The title says it all. After seeing The Hunger Games yesterday, which was a very good movie, the thing that stood out for me the most was the Sound Design. There were so many opportunities for the designers to “just go loud and big” like a typical blockbuster action film (see any Michael Bay film) but what they came up with perfectly matched the mood and feel of both the film and the characters within.
In particular the use of silence or near silence at key moments in the film. Where things could have been loud, boisterous, typical slasher sounds of death and destruction, we’re instead “hearing it through the ears of Katniss Everdeen” as a confused person thrown into an unbelieveable situation. She has tuned out the sound for her own sanity. At least that’s the take I came away with.
Three scenes in particular that stand out from a sound design point:
The actual start of the Hunger Games when the kids sprint off the platforms.
The hallucination scene with the effects of the tracker jacker venom.
The aftermath of an explosion triggered by Katniss’ arrow.
But quite honestly, the entire sound design to me is understated and precisely what the film needed. It’s not designed to stand out and make you jump in your seats because they can and it seems like “it’s the stereotypical thing to do.” The sound was designed to keep you in the moment, in the story, not just make loud sounds because they can. Even the canon that signals the death of a tribute is quite understated rather than an ear shattering boom that we would probably get from your typical action film.
So I would suggest any aspiring sound designer should check out this film, buy it when it comes out on dvd / blu ray so you can study it further. Heck aspiring Directors should buy it too for Gary Ross’ excellent direction and adaptation of the book.
Here are the full credits from IMDB, scroll down to find the entire Sound Department credits.
And while we’re recommending movies for sound design, definitely pick up a copy of WALL-E with yet another incredibly well done example of sound design to carry a film. Particularly the first 20 minutes with zero dialogue.