0:00

Hi folks, welcome along to Sound

0:02

Tracking with me, Edith Bowman. Thank

0:04

you very much for your time,

0:06

your attention, your ears, your enthusiasm

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and interest in our weekly conversation

0:10

about film and music. And as

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we are now into past our

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500th episode, we're not going to

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wang on about it, don't worry.

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But what I love is the

0:21

fact that every episode of this

0:23

show is absolutely its own unique

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beast. Every episode is different. because

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every conversation is different and unique

0:30

to the music and the people

0:32

and the creatives and the collaboration.

0:34

So I love making the show,

0:37

thank you for listening and I

0:39

appreciate your time. What we continue

0:41

to do on the show is

0:43

to really celebrate both big names

0:45

which is great, we love having

0:48

big names on the show but

0:50

we also love celebrating independent film

0:52

and that's exactly what we are

0:54

doing with this episode because our

0:56

latest guest on sound tracking, our

0:59

writer-director Christopher Andrews and composer Hannah

1:01

Peel. who join me to discuss

1:03

their collaboration on Christopher's dark debut

1:05

feature, bring them down. Counting Christopher

1:07

Abbott, Barry Cune and Nora Jane

1:10

Noon amongst its excellent cast, it

1:12

tells the story of a family

1:14

of Irish sheep herders who are

1:16

dealing with various conflicts, not least

1:18

local rivalry. This is a really

1:20

interesting film and one of those

1:23

really immersive experiences and so much

1:25

of that is down to how

1:27

it shot, the sound design, the

1:29

music and also really interesting when

1:31

you hear Christopher and Hannah talk

1:34

about what the original thoughts around

1:36

the music were compared to what

1:38

they ended up doing and how

1:40

that just kind of took the

1:42

experience somewhere completely different. As I

1:45

mentioned Mercury Prize nominated musician Hannah

1:47

provides the score and will begin

1:49

with her cue the gate. Thanks

2:54

so much for your time. Thank you

2:56

for having us. Oh man so excited

2:58

to chat about your film. It's such

3:01

an immersive experience. You kind

3:03

of are really sort of side by side

3:05

with the characters I think kind of

3:07

pretty immediately in the film and the

3:09

music and the sound as well was

3:11

so important to that as well in

3:13

terms of how we feel emotionally as

3:15

an audience with it. Chris where did where

3:18

did this journey start for you in terms

3:20

of telling the story? Quite cute it's a

3:22

long time ago. It was like about

3:24

a year's ago. Everybody's always like,

3:27

I was about to miss me.

3:29

I hope it isn't always the case.

3:31

I don't know, I've only got one

3:33

more in me. It takes that long.

3:35

I laughed to like wheel me across

3:37

a mountain. I was written something

3:39

which was which was going to

3:41

be my first feature film, but

3:44

it was too expensive. And horses

3:46

and all kinds of. all kinds of

3:48

stuff that bumps budgets up. So

3:50

I was walking in the late

3:52

district with my partner and I

3:54

was just thinking that it was

3:57

such a beautiful landscape and

3:59

underutilized. British film and as

4:01

we're having this conversation, the shepherd walks

4:03

up out of the mist, like the

4:05

singular character and he's like in a,

4:08

in just like in a jacket that

4:10

you dig a road in and rigger

4:12

boots, where I like in Gore Tex

4:14

and he had this dog by his

4:17

side and he was whistling over to

4:19

this other guy who was on the

4:21

other side of the mountain and rounding

4:23

up their sheep and he just felt

4:26

like that sort of singular character. And

4:28

at that time I was taking Bible

4:30

stories and sort of like pulling them

4:32

apart a little bits who I could

4:35

find. really interested in transcendental cinema, so

4:37

it was like a way in to

4:39

sort of explore my own sort of

4:41

spirituality without being religious. I was like,

4:44

I could tear that apart, you know.

