Crafting Sound to Support the Spoofy Humor of ‘The Naked Gun’ – with Dan Kenyon and Smokey Cloud

The silly, unsophisticated humor of The Naked Gun franchise lives on with Director Akiva Schaffer's aptly-named action crime comedy film The Naked Gun (2025). Yes, it is a legacy sequel to Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994). Not much has changed — the jokes are exactly what you'd expect, which is truly a testament to Dir. Schaffer and his team on the film. For sound, Emmy-winning sound supervisor/re-recording mixer/sound designer Dan Kenyon and sound effects editor Smokey Cloud talk about creating realistic sounds to juxtapose the over-the-top jokes, break down their sound work for specific scenes like the construction crane that looks like an arcade claw machine, the fight with the security team at the Bengal club, and the WWFC fight event, and they talk about their favorite sound moments and more!

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Interview by Jennifer Walden, photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures; Dan Kenyon

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Laughter is the best medicine! Especially when the jokes are so bad you can’t help but laugh. That’s always been the charm of the Naked Gun franchise, which began as a TV series called Police Squad! (1982). The crime parody premise of the series did not evolve, even with its jump to film as The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988). Over the years, the jokes have not become more sophisticated. Director Akiva Schaffer has kept the original comedy recipe for his latest film The Naked Gun (2025), and it’s as satisfying as you remember. It’s silly. It’s stupid. And that’s exactly how it should be. It’s ok to laugh!

Here, Dan Kenyon (re-recording mixer/supervising sound editor/sound designer) and Smokey Cloud (sound editor/sound effects editor) at Pacific Standard Sound talk about how they approached sound for jokes that go from so over-the-top silly to completely deadpan, to help the comedy land in that Naked Gun kind of way. They talk about creating the sounds for arm jetpacks, the PLOT device, the gunfire-less gun battle, and much more!

WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

The Naked Gun | Official Trailer (2025 Movie)

When did you get involved with The Naked Gun and what were some of the initial sounds or scenes that dir. Akiva Schaffer wanted to focus on?

Smokey Cloud (SC): Shortly after production wrapped, the picture department sent over a handful of scenes, including the opening bank robbery. The cinematography lent such a gritty, realistic vibe that helped establish the sandbox we were about to play in.

Sound Supervisor/Re-Recording Mixer Dan Kenyon

Dan Kenyon (DK): My personal involvement with The Naked Gun started twenty-five years ago when I was living in England. My best friend at the time introduced me to a lot of things: Warhammer 40,000, Halo, paintball, Green Day, playing in a band, and even my first beer! He also showed me The Naked Gun films. I have distinct memories of us cracking up at all of the jokes, and I remember being thrilled when he told me there was more than one movie. We were close friends for about two years before I moved back to the United States, but it was a very memorable and formative time in my life. He is no longer with us, so when I found out this film was being made, I thought it would be a great way to remember him.

Craig Henighan, Ryan Cole and I got involved shortly after interviewing with Akiva. He wanted a bunch of dialogue cleanups in various scenes and also some sounds to use for the construction crane and giant claw machine. Ryan did some amazing work on some tricky dialogue that was kept in the film throughout the final mix.

What was your approach to sound on the opening bank heist? How did you use this opening scene to set up the audience’s expectations for sound on The Naked Gun?

DK: Our initial mix pass on the opening bank heist was quite different than where we ended up. Mark Paterson and I mixed it like a typical Hollywood action sequence, featuring big sound effects and music. Ultimately, Akiva wanted this scene to be more music-driven, so we changed it quite a bit. His overall philosophy for the sound of the film was for the audience to feel audibly comfortable and safe within the mix, no matter which scene they’re in.

We sometimes went through the sound shot-by-shot with Akiva during the final mix to dial the mix exactly to his liking

We sometimes went through the sound shot-by-shot with Akiva during the final mix to dial the mix exactly to his liking. He’s an extremely technical filmmaker. He cuts picture in Adobe Premiere, and he knows Pro Tools really well, so he was able to build a very precise roadmap for us and could easily communicate exactly how he wanted the film to sound.

What went into the sound of the crane operator trying to recover the crashed car using the giant claw (like you’d find in an arcade)?

