You may not have heard of Paula Fairfield, however – but she is the sound designer on Game Of Thrones, and the sound on the show has just earned her and the sound team a Primetime Emmy nomination.
I was lucky enough to get the chance to talk with her, and in this his exclusive A Sound Effect interview, she takes you behind the scenes on what it’s like to do sound for the show, what inspires her – and what she sees as the key to great sound design.
Hi Paula, congrats on the Primetime Emmy nomination! How did you get involved with Game Of Thrones, and what’s it like working on a production with such a global reach?
In November 2012 – as I was in the grocery store looking for peanut butter (!) – my cell phone rang. It turned out that Todd AO was assembling a new team for season three of Game Of Thrones and I was asked if I would be interested in sound designing for the show. It was a strange moment… my dream job called me in the grocery store!
I had done work on Snow White and The Huntsman a few months earlier and fell in love with that genre/period. Armor and horses and torches and catapults and crossbows and dirt and swords and castles – a “viscerality” full of sonic textures. And then there are the mythical creatures in mythical worlds! What’s not to love about dragons and dire wolves and whitewalkers and mammoths and giants and warging and gigantic ice walls?
I think everyone who has the privilege of working on GOT is excited that so many people share our passion for what we are creating. There is some criticism of the show for its violence, but I really feel that the things that happen in the world of Thrones is not that far off from the horrors of our own world. And sometimes we need the detachment that fantasy and art provides us so that we can look at the world around us and how we treat each other a little differently.
What’s your role on the sound team, and what’s the workflow like on an episode?
I am the sound designer on the show. My work is focused of the more fantastical elements of the show; the dragons, the wolves, the whitewalkers, giants, mammoths, whytes, ravens. I also do the dream sequences, warging, the gigantic ice wall and help out with other large sequences when necessary.
As for workflow, GOT is unique in that we get to see the entire season in rough cut before we start working. Of course there are little (and very rough) or no VFX, but we get to see all the arcs of the show for the entire season. So we essentially approach it like a 10-hour feature film, and then start chipping away at it, chunk by chunk.
We essentially approach it like a 10-hour feature film
From here I start focusing on various scenes that are mine, and work in conjunction with sound supervisor Tim Kimmel and producer Greg Spence to shape these sequences as visual effects progress in tandem. It’s very collaborative and a lot of fun. During the mix, the executive producers work with us all to finish the sequences in all their detail and polish. For all of its complexity, this process runs very smoothly, thanks to the dedication and talent of everyone involved.
More than 70 people have been working on some aspect of the sound for GOT over the years – with this many people involved, how do you ensure a consistent sound for the show? And how has it evolved from the first season to the current one?
Well, it’s interesting. The first two seasons each had a different sound crew – the first year in Dublin, the second in Los Angeles. The third year a number of people moved on to other projects and they configured the crew that still exists as we go into season 5. There are also a number of post sound people, particularly ADR, who are working out of London and some of them have been a constant.
For my part, I looked very carefully at the seasons prior and all the design work that had been done, and then worked hard to make sure that the work I did – particularly during season three – flowed naturally and organically out of season two. I think everyone approached their part on the show similarly so that the crew changes were seamless.
A lot of what I design is evolving naturally because of the story
The other interesting thing is that a lot of what I design is evolving naturally because of the story. The dragons grew substantially between seasons 2 and 3, and again between seasons 3 and 4.
[Warning: Minor spoilers ahead] Each season must build naturally on what’s been established before and yet the dragons are growing by leaps and bounds and are capable of things (eating goats and babies) they were incapable of when they were babies in season 2. Same for the wolves. The giants and whitewalkers are revealed in glimpses in season 2 and 3 – an appearance here or there – and then in season 4 we see the giants and their mammoths in the attack on the wall, and the home of the whitewalkers with its king and baby sacrifices. [/Spoiler alert off] It’s a unique challenge but I have a blast doing it.
How do you typically source sounds for the show?
