Anyone see this? I thought the sound design was really cool in it :-)

Scott Morgan

Yeah some great effects, the large insect and the mewling mandrake root were very memorable. I think the horrific 'bottle' scene benefitted massively in it's impact from the sound too.

Steven Taylor

I went to see this movie with no idea what it was about, or what the rating was. That made it so much more exciting to watch it all unfold! A friend asked me to go see it and I didn't know if I had been invited to see a kid's movie, a war movie, a fantasy... and the best part is that I never pinned the movie down and that kept me so interested in what was going to happen next.

And, oh yeah, I really liked the sound. = )

Loved the fairy "dialogue" when it was in insect form in particular. I thought the guns and explosions were impressive without being ridiculous. The impressive weapon sound along with the thunderous quality of the horse hooves gave it an exaggerated quality appropriate to a fairy tale and emphasized the evil that was present. I do remember thinking the footsteps of the faun were a bit too boomy and indistinct, and the eye/ear connection took time to "sync" when we see him for the first time, but that was minor and hard to say for sure that it wasn't partly the acoustics where I saw it.

And yeah, the bottle scene was pretty shocking and the sound was huge in that regard. It was so dark and fast it might have been difficult to see how greusome the injuries were - but with that sound there was no doubt.

Sean Phillips

All I know is I don't think leather has ever scared me so much. It seemed the Captain was made of leather…even when shaving with his jacket off we could still hear the ominous creaking of his boots. He almost (ALMOST) would have been a sympathetic character if it weren't for the subtle glove creaks of his (offscreen) hand tensing up whenever his father was mentioned.

Andy Martin

For all the dry ice and screeching chalboards I've recorded, I thought I I was past cringing at that stuff but his leather make me shrink into my seat.

What did everyone think of the fairies? I really liked the sound but I thought maybe there was too much--too 'mechanical' maybe. As in following the motion/physicality of the creature too minutely instead of focusing on its emotional state/message.

And what the heck did they do to the Faun's voice?! It sounded amazing!

The use of sound themes throughout the film was a nice touch. That bass-tone worked very much like the Jaws theme in bringing about a sense of fear in me.

David Steinwedel

"What did everyone think of the fairies? I really liked the sound but I thought maybe there was too much--too 'mechanical' maybe. As in following the motion/physicality of the creature too minutely instead of focusing on its emotional state/message."

I thought about this myself. i felt as if it sounded a little overboard - but my thinking was that a general movie watching audience wouldn't really be "distracted" as i was. if anything, what i really liked about the sound of the fairies, was that they sounded really unique. maybe i don't watch enough films - but i felt as if they sounded unlike anything i had heard before as far as little flying creatures go. they were sort of bordering on "scary" for me - at least at the beginning - but i think this helped to identify the girl as being generally unafraid.

And what the heck did they do to the Faun's voice?! It sounded amazing!

I did notice some hidden layers and occasionally louder animal roars. (it was the ones that were a bit louder and stuck out on their own that sort of bothered me - the ones that were between lines of dialog, mostly when faun was angry)

overall it is a very stylized sound track...though a bit over the top at times, i really feel it adds to the movie as a whole and helps make it very fairytale-ish. (ok. not a real word there...)

Greg Sextro

I just saw the movie and I thought it was great. I didn't particularly like the sound of the fairies flying, but I did like their vocalizations and the use of the surrounds in their flight patterns. I found the house creaks to be a bit distracting during one of the scenes with the Faun, but it didn't really take me out of the story. The movie is definitely worth checking out.

Brad Semenoff

Actually this discussion has made me remember an aspect of the film sound which did distract me... everytime a blade or knife appeared or was unsheathed the sound was very hyped an hyperreal, sometimes almost sounding like a ringing sword.

I found that really distracting and mentioned it to lots of friends who saw the movie.. but no one else noticed. It wasn't as overboard as the Fairie sound, but that seemed to be more acceptable due to the fantastical source.

Steven Taylor

I noticed this as well, but thought it lent to the blurred distinction of reality and fairy-tale. Which was more of a true reality for girl – the horrors of the captain and his brutality or the refuge of her true father's underground world? My personal favorite was the singing blade-ring after the captain "sliced" his own throat in the mirror.

Andy Martin

The movie earned the Best Sound Goya (Spanish Academy of film scienes and arts awards) a couple of weeks ago, amend others.

Cataldo Torelli.

And yeah, the bottle scene was pretty shocking and the sound was huge in that regard. It was so dark and fast it might have been difficult to see how greusome the injuries were - but with that sound there was no doubt.

What really seals that scene is the fact the bottle doesn't break. It's the sound you are waiting to hear, with the idea that the attack will be so much worse once it happens... yet it confounds your expectations and the unrelenting sound makes the outcome seem even more horrific and unexpected.

I think the thing about the blades was me becoming hypersensitive because I found the soundtrack so fascinating.

Steven Taylor

Well, what a film. I must admit, I wasn't that sure what to think of it, even though I enjoyed it. Yes, the sound was great though (although the cinema that screened it was pretty poor soundwise, the speakers were situated in front of the screen, with a wimpy JBL control1 as a centre...).

I liked the leather, the deep bass drone now and then on the captain, and the fairy and faun. What was the English Faun's voice like? German was good, a little pitched, with the odd goat or sheep in there (pitched I take it) now and then.

The feet were a little sub-bass, though it felt powerful but not that threatening, rather soft and gentle. I didn't quite like the wood-squeaks when it moved, felt they were a little to "bright" or hight. After all, this is an ancient creature (but maybe I was thinking a little too much of Treebeard ;-) )

Andrew.Mottl

Thread "Pan's Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno) " started Feb 13, 2007 at Sound Design discussion list