Crafting Caught Stealing’s Hard-Hitting Sound – with Craig Henighan and Jill Purdy

Sound supervisors Craig Henighan and Jill Purdy — both longtime collaborators with director Darren Aronofsky — kicked up the sonic intensity for his action thriller Caught Stealing (in theaters now). The film's fast-paced, pull-no-punches vibe called for teeth-rattling hits, jarring gunshots, and explosive impacts. Find out how they created those aggressive punches, designed heart-pounding chase scenes, built an authentic '90s NYC atmosphere, evolved the sound of the car crash memory scene, and more.

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Interview by Jennifer Walden, photos courtesy of Sony Pictures; Jill Purdy; Craig Henighan

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Who knew cat poo could be so dangerous? (Unless you’re pregnant, of course, then definitely don’t mess with cat poo!)

Director Darren Aronofsky’s action thriller Caught Stealing — in theaters now — follows Hank, a former high-school baseball star turned bartender, who finds himself suddenly in trouble with groups of gangsters after he’s asked to cat-sit for his punk-rock neighbor Russ. Hidden in Buddy the cat’s litter box is something that will change Hank’s life forever.

Supervising sound editor/re-recording mixer Craig Henighan at Pacific Standard Sound and co-supervising sound editor Jill Purdy — who’ve both worked on Aronofsky’s films like Mother! and The Whale — got to ramp up the sonic intensity for Caught Stealing, creating brutal punches infused with baseball bat hits, beefed-up baseball bat hits layered with punches and metal impacts, and jarring gunshots heightened by the film’s driving music in the shootout scenes.

Find out how the sound team used wind recorded from a motorcycle helmet to add character to Russ’s ultra-punk-rock Toyota Celica, how Wrigley Field Organist John Benedeck contributed to the film’s score, how real late ’90s NYC street recordings added authenticity to the BGs, and much more!

CAUGHT STEALING – Official Trailer (HD)

Sound Supervisor/Re-recording Mixer Craig Henighan

Craig and Jill, you’ve been long-time collaborators with dir. Darren Aronofsky. What does that process typically look like? Can you tell me about your collaborative process on the sound of Caught Stealing?

Craig Henighan (CH): It’s pretty awesome to say that we’re in our 26th year of collaboration with Darren, and with that comes all the trust and shorthand you’d expect. The team is very small, and communication is ongoing from when we first read a script and into shooting. A constant connection is our Picture Editor Andrew Weisblum. We’re very close and he’s always sending me early assemblies and small scenes to start wrapping my head around things. Sometimes it’s as simple as what might need to be recorded outside of the list I make from reading the script to some production dialogue that Jill might have to clean up to potentially save a scene from ADR. Darren quite often will text ideas or things to think about while shooting. He’s always thinking about sound and wants to give us as much time as possible to explore ideas.

Sound Supervisor Jill Purdy

Jill Purdy (JP): I second the trust and shorthand that have developed from our first collaboration! I will typically clean up any dialogue that is technically questionable and send that to the cutting room very early in the process. Any ADR that is recorded is cut and sent to the cutting room as quickly as possible as well, so that it can be incorporated early on. Communication is ongoing from the get-go.
 

Caught Stealing is both fun and f*cked up! The fight scenes sound huge, like the fight in the apartment building hallway between Hank and the Russians, Aleksei and Pavel. What went into those hits? How did you beef those up?

CH: Initially, I was trying to make the fight stuff sound more natural but that didn’t last long! It became obvious that we could have a little more fun and go bigger once we got into cutting. It seemed to fit the tone of the film better to go a touch over the top. Coll Anderson and I used the usual tricks of layering different sounds on some of the punches to provide some extra zing.

An obvious but effective idea was to add baseball bat/ball hits to the ‘hero’ punches

An obvious but effective idea was to add baseball bat/ball hits to the “hero” punches and tailor in crowd cheers. Combining these sounds with real foley body moves, along with an array of punches, blocks, and body falls, helped create interesting dynamics. Mix-wise, adding compression and EQ along with some great IRs (impulse responses) of “Apartment Hallways” made those fights really sit in the track.

What went into the sound Hank’s memory/dream of the car crash? This is a recurring aspect in the film, and each time it’s repeated, it reveals new details. How did you handle the sound for this car crash scene?

CH: The flashbacks evolved over time. We started with finding what the final crash in the film would sound like, then reverse-engineered the element in an attempt to only give certain layers to the first and second crashes.

Layer one of the crash was made by taking a big impact and automating a delay plugin

Layer one of the crash was made by taking a big impact and automating a delay plugin: the “Mix” is at 70%, “Feedback” at 100% and the “Delay Time” starts at zero and then sweeps up to 95%. The sweep is medium speed that times out with the duration of the shot.

Layer two has elements of metal impacts and verbed-out glass debris that has a pitch envelope slowing all the sounds down. And foley provided some detail work, like the bumpers collapsing.

Once we had this built, we looked at only using certain elements for the first and second crash, leaving the full set of sounds for the final crash. We would also reference the baseball motif by using a variation of the ball/bat crack that is used in the opening titles.
 

