Tom Bellfort Talks “Source Code”
One of the few movies this year that had suprised me at the theater was Source Code. The movie was a lot of fun and was way better than I had expected. Designingsound.org has published an exclusive interview with Tom Bellfort in which he talks about his work on the film.
DS: What continuity was there in the sounds that transitioned in and out of source code? Did they evolve as the film progressed?
TB: Each time Colter transitions into the source code (out of the train) the images we see are by and large variations of violent agitated movement, Michelle Monaghan and the Chicago “Bean”. The duration and sequence of each image was always different from transition to transition. And so it was hard to establish a leitmotif if you will to this area. It was always changing. There was a common sound in all for Michelle and the “bean” put I think because these transitions were so rapid, it is hard to distinguish these.
As to the transitions out of the source code back to the train; these, by and large stayed the same and this was the breaking apart of Colter’s being: The idea was to produce a shattering expulsion type of signature effect followed by a gliding effect over the lake and finally into the train; Colter jolted back into that reality. A combination of rockets, glass and tonal elements were used for the expulsion. Once I was satisfied with that design, I duplicated each element and then created an aliasing effect by removing a quarter to half a frame for the duration of each effect and then recombining these to create a staccato feeling of Colter breaking apart to be re assembled back into the train. Once gliding over the lake, processed brake squeals and train horns were used to get Colter back into the train. To jolt Colter back into that reality I used train bys and or bell bys to “wake” him back up.
You can read the whole interview here: designingsound.org
Leave a Reply