The Sound of First Man Soundshow with Damien Chazelle
The Sound of First Man motion picture soundshow featuring Director Damien Chazelle, Re-recording Mixer/Sound Designer/Supervising Sound Editor Ai-Ling Lee, Supervising Dialogue Editor Susan Dawes and Re-recording mixers Jon Taylor and Frank A. Montaño.
Recorded on December 18, 2018 on the Hitchcock Mixing Stage at Universal Studios and moderated by Michael Coleman from SoundWorks Collection.
# Exclusive Sound Breakdown Clips
First Man has a very documentary feel from the way it’s shot and edited, so we used as many original, authentic sound recordings as possible. The film presented a unique challenge as our team attempted to give the sound design a grounded, gritty and unpolished feel for the quiet intimate Earth scenes, almost like a 16mm home movie, and contrast that with the immersive, visceral feeling of the dangers of going into space — all from the perspective of Neil Armstrong.
Some of these scenes, especially the cockpit sequences are sometimes made up with dozens of FX tracks, split into 15 pre dub groups.
• First pass shows some of the layers of sounds or selected sounds. What you hear in the first pass is about 50% of the FX and BG stripped down.
• Second pass is the full mix with Dialog, Music, BGs, Foley and the complete FX layers .
# X-15 Flight
Neil has stopped the ascent of the rocket powered aircraft on edge of Earth and Space. However, he realizes that his aircraft is bouncing off the Earth’s atmosphere and in order to land, he has to activate the thrusters on the X15 in order to cut through the atmosphere at a certain angle to get back down.
Some of the sounds we used include:
• Deck of Playing Cards: for the quiet ticking of the altimeter to show the X15 is bouncing off the Earth’s atmosphere and gaining in height, away from Earth.
• Aircraft vibrations: metal vibrate recordings from attaching low frequency inducers called IBEAM (used in car boom box or home theater to vibrate seats).
• Turbulence shakes: Motion Simulator Ride recordings especially when the machine injects low frequency to heavily shake and vibrate the entire vehicle for a natural sounding shake that sounds from a confined space.
• Metal creaks and groans: Some from Foley by Dan O’Connell and John Cucci.
• Pipe organ slowed way down: low rising drone/tone when X15 is floating up into space.
• Thruster burst: sound recordings from Masten Space System (Mojave Dessert) Lquid Methane thruster burner and lunar lander flight test.
• Animal vocals: Elephant roars, lion growls processed with Decapitator (distortion) and Altiverb (for size), sometimes doppler bys.
• Rising Air Distortion: created in software synth and Reaktor, also hose spray over sheet metal.
• Explosions: Processed to be over modulated for a furious feel.
• Sonic Booms: SpaceX Falcon Heavy recordings when the first stage rockets re-enters Earth’s atmosphere. Kennedy Space Center, FL.
# Gemini Walk Up, Strap In
Neil Armstrong and Dave Scott walk up and get strapped into Gemini/Titan II rocket. A suspenseful lead up to Neil’s first space mission and his first rocket launch. The success of the Gemini missions is needed before NASA could carry forward with the Apollo missions.
Some of the sounds we used include:
• Rhythmic pulse of steam releases and hiss: Created with Laundry Steam bursts slowed down, and doppler.
• Agena Rocket Launch: as they first entered the catwalk, the sound is from SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket recording at Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA.
• Breath whoosh: To add to the steam pulses, breath whoosh bys were created and processed in glass Impulse Response to feel like we are looking from inside the helmet.
• Synth Pulse
• Subway thumps: To create a heartbeat motif that feels like it’s from the spacecraft.
• Brake squeals: Create eeriness and anxiety, like train brakes.
• NASA artifacts: sound recordings of umbilical cord locks, glove creaks, spacesuit movement from actual suits from the period. These are layered with some foley at times.
• Door air suck in: to feel like they are closed inside a tight confined space, like being suffocated.
Gemini Launch Scene
Throughout this launch, the camera is always inside the cockpit on Neil and from his perspective, never cutting outside. We have to create a sense of being shot up into the sky in tremendous speed and power, feeling the G-force with Sound. Also to show the danger and terror of these missions, that they are strapped in these fragile rudimentary spacecraft, that any little mistake could kill them.
Some of the sounds we used BEFORE LIFT OFF include:
• Fuel rush: When countdown begins, it’s from the launchpad recordings of a ULA rocket before ignition.
• Submarine Torpedo rush: flood tube rush for a torpedo.
• Thruster bursts: Some of the initial thrusters ignite are recordings from ULA Delta IV heavy and the lunar landers from Masten Space Systems.
• Authentic Titan sound at ignition: Right before ‘Ignition’ we added a ‘bwhoop’ or a squeal like sound that are unique and distinct only to Titan II rockets. Pointed out to us form NASA trainer Frank Hughes, and found from archives.
• Low end rumble: We added to the main speakers these low rumbles so that we are not just relying on the sub-woofer, recordings of NASA JPL acoustic chamber, they blast nitrogen gas to create the acoustics inside a rocket during launch. Used to test hardware components to make sure they survive a rocket launch.
Some of the sounds we used DURING LAUNCH include:
• Animal vocals: Processed animal sounds that Sound Designer Shannon Mills and I made, sources with lion roar, snake hiss, elephant roar. At times I put them through distortion for this intense angry feel.
• Turbine: Various turbine rising in pitch. We add layers of higher pitch elements to keep building up the tension.
• Metal shakes: Some of them we used swords and knives hit, subconsciously feeling sounds of danger.
• Sounds of Motion: To feel like we are moving at a fast speed, we sneak in fireball bys.
• Artifact Helmet hiss: After Neil stops the launch, we go from this super intense non-stop chaos, to this very quiet space capsule, with some metal creaks of the space craft settling in. We hear air hiss, from recordings of inside the helmet of the air hiss from the life suppose system, worn by astronaut John Young during Apollo 10.
Moon Surface Speech
Breaking down the dialog editing and processing to recreate Neil Armstrong’s famous speech on the moon, and discussing the moment into pure sonic silence when are on the moon’s surface.
About FIRST MAN
On the heels of their six-time Academy Award®-winning smash, La La Land, Oscar®-winning director Damien Chazelle and star Ryan Gosling reteam for Universal Pictures’ First Man, the riveting story behind the first manned mission to the moon, focusing on Neil Armstrong and the decade leading to the historic Apollo 11 flight. A visceral and intimate account told from Armstrong’s perspective, based on the book by James R. Hansen, the film explores the triumphs and the cost—on Armstrong, his family, his colleagues and the nation itself—of one of the most dangerous missions in history.
Written by Academy Award® winner Josh Singer (Spotlight, The Post), the epic drama of leading under the pressure of grace and tragedy is produced by Wyck Godfrey & Marty Bowen (The Twilight Saga, The Fault in Our Stars) through their Temple Hill Entertainment banner, alongside Isaac Klausner (Love, Simon) and Chazelle. Steven Spielberg, Adam Merims and Singer executive produce, while DreamWorks Pictures co-finances the film.