New Zealand sound artist Dave Whitehead (Dune: Part Two, Avatar: The Way of Water, A Minecraft Movie) approaches sound design for film by understanding the director’s vision, trusting his own instincts, and developing a sonic identity for the setting and characters while practicing restraint. Watch this video to learn about Whitehead’s process in his own words, plus his thoughts on technology and the future of sound design.
0:12 - First impressions
For Whitehead, the first time watching a cut is an opportunity to let the work speak for itself and inform his sound design on an instinctive level. “Usually, the film will speak to us as to what it wants, and I really believe in first impressions,” he says. “You watch a film down for the first time and you just have to trust that what you're thinking this thing needs is right.”
But even before that, reading through the script and meeting with the director early on can be a great time to feed off the immediacy of the project. “During that discussion, sometimes you come up with some of the best ideas,” he adds. “I love that phase of sort of just trying to tap into what it is.”
1:11 - Set the tone
After that initial ideation phase, when it’s time to start cutting sounds, Whitehead’s first step is to “ground” the story by establishing the tone of the environment with ambiences and Foley. Whether a scene takes place in a desert, a jungle, a great hall, or a creaky house, Whitehead believes that getting the sonic environment dialed in is crucial to creating a believable environment that can allow the storytelling to happen.
“A good example of that is probably something like The Power of the Dog,” he says. “There was this house in the middle of Montana, in the middle of nowhere. And this house, when I first talked with Writer/Director Jane Campion about it, it's like a character in itself. It has its creaks, it has the air that flows through it, it feels like the dust could come alive.”
Then, it’s about situating the characters in the setting with Foley and effects that complement the ambience you’ve just established. Set on a remote Montana ranch in the 1920s, Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog uses sparse dialogue and environmental detail, making sound and texture essential tools for revealing character and emotional subtext. …Whitehead used elements like jangling spurs and creaking leather to anchor the main character in the rustic setting while adding layers of character meaning through sound.
"The house in The Power of the Dog is a like character in itself – it has its creaks, it has the air that flows through it, it feels like the dust could come alive."
3:20 - Sonic identity
The sonic identity of a film has to serve the genre as well as the director’s tastes, Whitehead says. “Is it a sci-fi? Is it a horror film? Does the director want there to be whooshes and ‘wooey’ sort of things? Does the director like synthesizers or not like them? You've got to take all those things into consideration.”
“You can often hear that sonic identity when you read the script, which comes back to that thought of intuition and your first impressions,” he adds. “It's an intuitive thing, but then you have to hone it into the director's imaginings as well.”
4:34 - Rhythm and restraint
“I've always been big on trying to find a rhythm to how the edit works,” says Whitehead. When working on a small section,he says, “I'll play it over and over, trying to find a rhythm in how those footsteps tie into that door opening to the bird and the background. And you know, you don't want to overcrowd that space.”
While Whitehead prefers to deliver a highly refined set of tracks, he acknowledges that some directors like to have more options to play with, and he generally defers to the vision of the director and picture editor. “I've learned over time that the director and the editor have sat in that edit room and they've found rhythms, they've found timing, they've found a voice in their guide track and you need to really listen to that,” he adds. “Over time, you realize how important that is and how much you need to tie into that.”
4:34 - Tools change, fundamentals don’t
On the subject of rapidly changing technology in post-production, Whitehead’s advice is to “bend like a reed in the river,” constantly adapting to new tools and workflows as they arrive. “Dolby Atmos turned up and all of a sudden there's more speakers and you're laying up extra elements for that,” he says. “New extended frequency range microphones come along where you can record animals at a higher sample rate, and then you can slow them down and they sound better.”
But just like a reed remains rooted to the riverbed, Whitehead emphasizes the importance of sticking to the fundamentals of sound design no matter what technology brings. “At the core of the whole thing is still where you started off with just great sounds,” he adds. “You need to start with a great source, really trying to understand what the film needs, and that voice comes from those beautiful sounds.”
“At the core of the whole thing is still where you started off with just great sounds. You need to really try to understand what the film needs, and that voice comes from those beautiful sounds.”
6:57 - The future of sound design
Looking toward the future, Whitehead calls AI technology “the elephant in the room.” Noise and reverb reduction tools are already doing incredible things, he says, adding that he’s particularly excited about new possibilities in creature design. “If I take essence of lion and essence of seagull and I want to make a creature that has those but doesn't feel artifacty or too synthesized, can I take that and have AI help me come up with the versions there?” he wonders.
But more than AI, Whitehead is excited by the next wave of human talent in the industry. “There are a new generation of sound designers out there who are killing it, who are just incredible,” he says. “There are a lot of names I don't know and some new sounds I haven't heard. There's these new voices coming through. It's very exciting.”
As for his own career, Whitehead isn’t worried about becoming irrelevant or aging out of the industry. “It’s funny, this thing of getting old,” he muses. “Art is not a job, it's just life, so sound design has been a really cool vehicle for me for that. I couldn’t think of being anything but an artist.”
“Art is not a job, it's just life, so sound design has been a really cool vehicle for me for that. I couldn’t think of being anything but an artist.”
If you appreciate Whitehead’s approach to sound design, you’ll love Whitehead Collection Vol. 1. Packed with unique and diverse sounds, this general library makes a great addition to any sound designer’s toolbox. But don’t take our word for it — get an inside look and hear some of the sounds for yourself.