Thoughts and Processes IV

Here for Life

September 2019

What did you learn working on this project?

Oh, so much, literally, and about different areas of the work that I do. In many ways “Here for Life” is the most complex project that I’ve done to date, certainly where I’ve had lead responsibility, so to speak, for the sound. From that point of view, there was quite a bit of the less creative stuff like budgeting and scheduling, dealing with studios, getting quotes and negotiating with studios, creating versions for screenings, that kind of stuff.

One concept that was new for me—and that I only really thought about once everything was over—was the awareness needed as the sound lead to hearing not only the small details of the sound but also high-level stuff that goes deep into the themes that the filmmakers and performers were delving into. As a sound effects editor or dialogue editor, or whatever, yes, you’re thinking about how everything will come together, but you’re very much focused on your bit, and leave it to the supervising sound editor or sound designer to do the really heavy lifting.

I found that switching mindset from small to big picture wasn’t something I did consciously, but looking back now I realise that my head was working between those two different modes constantly.

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I could go on and on, so stop me if I do, but another thing that I’m now remembering—and which I will try to incorporate in other projects—was recording sounds in some of the original shooting locations. It’s something that I would always advocate and push for now, wherever possible. When you work in post-production, you are very rarely on set or location, and having that physical, material, connection to what you’re working on was such a revelatory experience: it really helped me assimilate into what the film and characters were about. In a very practical sense, of course, gathering useful and essential sounds that help give credibility to the storytelling. Actually, the first time I did this actually was on a short film I worked on last year, The Bicycle Thief, and I don’t know if the directors thought I was crazy when I said I was going to drive from Surrey to Southend on my day off to spend a few hours wandering around the Adventure Island theme park recording sounds there, but the result certainly justified it.

When it came to “Here for Life”, I was just keen to get those ‘hero’ locations embedded as part of the film's fabric. So, that was a lot of fun and deeply interesting. For example, visiting Billingsgate Market on the coldest day, well, early morning of the year—4 am or so. There were a few early mornings: I went around the Nomadic Gardens, which is kind of the central location of the film. It’s so noisy during the day because you’ve got about four different metropolitan train and overground lines that cross over right there. In the early morning, though, you can hear the different trains; the older, noisy clackety-clack ones, and then the newer, more drone-like ones, as well as the birds, and then the drifting sound of Whitechapel in the background.

Finally, from a procedural point of view I felt I really managed my time well, and while there were a few nervy moments with deadlines and missing shots, it all wrapped up pretty neatly in the end. I think that was because I just got a basic tracklay of the whole film completed really quickly. So, even though the sound in several sequences was significantly reworked and revised from my initial rough work, working in this way meant that I had time to work through an evolutionary process, there was a good amount of thought and detail that went into it, which is always what you want, but not always possible because of time constraints.

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What pleases you most about how the process and how the soundtrack turned out?

I think just the fact that we did it. No more, no less than that. It was quite an ambitious schedule, and Grant [Gee, the film’s editor] had so much material to go through with Andrea, and they were going through this refining process, and we were having screenings, and I’d go away and be making notes about all these sounds and locations that we needed. It was quite a mental schedule, in terms of sound. In the beginning, when you’re brought in on a project and before you start work, everything is good, right? Everything is lovely and energy is high, and then on some projects, you feel that energy and that focus ebbing away over time, and it can happen for different reasons.

This was a pretty tough schedule — not the toughest, but it was demanding — but I always felt that it was possible to create the type of soundtrack that I had in my mind, and even at those points where I had a few doubts, I just took a deep breath and went again. That’s not a very interesting answer, I know. I suppose a more interesting answer would be that what pleases me most is that the sound manages to be powerful, but not overpowering. And that’s almost always the effect I want to create with my work. So, that pleases me very much.

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What’s your secret for success, in terms of weaving the sound design together? Were there many different elements to consider?

