Sound FX design (inception & Transformers impact hit/dro

[DrGonzo77]

Hi guys, hoping someone here can give me some advice on creating a sfx.

I've been trying to recreate two particular sounds that I've been hearing often in big budget movie trailers. They're both mechanical drones/impact hits that trailers such as Transformers 3 and Inception have used. I'm using Logic and an MPK 49 with some jampacks but I'm just not getting it. Can anyone offer advice on recreating this?

If you watch the Transformers 3 trailer (apologies) the sfx is used on the fade to black in between shots.
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/para ... ofthemoon/

In the Inception trailer it is used at the opening and to denote new cues.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zfMZaLoAsY


Thanks all for your time and help.
CB

[Gregg Juke]

I wasn't sure which sound you were referencing in the Transformers trailer.

The "cue-denoter" in the Inception trailer sounded like it could have been a large piece of metal that was bowed (violin bow). Large gongs work great for some of that stuff. Could be some type of Alpenhorn brought down several octaves. Could be a combination of those two things plus a low brass attack.

I've been studying film sound design and scoring a little more closely (which makes me 8/10ths of 1-billionth more of an authority on the subject than I was a few seconds ago ), and I've noticed that a lot of the sounds that the designers use are very multi-layered. I've heard SFX guys say that one impact hit or special effect might have 5 to 30 layers...

You might want to sign-up and post this question over at www.dvxuser.com ,
in the "Audio" forum. There are a few post-production pros that might have a better/more accurate answer for you. But I'd start experimenting with metallic sounds, low brass, and very analog bass sounds, layered, and "octavized."

GJ

[DrGonzo77]

Thanks for the advice on the other site. I will def check that out. In Transformers Trailer 1, the sfx can be heard on the opening shot and then when the astronaut turns his head. It is a real grimey imapct hit. I'm going to experiment a bit tonight. If anyone has any other advice, i'd appreciate it as well. Thanks!

[kickoldman]

http://soundworkscollection.com/

This website is great; there are segments on both the movies you cited. The Foley portion of the Transformers 3 profile is especially awesome and might give you some good ideas.

I think Gregg's suggestion is an excellent one. Brass instruments, large metal objects. Film sound guys love the sub-harmonic generators, too.

[Recycled_Brains]

http://soundworkscollection.com/

This website is great

Dude! This is fantastic. Thank you for posting the link.

[Gregg Juke]

Hey Kick-- Thanks for the great link!

I was also thinking, you'd have to search the on-line archives of, ahem, another magazine's site... But "Mix" often deals with Hollywood sound-design "How We Did It" type articles. I'd search under Incepetion and Transformers and see what might be there. There was a great story on the sound-design for The Dark Knight.

GJ

[Gregg Juke]

It looks like the SoundWorks site has features on both Transformers and Inception, but here's another article about Inception:

http://www.mixonline.com/post/features/ ... inception/

I haven't read it yet, so I don't know if it covers what you're looking for, but I always find this film stuff fascinating.

GJ

[JGriffin]

Hey Kick-- Thanks for the great link!

I was also thinking, you'd have to search the on-line archives of, ahem, another magazine's site... But "Mix" often deals with Hollywood sound-design "How We Did It" type articles. I'd search under Incepetion and Transformers and see what might be there. There was a great story on the sound-design for The Dark Knight.

GJ

That's the first thing I read whenever Mix shows up.

Also, check out http://socialsounddesign.com/ for more sound-design resources. Some good stuff there.

[trmchenry]

Slightly related... This is fun and informative. Obviously was rerecorded for the movie theme but really shows where the composer's heads were at when they put the score together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnmFKPvTroY