KEY POINTS:
Wind screams and whistles - it's a blizzard in full fury. Six figures, tethered together, appear through the snow. A howling gust sweeps over the cut to a close-up of ice-chipped faces as sub-zero blasts rasp across their faces. A whipped wooden sign on a chain creaks and
jangles.
No, it's not a weather report from the South Island. This is a description of a few moments from a scene in the vampire movie, 30 Days of Night, for which Matthew Lambourn, 29, did the sound effects. Working as a freelance sound designer, Lambourn helps create the atmosphere, known as "atmos" in the industry, and the emotional impact a film will have on an audience.
"Sound effects are what the action should sound like," says Lambourn. "Violence is a good example. Is it realistic like 30 Days, or over-the-top and comedic like Black Sheep? Do we want to be horrified - close-miked, realistic - or amused - absurd, splattery, hyper-loud?"
The challenge for sound editing and design is to create an engaging and interesting soundtrack. There are multiple areas of a soundtrack in film - dialogue, music, foley, sound effects, sound design and atmospheres, ambiences and backgrounds. Lambourn's expertise is in the last three.
Sound design is the unreal action and the hardest to define, he says, giving some resounding examples.
"Whooshes for slow motion sequences; subtle, spooky tones for a suspenseful, haunted house feel; stings - loud bursts of sound for 'fright' moments. The other thing is that a film is a story. Your sound must be true to, and help tell that story. Does the atmosphere take you on a journey? Do the effects scare/delight/sadden and engage you as they are supposed to?"
His favourite work includes the atmos for King Kong and 30 Days of Night.
"In King Kong, I edited the atmos for the Skull Island jungle. I used source material recorded for us in Borneo, and had three carefully-constructed layers of atmos - winds, including howling wind, foliage rustling, cave air; jungle - birds, insects; and water - rivers, sea waves, rain, drips. The role of atmos is to bring life to a location.
"Obviously Skull Island doesn't exist, so the presence must be created and added to picture. There are many things to consider, such as what time of day is it? How do the characters feel - afraid, awestruck, bored? What geographical features are visible, or just off screen? Where is our point of focus - inside the mind of a character or observing them? The atmos has to be presented and mixed in surround so that the audience has a true, even hyper-real, sense of being exactly where the picture places them."
For Lambourn, the world is a musical instrument and he takes his recorder most places in case he picks up a sound that will be useful.
To record noises for specific projects he's gone to unusual places, such as a swimming pool basement to capture the gurgling of water through the pipes and the conveyor belt of a medical waste disposal plant.
"You learn to hear every sound in a musical way. Garage doors opening, a tree rustling, a creek babbling or a jet landing. All of these sounds are so complex and rich that when you stop hearing them as just 'noise' the whole world becomes a musical instrument. Understanding this is crucial to film, as it's all about conveying meaning."
Lambourn studied music at Wellington's Victoria University where he developed an interest in electro-acoustic music. He discovered sound design and sound effects through a friend and has been working in the field for nearly eight years. His first job was creating sounds for doors and phone rings for the TV show, Street Legal.
"It's satisfying to hear your work in context and hear how sound helps create the final picture."
In 2006, he received the Chapman-Tripp Sound Designer of the Year award for Dr Buller's Birds.
People with a technical knowledge of music and computer/sound technology will have an advantage starting out in the industry, but creativity and willingness to learn are also vital.
"Being a person who is easy to work with is invaluable," he says. "There are times that get stressful, especially during the final stages of the soundtrack."
Since the industry is still relatively small, networking is important. His workload varies, according to the numbers of films being produced.
"The best chances of getting involved are word-of-mouth and who-you-know. There are occasionally internships offered on company websites, and a portfolio of any relevant work would be an advantage."
He says there is increasing opportunities for theatre work in sound design, in radio as producers of programmes and recordists of musical events, or working in audio preservation and the archival areas of libraries.
