Sound Designers’ diaries with Rakesh Ranjan.
(Audiographer, Production Sound Mixer, and Sound Designer)
Rakesh Bakshi - – You have worked on nearly 170 released films so far. In what capacity did you begin your professional journey?
RR – I began as a production sound mixer, and gradually worked my way up to being sound designer and director of audiography.
- – When did you first become aware of what sound recording in films really meant?
RR – Not until I joined the Film Institute (FTII, Pune) did I become aware of how sound is recorded in films. And what attracted me to joining the FTII was, I was more interested in the technology, the electronics of it, rather than the sound as such.
Since childhood, electronic gadgets used to fascinate me. Having said that, the real attraction to sound was music, film songs.
- – Do you have a memory of the earliest sound from your childhood that is etched in your memory? Something that also came with a learning about sound.
RR – (Thinks) It would probably be a sound I heard when I was visiting my village, Chakwai, now in Bihar, as a child. The village children would go into the sugarcane fields to rob sugarcane and my uncles, who owned the sugarcane fields, would come to know the children have entered their fields from the ‘khaskhaskhaskhaskhas’ sound the wind carried to us, the sound of the kids brushing past the more than 7 feet tall sugarcane leaves.
That sound would fascinate me! And what really fascinated me was that though we could not see the children, their presence in the fields was evident from the sound of them brushing past the cane leaves. So in a way, we could ‘view’ them through our ears! (laughs) If you know what I really mean.
- – What is the normal brief you receive from a director, when you come on board a project?
RR – Rakesh, firstly, what surprises me is, most directors do not give me/ us audiographers, the script to read! That is unfortunate, because sound is such an integral part of filmmaking, yet they don’t think in terms of sound as storytelling at all; for some their storytelling is primarily actors and some interesting looking location, and nice visuals! That’s what they focus most of their creative energy on!
Having said that, the new generations of directors are very particular about their sound track and they share their thoughts with us from the preproduction stage itself. They also have a clear soundscape of the events happening on the screen.
- – When you read a script, or when you discuss the sound treatment of the film, is there something you feel directors should include in the script or mention during their discussions with you?
RR – Yes, ideally, what they need to also write along with the screenplay is the soundscape of the film. And if they don’t mention it in some corner of the screenplay, then at least give it to us verbally or as a separate document; notes on what kind of sounds they ‘hear’ in some important scenes, how they interpret some scenes in sound.
All directors mention what they are seeing in their mind (visual perception of events) in relation to the story, but rarely do they include what they are hearing in their heads (Aural perception of the story). They use the words ‘I see it my mind’s eye’, but what about the words ‘I hear this in my mind’s ears’? They talk only what they are seeing, and this, I feel, is because they do not think of sound as an important tool in their narrative structure.
RR – Tell us about some important elements that you consider during production, so that you will not have problems with the sound during the post. For example, how elements like, the fabric of the garments worn by actors, the materials the set is constructed or decorated with, etc. can affect you.
RR – Say if you are shooting on a set constructed for a period film like, Mughal-E-Azam (1960), the set will be constructed of wood, the flooring will be wood. But in real life it was of stones like marble etc, so the sound, the dialogue, reflecting off these surfaces will naturally reflect a tonality of those materials, because the acoustics of a wooden floor will be different from that of a marble floor.
As for clothes, sometimes the actors have to wear a particular kind of garment because it’s the requirement of the narrative, but that garment may be static prone, so when we capture the dialogue on set, or location, static noise ruins the sound quality of the dialogue, because of which ADR becomes mandatory for those scenes.
Jewelry rustles when the actors move about and that too creates disturbances in sound. See, the recording mic spares none, it’s the most truthful equipment and captures everything that strikes it, it is not biased, it is not selective. The above are the few elements we look out for in particular before principal photography begins, so that the producer and director have time on hand to implement any suggestions we may have.
- – Is a sound designer also a storyteller? Do you create a theme for your sound treatment to enhance the narrative?
RR – Yes! The sound man is a very effective story teller, he has to his disposal the various elements of the picture like the DIALOGUE, LOCATION AMBIANCE, FOLLEYS, BGM, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE SILENCES, all of which constantly manipulate the audience’s perception of the story along with the visuals and the visual edits.
I consider the sound textures as themes, because the tonal quality of all the sounds play a very important part in the narrative, and this varies from subject to subject. I create sound texture by working on the tonal quality of the actor’s voice his or her footsteps and other Foley sounds. Other than that, what will be the sounds the audience will be hearing in the acoustical space of the story?
That’s, what I create, what we term as the ‘soundscape’. ‘What the audience hears’, meaning, if it’s an outdoor night scene, will the audience hear the night crickets or an owl, which sound from the hundreds of options will help the narrative best, is what I attempt to create as the film’s sound designer.
For me, this acoustical space is something very close to the story, because it subconsciously affects the perception of the audience and draws their attention to what the character is experiencing, feeling, hearing and reacting.
- – When you are dubbing dialogue during post-production, ADR, automated or additional dialogue replacement, what are you really looking for in the actor’s voice?
RR – The texture, in context to the relationship, the expression of attitudes and emotions, or highlighting aspects of grammatical structure, keeping in mind the environment (the acoustical space), the spatial distances between the characters and objects around the character speaking, are some significant parameters too.
The texture of the sound is my connectivity to the character and the narrative. I judge it from asking myself, while hearing the sound, the dialogue, if someone were to speak those words to me in those circumstances and environment, will I connect to them? So I look for that answer, that texture. It is very difficult to explain texture, especially sound textures. (Thinks) Texture is a feeling, which I get when I hear something, be it the dialogue, music, or the effects, or even silence!
- - Sound has a very strange quality that you are not aware of it unless it’s muted. What is the importance of silence in a soundtrack?