DK: Before I started the film, I was asked to send some sounds to the cutting room for the crane. Initially, the directive was for it to sound heavy, gritty and industrial. We had layers of grinding servos, air piston releases, chunky metal impacts, claw grabs, and metal creaks. The only thing that wasn’t big was the button switch that drops the crane. Akiva liked how small, cheap, and plastic it sounded.

during the final mix, he asked us to do a more upscaled toy-like version of the classic arcade claw game

That must have stuck in his head because during the final mix, he asked us to do a more upscaled toy-like version of the classic arcade claw game. I was busy mixing, so our sound effects editor Chris Bonis did the heavy lifting on the new crane. We added back some of the heaviness and metal clunks from the original concept, and that’s what ended up in the film.

Can you talk about creating the sound of the paper cups of coffee? (Every time Frank throws one away, the cup sounds full!) I love how that sound carried over to Beth Davenport throwing away her wet tissue…

DK: I love the coffee cup joke, especially that hand that comes through the car window as Frank is driving to the Edentech gala.

We mainly featured the production recordings because they sounded full and natural

We mainly featured the production recordings because they sounded full and natural. We layered effects and foley elements on top, but the hero sound was production.

Pete Persaud and Steve Baine at Foley One did our foley. They added some nice coffee sloshing details that gave the coffee cups (especially the huge ones!) good texture and movement. It’s a small detail, but I think it was a compliment to those jokes that helped them land even more.

What went into the sounds for the Edentech electric car?

DK: Akiva wanted the Edenvox One to sound cool and high tech. The startup chime came from the music department, and probably 50% of the UI beeps were from the Avid and the others were created to match them.

I used zplane Elastique Pitch and Soundtoys Tremolator as inserts, and wrote automation to make the synth layers change depending on the speed of the car

For the “engine,” we did a pass of the car with a variety of EV recordings, which worked, but I felt like it could be a bit more fun and futuristic. I added a few synth layers to the EV recordings, and modulated the pitch with Serato Pitch ‘n Time Pro. It still needed an additional cool factor, so I used zplane Elastique Pitch and Soundtoys Tremolator as inserts, and wrote automation to make the synth layers change depending on the speed of the car. As it accelerates, the pitch and speed of the tremolo effect increase. The final result is something that’s fun and near futuristic yet not too far off from what a modern-day EV car sounds like.

Can you talk about your sound work for the scene in which Frank sneaks into the security room at Richard Cane’s supper club? (I love how Frank’s voice sounds as it comes up from the stairwell while he’s answering a call from his mom…)

DK: Akiva and Brian [Scott Olds, Editor] had put this together pretty specifically in the Avid. I love the duck quack and flyaway when Frank is tiptoeing behind the guards — that’s vintage Naked Gun! Frank’s slip and tumble down the stairs was precisely timed, with a classic metal pan whack at the end.

I love the duck quack and flyaway when Frank is tiptoeing behind the guards — that’s vintage ‘Naked Gun’!

For Frank’s voice treatment, we tried the reverb from the Avid as well as a few versions from Emma Present (dialogue/ADR supervisor) and Mark. We landed somewhere in the middle. It’s such a well-constructed sequence of jokes that ends with a punchline — like a snare drum hit that brings us back into the live jazz music in the club.

What went into the fight sounds of Frank taking on the security team?

DK: Ai-Ling Lee did a majority of the fight sounds for the security fight. The approach here was for it to sound like a Hollywood fight sequence, to play up the absurdity of Frank taking out guard after guard, ripping the arms off one of them, and the fight ending in a grocery-store ticket line of henchmen.

The approach here was for it to sound like a Hollywood fight sequence, to play up the absurdity of Frank taking out guard after guard

It sounds big and fun, but it’s also mixed carefully around the voiceover and Pam Anderson’s performance. To help clear for music vocals and dialogue, I panned everything slightly wider than I normally would to clear the center channel.

How did you handle the sound of Beth Davenport’s impromptu jazz performance (“Sassafras Chicken in D”) on stage at the supper club?

DK: The credit for this goes to Pam! Her vocals and performance are so good here. Mark [Paterson] did a great job mixing all of the music in this film, but particularly in this scene. I quieted down the crowd when Beth grabbed the mic, and since it’s a movie, there had to be some microphone feedback.

The music department delivered a pretty funny horn flub sound that worked with the feedback

The music department delivered a pretty funny horn flub sound that worked with the feedback and helped to draw attention to the stage. Then it was just a matter of balancing the voiceover, Beth’s vocals, music, and sound effects. Mark did the heavy lifting, and I did my best to stay out of his way!

Frank and Beth have this weekend getaway/music video montage moment set to “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.” How were you able to have some fun with the effects here?