4:46

And so the parable of the good

4:48

shepherd sort of immediately sprang to mind

4:50

and was like, well, you know, what

4:53

happens if once he's going back up

4:55

to find that lost soul, that safe

4:57

soul, what if someone comes and rustles

4:59

his flock and messes with the safe

5:02

souls? And that was it, really. you

5:04

know, that was like in two or

5:06

three minutes and we're off to the

5:08

races. When you're writing a script where

5:11

the dialogue is kind of, there's not

5:13

loads and loads and loads of dialogue,

5:15

you know, so much of it relies

5:17

on performance and the atmosphere that's created

5:20

by those performances and where you shoot,

5:22

how you shoot, you know, even just

5:24

with a head torch and all that

5:26

kind of stuff, you know, it really

5:29

just adds to the experience. In terms

5:31

of kind of writing that, you've almost

5:33

got to I guess... Submarred yourself in

5:35

the experience or the story you're trying

5:38

to tell to get that onto a

5:40

page in a way. Does that make

5:42

me, is that even a question? Yeah,

5:44

it might be a statement. I get

5:46

a lot of them. Yeah, you do.

5:49

I mean, and that's like, always my

5:51

way in is through me. It's like,

5:53

I mean, it takes a long time

5:55

to make a film. And it's always

5:58

about questions. I'm always questioning myself. and

6:00

then questioning the characters and it has

6:02

to be something knotty that you just

6:04

can't have the answer to in a

6:07

few minutes and... And so originally it

6:09

was like it was to do with

6:11

heritage and what you inherit from from

6:13

these father figures and my father wasn't

6:16

around and so I was inherited mine

6:18

from my grandfathers and I was kind

6:20

of stuck in the middle like they

6:22

still feel like they're not here anymore

6:25

but they still feel like they're vying

6:27

for like pulling me either side and

6:29

and and in that way I wanted

6:31

to tell both sides of one story

6:34

you know to humanize a revenge thriller

6:36

and and and show that it's not

6:38

about a good guy versus a bad

6:40

guy, but about two humans that are

6:43

fallible and make mistakes and try and

6:45

fail and I've been shaped by the

6:47

people that brought them up. It's always

6:49

about me, so it's always about immers

6:52

to myself in that and trying to

6:54

sort of figure things out. And then

6:56

I like cinema that is cinema that

6:58

you tell a story with images more

7:01

than... I don't want to have to

7:03

tell you the story, like I don't

7:05

want to use words that explain what's

7:07

going on, I want to pull an

7:10

audience in, you know, and to feel

7:12

immersive. And so I write in, I

7:14

guess in image structures, so what you

7:16

see on the screen I've written on

7:19

the page, you know, and it's like,

7:21

you write reactions, you know, it's like

7:23

acting is reacting, so I write reactions

7:25

as opposed and therefore it rolls forward

7:28

from that point. Had I at what

7:30

point did you come on board with

7:32

the project and what was the kind

7:34

of appeal for you to explore this

7:37

story and character through music and sound

7:39

really? I think one of the beautiful

7:41

things about this project is Chris never

7:43

really intended it to have score. Really?

7:46

Yeah. So it was a really nice

7:48

process to know that He's gone from

7:50

nothing and being very much reliant on

7:52

sound and the wind and the textures

7:55

and the feel of the clothing and

7:57

to the metal in the farm yards

7:59

and to actually what you would place.