It depends on what I am designing. I look for little moments that I can make unique. I establish a framework or sonic shape for the scene and then start to decorate it with all the things that will fill the scene (or element) with character. Each sound that’s chosen will add its own flavor or color, and for every sound I pick I might preview 1000.
I trawl my library and make recordings and often also purchase new sound recordings, especially when I don’t have immediate time or access to record myself. I find bits and pieces from all kinds of places and sources and then I work at integrating them together into the new sonic entity that I am building. I am always fascinated by new available tools and choosing to explore one might change what I choose to use in the design.
What are some of your favorite sounds you’ve made for the show – and how did you go about creating them?
It’s really hard to pick. One of the best things about the show is the extraordinary range and variety in its story-telling. The dragons are always fun and challenging and have had the most opportunity for dramatic expression.
[Warning: Minor spoilers ahead] In both the Plaza scene in Season 3 and the Dungeon scene in the finale of season 4, I was asked to essentially “make people cry” – to help convey the emotion in the scene through the dragons, to convey the soulful connection between the dragons and Dany. [/Spoiler alert off] Again, a crazy challenge but one we all step up to on the show. I bury fun little sounds in to the design that hint at the character and personality of each dragon.I was asked to essentially “make people cry” – to help convey the emotion in the scene through the dragons, to convey the soulful connection between the dragons and Dany
Popular on A Sound Effect right now - article continues below:
Latest releases:
-
WINDY HILL is a collection of high quality exterior wind ambiences.
The library consists of wind gusts through branches, shrub, dry grass, coniferous trees and more.
Recorded at superb 192 kHz/24 Bit2 Super wide AB recordings with a pair of spaced out DPA4060’s
3 M/S (decoded) with Sennheiser MKH8060 combo + Ambient ATE208
3 Sony PCM D100 recording
All SFX have baked-in Soundminer’s meta data.
RECORDED WITH: Sound Devices MixPre 6 + Sennheiser MKH 8060, ATE208, 2x DPA4060, SONY PCM D100
EDITED AND MASTERED WITH: RX, Pro Tools, Equality.27 %OFFEnds 1574549999 -
Transportation – Ambiance is a great collection of ambience recordings performed at various transportation scenarios.
You will find recordings such as a Train car interior, Jumbo jet interior, multiple cars interior under different driving conditions,
Bus interior, public transportation stations and much more.This package includes 68 Samples.
A total 2h 37m of content.
Stereo files sampled @ 96Khz / 24bit.21 %OFFEnds 1574549999 -
50 powerful industrial kicks tell a story about the role of a man among machines and unprecedented heavy mechanisms. The right kick is 50% success for a track in the true techno style and other experimental sounds. The pack includes oneshots of varying sizes and sonics, with booming subs, persistent tones and reflections. Inspired by illegal raves, parties at abandoned factories and dark basements.
This compilation is not designed for Deep House, Minimal and EDM regular artists.
This impacts library can be used as sfx’es for movie, trailers and commercial.
-
Ambisonic – Transportation is a great collection of ambisonic ambiences recordings performed at various transportation scenarios.
It is aimed to provide you with great spherical content to wrap your dialogue or main focus content, allowing you to create a conniving and immersing soundtrack.
You will find recordings such as a Train car interior, Jumbo jet interior, multiple cars interior under different driving conditions,
Bus interior, public transportation stations and much more.This collection is great for post-production, VR/AR interactive sound-design, game developers and any real-time 3D audio engine.
All files are tagged and categorized for your convenience – supporting multiple tag filtering browsing applications.A Sennheiser Ambeo microphone paired with Zoom H8 was used to create this product.
This package includes 68 Samples – 136 Files.
A total 2h 37m of content.
First Order AmbiX B-Format and Stereo @ 96Khz / 24bit.Download a Demo here:
Want to hear an example of the included recordings? Download the B-format Demo Here27 %OFFEnds 1574204399 -
Editing footsteps in audio post-production can be time-consuming. Footstep Loops II is a sound library that delivers a comprehensive kit of footstep sound effects made to ease your daily work.
