When I first heard about The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable I was unsure what to think. It was not easy to envision the concept just from the stories of others who had been and it didn’t sound too much like my kind of thing. However I was full of intrigue of this mysterious production by the highly esteemed company, Punchdrunk (Crash of Elysium, Sleep No More, The Borough, The Moon Slave) that seemed to be attracting so many people. So when invited down to a pre-show talk with the sound designer for the project Stephen Dobbie and a show afterwards I couldn’t resist!
Now I won’t give too much away obviously, and I’ll try to explain the premise clearly. The story is around different
characters within a 1960’s LA Film Studio, where very sinister and dark deeds are afoot. The production is set within a 3 floor warehouse all dressed with props, lighting, sound and actors. The audience members are all defined by wearing very creepy white masks as they wander freely around the warehouse’s different floors and rooms, choosing whether to wander on their own or follow actors of their choice around the show.
Now, onto the sound. Stephen Dobbie has done a fantastic job of creating the mood of insidiousness, darkness and malevolence. The choice of music involved is very apt and is immediately sinister as you walk through around the different floors.
As I was released from the rickety lift into a dark corridor leading into an open darkly lit “street” with retro music playing, my initial impression was that I was inside the game Bioshock (Also set in 1960). The feel was the same I was wandering around unsure of my place in this world and listening to noises in the distance as I fumbled my way past low frequency drones and other fear inspiring tones.
The highlight for me was a watching the ‘scene’ with the actress who was a Foley artist! Of course that was very amusing and appropriate for me. The synchronisation was well choreographed with a crafty mic buzz in the soundtrack to act as a cue for the performer to start stepping on leaves or breaking twigs. She then has a colleague help her record the sounds of the man drowning….. I’ll leave the rest for you to find out.
I was very impressed by the sheer amount of detail in the sound. Stephen discussed the hours of researching, sourcing and mixing music to fill the 33 sound zones providing sound to 170 rooms. Overall there is over a day and a half’s worth of audio!
The only thing I would say is that it does get rather loud, especially at the climax of each hour sequence, so do be careful if you feel the pressure building on your ears!
Therefore from both a personal and audio perspective, I highly recommend that you find time to go and see it!
You can find more details and tickets here:
http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/the-drowned-man-a-hollywood-fable
Plus watch the trailer below:
Enjoy!
Sam Hughes – The Sound Architect
Audio Review by Sam Hughes
Uploaded 22/02/14