her process and what techniques she utilized.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR BRAINSTORMING PROCESS?
The first step in my process is thinking about the characters themselves and what the sound needs to convey. Are they a good character? A bad character? Did they drink an evil potion that made them grow to a huge size, or did they use “good” magic to grow? All of this will be important information when designing your build.
COULD YOU GIVE A STEP BY STEP PROCESS OF WHAT YOU ADDED?
I split up this build into three distinct parts.
FIRST MAGICAL IMPACT
This character is being hit with an outside source of magic in order to grow big, so the first element had to be the impact of that magic hitting them.
Since we’re designing for a “good” character, I wanted to add a nice, dreamy sparkle for the beginning of the build. I needed a strong impact to start this growth to really get across that something big was about to happen, so I layered that dreamy sparkle with an intense zap. I added a magical chime element to that zap as well to make it a little “cuter” and make the impact have more of a magical element to it.
MOMENT BETWEEN IMPACT AND GROWING
For this I really needed to fill about two seconds of space where not much is happening on screen, but we want the sound to convey that there’s a magical build up to what’s about to happen. One element to this build is a magical sparkly multi-whoosh. This creates an auditory build up and anticipation as there’s constant movement to this sound. I’ve also layered in another zap to this section of the build.
GROWING INTO A GIANT
Now for the fun part! To convey something getting bigger, you want some elements that ascend in pitch. I made sure that those files that ascend in pitch were the backbone to this part of the build as that’s what’s going to get the message across. Another important layer to this was a stretching sound, think rope creaks and rubber stretches. Of course I had to keep that magical element consistent throughout, so I have what I would describe as a “magical glowing sound” as well as a sci-fi fast pulsing to add a bit of movement to this build. Lastly is that final clip to signify that the growing moment has ended. A cherry on top of the cake, something to bring the entire sound to a close and show that the moment is over.
HOW DID YOU MAKE THIS BUILD YOUR OWN?
I really wanted to make this sound cute and non-threatening while still making it intense and impactful. I did that by combining fun sparkly clips with more extreme sci-fi elements like zaps. All the while, I made sure not to include too much low end so as not to scare the younger kids that will be watching this show.
HELPFUL TIPS
My suggestion to new editors looking at tackling a similar build would be to
Keep in mind the motivation. Good/Evil. Happy/Sad. What is following this build? Is it a fight? Or are they immediately going to try to hide?
Ascend in pitch. If you’re getting bigger, you’re ascending in pitch, if you’re getting smaller, you’re descending in pitch.
Layer different frequencies. Make sure you’re getting in your highs, mids, and lows to fill out that build and give your mixer a rich sound to work with.
ANY PLUGINS YOU USED THAT YOU RECOMMEND?
A great (and affordable) plug in option for making a sound ascend/descend in pitch over time is SoundShifter Graphic by Waves.
Graphic SoundShifter
If you enjoyed this blog, check out these:
DESIGNING A MAGICAL TRANSFORMATION
DESIGNING AN ANIME SUPERPOWER TRANSFORMATION
DESIGNING A PREHISTORIC ROLLER COASTER