8:01

on top there as score and I

8:04

think Chris will say itself that you

8:06

got to the certain point where you

8:08

felt like you needed music to be

8:10

there. So I went in quite late

8:13

in the process like it was quite

8:15

near the end. I remember it was

8:17

a hot sunny day and we sat

8:19

in a London kind of studio with

8:22

the windows open listening to kind of

8:24

Steve Reich 18 musicians on top of

8:26

his incredible film. So it was a

8:28

really lovely. process to create something from

8:31

that. And I was like, well, I've

8:33

been working with this incredible Chinese percussionist

8:35

called Be Be Be Wang for some

8:37

live shows, and I'd love to try

8:40

her on this and recreate this textual

8:42

score because, you know, in essence, there

8:44

isn't hardly any melody. There's some, like,

8:46

kind of things that come in over

8:49

the wind and the mountains and things

8:51

that almost feel like. You're playing the

8:53

farmyard equipment, but essentially it is drums

8:55

and it's the textures and the rhythms

8:58

and so we started off our conversations

9:00

from that point and that was the

9:02

basis for where we went from. And

10:08

were you kind of reacting to kind

10:10

of script to performance to both to

10:12

landscape as well, you know, because that's

10:15

such a huge kind of character, you

10:17

know, and presence in the film as

10:19

well? Yeah, absolutely. And I think what

10:21

was really wonderful about this is that

10:24

Chris brought up the conversation about what

10:26

they were wearing and how... Barry's character

10:28

and Chris Abbott's character were wearing completely

10:30

different things. So Barry was very much

10:32

more synthetic and that kind of polyester

10:35

type material and Chris's character is the

10:37

tweed and the organic. And in that

10:39

sense, it was really easy for me

10:41

then to kind of go, ah, musically,

10:44

this is going to sound like this.