The collection contains footstep sounds of various shoes and surfaces, recorded in different paces and edited to continuous but lively 30-second sound loops.
VARIETY
The Footstep Loops II Sound Library covers a wide range of different footsteps:
Barefoot, Socks, Slippers, Flip-Flops, Sneakers on Wood, Sneakers on Concrete, Boots on Wood, Boots on Concrete, Heels on Wood, Heels on Stone;
Grass, Gravel, Forest, Foliage, Dry Foliage, Stones, Puddle, Mud, Snow;
Stairs up + down: Wooden Stairs, Metal Stairs, Stone Stairs
PACEEach type of footsteps is available as a set of 13 sound files that represent a range from walking very slowly up to very speedy. Paces are sorted by Footsteps per Minute (FPM):
Ground Footsteps: from 40 FPM to 160 FPM
Stairs Footsteps: from 60 FPM to 180 FPM (up) / from 80 FPM to 200 FPM (down)
LAYERSSince all (ground) footstep loops have the same FPM paces, they can be layered easily. E.g. you can add a puddle sound element to sneakers walking on concrete etc.
CLOTHINGYou can add clothing as a layer to make the movements sound more natural. The sounds of jeans & jacket fit to all ground footsteps. Furthermore, versions with well-balanced clothing sounds of all main footstep loops are already included as ready-to-use files!
ADDITIONAL ELEMENTSSome experimental elements are also included in the library:
2 layers of floor creaks and one layer that adds the sound of keys in the pocket while walking.
TIME-COMPRESSPaces of the sound loops included in the Footstep Loops II sound library increase in steps of 10 FPM each. If you need a value in between, time-compress the file just a tiny bit – the quality loss is almost inaudible in modern digital audio workstations.
ONLINE FOOTSTEPS GENERATORTo get an impression of what you get with the Footstep Loops II sound library, go HERE and play around with footsteps online.
- 663 audio files
- 331 minutes total runtime
- all files contain meta-data / keywords for easy search
–
All sounds from this library are included in:
35 %OFFEnds 1574204399
What’s the key to great creature sound design, in your view?
I think the key to any good sound design is to bring the viewer to the threshold of believability. Post sound in general is essentially that and the irony is that the better we do our jobs, the more invisible our work is.
It’s why our jobs and contribution to every film project is so sadly underestimated … so few people really understand what it is that we do. Add to that the fact that post sound is pretty much the last stop on the production train before deliverables, and by the time the train gets to our station, it is often low on both money and time.
The key to any good sound design is to bring the viewer to the threshold of believability. And the irony is that the better we do our jobs, the more invisible our work is.
In terms of creature sound design, as visual effects technology is evolving at lightning speed, the bar is being raised in what sound designers are being asked to do and much of it comes down to detail and nuance. The combination of great visual effects and great sound design is incredibly important to the storytelling process in order that the viewer remain immersed in the story rather than being distracted by how it is being told. “I can’t believe the dragons are not real” is just about the best line any of us working on this show can hear.
What inspires you when it comes to sound design?
I love deep emotive and playful sound design, things that are unexpected. Those moments when you watch a film, or hear a piece of music, or see a beautiful painting, and you feel a connection. When you can’t help but gasp at the recognition of something familiar yet new, when you are moved or touched for even a fleeting moment and know you are not alone. And you laugh, or you cry, or you cover your eyes and ears.
Sound has the power to both literally and figuratively touch us, especially with emerging technologies in immersive sound. The possibilities in that really inspire me to play.
With the sound for the fourth season of Game Of Thrones completed, and the fifth yet to begin production, what are you currently working on?
I recently completed work on Robert Rodriguez’s “Sin City 2” and have just begun “Hands of Stone”, the Roberto Duran biopic by Jonathan and Claudine Jakubowicz and La Piedre Films. It is an absolutely beautiful film in so many ways and I am extremely excited to work with these filmmakers.
Cover image credit: hbonordic.com
Please share this:
+ free sounds with every issue:
-
Discover the new and complementary opus of Magic Elements sound library!