I think that one important thing is to be open to everything and not shut ideas down too quickly, particularly on a project of this nature where one is kind of trying to avoid that which is obvious. A proposition might be a bad idea, but let’s try it and see because it might lead us somewhere unexpected So, keeping that channel open with Andrea was very important, and making sure that both Andrea and Adrian knew that they could suggest things and that I would listen and consider them honestly. It’s always interesting because sometimes you work with directors and they want everything bigger, more prominent, more noticeable, more in your face, and others want everything dialled back, and who are wanting to get to a core — an essence — of simplicity. At the end of the day, making a film is like getting 100-odd people together to sew a massive quilt; you’re hoping that it’s all going to come together in the end, but you never really know, and you’re not to show how. In my role, often the secret of success is knowing where to dial the sound back and where to amplify it, literally and figuratively.

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Although “Here for Life” has a documentary style and feel, that doesn’t mean what you hear is always truthful, because it kind of depends on what axis you’re working on—and this is one of the subtexts to the film itself. Of course, there are the material elements of dialogue, sound effects, music (there isn’t a lot of music in the film), diegetic music/singing from the actors, and sound design, all of these elements were working towards the film’s themes and objectives.

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You spoke about this earlier, but what was inspiring or particularly creative or interesting about the sounds people will hear when they go and see this film?

I found the quest for simplicity very creative and very interesting, but I’m not sure that’s something that I particularly want people to hear; they should just hear a film that works as what it is, but simplicity was one of the key creative objectives that we worked on with the sound. And not just a question of having very little sound in places; far more about selecting just the right sounds and just the right amount of sound that will lend power to that simplicity, that will strengthen and support the images, bring clarity to the narrative, but also not be afraid to throw a spanner completely in the works at times. I guess what I’m saying is balance and simplicity are the two elements that are underpinning all the sound design.

Having said all that, there are several spots in the film where there was no production sound at all, and so there were some sequences where there was quite a lot of sound holding everything up, but not giving the impression that was the case. So, the fun and creative part there was to make something very simple from sometimes quite a layered bed of sounds. Ultimately, though, place and a sense of place is an important theme within the film, and so I would love for people to really feel where they are, spatially, when they watch it.

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You recorded and performed all the Foley yourself for this film. Had you done that before?

Well, I’ve mixed and recorded quite a lot of Foley, usually with a Foley Artist. I’ve also done bits of cloth tracks and specifics myself too, in the past. I love mixing and recording Foley, and the way things ended up going with timing and budget, I felt that the least risky option was for me to do it all myself. This is such a particular and natural-sounding film that I did have concerns about getting something back from a Foley studio—many of whom are unbelievably good, and quick—that was very good technically but wasn’t what was needed in terms of texture and detail.

My mind also went back to one project I edited Foley for that was recorded in a way that sounded so perfunctory; everything recorded way too loud and was just sticking out like a sore thumb all over the place, really hard to mix in, and sounded as if it had been done just to tick a box. In terms of my performance, I was most concerned about the steps and it taking forever, but thankfully there weren’t that many! It was a super fun thing to do. It’s rare to do actual physical work, and Foley is very physical. It’s draining physically and mentally. It’s similar to playing a musical instrument, with both your body and props as the instruments.

Recording and performing at the same time is not easy because you can’t really hear as well as you’d like to: I can’t hear as well as I could if I were only recording and mixing. Performing both roles at the same time also means everything is recorded static, rather than my preference, which is to mix dynamically on VCAs while recording, which gives a really nice, blended sound, and saves a ton of time on the back end. Overall, I was really, really pleased with how the Foley turned out.

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Could you see yourself doing it again, performing and recording the Foley?

If the situation required it, I wouldn’t have any hesitation at all, because I enjoy it: it’s fun, it’s creative and it’s physically engaging. Having said that, I think it’s also cool to mark the Foley up and outsource it. Not outsourcing was the best option with Here for Life, but it might not be for the next project.

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Where can people see this it?

As of now, I’m not sure. There were some preview screenings held at the Nomadic Gardens in east London in June, and it had its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival (Switzerland) at the beginning of August. I think it will have a UK premiere at the Open City Documentary Festival on September 8th. I think in November it may screen in a few more places, so look out for it!

Here for Life’s co-director Andrea Luka Zimmerman talks to Lemn Sissay about the film and their other work [HERE]