10:46

There's the electronic textures which definitely go

10:48

with Barry and the music he listens

10:50

to, the skin and the drums and

10:52

the wood and the more organic things

10:55

that come from Chris and that was

10:57

I think when we had that kind

10:59

of conversation it just all came into

11:01

picture musically. Chris what convinced you that

11:04

you needed score that you needed the

11:06

companionship and collaboration of music and this

11:08

do you think? I have a straight

11:10

relationship with with music and... cinema and

11:12

a lot of time I feel very

11:15

overwhelmed with it and I had a

11:17

known this in my 30s like a

11:19

men and geo ancephalites and it changed

11:21

the way that my brain relates to

11:24

sound and I lost the hearing in

11:26

this year so it was all a

11:28

bit of a mess and took a

11:30

long time for it to sort of

11:32

settle down and I became very sensitive

11:35

to sound and music so I was

11:37

kind of like kicking against it. in

11:39

a way that I didn't want to,

11:41

I wanted everything to feel immersive and

11:44

I wanted everything to feel like it

11:46

was coming from the landscape and from

11:48

the story and to add something to

11:50

it felt I... just I was sort

11:52

of kicking against it a little bit

11:55

and I was thinking I was going

11:57

to build a score and make something

11:59

out like enhance it but the about

12:01

the the elements like Hannah was saying

12:04

so the wind and the rain and

12:06

the sleet and the hail all those

12:08

amazing things that you get if you

12:10

shoot on a mountain in Ireland in

12:12

January and February and we had none

12:15

of and so we had this like

12:17

perfect sunshine it was very cold but

12:19

we just it was like constant for

12:21

five weeks. And so when we got

12:24

in there, we just didn't have the

12:26

like, we didn't have the flapping plastic,

12:28

you know, the bales. And all those

12:30

bits and, and so, you know, I

12:32

was really feeling that it was needing

12:35

something else and I'd been listening to

12:37

Steve, right, and the drumming shirto, which

12:39

I'd been listening over that weekend when

12:41

I was and I'd been driving a

12:44

lot with the kids and we went

12:46

to see a little play of the

12:48

velvet team rabbit. and there's these three

12:50

women that were playing Irish instruments and

12:52

one of them was the, I always

12:55

pronounce around a Bododen, the Irish drum,

12:57

and so that and that came together

12:59

in my head and I was thinking

13:01

about like maybe we could just use

13:04

that instrument that represents, but like there

13:06

must be some like kids sort of

13:08

tucked away in like North Derry or

13:10

something that can do amazing things with

13:12

one of these instruments and then and

13:15

then I got back and I was

13:17

watching Sky Arts and river dance. The

13:19

music is like, but the music is

13:21

like, I was like, this is, this

13:24

is, this is, this is, this is

13:26

like definitely not what I want. Both

13:28

of you at the same time were

13:30

like head in your hands. But then

13:32

I was watching their feet and you

13:35

feel their feet and you feel this

13:37

like, this rhythm and it connects to

13:39

that. And it was like, so then

13:41

I was like, so the next day,

13:44

it just felt like, that was the

13:46

language of the. people right and everybody

13:48

in this film moves their feet they're

13:50

always walking they're always doing something it's

13:52

like there's rhythm and the so the

13:55

next day went in and I started

13:57

like talking to George my answer about

13:59

this stuff and I was like well

14:01

we want to try it was like

14:04

these ridiculous ideas. I would put it

14:06

on and it completely it just felt

14:08

like there was some at there and

14:10

then and so I was talking to

14:12

my to film music supervisor and he's

14:15

like You should meet Hannah and my

14:17

partner had, Hannah had worked with my

14:19

partner on an animation a few years

14:21

before and they'd really got on and

14:24

Hannah's an amazing job and so it

14:26

was like yeah and I sort of

14:28

was apologetic about what we're going to

14:30

show her and stuff but yeah she

14:32

you know and it was just like

14:35

immediately that conversation and organic and it

14:37

was it felt like. all the worries

14:39

I still listened to Riverdance just on

14:41

the occasion because all those obstacles I

14:44

created for myself just disappeared and it

14:46

was fantastic. Did he bring Riverdance up

14:48

in that conversation? I don't think I

14:50

did. I think maybe we should we

14:52

should say that. I still listen to

14:55

Riverdance just on the occasion because like

14:57

obviously from Ireland or not sound it

14:59

but I still listen to Riverdance or

15:01

watch it and feel those feelings like

15:04

you it too. It too. somewhere. Yeah,

15:06

you watch the way that they play,

15:08

like, it's like, I was, I was

15:10

saying I was watching like, I want

15:12

to see Julie Banash play with, uh,

15:15

do this theater piece with Akham Khan,

15:17

this, this, the amazing dancer. And he

15:19

does the same, like, he has like,

15:21

he does the same thing with his

15:24

feet, but he has like, uh, little

15:26

bells on his feet as well. And

15:28

just the way that he moves, just

15:30

like, like, he's just the way that

15:32

he moves. It's just extraordinary. But when

15:35

you think about those types of that

15:37

type of music, that type of performance

15:39

and how it's communicating and the instrumentation

15:41

of it as well, it's so old,

15:44

you know, in terms of like where

15:46

it goes back to and that idea

15:48

that, you know, these characters are in

15:50

the environment and... jobs, you know, that

15:52

are that again are so old and

15:55

kind of nothing much has really changed

15:57

really in terms of so there's a

15:59

lovely kind of pull through even to

16:01

that side of things as well, I

16:04

think. Definitely. I mean, it's all about

16:06

and you know, there's a real sort

16:08

of conflict within the film about about

16:10

their heritage and what they're protecting. They're

16:12

kind of hobbling themselves to move forward

16:15

progression because they've got this kind of

16:17

responsibility to the to the people that

16:19

have been there before before them before

16:21

them. But equally, they're protecting their language,

16:24

you know. And so you've got this

16:26

invades in English and the language and

16:28

the culture and what that represents. You

16:30

know, we don't, we don't talk about

16:32

it directly, but it's, it's, it's there.

16:35

And similarly with the, with the music

16:37

and the language about how those things

16:39

stick together, you know, and it's about

16:41

protecting what's important, but also allowing yourself

16:44

to be able to move forward and

16:46

not sort of. like hubbling yourself emotionally

16:48

and financially to the next generation. I

16:50

mean that's I think the film you

16:52

kind of take away so much from

16:55

it really kind of stirs up quite

16:57

a lot of different things even like

16:59

kind of that idea of that existence

17:01

and the kind of intensity of it

17:04

and the loneliness of it you know

17:06

it's kind of like you feel it

17:08

watching the film it's just it's so

17:10

visceral it's just and those performances are

17:12

amazing you know barring Chris for particular

17:15

but all your supporting cast as well.

