Final Draft

How does sound help bring animation to life?

This essay will explore how sound is used in animation to connect the audience to the animation. The specific topics this essay will cover include Coraline's Coraline. (2009). use of sound and juxtaposition, Coraline's use of music and motifs, Doom's id Software LLC. (2016). use of music to emulate location and feel, and Doom's use of sound to create power. In this essay Life will be defined as something feeling real enough that it immerses the audience in the character, scene, gameplay, feeling, or emotion of the media. This essay will use this definition to evaluate how much impact the sound has on the immersion of the audience and how it creates life in these pieces of media.

In the beginning the Other World is made to seem enticing but quickly becomes twisted with sounds juxtaposing the actions on screen. This brings the audience close to the protagonist emotionally as the shift in tone of the strange world makes both uncomfortable, which is clear in the way she reacts to her surroundings. “A haunting mirror squeak, weird crickets, [and] a world crumbling around us” Isaza, M. (2010). are just a few of the sounds the sound designers made specially for the movie to show how peculiar and distorted this world is. Sounds used and made either mirror or oppose what is going on on-screen which creates a discomforting and unwelcoming atmosphere. A lot of the sounds have emotional impact in context with the scene, often showing how Coraline sees the world. The sounds of bugs in the Web scene are not only uncomfortable but show Coraline’s unease with confronting the Other Mother whilst also pushing forth how corrupted and changed this world has become. This extremely emotion driven Other World gives the audience a feeling that it has a life of its own. This in turn gives Coraline life as she reacts to this ever-changing and decaying world. She acts like a small but headstrong child and the audience becomes invested in her, and by becoming invested in her they think of her as a living person as opposed to just a character. 

In the real world it's made from the very start to feel dry, flat and unexciting. Things seem uncomfortably boring and still. In turn the sound is purposely muted and subtle. The sound here seems much more of a product of the character and how they perceive the world around them. This directly opposes the sound, appeal, and atmosphere of the Other World on purpose, so its deceptive attractiveness is amplified. The contrast of the Real World to the Other World creates a dissonance between the two, and the lack of emotion within the Real World acts to make the Other World seem all the more enticing to begin with and all the more terrifying at the end. Coraline sees the new place she is moved to as flat and boring and unappealing, and thus the sounds reflect that. Coraline’s emotions and feelings about her new situation in the Real World and how they’re presented in the sound give her a much more real feel to the audience, who can sympathise with her situation and thus they give her life through the empathetic connection they have with her.

The music that backs Coraline in her confrontation with the Other Mother are representative of their character and create a feeling of tension and pressure between the two. In these scenes where the Other Mother talks, "the background [opera] music becomes higher and slightly louder" Day, G. (2016). This then starts a trend where the music begins to "alternate between opera and the other music... ...between characters dialogue." Day, G. (2016). This creates a clear divide between the two characters and puts the audience in Coraline's position as she argues and distracts the other mother. The clear difference between the two paints the Other Mother with the personal feelings of Coraline at the time and creates an emotional investment in the argument. This investment creates a feeling of life in the argument as, despite the circumstances, the music helps create the tense atmosphere felt during real arguments. This helps make both characters feel like people with their own motives and objectives while still painting the Other Mother as the antagonist through the audience’s connection to Coraline and her feelings.

The level of music between the Real World and the Other World creates a motif that is carried through the movie. The Real world is lower energy and has less emotion while the Other World and its highly emotion-filled atmosphere is amplified by the music. "In [the] beginning it sounds very quiet and realistic because it’s a realistic world. And little by little the music becomes quite scary by the end of the movie." Coulais, B. and Unknown, A. (2009). While it is subtle, this shows a clear divide between the two worlds that is evident by the end. This creates life in a different way, as the music emulates the location and mirrors the emotions therein. As the Other World becomes more unsettling and creepier the audience begins to long for the safety of the Real World while becoming enthralled by the unnerving fantasy of the Other World. This gives the Other World a sense of life by giving it a distinct, unnatural atmosphere that the audience hears and feels grow through the movie and directly juxtaposes the Real World. This life is made by the connection the audience makes with the Other World and how they become fearful and disturbed by it.

Mick Gordon made his ‘instrument’ with the corrupted hell energy shown in Doom 2016’s concept art in mind and uses that to make music that fits perfectly in Doom’s universe. This gives a feeling of power and distortion that befits the locations the Doom Slayer, and thus the audience, find themselves in. After receiving concept art “where they had these giant rock structures that were being held together with this evil force of energy. This Hell energy.” Gordon, M. (2017) he thought “what would this energy sound like, and how could I use that in the music?” Gordon, M. (2016). He used this idea to then make an array that sent sine waves through a total of 4 different channels that had devices such as pedals, splitters, compressors, and more and then mixing it together. This corruption of the sine wave was to emulate that concept of Hell energy running through electronics. This resulted in distorted, aggressive, unique, and powerful music that fit the Doom franchise well, especially with the lore of Doom 2016. This music fits Mick Gordon’s description of doom as being “claustrophobic” “tactile” and “at you” Gordon, M. (2016) and brought the audience a sense of life as the sound seemed part of the environment just as much as the guns they fired or the demons they killed.

There was one problem with relying solely on The Doom Machine, however. That was that it had nothing that connected to previous Doom games. To combat this, Mick Gordon suggested changing the brief to allow the use of guitars. Thus, he was able to start incorporating old tracks and pieces of tracks from the original games. “That original E1M1 riff is iconic. It is Doom. I wanted to find a way to make that bigger and bolder” Gordon, M. (2016) and to do that he had to include the guitars. But using just a normal guitar didn’t fit Doom well enough, and so he used a 9-string guitar Gordon, M. (2016) and mixed it with the sound of the original game’s chainsaw sound effect Gordon, M. (2017). This attention to detail was kept throughout the process to include homage to Doom’s original soundtrack. This was all done to give the game the life the fans wanted. This game was made by fans for fans and by including solid reference to the original games they created a consistent nostalgic feeling for any long-time fan playing. This immediately links the game closely to the previous games played by those fans who have massive connections to them. By doing this Doom gets a part of the life the whole franchise has and becomes bigger than it would be on its own as the fans are far more invested in it.

