The remaining topics to breakdown are:
- ADR & Foley: sound List & Notes
- Sound Design: by character
- Music: Ideas & References
- Extra: Post prod. Planning – time schedules, workflows & other considerations
2. ADR & Foley: notes.
Initially, one of the ideas for the sound editorial of this film was the lack of body sound made by Javi and his voice, following the logic of non-existing dialogue. It was meant to be silent merely. However, after a first draft, we noticed that idea became obsolete.
AD & Foley will give extra life to the character. As well as a deeper understanding of who Javi is. Voice and Verbalization are two things exploited in this short film. There is a lack of comprehensive speech – Deu speaks an incomprehensible language, and Javi doesn’t talk.
Without Foley, moments like the Villager Scene wouldn’t have any effect. Foley will help emphasize differences between intervenients and give sound to objects. Without a profound sound, this short film won’t achieve its goal. What matters is the quality of the sound textures and how they work together to create an intricate soundscape.
3. Sound Design: Sound list, ideas, work in progress.
Entre Las Rocas is an audio-focused film, whereas it doesn’t live without a sound quality as good as the images. Sound design is crucial for Deu and the Villager.
DEU
Voice
Little by little, voices are heard speaking an inexplicable language that makes Javi cover his ears
Entre Las Rocas script written by Jesus F. Cruz (2020)
In this narrative, voice is essential: Javi doesn’t speak (and if so, it is not perceptible), and Deu can’t be understood when speaking. One of the primary references for his voice is Jocelyn Pook‘s concept for Masked Ball, a piece of music made for Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut (1999).
Built around a recording of romanian priest singing orthodox liturgy – which is then played backwards – Pook’s score for the Masked Ball sequence is otherwordly , transporting viewers somehwere that sits between grandiose and hellish. It’s unforgetable. “Yeah, that music was menaning and unsettling”, she explains, “But I also wanted the strings to create this magic so that when the higher pitched voice of the priest comes in it transports you somewhere beautiful”
Jocelyn Pook for Dazed (2018)
MOVEMENT
In most of Deu’s scenes, apart from hearing him talking, we also listen to him move. When Walking, his footsteps resemble a quadruped like a lizard, and its breathing is heavy and slow. We can also hear his insides since some shots are under its perspective. Jesus Cruz suggested that his insides should sound the same when “a character dies in Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding (2020)“.
THE VILLAGER
The villager is a character that appears once walking backwards towards the opposite direction (probably) and gives recommendations to Javi. A practical solution for its sound design is reappropriating the ideas David Lynch developed for his characters when they were inside the white lodge on the TV show Twin Peaks (1990-2017). Everyone’s voice was backward, yet they were understandable. The same treatment happened to the rest of the movements.
4. Music: ideas and references.
Music will flow as a singular song; however, it could be divided into two pieces: one that resonates more with the mountain sequence and another that suits the dream aesthetics. The first 5 minutes is where the music takes a bigger role. However, there are other parts where the music might appear as well.
Mountains
Music opens the short film and defines what sort of register it has. By absorbing the nature of the images provided in the first sequence. The initial part of the song will undertake a music-concrete approach by using rocks and “raw elements” in the composition. One of the most discussed references was Pavel Milyakov’s Masse Métal (2020), where the Russian artist used recorded untreated sound as the main source of its production.
DREAM
The imagery for the dream is very psychedelic, and the music should follow the same register. For instance, after the title’s glitches, the composition would completely change to a more plunderphonics, repetitive, shoegaze piece synchronized with the sound design and later DEu’s voice. There were many references in consideration, but Oneohtrix Point Never’s Replica (2011) was the one that matched best with the intentions needed, more precisely, the tracks Nassau and Andro.