Behind the sound of Backrooms: Mono found footage, exaggerated Foley - and camel screams

Backrooms turned a self-made YouTube horror series into the first A24 film to pass 100 million dollars at the US box office – and a lot of what makes it so terrifying is its effective use of sound. In this in-depth interview from Audio Podcast Alliance member Tonebenders, Timothy Muirhead speaks with production sound mixer Jan Hetmer and supervising sound editor and re-recording mixer Eugenio Battaglia to hear how the film’s haunting sound was recorded and designed:

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Backrooms was a massive blockbuster this spring and the sounds in the film are a big reason why. The team was presented with some real sonic puzzles to solve, including the unique set where it was shot, creating sound design from the camera’s perspective and sonically leading an extremely tense opening scene with no music or sustained dialog. Plus they discuss working with the film’s director, Kane Parsons, who voiced some of the creature sounds himself and was one of the composers on Backrooms.

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0:00Introduction 2:17Meet the sound team behind Backrooms 3:37Lavs, booms, and plant mics in very wide shots 4:50Turning every perspective into a sense of the room 6:02Covering a sound-heavy film with a small post team 8:00Starting on the rough cuts long before picture lock 8:51Two people on production sound, four stages of backrooms 10:06Kane Parsons, the self-taught sound designer 11:12Why the found footage had to stay mono 12:40Breaking down the opening found footage scene 14:05Making microphone imperfection do the scaring 15:58Hiding sound design and jump scares in the garble 17:05How Hetmer came to the film 17:36Prepping with a test shoot months ahead 19:37The tiny shotgun mic riding on the camera 20:02Foley for a world made of carpet 22:23The flickering lights that tinkle like glass 23:54When to break the mono rule and pan 26:16Multiple mics in the confined tunnels 27:51Creature sounds voiced by the director 29:14Camel screams and a Half-Life 2 Easter egg 30:14A baby cry pitched down for another creature 31:28Closing thoughts

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AMPS Podcast • Audio Logs • CAS In Conversation • Field & Foley • Immersive Audio Podcast • LA Post Production Sound Design • Level with Emily Reese • Location Sound Podcast • Sound Business • Soundbytes Podcast • SoundGirls Podcast • Soundtrack Show • Soundworks Collection • The A Sound Effect Podcast • The Dolby Institute Podcast • The Game Audio Journey • The Sound Architect Podcast • Tonebenders • Twenty Thousand Hertz

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