17:17

When you're working with actors as a

17:19

director, Chris, you give, you know, you're

17:21

encouraging kind of a bit of play

17:23

and freedom in terms of, particularly with

17:26

something like this, where it's their interpretation

17:28

really, you know, of your script and

17:30

what they take from it for performance,

17:32

because there's not always dialogue to kind

17:35

of hit and all that kind of

17:37

stuff. And answer that first, I've got

17:39

so many questions. Yeah. I mean, my

17:41

approach is always like about how I

17:43

feel. more than what I think and

17:46

yeah I you know those each one

17:48

of those at is an instant, like

17:50

they're incredibly emotionally intelligent. And what I

17:52

love about them is that every time

17:55

I see them in something, whether it

17:57

be good or bad, I'm completely convinced

17:59

that they are that person, that they're

18:01

playing, they become that. And there's no,

18:03

you can't see process, you can't see,

18:06

my position is that I trust these

18:08

people and we've built this relationship and

18:10

we've built this sort of ensemble ensemble.

18:12

And I sort of load it at

18:15

the front end. you know, it's always

18:17

about characters and I mean, I write

18:19

them pieces, the documents that they can

18:21

read or they may never read or

18:23

check away, but it's always a talk

18:26

to them about who it is. So

18:28

then when I get them to the

18:30

set, you know, you set things up

18:32

in a certain way, you know, the

18:35

scene is written, but I allow them

18:37

to say anything other than just allow

18:39

them to block it and then show

18:41

me because they're only going to show

18:43

you that. that thing that you were

18:46

so excited about casting them for once

18:48

without me saying something stupid and spoiling

18:50

their sort of thought process. So I

18:52

do like to, you know, it's a

18:55

collaboration and it's about trust. And I

18:57

like to get excited, you know, when

18:59

they change and move things around it,

19:01

it just allows you to play with

19:03

that and sort of push it out.

19:06

and find just a little mine issue

19:08

that are different that will bring the

19:10

audience in, you know. Yeah, I don't

19:12

know if it's a conversation you have

19:15

with them in terms of what was

19:17

it about the project that they wanted

19:19

to be part of it, you know,

19:21

what was the appeal for them as

19:23

a as a performer, as a project,

19:26

as a character to inhabit that really

19:28

was something they wanted to because this

19:30

is a type of film that's a

19:32

commitment, you know, in terms of what

19:35

it asks of them kind of, you

19:37

know, you know it's it's a it's

19:39

a it's an immersive experience yeah I

19:41

think I'm sure they I don't know

19:43

what they were getting into reading reading

19:46

in a like a physical experience and

19:48

then the reality of what that is

19:50

when you're in Ireland you know yeah

19:52

but we should know but Chris Chris

19:55

looking though he's there you know for

19:57

someone who's like playing an Irish-speaking sheep

19:59

family never been to Ireland so I

20:01

don't think he was quite knew what

20:03

he's saying you know and certainly on

20:06

the budget that we're on it's not

20:08

like your Winnebago's over there, Mr. Abbott.

20:10

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like getting

20:12

the back of the transition. You can't

20:15

go up to a sheet. You'll be

20:17

fine, Chris, if I'm on a cup

20:19

of tea. Someone's got a firmer somewhere.

20:21

I was a bit embarrassed, a bit

20:23

shy, I guess, about it. And I

20:26

was just, so they were just always

20:28

really complementary about the script and said

20:30

the script was the thing that they,

20:32

you know, that they really fell in

20:35

love with. They'd seen a couple of

20:37

the short films with. much, you know,

20:39

in terms of, it was about the

20:41

script, what was on the page, and

20:43

I wrote, I made this book, which

20:46

was about 80 pages of like process

20:48

and character and image and violence, everything

20:50

that I needed to break down. And

20:52

then I talked to them about what

20:55

I wanted to achieve, which is kind

20:57

of a transcendental thriller. So it's like,

20:59

we're looking for these. So I was

21:01

talking about Bressan and OZoo and Tarkovsky

21:03

and sort of like, building it up

21:06

that way. Were these filmmakers working science

21:08

fiction or all different genres, but their

21:10

form is different to try and create

21:12

moments of grace, spiritual journeys of characters?

21:15

So I think it was, I guess

21:17

it was that, I mean, I think

21:19

they do, you know, they could see

21:21

that there was an opportunity to use

21:23

their whole bodies instead of, you know,

21:26

learning lines, to be physical and to

21:28

be, you know, to have that kind

21:30

of challenge, I think, they don't come

21:32

along that often, I don't think. Yeah.

