Paul Davies - sound Engineer

Paul Davies of Videosonics has been involved with some of the most notable low budget British films of recent years: Ratcatcher, Twenty Four Seven, The Tichborne Claimant, The Filth & The Fury and Sexy Beast. But he's still surprised at the general lack of knowledge among first time producers when it comes to sound.

"There's a general misconception that sound post production is a kind of technical tidying up process. It's a very creative process, particularly if the director appreciates sound and wants to get involved. This is especially true for low budget films where good sound offers a great opportunity of suggesting a greater scale or depth to a picture by hinting at things not actually seen on the screen".

Preparation is key. Paul and other sound staff generally like to have a view of the script before it goes into production. In this way they can develop a good relationship with the location sound recordist and troubleshoot for potential areas of difficulty.

"It's usually a matter of getting extra wild tracks of dialogue in certain shots, like for things like club scenes or wherever there's going to be a lot of background noise. Often films are driven along by what you see in the picture, but if we get to see the script beforehand we might suggest areas where the sound may drive the story forward, like the rumbling of horses hooves on the ground, for example rather than a dust cloud on the horizon".

If the director does not have an established relationship with a sound post production house, the initial approach will usually come from the producer. The first point of contact in the case of Videosonics, is facilities manager Richard Conway.

"The biggest influence on what a film is going to sound like is often the budget. On Hollywood pictures they can reconstruct the entire soundtrack if they want; they have the money to call back any artists to re-voice their scenes (called 'ADR' or Auto Dialogue Recording/replacement) or do endless Foley (sound effects generated afterwards like footsteps).