Sound Design

"In the same way that painting, or looking at paintings, makes you see the world in a different way, listening to interestingly arranged sounds makes you hear differently." Walter Murch

Sound design is a key component of my post-production school diploma, and I find it to be one of the most challenging aspects of editing. While editing my short film for my examination, I struggled with harsh background noise during dialogue scenes, which really put my sound design skills to the test.

In terms of sound quality in films, which has been my focus in school, David Bordwell discusses in Film Art (2020) that ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement) is often used to re-record dialogue in Hollywood films. I’ve noticed that AI tools are now assisting in this process, reducing the reliance on traditional ADR. Could this be a game changer for indie filmmakers?

From what I’ve learned in school, it’s still essential to avoid bad noise when recording dialogue, as fixing it can be time-consuming, and in some cases, it’s just not possible to completely "wash" it away. Plus, it can get expensive.