21:35

Yeah. And Hannah in terms of that

21:37

side of it you know when you

21:39

think about there's a script but then

21:41

also the kind of the world that's

21:43

being created with those characters in it

21:46

and you know there's even there's that

21:48

moment where you know kind of writing

21:50

or writing or having cues that are

21:52

specific time-wise as well in the night

21:55

when he hears the kind of the

21:57

sheep and that kind of music stops

21:59

like bang on a moment and it

22:01

kind of can physically kind of affect

22:03

you as an audience member. It's not

22:06

telling you how to feel or anything

22:08

but it's almost it's a kind of

22:10

like almost like a reverberation of what

22:12

we're seeing on screen almost in a

22:15

way as well. Is that kind of

22:17

fun to play with as a composer

22:19

in terms of when you have a...

22:21

very specific moments of creation. You know

22:23

it's a really beautiful question because I

22:26

think for me as I almost come

22:28

to it from a producer side of

22:30

it rather than a music production side

22:32

of it rather than the composer because

22:35

I find it's a lot more interesting

22:37

and then people have commented they don't

22:39

know sometimes where the sound design begins

22:41

in the music. it sits in its

22:43

place and I find that really really

22:46

exciting and I guess with this in

22:48

particular there was an immersiveness you don't

22:50

want to be told it's like you

22:52

don't need to be told what the

22:55

the horror that is about to occur

22:57

or so it's almost like another character

22:59

that is just kind of like supporting

23:01

the belly of the story but yeah

23:03

I mean in particular the massacre scenes

23:06

were really fun to do because I

23:08

mean even watching it as a composer

23:10

was horrific. So the West Times, I

23:12

just didn't watch it, I just went

23:15

into the world and just turned the

23:17

picture off because I couldn't cope with

23:19

it, it was just too spout. Brutal,

23:21

but at the same time it's really

23:23

beautiful. Like you say, the visceral, the

23:26

tangibility of the instruments, and that in

23:28

particular was a sound that felt succinct

23:30

sound, it's like it's low and it's

23:32

rumbled, and I think like, you know,

23:35

Chris's note for that, and in particular

23:37

at the end. when they meet on

23:39

the top of the mountain was like

23:41

the terminator it is something that is

23:43

coming for you and you cannot stop

23:46

it and you don't need like loads

23:48

of like complicated

23:50

rhythms or anything of

23:52

it it's just

23:55

this pulse that just

23:57

pulls you down

23:59

like almost like the

24:01

mountain is speaking

24:03

to you the mountain is speaking

24:06

to amounts of fun

24:08

doing this car. of

24:10

had a great

24:12

time. I've had a great time. What

25:33

was the reality the those

25:35

particular filming those know in terms

25:37

of bets, you know, in terms of he I

25:39

I tell you tell can't tell

25:42

me the reality. Okay. No, I can.

25:44

I can tell you an can't. I

25:46

can tell you an augmented

25:48

reality. scenes were, they were,

25:50

like, across scenes it were

25:52

it was so the fun,

25:55

was it was so

25:57

much fun much much

25:59

fun so the when

26:01

the crew saw

26:03

it just before we premiered in

26:06

Toronto. They all left really bummed out

26:08

because they'd had such a great time.

