#18. The Sound Of Three Bull-Mastiffs In A Corner Kitchen

by Marco Battimelli

How I do and love what I do and why :

I recently finished up my sound design work on Three Bull-Mastiffs in a Corner Kitchen

As a sound designer and mixing engineer I oversaw the audio of the full film, designing, ambient soundbeds, backgrounds, tension sounds, effects, foley, and dialogue and I had the pleasure to be the re-recording mixing engineer for it.

A massive thank you to Director Paul Chambers, and Sound Recordist, Sound designer, and Mixing Engineer Martyn Ellis, who asked me to jump on board. it was a pleasure working with you and being part of such a lovely team!

"Sound design is perhaps the most overlooked art in cinema, and for good reason: truly perfect sound serves only to enhance immersion in the film. It’s not supposed to draw attention"

Three Bull-Mastiffs in the Corner Kitchen (3BM) is based on the true story of Sam Batley.

Sam stars in 3BM, a film based on his poem about his troubles with drug addiction .

Due to the nature of the film, and not being familiar with this particular genre it presented lots of challenges ahead.

Thinking in terms of productivity, due to the short time available, my first step was to plan an efficient time management, by setting daily deadlines. Firstly, I started gathering information on the short film, understanding the script before being influenced by the visual. I have also spent a considerable amount of time researching for similar films where to find analogous sonic choices and techniques. Three Bull-Mastiffs in the Corner Kitchen is centred on the true story of Sam Batley. Batley himself stars in this documentary, based on his own poem about his troubles with drug addiction. Due to the nature of the film, and not being familiar with this genre, it presented lots of challenges for me. Inspiring films, documentaries, and sound work video tutorials have contributed to shape my direction. Sometimes it was also simply a matter of discussing and exchanging ideas with the director. For this documentary, my aim was to avoid being inaccurate in selecting and crafting my sound palettes. Having a very limited knowledge of drug terminology, I started analysing film clips, interviews, and video tutorials related to this genre.

Worth mentioning is the Film cult Requiem For a Dream Directed by Darren Aronofsky a film that deals heavily with many types of drug addictions.

"I want that sound design needs to sound visceral and high in the mix". (Paul Chambers)

This film played a representative role in the creation of my sound palette, and it has been an incredible source of inspiration especially for the fast cut sequences used by director Darren Aronofsky. However, in Aronofsky’s film, sound design is very often buried by Clint Mansell’s lux æterna soundtrack (2000), hence I had to look elsewhere to find the right sound texture.

The “hip-hop” montages. Aronofsky's films frequently present “hip-hop” montages, where rapid-fire sequences are massively used, and Paul Chambers' short film brilliantly pays tribute to this technique (Kulezic-Wilson, 2008). In Three Bull-Mastiffs in a Corner Kitchen, we often find ourselves sharing the same perspective as the main character, and experiencing his own emotions. Recording ambience sound by using a binaural AMBEO Smart headset was very stimulating, this way I could match the shots vibes where the main character has used a SnorriCam, conveying sense of blurriness to the audience (McGregor, 2017). In Chambers’ film, the SnorriCam shot is often used to show character's subjective experience, providing me with the opportunity to identify his reactions, facial expressions, and feelings, and imagine what he is hearing in that moment. My aim was to recreate, through sound, what Chambers achieved with his visual, always keeping in mind a specific request from Chambers:

The special Technique - CU Montage (hip-hop montage)

"I want sound design to be visceral and high in the mix". Trainspotting by Danny Boyle (1996) and Breaking Bad (Gilligan, 2008) were the perfect food for thought, to create the kind of vibes I was aiming for.

I recorded a consistent amount of sound materials to reinforce, or replace, the already present sound production. Clothing sounds and character’s movements have been recorded using Neumann 184 and U87 microphones in the S6 control room, to minimise noise background interference. Some specific spot effects, such as lighter, and home-made bong, have been recorded as a wild foley track, then edited and played loud in the mix to emphasise scenes exigencies.

In Chamber's documentary the “hip-hop” sequences recur every time Sam, the main character, consumes drug. His movie provided a lots of surreal sonic opportunities.

There was much food for friends who love to experiment with sound.

That's why I jumped at the opportunity, and I've loved it, learning a lot along the way.

In terms of sonic choice I needed to look for smart solutions, realistic choices of sound don’t necessarily fit, I need to drew dynamic sounds that sells the scene with the aim to creates the magic.

In Three Bull-Mastiffs in a Corner Kitchen, we often are inside the main character's perspective, were he is experiencing various emotions,

POV (point of view), the perspective from which that story is told.

The snorricam shot is usually used to creates a feeling of discomfort and vertigo in the audience to convey a character's emotions, whether from drunkenness, or emotional upheaval from shock, panic, or paranoia and drug effects.

In 3BM the snorricam shot is often used as a kind of point of view shot, showing character's subjective experience, giving us the opportunity of being able to see the character's reaction and facial expression and what are his feeling, what he's hearing.

The Dizzying Effect of the Snorricam

I came across a video about Fight Club (1999), called Sound design deconstructed with Ren Klyce by Indepth (2000). Their way of subdividing sounds into naturalistic and expressionistic categories inspired me to do the same. In this video, Ren Klyce tries to establish the environment of Fight Club through the balance of dialogue and crowd reactions, mixed with other noises, to force the audience in a specific perspective (Indepth sound design, 2020).

A video tutorial named How to Sound Design Immersive Backgrounds by Matt Yocum has also played an important role in the way I crafted my background (Pro Sound Effects, 2021). In this video, Yocum designs immersive ambiences cutting them into 5 categories, Airs and Winds, Animal and Wildlife, Traffic, Walla, and Miscellaneous. My classic workflow usually only includes Near, Mid and Far backgrounds, but thanks to Yocum’s insightful tips, I was able to deliver immersive background using mono tracks and panning effects on specific elements, trying to implement his style (Pro Sound Effects, 2021).

So much of the of 3BM short-film is rooted in repetition, in a kind of cycle anchored by Sam Monologue. There are very few periods of calm, abruptly interrupted by then cycles and periods of drug and violent scene.

in 3BM my aim was to try to figure out what director is trying to say, and how I could enhance is visual with sounds.

Personally speaking, I immediately understood what Chambers was trying to achieve. His vision was so surprising and detail-oriented, just like his audio knowledge, far more advanced than any other director I have ever met so far. He knew exactly what he wanted, but at a same time I knew he was giving me carte blanche, turning on lightbulbs in my head, a quality very rare to find.