A COLLABORATIVE POST BY GREG RUBIN
SOUND EFFECTS EDITOR, BOOM BOX POST
Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope you are all staying safe during this crazy time of quarantine. We sure do miss being at Boom Box! We hope to get your mind off all the madness with this bug zapper transformation build. Most people know that bugs are drawn to lights at night (it’s rather gross to watch… and makes me mad just thinking about how many bugs have swarmed my face at night near any sort of light). Well, this build showcases that kind of sequence. It is pretty epic so check out the creative process and listen to how it came together!
What was your creative process?
I added this photo solely for the fact that this bug has a gold tooth.
Step one was to create the bug zapper steadys. I used layers of synth hums and buzz. I was careful to design a layer to be used from both close and from afar to keep it present and alive and that’s a little more typical bug zapper in feel, but not overpowering. Then, I chose two layers that I liked for close ups to give it a bit of a beefier/more life threatening feel. I built everything in layers to ensure flexibility with the clients and our mixer. I didn’t want to tie their hands too much for the mix process, especially for something so key to this episode’s story.
I also needed some zaps, arcing and exploding for interactions with the zapper. To create these, I first laid in a steady layer of electric zapping, then began layering in thunderous and electric arcing and zapping sound effects and electrifying sweeteners to cover all of the movement of the electric arcs of the transformation in all different sizes. This gave me a lot of material to draw upon in my editorial.
Did you run into any issues/problems/what worked vs what didnt work?
Thankfully, I didn’t run into much trouble throughout this sequence. It was just really fun to build out.
Woo!!! We love to hear it Greg. How cheesy is this photo…..
Any tips on what really made THESE ELECTRIC BUILDS cool?
I think what helped to make this cool and epic was the attention to detail in covering each arc and hit with a mix of electrifying sounds that compliment each other, but are also rather violent sounding along with implementing synthy sweeteners that aren’t specifically zaps, but play into the sense of electrocution by bug zapper.
Were you given a direction or was this all your choosing creatively?
‘Nough said.
Creatively, this was pretty much just up to my choosing. I was only told to make the bigger zaps over the top and huge which was great! But with the sequence being what it was, it was pretty clear that it was needing to be epic electricity madness.
Check out some of the larger zap builds below:
If you liked this post and want to check out another electrifying transformation, click the link to our other blog below:
ELECTRIC SCIENCE PROJECT FAIL