Designing Volcano Sounds for Oscar-nom’d Documentary ‘Fire of Love’ (and how indie SFX libraries played a key role) – with Patrice LeBlanc

Fire of Love – now available to stream on Disney+ – is one of this year's Oscar-nominated 'Best Documentary Feature' films. Director Sara Dosa pulled together archival footage from volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft's own photos and films, interviews with the married couple from international TV broadcasts, and press footage of volcanic events that the Kraffts documented – including the one that ultimately claimed their lives. Here, sound designer Patrice LeBlanc talks about his approach to creating sound for this archival footage that had no sync sound, to bring these stunning yet silent images to life in a way that honors the life and work of Katia and Maurice.

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Interview by Jennifer Walden, photos courtesy of Nat Geo

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In her Oscar-nominated documentary film Fire of Love, Director Sara Dosa explores the careers and relationship of volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft. Using footage (both film and still photos) captured by the couple on their many volcano excursions, TV interviews with the couple, news coverage of the volcano eruptions, and research into their lives, she pieces together their tragic narrative.

On the sound side, Maurice’s films lacked sync sound, and so it was up to sound designer Patrice LeBlanc at Bande à part in Montréal to carefully recreate the sound that you’d expect to be there – rocks and ash, lava bubbling and spouting up from the earth, rumbles and eruptions, and also the sounds of Katia and Maurice’s struggles within these environments, like slogging through mud and snow and freeing their vehicles stuck in these challenging off-road conditions, recreating the windswept, barren landscapes where they set up camp, and capturing the feeling of danger and beauty these locations offered. Using a combination of foley and sound effects libraries, he’s able to transport the viewer to these places, making you feel as though you’re standing beside an erupting volcano or canoeing across a lake of acid.

Here, he talks about his approach to adding sound to archival material, using sound to emphasize the emotional aspects of events, working with his Foley team to add a sense of reality to the moving images, and so much more!

Fire of Love Trailer | National Geographic

Can you talk about the archival volcano footage from a sound perspective? Was there audio recorded with the original footage from Maurice and Katia? (OR, did the archival sound just serve as a reference point for you to re-create the audio?) If there was sound in the archival footage from Maurice and Katia, was any of this usable in the film? Were there any sounds from the footage that you felt were really captivating or interesting?

Patrice LeBlanc (PL): The only sound from the movie that we could say was from archival footage is from the different TV interviews. It certainly fits the bill as it was really rough sounding in certain aspects and we somehow made it worse by removing the music in a couple of clips!

Sound Designer Patrice LeBlanc

But yes, Katia and Maurice recorded every image but there was no sound. Not only was no sound synced to the images that we used, but as far as I know, there was no sound archive at all. They just never recorded sounds on their expeditions, only films and photographs. So everything you hear had to be researched and chosen for the specific intention of the scenes, be it realistic, bombastic, subdued, or metaphorical even! The film certainly has an emotional arc in its use of volcano sounds, one that follows the emotional journey of our protagonists.

For the archival dialogue from the interviews, did you use any clean-up and restoration tools, like iZotope RX or EQ?

PL: We didn’t want to make it cleaner. There’s a conscious choice in the movie to respect the diverse qualities of the different audio sources. It’s playful even as we hear all the numerous tones and hiss and hums of the cameras and recorders throughout the film, like the motors of Super 8 cameras, 16mm film projectors, Betacam and VHS tape hiss, optical audio hum, etc.

There’s a conscious choice in the movie to respect the diverse qualities of the different audio sources.

This was part of the language of the movie and we did not want to clean it up. But there were a couple of clips that needed intensive cleanup because we had important dialogue mixed up with music from the TV shows. We didn’t have access to separate stems so I had to remove the music using iZotope RX Spectral Repair.

For the sound effects you cut in, what were some of your sources? Were there useful volcano library sounds? Did you add other sounds, like low-end sweeteners, rocks and debris, fire crackling, fire whooshes, bubbling sounds, etc., to enhance the sound of the volcanoes?

PL: I worked on about 20 minutes of film in September of 2021 for an edit submitted to Sundance and I used up most of the volcano sounds that we had in our Soundminer database. So during the two months I had before receiving the final picture lock, I listened and researched sound libraries here and there.

Here are a few libraries that were integral to the sound of the volcanoes in Fire of Love:

There’s one sound library called Stromboli. It’s very thorough with lots of breathy air tones, different perspectives, and varied recording formats (mono, stereo, LCR, and surround). It’s an important volcano in the lives of Maurice and Katia so I was happy to work with that!

I worked a lot with an absolute beast of a library called Geyser and Volcano by Phonography Sound Library and another one of gasses and lava movements from Mindful Audio.