RR – Many people feel muting something is silence. True, but I think of silence very differently. For me silence is a close up of sound. If I am creating silence on screen, I use it to convey a big close up in the soundscape.
In the sense, say if the director has shot just the eyes of the character, whatever be the magnification of the shot, and if I need to draw the attention of the audience to the emotion behind that close up, I’ll gradually create a vacuum of sound in the soundtrack, and I’d do it very subtly, to draw attention to a certain emotional experience. That’s a close up of sound for me, temporal silence, which I have created by changing the tonal characteristic; I’m not removing the sound completely, I’m not muting it, I’m only changing its tonal character.
Silence can be when you can hear the heartbeat of a person. Silence can be when you can hear distant sounds and associate them with your inner feelings.
-- Your take on location sound verses Dubbed (ADR) sound.
RR - Both have their own advantages and disadvantages. For a film to have the final dialogue track captured on location the script needs to be locked and in place much before the principal photography, the actors well versed with their lines, with proper diction and feelings, the outdoor location should be quite enough to capture good and clean dialogue, the DOP, Art Director and Costume Designer should be sensitive to the requirements of the location sound mixer.
Above all, I think it is the attitude and discipline of the Director and the crew members, which matters the most in helping the sound person do his job well and capture the original performance of the Actors.The time and effort required to do a location-sound film is more than what it takes to just capture the guide audio track on location.
Whereas in case of a dubbed film, the sound crew can take it a bit easy on the shoot. Because their real work begins only after the film has been edited. The actors can concentrate and improve upon their performances. The tonal quality is totally under control as the actors are performing under ideal acoustical conditions.
- – Any other reason why many films have to resort to ADR, dubbing?
RR – Yes. It has to do with the way some directors direct performance. They do not give the actors adequate information about their character. The actor performs scene number 32 in a certain manner, and the next day when he performs scene no 88, or scene no 2, the director gives them information that makes their performance in scene no 32 sound incorrect by way of the attitude. However, thanks to ADR we can dub the scene no 32 with the correct attitude and thus save the performance.
- – As a sound designer, how important is a realistic sound to correct sound?
RR – Cinema sound cannot be realistic, it gives the perception of being real. That is because of the way we use sound to be projected in cinema halls. Realistic sound does not create cinematic impact. Created sound is more important than the realistic sound. What will go down well with the audience’s perception is more important than the real sound.
- – Considering most of our films are heavy on sound, tell us, how much can an audience really hear that will be useful, because I feel most filmmakers overwhelm an audience with sound.
RR - Sound is very complex Rakesh. And putting together a soundtrack is even more complex. There is a fact about our brain that directors, and music composers must know, it is termed ‘selective’ hearing. The ears are not where we hear sound actually; they are simply the funnel that carries sound waves to our brain.
The real ‘hearing’ happens in our brain. Many many sounds strike our ears, and even make their way to our brain, however, the brain is selective and it mutes some sounds and enhances others.
The brain will select the sounds in context to what our POV is then, what our need is at that moment. It filters out and blocks all other sounds that are unnecessary to us at that moment in time.
Though all sounds are creating pressure on the eardrum, all that communication doesn’t go to the brain. The ears only transmit signals to the brain and it’s the brain, which deciphers the information received from the ears. It deciphers only what you are perceiving then, what is important to you then.
So as a sound designer, you have to be selective just like the brain. You have to think ‘what is most important from all the information being received in the shot?’, and filter or mute the rest, and thus drive the audience’s perception to what is important in that shot.
- – How would you really define your job, your profession?
RR – I’m a psychiatrist, a sound psychiatrist, if such a term can be coined. (Smiles) I play constantly with the perception of the audience in cinema hall; I simply manipulate human perception to achieve better storytelling.
- – If you were to create the sound of God speaking for a character playing God, what would you do to attempt to make him or her sound Godly?
RR – (Smiles) I will create a voice, which is passionate, soft and at the same time warm. When you say God, all the passion, all the love, all the kindness, all good things come to mind, and that what God represents. So the voice I create will have to reflect that kind of tonal quality. That’s it! The voice should make you feel at peace within.
- – Something you want to add, share with us before we end this interview?
RR – I would like to quote Mr. Satyajit Ray. When he was asked ‘How do you tell a story? What are the things you keep in mind when you are telling a story?’, Mr Ray replied, ‘When, as a child, my grandparents would tell me a story, I now recollect how I would be engaged by their stories! It was just someone telling me a story verbally, no support of visuals and music, yet I would be hooked!
Even though it was just an audio track playing, them telling me the story, the kind of interest they created in me to listen to them keenly, by modulating their voices, changing it’s pitch and tonal quality in context to the changes in drama being narrated, that kept me hooked to their storytelling! That is it! And they told the stories simply, they were not loud, yet I can remember them even today!’
From that incident I realized, just like a beautiful woman does not need jewelry to look beautiful, if your story is good, you do not need to decorate it with loud or unnecessary sounds. Keep it simple. Thank you!
Filmography of Rakesh Ranjan: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1007929/
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#SoundDesignersDiaries with #RakeshRanjan #DirectorsDiaries
Letters want to be words. Words want to be stories. Stories want to be told. #RakeshAnandBakshi
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The directors’ on Cinema & Filmmaking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8bnPI95HCs
The directors’ Beginnings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgbvst-mhOw
The directors’ Convictions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQgoJwP1sd8
The directors’ Challenges: https://youtu.be/1BmjGGurM5U
Imtiaz Ali’s 1st film being his film school & our book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzC18coaoLw
Zoya Akhtar on being a 1st time film maker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsdg8UNfwKs
Shyam Benegal on ‘… Why directors’..’ : https://youtu.be/3-u3GRgkt8E
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