26:10

They sort of dislocated from the idea

26:12

of what they were making. And so

26:14

it hit them really hard that they'd

26:17

made this quite intense experience and they'd

26:19

had a really good laugh while they

26:21

were doing it. You know, and it's

26:23

like, she puppets in the fields in

26:25

January and we get a bit of

26:28

a breeze and they've not been pegged

26:30

down. It's just like a bunny-ill show

26:32

people running around after. This is only

26:34

happening because you wrote something down on

26:36

a piece of paper. It's weird. But

26:39

it was, I mean, it was, I

26:41

mean, it was, I mean, it was

26:43

really tough for Chris. The machine roll

26:45

moves forward so, so quickly and, you

26:47

know, we didn't have a lot of

26:50

money and we'd have a lot of

26:52

time. He started quite hard and he

26:54

had to sprint over the line and,

26:56

and you forget just how dark a

26:58

lot of things. he's physically experiencing. And

27:01

so it was really tough, you know,

27:03

so like a lot of my job

27:05

is just to try and support and

27:07

care for him and make sure that

27:09

he's okay in that space and bring

27:12

him out and settle him in and

27:14

whilst you're answering all the millions of

27:16

questions you have to answer him. And

27:18

we were up against it, so it

27:20

was, you know, those two sequences were

27:23

scheduled as four night shoots and we

27:25

ended up doing them in three split

27:27

days because we couldn't afford the night

27:29

shoots. So it was just like, like

27:31

with Barry's sequence, we had, it was

27:34

all supposed to be track and Dolly

27:36

because the language had changed. And so

27:38

we could laid one track and just

27:40

moved everything around the track really quickly,

27:42

like the van and the cheap. But

27:45

yes, you know, it was a lot

27:47

of fun and it was very different

27:49

working with Barry and Aaron together and

27:51

then Chris and they were on separate

27:53

nights and then we, and the third

27:56

night we brought them together. So there

27:58

was quite a different mood because Chris

28:00

is feeling so overwhelmed overwhelmed and then.

28:02

and broken and it starts with so

28:04

much fun with Aaron and Barry because

28:07

you don't quite know if it's actually...

28:09

like setting fires or something when you're

28:11

a kid and then, oh look it's

28:13

burning, it's fun and then suddenly you've

28:15

like, oh yeah, the bins on fire,

28:18

what we're gonna do? And then because

28:20

none of our sheep, well one sheep

28:22

bleated once in five weeks, so we

28:24

had to build all the sheep, well

28:26

the sheep sounds, we had to collect,

28:29

but then when we got to the

28:31

like delivering of the two reels with

28:33

the massacres on there was nothing on

28:35

them. because they're sound designers. And my

28:37

idea was we treat everything like it's

28:40

real so that we've nobody feels betrayed

28:42

by any of the sounds. They will

28:44

be with so much with us that

28:46

when we take them into this sonically

28:48

take them into this horror, then we

28:51

can take them anywhere and it can

28:53

be awful. And I always wanted it

28:55

to be awful because of what violence

28:57

means and I didn't want anyone to

28:59

fetishize or this kind of violence. So

29:02

in the mix, when I got them,

29:04

and they'd finished, there was nothing on

29:06

them, so I spent two days making

29:08

sheep noises myself with a microphone, not

29:10

unlike yours on a sofa in Belgium,

29:13

in distress because I had no sheep

29:15

noises. So 95% of the noises in

29:17

both those differences and me. So I

29:19

finally found some I'm good at. Wow!

29:21

That's nuts. That's so crazy. Did they

29:24

go to like Shepard School beforehand? Yeah,

29:26

but only for a little bit. I

29:28

had this like amazing like fanciful idea

29:30

that we were going to like camp

29:32

on the mountains and stuff and they

29:35

were like, no, no, no. They're movie

29:37

stars. So we did a couple of

29:39

hours each and they met a Shepard's

29:41

and met some sheep and then we

29:43

just sort of like and then both

29:46

of them to their credit, really physical

29:48

and I'm really like. capable people so

29:50

we had an animal wrangler and then

29:52

a shepherd hat and pat would like

29:54

put a pen out and showed them

29:57

how to like maneuver the sheep and

29:59

pick them put them over and look

30:01

after them like you would if you

30:03

were giving them a medical and stuff

30:05

so yeah so they learn that and

30:08

yeah new skills really life skills yeah

30:10

they can take on into life I

30:12

love it it's a really random question

30:14

I mean there's been a quite a

30:16

few of them sorry but like particularly

30:19

those kind of night situations like when

30:21

Christopher in particular with his head torch

30:23

what's the reality of what the sets

30:25

like for that in terms of lighting

30:27

and stuff because I mean I've not

30:30

been on enough sets to kind of

30:32

understand or get an understanding of how

30:34

you shoot something like that you're really

30:36

looking and you kind of you know

30:38

either whether you're over his shoulder or

30:41

all that kind of stuff and you

30:43

see where the torch is taking you

30:45

know that kind of thing but you've

30:47

got to capture that on camera or

30:49

you know so... Is it lit and

30:52

then you're, then that's almost your kind

30:54

of prop in a way or how,

30:56

what, do you mind just answering? Yes,

30:58

I know, I was very, you had

31:00

to, there's a big conversation about darkness

31:03

because, you know, if you're getting money

31:05

to make a film, then people want

31:07

to be able to see what's going

31:09

on. There's dark and then there's dark.

