A Place In Hell SFX

2014 is winding down and the past few months I've had the pleasure of working on the post sound for the independent feature A Place In Hell. Written and directed by David Boorboor, the film was shot in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, with the post sound completed in Oregon.

This was my second project working with supervising sound editor/sound designer Michael Gandsey. Films with horror elements are a bit of a playground for the effects editor! Both David and Michael gave me a lot of creative opportunities to add elements of tension and foreboding with sound effects and foley.

It was a great experience to collaborate with the entire post production team on this project! Check out the trailer below:

Recording Bridges

Portland, Oregon is a city filled with bridges. This summer I've been taking the opportunity when it presents itself to record the sounds of the many bridges within the city. Why? Who knows... Maybe an all-bridge recordings sound effects library is just what everyone needs? (If anyone would actually be interested in such a thing, let me know!)

Mostly though I've been doing it because I find it fun. Lots of neat recordings have come from it! Cars going across the steel grating of the Hawthorne bridge, the sound of the Max (public transit) rail car going by on the Steel bridge and shaking everything... It's surprising just how close up you can get to a bridge when it's being raised/lowered, and from lots of angles too!

I recently got away from the many bridges over the Willamette River and ventured across the Interstate (I-5) bridge over the Columbia River that separates Oregon and Washington.

On the Washington side I was able to get up close directly underneath the bridge. The rush of many cars going overhead makes for some unique sounds. Give it a listen:

Labor of Love Mockumentary

I found this to be ridiculously hilarious!

Labor of Love is a fictional portrait of an adult film foley artist. The acting here is top notch, and for anyone who has worked with sound this hits home while remaining funny.

Check it out:

Interview with BOOM Library

Soundworks Collection has been doing excellent film sound profiles for several years, but more recently the've started doing audio-only interviews which I find to be a great listen.

The interview series provides an opportunity to go a bit more in-depth, and in particular I want to highlight the episode with the guys from BOOM Library.




As a fan of BOOM's work, not only is it neat to find out the company's origins, but the interview touches upon things I'm always curious about like microphone selection and metadata management.

BOOM Library records/designs some outstanding sound effects, but don't just take my word for it. Here are a couple great reviews of some of BOOM's collections: Creatures and Cinematic Metal

One last thing... If you've yet to see the video below, it's one of the best tutorials around courtesy of BOOM's YouTube page. It breaks down in detail how they designed one of their whoosh-hits and is packed with useful workflow techniques.

Pro Audio Books

There's nothing quite like summertime reading! The most recent Tonebenders podcast touched upon various audio books on the market. The podcast also features an interview with Ric Viers (skip ahead to the 12-minute mark), author of The Sound Effects Bible, an awesome book that I still have on my bookshelf. Give it a listen:



I know I'm always looking to learn new stuff: tips, tricks and techniques. So having resources to draw from such as these is great.

If you still want something interesting to read, but don't plan to go out and pick up one of the books recommend in the podcast, check out this essay from Benjamin Wright - Footsteps with character: the art and craft of Foley.