SUNDANCE 2023: Crafting the Uneasy Sound of ‘Cat Person’ – with Eric Hirsch

There are so many uncertainties that come with dating someone new. Are they really the person they say they are? Can you trust that they’re not going to harm you when no one is around to intervene? Director Susanna Fogel explores this subject in her psychological thriller Cat Person about a college student Margot who starts dating Robert, a man a decade older than herself.

Here, sound supervisor/sound designer/re-recording mixer Eric Hirsch at Goldcrest Post NY talks about elevating the sound editorial work that director Fogle and picture editor Jacob Craycroft had already done in the edit, adding subjective tonal sounds to the backgrounds to increase the tension, how he created his favorite sound in the film, and more!

What were director Susanna Fogel’s goals for sound on Cat Person? And what were your creative ideas on how sound could help to tell or support this story?

Eric Hirsch (EH): Susanna was working very closely with her picture editor Jacob Craycroft. They were very in sync with each other, which was great. They had some ideas to make the film stylized during a few moments. Cat Person is a bit of a thriller, and there are moments in the film that are gesturing in the direction of horror (but aren’t quite horror). Susanna and Jacob had tried some ideas in the Avid and they wanted to flesh them out. I’m always excited to take what picture editors do and enlarge it. I don’t ever feel like I need to reinvent anything unless that’s what they want.

But in this case, they had a clear idea of what they wanted, they just wanted it to sound better – to sound the way a sound professional would do it.

The other interesting thing was knowing when to deploy those moments because, in some ways, it plays like a normal Rom-Com, although it’s obviously not a Rom-Com either. I’d say it’s like a Rom-Com/Thriller. This movie is very much the experience of being a woman in 2023, dating a man, and the constant unease that that can often provoke. It’s awkward between these two people, and that awkwardness sometimes tips over into feeling almost threatening. It explores the line between what’s just weird and what’s really bad and weird. So it called for this ‘keep your powder dry until there are these moments’ type of approach. At times, it needs to be hyper-real, and we take advantage of those moments as fully as possible. I was excited about making those sound moments shine, yet not being too heavy-handed with it.

If you had to pick one scene that best represents your sound work on this film, what would that be? Can you describe the scene (in general terms) and what went into your sound work on it?

EH: There are a couple of scenes that take place in this classroom in an academic building. I was layering sounds under the backgrounds and, over the course of the scene, those get more pronounced. Those sounds are sort of industrial or sort of organic – they’re drones and ambiances that might not seem like they would fit there. They’re almost like filtered machine ambiances – things that are sort of pulsing and humming and thrumming. They have a tonal quality but I was trying not to get in the way of the music. I was trying to find the right sounds that could provide that edge, a feeling that this is weird, without taking up too much sonic space. The backgrounds are probably the biggest place where we cultivated a sense of unease.

I was trying to find the right sounds that could provide that edge, a feeling that this is weird…

Over the course of the scene, the tension ratchets up until it’s eventually released in this startling and terrible way. There’s nothing surreal happening with the visuals, so that was a scene where we gradually brought in elements that might be subliminally disturbing to reflect the unease that’s happening between the two characters. These play in combination with the music, which is really great in this film. This takes place about 20 minutes into the film, and it’s the first big climactic scene.

Indie films typically have restricted budgets but what the filmmakers lack in funds, they make up for in creativity. How were you able to use sound to help the filmmakers achieve their creative aspirations without having to put it all on-screen?

EH: In this particular case, that was inherent to the way the film was made, but it wasn’t due to the lack of the ability to put this stuff on screen. What’s on-screen are the actors doing a really great job of conveying what’s happening between them and the sound is more representative of their inner life. We used the backgrounds to help convey the deteriorating psychological states of the characters, which was an important thing.

Do you have a favorite single sound that you created for this film? What went into it?

EH: I do, actually. It’s the sound (it’s the silliest little thing) of a streetlight suddenly going out. It’s one of those things that in reality probably wouldn’t really make a sound, but the way the shot is composed, it’s something that we wanted to make a sound.

That’s why you work in sound, so you can have these little sound moments that you appreciate and love…

I layered three or four different elements together and it’s the perfect sound. I used some neon buzzes, and a fluorescent light bulb ‘tink,’ but it needed to have a zap to it because it had to be more sudden. It also needed some directionality, to have a power-down sound, so that came from a different zap.

I was very happy with how it turned out. I don’t know if anybody else will ever appreciate it, but I’m excited. That’s why you work in sound, so you can have these little sound moments that you appreciate and love, even if nobody else ever notices them.

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What have you learned while working on this film that has helped you to grow your craft – as a sound artist and sonic storyteller?

EH: I’ve learned not to do too much, but that’s not to say I ever leave any spots unthought-through. You let the actors do their thing, you know? There’s a lot of really great acting in this film. When there are scenes between these two characters and there’s score playing, you just get out of the way and let ’em cook. That’s an important approach, and it’s really effective. Then, when sound does come in, it’s so much more effective. You have to know when to draw the audience’s attention to sound. That’s the biggest thing I learned while working on this film.

A big thanks to Eric Hirsch for giving us a behind-the-scenes look at the sound of Cat Person and to Jennifer Walden for the interview!