24 BROADCASTASIA2017 SHOWDAILY 23 May 2017
S ’ pore films shine on global stage with audio as a strong backbone
What were some of the challenges you faced with the audio post-production work for The Apprentice and Pop Aye , and how did you overcome them ? Lim Ting Li : The final scene of The Apprentice was shot in a sevenminute-long take on the Steadicam that wove through different rooms , corridors and characters ’ perspectives . As the on-set recording had a lot of crew noise and instructions given on set , we decided to recreate that entire scene sonically in order to have flexibility in the mix .
We got the actors back in , redubbed all the lines and the breath tracks , foleyed the entire scene , and laid in different atmospheres in each room . Because the scene was so long , it was crucial in the mix that the sound has to shift with the moving camera to keep the scene immersive and dense .
For Pop Aye , the biggest challenge was to create Bong ’ s ( who played Pop Aye ) vocalisation in the film so that it seems like he ’ s responding and reacting to the different scenarios and characters .
Bong was incredibly quiet on set , which gave us a blank canvas to work with . We used a combination of different sources — grunts , growls , breaths , squeals from recordings of Bong , African elephants and even seals — to create the expressions of Pop Aye that you now hear in the film .
What is the most important audio element in filmmaking , and how does audio enhance visuals as a storytelling tool for
Lim Ting Li , director of sound at Mocha Chai Laboratories , has created the sound design for local productions such as The Apprentice and Pop Aye . Speaking at the Post-Production Hub today and on Thursday , May 25 , Lim is discussing the creative process behind the sound design for her projects , from conceptualisation to execution .
❝ Audio can inform the audience of what lies beyond the frame and change the mood . It can
point the audience ’ s eye to where they should be looking .❞
the types of films you create ? Lim : Dialogue is definitely the most important audio element in filmmaking . Without dialogue , we wouldn ’ t be able to understand the story . In a noisy city like Singapore , good dialogue is really hard to achieve . We usually spend an incredible amount of time on the dialogues in sound post to get it to sound good and , these days , with everyone shooting with pristine image quality , good , confident dialogue is usually what sets the production value apart .
Audio can inform the audience of what lies beyond the frame and change the mood . It can point the audience ’ s eye to where they should be looking . An ordinary day at the park can be ominous with the sounds of a murder of crows .
The cheers of a crowd create the illusion of a full-house stadium when the frame shows only a handful of extras . It can make the audience anticipate fear or safety . There ’ s really so much that audio can do hand-in-hand with visuals in terms of storytelling .
Technologies such as 4K / Ultra HD ( UHD ) and high dynamic range ( HDR ) have emerged , empowering content producers to film their projects with more details and clarity . In your opinion , how do these high-resolution images have an impact on audio design ? Lim : Film is an audio-visual medium — one can ’ t do without the other and they affect each other in tremendous ways . I ' ve always felt that the style of the visuals and soundtrack has to complement one another . For example , a pristine and hyper-clean sound track would be a mismatch for a pretty 16mm film look .
As images become more detailed and clear — from 2K to 4K / UHD , 3D to HDR — the tolerance for bad sound fidelity becomes lower . There have been similar advancements on the sound front to match up to the images .
One of which is the introduction of Dolby Atmos . The pan-array technology and overhead speakers allow the action to take place on the audience side of the screen , around and above them , allowing more possibilities for content creators to play with more now than ever .
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