DK: We were pretty selective about what sounds you would hear in the montage. Looking back at the older Naked Gun films, we found that you don’t actually hear much dialogue or laughter from Frank and Jane. It’s like a music video where you only hear the comedic elements.

Because the music is so big and in the foreground, we had to go a bit over the top with the sound effects

We followed that concept, but we snuck in a little bit of dialogue in a few places to help the emotion. Because the music is so big and in the foreground, we had to go a bit over the top with the sound effects so you could hear them and also so they could be interesting and highlight the humor of what you’re seeing on screen. Ai-Ling did some great work in the montage. The empty inhaler clicks are perfect!

What went into the sound of O’Reilly’s head vs. the ceiling fan?

DK: With comedies, it’s all about the fine balance of elements: how much blood splatter is funny and when does it become gross? Which is funnier?

We ended up with a wood chipper sound […] it’s clearly not the sound that the fan would make, which is why I think it works

Like a lot of the sonic elements in The Naked Gun, we tried a lot of versions to see what would work. I think this joke works so well because we don’t see his head get chopped into pieces. We tried options that leaned into the gore, a few where you could hear the “thunk thunk thunk” of the fan blades rotating and chopping into his flesh. We ended up with a wood chipper sound. It’s simple, and it’s clearly not the sound that the fan would make, which is why I think it works. It also has a nice attack to it, so you instantly understand what’s happened. It’s a quick, unexpected movement. We stayed kind of light with the blood and guts until the final mix, and gored it up a bit on the mix stage.

Can you talk about your sound work for the fake hospital/interrogation room scene? (It’s like a Russian doll of sets!)

DK: If you’ve seen Mission: Impossible – Fallout, this will seem very familiar! The idea was to spoof the scene where Ethan and Luther trick Nils Delbruuk into handing them the designs for the nuclear bombs. The walls of the hospital drop down, and it’s revealed he’s actually in a warehouse.

I filled up the space in Atmos to make it feel like it was massive and all around us

We closely matched the sound of the walls falling to the Mission film but gave it a little bit of uniqueness. The second surprise false set consists of brick walls rising high into the ceiling. I spread some different elements around the room, rolling metal and clanking gears, and panned them up to the ceiling as the walls rose. The final fake set is a hologram. The filmmakers wanted it to sound huge, heavy, and glitchy. There were a lot of tracks in the hologram sound, and I filled up the space in Atmos to make it feel like it was massive and all around us.

What went into creating the sounds for the WWFC fight event?

DK: All of the crowds I could possibly find, and more! This was by far the trickiest scene in the film to cut and to mix. The final cut is a lot shorter than it was originally. Akiva, Brian, and I went through this several times in editorial, going through every energy shift, reaction, and perspective. It changed and evolved over time, and we spent a lot of time reworking and tweaking it every time it came up during the final mix.

Akiva, Brian, and I went through this several times in editorial, going through every energy shift, reaction, and perspective

It’s playing pretty heavily in the surrounds and in Atmos. The challenge was to keep the energy up, but not have the scene too loud or painful. Aside from dialogue, production crowds, and crowd sound effects, we had to wrangle some source music and score, all while keeping the appropriate energy.

I ended up splitting out the futzed crowds to a different pre-dub and used EQ and compression for a TV sound

At the end, when the New Year’s Balls are dropping, there are some pretty drastic perspective shifts going from full Atmos surround crowd to mono TVs and back. I started AudioSuiting the crowd layers using Audio Ease Speakerphone to futz the crowds on the TV, but that became too time-consuming and messy. I ended up splitting out the futzed crowds to a different pre-dub and used EQ and compression for a TV sound, and The Cargo Cult Spanner to mono them up. This way I could keep all of the crowd layers intact, which made it easier to dial in shot-specific crowd futz and to survive picture changes and conforms. That scene was a beast.

What went into the sound of the PLOT device activating and everyone going crazy? What were some challenges or opportunities for sound here?

