Behind the Gritty Sound of ‘Andor’ – with David Acord

Two-time Oscar nominated, Emmy and MPSE Award-winning supervising sound editor/sound designer/re-recording mixer David Acord at Skywalker Sound has worked on numerous Star Wars projects throughout his career. He was an assistant sound editor on feature films Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, sound designer on Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens and sound designer/supervising sound editor on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker. He’s been a sound designer, sound supervisor, and re-recording mixer on many Star Wars series – animated and live-action. He’s worked on The Book of Boba Fett, The Mandalorian, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Rebels, Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out, and more! He’s also been a sound designer on Star Wars video games such as Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Star Wars: Battlefront II, Star Wars: Battlefront, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and others. Few sound designers have such a deep understanding and direct impact on the sound of Star Wars as David Acord.

Having sound designed and co-supervised the sound of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story alongside Christopher Scarabosio, Acord was an apt choice for the new Disney+ series Andor, which is set 5 years before the events of Rogue One. But Andor also afforded Acord the opportunity to venture outside the sound norms of a Star Wars project, to rethink the aesthetic and approach to sound from a different, grittier perspective.

[tweet_box]Behind the Gritty Sound of Disney+ Star Wars series ‘Andor’ – with David Acord[/tweet_box]
Here, Acord talks about working with series creator Tony Gilroy to give the sound of Andor a “war movie” feel. He talks about designing sound for the droid B2EMO, designing the lively atmosphere for the Leisure Zone on Morlana One, and building tension into the heist in Episode 6: “The Eye.” He goes into further details for Ep. 6, and talks about the singing-like sound of the meteor shower, adding whiz-bys and impacts to the rebel shootout with Imperial forces, the thrilling TIE Fighter chase, and more!

Andor | Official Trailer | Disney+

Andor is a prequel to the events in the film Rogue One. How did the sound of Rogue One inspire your choices for sound in Andor?

David Acord (DA): Season One of Andor takes place five years prior to Rogue One. Having co-sound designed Rogue One – with Chris Scarabosio – I had a bit of a jumpstart on how to tackle this. Tony prefers a grounded, gritty soundscape. For a show like Andor (or a film like Rogue One), we are basically watching a war movie. For Tony, that means a stark and tense atmosphere where sudden bursts of violence can come from anywhere. So, capturing the audience’s attention with quiet, tense moments heightens the experience of a surprising surge of action.

What were Tony Gilroy’s goals for the sound on Andor? Was there a specific sound or scene that he wanted you to tackle first? What were his concerns for that sound-wise?

DA: Tony Gilroy wanted the sound of Andor to have a grounded, realistic feel. This is the rebellion from a covert perspective at ground level. One of the first scenes I worked on was the introduction of the droid B2EMO trundling across the planet Ferrix. It was a great way to establish his character: rusty, squeaky, and a little battered. In a way, B2’s design is a microcosm of the town itself (and by extension, the show): rough around the edges but with a lot of heart.

What went into the sound of the rebel’s tech and comms on Aldhani? How does this compare to the Imperial weapons and tech?

DA: We treated the rebel comm tech as traditional, if not “futzy,” radio comms. Since most of their tech is stolen from Imperial stockpiles, the sound is basically the same.

What went into the Imperial comms scene, when Corporal Kimzi discovers that the Alkenzi airbase is being attacked?

DA: We used both shortwave and synthesized shortwave-like sounds for the Imperial comm room. We wanted this to feel like a WW2-era communication hub.

Let’s look at the action-packed Episode 6: “The Eye.” What went into the sound of the meteor shower?

DA: The Eye of Aldhani (the meteor event) develops over the course of the episode. At first, it’s a low thunderous boom followed by meteors streaking across the sky. These meteors have a singing quality as they pass, which foreshadows the Eye in its ultimate glory at the end of the episode.

What were some of your challenges during the loading of the Imperial payroll scene? How were you able to make this scene feel more panicked using sound?

DA: When our heroes and their captive soldiers are loading the Imperial credits onto the Max-7 Rono freighter, we wanted to accentuate the fact that these are rolls of credit coins. So, we made sure to hit that sound every chance we got – the added benefit of this sound is that it ties in across the cut to the Dhani people singing and ringing their ceremonial bells. The contrast between the two moments – the increasingly frantic loading and the increasingly feverish singing – helps to build the tension.

 

What went into the sound of the fight between the rebels and the Imperial forces?

DA: Aside from a variety of blaster weapons, the one thing that always sells danger in a gunfight (to me) is “whiz-bys.” That is the sound of a near miss, of near death. Combined with plenty of metal ricochets, the whole scene becomes very chaotic, as one would expect a fight like that to be.

How did you handle the rebel’s flight into the Eye of Aldhani, and the TIE Fighter chase?

DA: The main challenge for the escape into the Eye was in the mix. You have the stolen Rono freighter, interior and exterior perspectives, TIE Fighters, laser cannon blasts, meteors, (coupled with Nicholas Britell’s amazing score), and on top of that, dialogue. It’s a real dance to keep all of those elements alive and playing nicely and coherently with one another.

 

What has been your favorite moment in the series from a sound perspective, and what went into it?

DA: I really like the way the opening of Episode 1: “Kassa” turned out, with Cassian transversing the Leisure Zone on Morlana One in the rain. I had a lot of fun designing the sound of this place, both from a distance and from within.

What are you most proud of in terms of your sound work on Andor?

DA: I’m proud to have worked on a show that takes a genuine chance by redefining what a Star Wars series can be. Within that aesthetic, I was given the opportunity to view Star Wars sound from a different perspective.

A big thanks to David Acord for giving us a behind-the-scenes look at the sound of Andor and to Jennifer Walden for the interview!