‘Magic Elements’ is a detailed collection of designed & source sounds of organic elements, actions, characters, items, spells & atmospheres in the realm of Magic.
Volume 2 is complementary to Volume 1 and comes with almost twice the sounds!The library is meant to be modular: while being ready-to-use, it delivers useful materials and building blocks that will allow you to create your own sounds.
• DESIGNED: (772 SOUNDS)
Volume 2 of this magic saga is comprehensively focused on these 6 elements:
Energy, Liquid, Foliage, White, Cartoon/Anime, and Generic.
Each element comes with a variety of spells, actions/movements such as whoosh, impacts, atmospheres, projectiles, along with many variations in intensity and speed.
All these sounds are carefully designed, edited and meta-tagged.
The ‘generic’ category contains handy neutral go-to sounds that are useful for any project.The ‘cartoon’ will also work well with anime, & manga.
• SOURCE: (666 SOUNDS)
The source folder is packed with`many useful files that cover a large spectrum; thoroughly edited and meta-tagged. They will support your creativity with materials such as electricity, liquids, foliage, explosion, whoosh, drones, textures, impacts, chimes, … (file list here)Unique & Useful
This library is made to empower the sound designer’s sonic palette with high quality material but also with unique ‘never heard before’ sound effects.
A godsend for every sound artist, wether you are looking to start off with a magical toolkit, or you want to enrich your collection with new unique sounds!What’s inside:
Impacts, Whoosh, explosion, fireworks
Chemical Acid, Bubble, Splash
Aura, Glyph, Shimmer, Fairy Dust
Electric Spark, zap, Discharge
Foliage motion, hit, rustle
Growing vines, Ent Footstep
Choir, Harp, Chimes, Bells
Laboratory, Potion
Buff, Spell, Hypnotize, Projectile,
…Choose how you want your sounds!
2 DOWNLOAD OPTIONS PROVIDED:• GLUED (Multiple variations of the same sound glued in one file)
• SEPARATED (Each variations of sound are separated in different files)
40 %OFFEnds 1575586799 -
Lo-Fi Sci-Fi is a library packed full of characterful, authentic and gritty sounds. It was lovingly created by sound designers Barney Oram and Derek Brown, in homage to classic late 70’s and early 80’s sci-fi movies.
The collection is comprised of a wide range of sounds, including metal, organics, fire, mechanical, interfaces, creatures, foley and footsteps, abstract, ambience, and much more.Lo-Fi Sci-Fi features 620 24bit / 48kHz WAV files in total, including 45 designed sounds and 575 source sounds.
50 %OFFEnds 1576105199 -
Recorded at an old bunker constructed near the Chebucto Head lighthouse (Halifax, Nova Scotia) during WWII, now derelict and covered in rust.
These recordings were a happy accident, discovered on the way to record something else. This large, heavy steel door has been rusting since wartime, and when I noticed it I immediately knew it would have a unique sonic character. When moved, it produces interesting almost musical tones, rich with harmonics and ripe for processing.
This library includes a variety of sounds generated by interacting with the door in different ways (scraping, punching, and moving at various speeds), and was recorded in mid-side with a Schoeps Mini CMIT + CMC6 MK8 into a Sound Devices 633.
All sounds are decoded to LR stereo, normalized and processed minimally beyond noise reduction. Files are tagged with metadata in Basehead and stamped in iXML, bext and ID3 formats.
-
WINDY HILL is a collection of high quality exterior wind ambiences.
The library consists of wind gusts through branches, shrub, dry grass, coniferous trees and more.
Recorded at superb 192 kHz/24 Bit2 Super wide AB recordings with a pair of spaced out DPA4060’s
3 M/S (decoded) with Sennheiser MKH8060 combo + Ambient ATE208
3 Sony PCM D100 recording
All SFX have baked-in Soundminer’s meta data.
RECORDED WITH: Sound Devices MixPre 6 + Sennheiser MKH 8060, ATE208, 2x DPA4060, SONY PCM D100
EDITED AND MASTERED WITH: RX, Pro Tools, Equality.27 %OFFEnds 1574549999 -
Transportation – Ambiance is a great collection of ambience recordings performed at various transportation scenarios.