DK: Akiva built the sequence of beeps and the low, subdrop element for the frequency blast. I thought it would be an interesting idea if the frequency was two parts: the low descending frequency that Akiva cooked up, and a high-pitched ascending frequency that ramps up beyond human hearing. This way, both ideas could live on top of each other, and it made for a more interesting sound.

the frequency was two parts: the low descending frequency that Akiva cooked up, and a high-pitched ascending frequency that ramps up beyond human hearing

When Cane sets off the device in the stadium, all of the sound momentarily stops. We then introduced smaller sounds of chaos, like a glass smash, a man yelling, and something being smashed, over a low rumble that builds and crescendos in chaos as the crowd comes running out of the stadium into the hallway. The chaos continues until Cane and the other evil billionaires are suiting up and getting ready to ride away on their e-bikes. After that, the chaos takes a bit of a backseat in the mix, but gets played up in specific areas between dialogue and music moments.

Can you talk about the sound of Frank’s gunfight set to “Fergalicious”? I love how there’s no gunfire, and that he just uses the guns’ clips to wreck people!

DK: I keep wanting to answer each question with “this is one of my favorite moments or sequences” because this movie is made up of so many of them. The magazine fight absolutely falls into this category. It’s beautifully random, hilarious, and well-constructed. When it comes to the sound for this, Akiva and Brian wanted big, chunky sounds that could play through Fergie. The face impacts are pretty big and over the top, and I added some sub to them because why not push it even more?

Akiva and Brian wanted big, chunky sounds that could play through Fergie

Emma Present shot some great, specific group ADR reactions for each of Frank’s attackers. Those worked perfectly with the sound effects and music to push the sequence over the edge, especially on the side shot with the attackers falling to the ground, and when Frank is sliding on his back, punching crotches.

What went into the sound of Richard Cane’s arm jetpacks?

DK: The first sound from his arm jetpacks is a metal clanking sound that happens when Cane’s hands are behind his back. Imagine Iron Man’s suit forming, but we don’t see it. I wanted to give it a clear tone and rhythm. Once he reveals his hands, there’s a synthy, power-up sound that matches the lights that illuminate on the arms. There’s an initial blast off that happens that had to be established, then pulled back a bit to create room for the next stage of the jetpack (armpack?) blast that accelerates him into the street light.

To keep it big, I had to do a lot of quick mix moves and hard cuts, and exaggerate the panning of some of the elements more than normal

To keep it big, I had to do a lot of quick mix moves and hard cuts, and exaggerate the panning of some of the elements more than normal. I had some fun with some sci-fi blasts and sparks as his gear malfunctions. Randy Torres was a sound effect editor on the film and created some really nice sci-fi power-down elements that played at the very end.

What was your biggest creative challenge for sound design on The Naked Gun?

DK: Easily the biggest creative challenge working on this film was finding the right aesthetic for the movie and each of the jokes. When Akiva and I first spoke about the film, we talked about playing everything “straight” like a typical Hollywood action film. There is something inherently funny about seeing something ridiculous happen, yet the sounds are real and impactful. This was just a starting point, though, and we found that each joke had its own aesthetic.

There is something inherently funny about seeing something ridiculous happen, yet the sounds are real and impactful

When Frank fires his gun on the bodycam footage to clear the bathroom, that’s played pretty real. The joke is in the urgency and overkill of firing a gun so that he doesn’t ruin another suit. This lives in the same world as the toy-like claw that lifts the Edenvox car out of the quarry, or the cartoony zip sound of Frank slipping at the top of the staircase in the backroom of the Bengal club. Each moment was an experimentation on the kind of sounds we used and how silly, real, or hyperrealistic they were.

What has stuck with you the most from your experience of working on the sound of The Naked Gun?

SC: Growing up in the ’90s was a golden era for parody films, from The Naked Gun series, to Hot Shots and Loaded Weapon 1, and I personally felt like the genre had a rough go of it the last quarter century. To be a part of some good old-fashioned hijinks and silliness was a salve to the soul. Hopefully, the positive reaction The Naked Gun has had will encourage studios to make more comedies because there’s little in life better than laughing in a crowded theater.

DK: I totally agree with Smokey on this. In the cutting room, we were constantly talking about comedies making a comeback. I think this Naked Gun film perfectly blends contemporary comedy and humor with that of the originals. There’s a lot of nostalgia in the film without it feeling old or dated. We followed a similar path with the sound for the film. It kind of feels like we got to step back into the early 2000s/ 2010s era of comedy films. In my opinion, that’s when we stopped seeing consistently funny and well-made comedies that brought a lot of people into theaters. We’re all hoping the “new version” of Frank Drebin and The Naked Gun will help to bring those back.

A big thanks to Dan Kenyon and Smokey Cloud for giving us a behind-the-scenes look at the sound of The Naked Gun and to Jennifer Walden for the interview!

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