And I also used a sound pack of Falling Rock from the great Thomas Rex Beverly.

Most, if not all, were bought on A Sound Effect!

And, of course, these realistic sounds were blended and layered with other sounds to give them the emotional impact that we desired. There are mud splats subbing in for lava, fire bursts designed with the AudioFire plugin from LeSound, abstract air tones made with Native Instruments Reaktor There is even an animal roar in a sequence or two!

There’s a funny scene with Katia donning a metal helmet/hood, and Maurice throwing a rock at her head – it impacts with this lovely rocky metallic ‘chunk’ sound. Was that foley? Original sound? (It was perfect!)

PL: It’s part foley, and part effects. There’s a foley sound that is a bit more realistic and I added a resonance, a thonk! that is a bit more playful and cartoony!

Did you capture your own sounds for the film? What did you record? How did you use it in the film?

PL: I did not have the pleasure to go on a volcano field recording trip. That would have been fun!

Can you talk about the role of foley in the film? Who recorded the foley? What were some key scenes where foley really helped to add depth and life to what’s on-screen?

PL: The foley artist is Paul Hubert and it was recorded by my colleague Luc Bouchard in our own studio Bande à part, in Montréal.

And as there was no sync sound, foley became our first audio link, just hearing them walking through mud, touching rocks or ashes.

The foley in this film is important as it brings us closer to Katia and Maurice. We wanted to be with them; we wanted to feel their touch. And as there was no sync sound, foley became our first audio link, just hearing them walking through mud, touching rocks or ashes. For narrative purposes, it’s of first importance in the adventure scenes like the first volcano during the snowstorm or the ballad on the acid lake. But really, throughout the film, foley is the link between the geological world and our favorite couple.

I asked our crew to record these scenes using only paper.

There is also another aspect of the movie that is brought to life by the foley which is the animations. And for this part, I wanted something more playful, even childlike. I asked our crew to record these scenes using only paper. So the movements of clouds or waves were paper slides, explosions were folding paper balls, etc.

After the recording, I used a plugin called Envy by The Cargo Cult where I applied the envelope of these clips to real sounds and the end result is something like paper-maché explosions and crashing waves! I’m really pleased with the results.

What was the most challenging scene for sound design? What went into it?

PL: I think the most challenging scene was the big gray clouds of Mt. Augustine. We had to find a way to make these silent hypnotic images of the rolling pyroclastic clouds menacing in some way, not just mesmerizing. We had to feel a sense of impending doom even though Katia specifies that it was a beautiful, silent moment!

Winds give it a sense of direction and thunder rumblings make it feel like there’s an otherworldly inner struggle inside those clouds.

I saved this scene for last because, for the longest time, I didn’t have any idea how to approach it. It’s really mesmerizing on its own as a silent piece. A trial and error use of different down-pitched rolling thunders, heavily EQd firecrackers, and dusty winds apparently did the job! Winds give it a sense of direction and thunder rumblings make it feel like there’s an otherworldly inner struggle inside those clouds.

Looking at the film’s final volcano eruption, Mount Unzen, what were some of your challenges for sound here?

PL: The most important thing for me was to respect their death – to find the moment where we go from witnessing a natural disaster to understanding and feeling the consequences. So we start with a bang, there are mudslides, and avalanche sounds (even animal roars buried in the mix) but as it all falls, it morphs into something more ethereal, more windy as everything is swept away. We didn’t want to bury them in the rubble…

How was working on Fire of Love a unique experience for you? What are you most proud of in terms of your sound work on the film?

PL: Obviously, Fire of Love is a very unique film, and having the chance to work on a project like that is in and of itself a unique experience. But that is the nature of archival footage-based films, and why I love working on them: they are original, personal, different-sounding beasts!

I’m proud that a film that touches so many different emotions…resonated with so many people and our sound work is at the very center of it!

It was a collection of firsts for me as it was the first time I worked on an American production, the first time I worked with Ina Fichman our Canadian co-producer, and the first time I worked with our re-recording mixer, maestro Gavin Fernandes. I met so many great people on this production (Hi Sara! Erin! Jocelyne!) and we did this on an absolutely hectic schedule complicated by Covid quarantines and lockdowns!

At first, I was proud to have just finished the film and bewildered that we pulled through when it premiered in Sundance! But in the end, I’d say that I’m proud that a film that touches so many different emotions, with such a personal and daring vision, resonated with so many people and our sound work is at the very center of it!

A big thanks to Patrice LeBlanc for giving us a behind-the-scenes look at the sound of Fire of Love and to Jennifer Walden for the interview!

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