The demons are meant to sound visceral in both life and death. This is to immerse the player in the danger of the situation while showing your power in the game through your ability to kill these monstrosities. “for every glory kill, there is that sense of satisfaction triggered by the grotesque sounds breaking bones or ripping flesh.” Bhattacharya, A. (2016). That empowering satisfaction of killing their foes is exactly what id Software wants the player to feel. It makes the player feel like they are there themselves, in amongst the carnage of demons made of flesh and metal and controlling it. Its effect is twofold, creating a sense of power through the ease at which the player brutalises the demons while at the same time immersing them through their investment in the bloody, visceral orchestra they conduct. The screams and roars of the monsters only drive them further in their all-encompassing fever to hear their final screams. It plants the players firmly in the position of the Doom Slayer, whose job and existence revolves around these demons right before him. This form of life is far different from others, fuelled by the adrenaline of the situation the character, and by extension the player, finds themself in. The monsters before them are real and threatening to interrupt the flow of violence they have so far ridden. They feel not only the power of the demons through the intensity of the sounds as they target them but feel the power of themselves as they hear the same demons crumple and break and shatter with each successful kill.

While the demons give life to the player’s surroundings and environment, the weapons give life to the character themself. It is the main way they interact with the environment and challenges around them. Every shell fall, every rocket fire, every minigun spool, and every B.F.G. 9000 charge has a level of power and energy few games replicate, all with the sole purpose of making the player feel like the strongest thing that walks into any room, which as the character of the Doom Slayer, they are. “Weapon sounds never get ducked by anything, not even VO. So, we started with that base and worked everything in around the weapons. This is why you feel so powerful as the Doom marine. Your voice is your arsenal.” Mossholder, C. (2016) This solid, unwavering direction made a grand impact on how the game felt. No matter what you, as the player, where the loudest thing at any given time, overshadowing even the biggest demons or other people talking. Not only does this reinforce the feeling of power Doom revolves around, but it’s realistic in itself. With the Doom Slayer’s head inches away from such violent and destructive weapons it only makes sense that that’s all the player can hear when they fire even a single shot. This importance over everything pushes the player further and further into the environment. Not only do they feel powerful, but they feel powerful in context to the world around them, outshining everything else in a given instance. The Doom Slayer’s entire being is power, and so making the player feel just as powerful and important as him they insert a part of themselves into the Slayer, giving them life through that connection. The Slayer and the Player are both conductors of destruction made to feel one in the same, and their arsenal is their orchestra.

After having explored both Doom and Coraline, two very different animated pieces, this essay has found that sound often is there to help the audience connect with a place, character, or atmosphere within the medium. This is especially so in animation as the sound is constructed separately to the visuals and therefore everything is chosen and made with a purpose. To answer the question this essay started with, sound helps animation come to life through immersing and connecting the audience to what they’re seeing and helping them forget that it’s animation and instead see it as the whole production it is. Life is immersion and connection. Coraline connects its audience with Coraline herself and the environment she finds herself in. Doom connects its audience with the Doom Slayer and the power he holds and his ability to traverse the energetic and hostile landscape he finds himself in. In some ways they’re very similar, focusing on characters and environment, but at the same time they oppose each other. One shows power while the other shows a lack of it. Both are a part of life and the audience can connect to either thanks to the help of the sound.

Bibliography

Isaza, M. (2010). The Sound Design of "Coraline". [online] Designingsound.org. Available at: http://designingsound.org/2010/07/29/the-sound-design-of-coraline/ [Accessed 19 Feb. 2020].

Coulais, B. and Unknown, A. (2009). An Interview with Coraline Composer Bruno Coulais. [online] Focus Features. Available at: https://www.focusfeatures.com/article/an_interview_with_coraline_composer_bruno_coulais [Accessed 19 Feb. 2020].

Day, G. (2016). Soundtrack analysis – Coraline. [Blog] GEMMA DAY. Available at: https://gemmadayblog.wordpress.com/2016/01/21/soundtrack-analysis-coraline-2/ [Accessed 19 Feb. 2020].

Gordon, M. (2016). DOOM: Behind The Music Part 1. [video] Available at: https://youtu.be/ua-f0ypVbPA [Accessed 6 Mar. 2020].

Gordon, M. (2016). DOOM: Behind The Music Part 2. [video] Available at: https://youtu.be/1g-7-dFXOUU [Accessed 6 Mar. 2020].

Gordon, M. (2017). DOOM: Behind the Music. [video] Available at: https://youtu.be/U4FNBMZsqrY [Accessed 6 Mar. 2020].

id Software LLC. (2016). Doom. [Online] PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Rockville: Bethesda Softworks LLC

Coraline. (2009). [DVD] Directed by H. Selick. Hillsboro: Laika LLC.

Carney, B. and Mossholder, C. (2016). The Sound Design Of DOOM - Exclusive Q&A. [online] ADSR. Available at: https://www.adsrsounds.com/news/the-sound-design-of-doom-exclusive-qa/ [Accessed 18 March 2020].

Bhattacharya, A. (2016). Hellish Sounds Of Doom Showcase Proper Sound Design.. [online] TechARX. Available at: https://techarx.com/hellish-sounds-of-doom/ [Accessed 18 March 2020].