SOUND

There was this subconscious Hitchcock/ Kubrick influence for “Sound.” What they place in the frame is so brilliant and arresting that you may not even notice all of the subtext. It’s a masterclass in filmmaking and expression. And I am such a student of their craftsmanship as storytellers that any one of their movies could have inspired me to tell this unorthodox story.

I got the idea for “Sound” in 2014, while taking a ride one night through Angeles Crest Highway. I stopped, got out the car to look at the view and immediately realized how quiet it was. My foot steps were really pronounced and everything felt still. Not soon after, I heard a car roaring forward; the closer it got, the louder it became. As the car was passing me, it was unnaturally loud. I thought to myself what if someone experienced the sound I just heard but to the degree that it was deafening and nonstop. That same night I began to pen the script.

I set out to make a film about a woman who becomes hearing-impaired after a violent car accident and how she is then subjected to the torturously-deafening sound of everything. To do this we needed a decent budget and although we crowdfunded the film we didn’t get all the money we needed. We were a few thousand short which meant we couldn’t have a large crew and post production was going to be tricky. Half of the film takes place on a mountain and that had its own set of challenges. It was only our lead actress, Crystal Porter-Bazemore and me. Shooting in dense fog was difficult. I had to be efficient and careful with continuity. We had focal length issues due to the lens continuing to breath. The tripod didn’t work and I had to go hand held the whole time while trying to use a bounce board. On top of that we had to tell a full story without dialogue, using only reaction and expression to move the narrative forward. Crystal had to carry the entire film and react to sounds that weren’t there the days we were shooting. She had to go to a place where pain lives and present that within the frame, shot after shot for a 14 minute film. With a crew of one person, primarily me, we had to find a way to capture the essence of the story, within budget, so our sound designer could take over and create the antagonist.

There were a trifecta of influences. I looked at Ingmar Bergman’s “Persona.” Actually, I studied it. There are big-round close ups and beautiful compositions in the film that left a lasting impression on me. Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” had a look and movement that I knew I wanted, in my own way, for “Sound.” Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” is another reference. All three stylistically show a person coming undone or in search of something hidden or taken away. Our character Isabelle was dealing with similar circumstances and referring to the masters helped me in executing this story.

Because the antagonist was created completely in post, I had to direct and photograph for sound as a presence. But the most unusual technique was creating a violent accident by standing in the middle of the highway with a camera. I whip-panned and shot a bunch of angles as the point of view of our main character, Isabelle, being thrown about in the accident.

I chose the Blackmagic Ursa Mini pro 4.6k and Rokinon Xeen lenses to photograph the film. What I genuinely love about the Ursa is the color science. The acquisition image reminds me of the Kodak stock used in “The Shining”. It has a classic feel to it without being dated. “Sound” needed to have a certain look out-of-camera and I knew I could get my desired image from the Ursa. We shot raw 4.6k on Cfast cards and windowed-2k for a few 120fps slow motion shots. Davinci Resolve pro version 14 & 15 were used for dailies, editing and Color grading..

I did the editing, color grading and finishing in my home, Cinema Optics Studio. Sound Design, score, ADR and mixing was done by Jeffery Alan Jones for Alan Audio Works. And the VFX of glass breaking in the accident was created by Raymond Wood.

I wore several hats: Writer, Director, Cinematographer, Editor and Colorist. I was able to utilize my entire skillset on one film and that was beautifully challenging.

This project took almost 3 years of my life and it has truly been a blessing and education. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire process and all its difficulties.