You will find recordings such as a Train car interior, Jumbo jet interior, multiple cars interior under different driving conditions,
Bus interior, public transportation stations and much more.This package includes 68 Samples.
A total 2h 37m of content.
Stereo files sampled @ 96Khz / 24bit.21 %OFFEnds 1574549999 -
50 powerful industrial kicks tell a story about the role of a man among machines and unprecedented heavy mechanisms. The right kick is 50% success for a track in the true techno style and other experimental sounds. The pack includes oneshots of varying sizes and sonics, with booming subs, persistent tones and reflections. Inspired by illegal raves, parties at abandoned factories and dark basements.
This compilation is not designed for Deep House, Minimal and EDM regular artists.
This impacts library can be used as sfx’es for movie, trailers and commercial.
-
Ambisonic – Transportation is a great collection of ambisonic ambiences recordings performed at various transportation scenarios.
It is aimed to provide you with great spherical content to wrap your dialogue or main focus content, allowing you to create a conniving and immersing soundtrack.
You will find recordings such as a Train car interior, Jumbo jet interior, multiple cars interior under different driving conditions,
Bus interior, public transportation stations and much more.This collection is great for post-production, VR/AR interactive sound-design, game developers and any real-time 3D audio engine.
All files are tagged and categorized for your convenience – supporting multiple tag filtering browsing applications.A Sennheiser Ambeo microphone paired with Zoom H8 was used to create this product.
This package includes 68 Samples – 136 Files.
A total 2h 37m of content.
First Order AmbiX B-Format and Stereo @ 96Khz / 24bit.Download a Demo here:
Want to hear an example of the included recordings? Download the B-format Demo Here27 %OFFEnds 1574204399 -
Editing footsteps in audio post-production can be time-consuming. Footstep Loops II is a sound library that delivers a comprehensive kit of footstep sound effects made to ease your daily work.
The collection contains footstep sounds of various shoes and surfaces, recorded in different paces and edited to continuous but lively 30-second sound loops.
VARIETY
The Footstep Loops II Sound Library covers a wide range of different footsteps:
Barefoot, Socks, Slippers, Flip-Flops, Sneakers on Wood, Sneakers on Concrete, Boots on Wood, Boots on Concrete, Heels on Wood, Heels on Stone;
Grass, Gravel, Forest, Foliage, Dry Foliage, Stones, Puddle, Mud, Snow;
Stairs up + down: Wooden Stairs, Metal Stairs, Stone Stairs
PACEEach type of footsteps is available as a set of 13 sound files that represent a range from walking very slowly up to very speedy. Paces are sorted by Footsteps per Minute (FPM):
Ground Footsteps: from 40 FPM to 160 FPM
Stairs Footsteps: from 60 FPM to 180 FPM (up) / from 80 FPM to 200 FPM (down)
LAYERSSince all (ground) footstep loops have the same FPM paces, they can be layered easily. E.g. you can add a puddle sound element to sneakers walking on concrete etc.
CLOTHINGYou can add clothing as a layer to make the movements sound more natural. The sounds of jeans & jacket fit to all ground footsteps. Furthermore, versions with well-balanced clothing sounds of all main footstep loops are already included as ready-to-use files!
ADDITIONAL ELEMENTSSome experimental elements are also included in the library:
2 layers of floor creaks and one layer that adds the sound of keys in the pocket while walking.
TIME-COMPRESSPaces of the sound loops included in the Footstep Loops II sound library increase in steps of 10 FPM each. If you need a value in between, time-compress the file just a tiny bit – the quality loss is almost inaudible in modern digital audio workstations.
ONLINE FOOTSTEPS GENERATORTo get an impression of what you get with the Footstep Loops II sound library, go HERE and play around with footsteps online.
- 663 audio files
- 331 minutes total runtime
- all files contain meta-data / keywords for easy search
–
All sounds from this library are included in:
35 %OFFEnds 1574204399