Sound Designer Jack Madigan recording Tonic for ‘Caught Stealing’

Where did you get the sounds for Buddy the cat? (The squeaky fake cat turd was so silly; I laughed out loud in the theater!)

CH: The cat turd squeak is a sound from set! Our Production Mixer Drew Kunin captured that sound; it worked so great, so no need to reinvent it in post!

Sound Designer Jack Madigan […] worked with Melissa to record Tonic (the cat)

Buddy’s real name is Tonic. Animal Trainer Melissa Millet was a massive help in allowing us to record after shooting wrapped. We sent Sound Designer Jack Madigan out for the day, where he worked with Melissa to record Tonic. He managed to get some amazing recordings, things that just fit the film perfectly.

Sound Editor Igor Nikolic was tasked with culling through all the recordings and finding vocal performances and then cutting them in. Buddy really came to life, and I’m thankful we could get these sounds.
 

Hank runs from the Drucker brothers. They run through the city streets, stores, and into the alleyway. What were some of your opportunities to play with sound here? And how did you portray the sense of speed and panic through sound?

CH: That’s a scene that’s led by music, so our job was to be very specific about what we’re hearing on the street, then into the stores, then a busy alleyway, and finally into the back area of a neighborhood bar. Once we got the music in a good spot, Darren, Andy, and I spent some time going through what was cut, muting out things that cluttered the track, and looking for sounds that complemented the music.

These scenes were energized not only by Austin’s running breaths and efforts, but those of Liev and Vincent as well

One thing I did was look to be more in musical sync with the score versus being in perfect sync with the picture. The flow was important, as well as panning, to give the sense of movement, like when Hank is running down grocery aisles.

JP: I have to add that Austin gives 1000% in ADR. These scenes were energized not only by Austin’s running breaths and efforts, but those of Liev and Vincent as well. That was so fun to shoot!

What went into designing the sound of Giuliani-era NYC: daytime, nighttime, and different sections of the city?

CH: Darren, Andy, and a lot of the crew are New Yorkers through and through, so I knew we had to have pretty specific recordings of that era and had to be mindful of anything sounding too modern. Having lived in NYC during the late ’90s, Coll Anderson had a ton of city recordings. They became the foundation of a lot of the areas, like Chinatown and the police precinct.

Sound Designer Coll Anderson recording at quiet day at Coney Island

Coll also did a day out at Coney when the boardwalk was empty and captured some nice ambience recordings.

Payphones were a thing, so Darren was very specific on how the coin dropped into the slot and how the buttons worked. These were small details that all add up. We also didn’t over-populate with sirens and general noise. We tried to be very specific and build up the ambience one piece at a time.
 

Can you talk about your sound work for the shooting in Paul’s bar? From Detective Roman trying to open the safe to Paul locking the door and shooting the shotgun through the mail slot, this was such a fun sequence! What were some of your challenges or opportunities for sound here?

CH: That was a great opportunity to lean into the location, specifically knowing we could add a lot of size to the gunshots with the right amount of reverbs in the basement. Darren shot that scene with a few of the characters covering their ears, which gave us licence to make the guns loud.

Darren shot that scene with a few of the characters covering their ears, which gave us licence to make the guns loud

We concentrated on making the pistols more mid-range, the mini Uzi lower-mid-range, and the shotgun having more low-end. Combining those elements with some funny story beats like the mailbox slot and the lizard on Paul’s arm made for a great scene.
 

Russ and Hank go to a park in Flushing Meadows to meet Det. Roman and the Russians. Can you talk about your sound work for this sequence, like the kids screaming in the background after shots are fired, the car chase around the big globe statue, and Det. Roman crashing into the ice cream truck?

CH: That whole scene in Flushing Meadows was quite layered as it starts off as a peaceful park setting. We have Hank and Russ in their car, a baseball game on the radio, and we have kids playing basketball directly behind them, other kids playing around us, people rollerblading, and Mr. Whippie the Ice Cream Truck with that always familiar musical jingle as it drives by. As we get deeper into the scene, we come down on atmospheres and then punctuate with the Uzi firing into the air. At this point musically, the IDLES start with “Police and Thieves,” a great cover version of a Junior Murvin song. This becomes the primary sonic focus as they’re chased around the park.

we had a little fun warping and slowing down the jingle as the trucks are all smashed up

Since we’re trying to feature the song as much as possible, in the mix we decided to only highlight the chase vehicles where necessary. With the final impact of Det. Romans SUV into the side of the ice cream truck, we had a little fun warping and slowing down the jingle as the trucks are all smashed up.
 

What went into the sounds for Russ’s ultra-punk-rock car?

CH: Russ’s car is a Toyota Celica. Coll and Igor went and recorded the real picture cars, so we had that as a base, and sound recordist Rob Nokes gave me a great selection of a beat-up Celica that he had recorded years ago. We also mined some production sounds that helped glue it all together.

It’s a T-Top so we also used recordings of wind through car windows, and wind from the perspective of a motorcycle helmet to help give a little character

It’s a T-Top so we also used recordings of wind through car windows and wind from the perspective of a motorcycle helmet to help give a little character.