31:11

Yeah. And I really, like, again, a

31:14

kick, so I just wanted the whole

31:16

thing to be immersive, you know, you

31:18

know, like, like. And every time I

31:20

see like fake moonlight and stuff it's

31:22

just that and what it's too bracing

31:25

and what I know I'm watching something

31:27

now and so what we did have

31:29

was we we lit the trees at

31:31

the back with something really soft on

31:33

a cherry picker Chris had the torch

31:36

from which had a change bulb in

31:38

it so it gave us more light

31:40

and it also had a little filter

31:42

in it like a reflector in it

31:44

that just gave you that pushed out

31:47

a little bit more and then Mostly

31:49

we shoot Chris on his right side

31:51

and then the tree where the dog

31:53

is found is is sort of just

31:55

behind him and behind that there was

31:58

a bank that dips down and we

32:00

put a row of lights down there

32:02

that weren't hitting anything fit they were

32:04

just shining into the light because there

32:06

was a lot of moisture in the

32:09

air as a lot of fog and

32:11

mist it would just catch that so

32:13

you don't get any you don't get

32:15

any shapes or anything lit but you

32:17

just get a sense of separation because

32:20

we wanted to hear everything to be

32:22

dark but the sense of the sheep

32:24

because they're you know creamy white they

32:26

kind of glow a little bit like

32:28

specters. and so we didn't have to

32:31

put too much in for them so

32:33

that they'd kick so we just wanted

32:35

the shape and they gave us the

32:37

depth and the sort of architecture for

32:39

the and then Chris was was lit

32:42

by the torch and then and then

32:44

with with Barry and an hour and

32:46

it was all from their headlights in

32:48

the truck yeah brilliant thank you for

32:50

that for that um yeah come next

32:53

time geek geek question listen I could

32:55

chat to you for hours it's such

32:57

a it's so lovely to just dive

32:59

we to just dive into to your

33:01

collaboration and you know both of you

33:04

kind of finding the story that you

33:06

want to tell in those different ways.

33:08

So I really appreciate your time and

33:10

huge congratulations. Great to chat to you

33:12

both. Thank you. Yeah, it's been a

33:15

pleasure. I'm going to river dance into

33:17

the weekend now. From

33:44

the score to bring them down

33:46

that two sides rounding off this

33:48

latest episode of sound tracking with

33:51

Christopher Andrews and Hannah Peel My

33:53

huge thanks to both of them

33:55

for taking the time to talk

33:57

to me bring them down is

34:00

available to watch now exclusively on

34:02

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34:29

Extra. features loads and loads of

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as well. Next up, Ben Stiller

34:40

and lots of people involved in

34:42

bringing us the brilliant severance. Join

34:44

me as we bring you the

34:46

latest of our everyman soundtrack and

34:49

film clubs. I am talking Andrew

34:51

Scott, Britlower, Dietchen Lachman, Trammell Tillman.

34:53

Gwendell and Christie and of course

34:55

Dan Erickson and Ben Stiller. Oh

34:58

and Zach Cherry as well. Zach,

35:00

I'm sorry I almost forgot about

35:02

you. But it was the most

35:04

joyful, insightful, funny panel that we

35:07

had and then also what was

35:09

wonderful was I got the chance

35:11

to sit with Ben to kind

35:13

of deep dive into the music.

35:15

So that was a joyful and

35:18

brilliant conversation that we'll kind of

35:20

put the two of those together.

35:22

So I very much look forward

35:24

to the pleasure of your company

35:27

then.