The car needed to sound beat up but not too comical, so striking a balance during the mix was important, as we’re in that car for several scenes.
 

Hank and Russ try to lose the Russians in the crowd at Shea Stadium. Hank riles up the Mets fans, and they attack Pavel. What went into your sound work here?

CH: Angry Mets Fans! We had some good production crowds that we layered, and then Jill recorded group. The one thing we didn’t do was fill that area with generic mob sounds.

Foley gave us some great pizza box hits, popcorn dumps, and drink splashes

Foley gave us some great pizza box hits, popcorn dumps, and drink splashes. Music is driving through that area as well, so our goal was to make it loud and boisterous and have a lot of small details pop through.

Darren always attends loop group sessions and is very pointed and detailed with specific lines and callouts

JP: Darren always attends loop group sessions and is very pointed and detailed with specific lines and callouts, even if they’re not entirely discernible in the mix. We had several specific callouts during the attack on Pavel that added texture to the gritty realism of the production crowd.
 

Henighan and Anderson conducting baseball hit R&D with Foley Artist Steve Baine

Hank goes to the batting cage at Coney Island, and really smashes the hell out of those baseballs! I love the ringouts of the bat and the massive impacts. What went into those?

CH: Coll and I, along with Steve Baine, our Foley Artist, did a lot of recordings of aluminum baseball bat hits. Coll had a couple of really good baseball players hit the heck out of the ball and really tried to get the bat to ring and sustain as long as possible.

Anyone who’s ever cut a baseball movie would know that bat/ball hits don’t really have a lot of low-end information

When we started layering that scene, we tried a number of different pitch variations of the bat hits. The normal pitch didn’t work but pitching down too much didn’t feel right either. In the end, with the layers we had, we ended up with about -3 down from what a normal bat might sound like. I probably had three mono hits, then two stereo that I offset, added delay via The Cargo Cult Slapper, and put into the surrounds. That sounded pretty good.

Then Darren insisted we try adding low-end hits because he was trying to evoke more power. Anyone who’s ever cut a baseball movie would know that bat/ball hits don’t really have a lot of low-end information, so we played with punches, kicks, and metal hits to help augment the bottom end. Then, with a little bit of EQ work and some LFE enhancement, it started to work.

Mix-wise, we start off somewhat quiet and slowly build to the last hit as the camera draws us closer to Hank.
 

Hank takes on Russ’s identity and goes to Tulum with Buddy. There’s a sense of relief, but it’s bittersweet for Hank. How did you highlight that in your sound work here?

CH: This scene was all about being calm, hearing the ocean waves, the winds, and exotic birds. It was about creating an environment that is opposite of the chaos Hank had just endured.

Cap that off with a nice little animated end credit sequence and we leave Hank and Buddy knowing everything is going to work out fine.
 

On the dub stage at Warner Bros. NYC. Pictured Front L to R: Andrew Silver, Skip Lievsay, Darren Aronofsky, and Craig Henighan. Back L to R, Nancy Allen, Andrew Weisblum, and Jill Purdy (unpictured).

What were some of the most challenging scenes for dialogue? What were the challenges?

JP: The most challenging dialogue scenes to cut were the ones in Paul’s bar where everyone is overlapping each other, primarily the scene where everyone is trying to retrieve the key. Weaving production, outtakes without overlaps, and ADR, and striking the right balance and panning to discern the most relevant information for each moment for the seven characters in that scene was daunting, but incredibly satisfying.

We also had a challenge with languages, needing Chinese, Russian, and Yiddish group voices that could also double as Lower East Side New Yorkers

We also had a challenge with languages, needing Chinese, Russian, and Yiddish group voices that could also double as Lower East Side New Yorkers — although this wasn’t so much of a challenge with voice caster Dann Fink at the helm. It’s always a master class in efficiency and quality with Bobby Johanson and Maya Toffler recording Dann and the talented voice actors he brings in.
 

Recording at Wrigley Field for ‘Caught Stealing’

There’s a thread of the famous “Charge” fanfare that is often played at baseball games. How did those recordings come about?

CH: Composer Rob Simonsen was using bits of that theme and variations of it in his score. At one point, Darren suggested finding a real ballpark organist to record with. This led us to Wrigley Field and Organist John Benedeck.

Sound Recordist/Sound Designer Stosh Tuszynski recording at Wrigley Field

Our good friend, recordist/designer Stosh Tuszynski, was a huge help. He went to Wrigley and mic’d up the stadium from a few different vantage points. This material was then incorporated into the score. We also used that familiar theme at the end of Flushing Meadows as Hank looks across and sees Shea Stadium.
 

What will you carry with you from your experience of creating the sound on Caught Stealing?

JP: My biggest takeaway is how much fun I had cutting this film and how proud I am of the track. Mixing in NYC with Skip Lievsay, Craig, and our music editors Nancy Allen and Andrew Silver was a career highlight!

CH: It’s always great to work on a project with your friends, and that’s what working on this film felt like. We’re all on the same page in bringing this story to life.
 

A big thanks to Craig Henighan and Jill Purdy for giving us a behind-the-scenes look at the sound of Caught Stealing and to Jennifer Walden for the interview!

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