Even among film critics, the sound (not the music) of a movie very rarely gets commented upon, and when it does, it is usually to say something negative. This fact is what makes sound engineers a definite part of the group of ‘unsung heroes', since, even in this intently meta era, there are very few films that deal with them (“The Sound Man Mangesh Desai” is one of the few). Sorayos Prapapan makes an effort to change this, with his fourth short.
“Death of a Sound Man” is screening at Vienna Shorts
After a cheekily intriguing intro, where a man is showed sucking a sausage as graphically as possible, we are introduced to the two protagonists, sound recordists Burt and Nicky, whose life is revealed to proceed in two axes. Recording sounds wherever and whenever they can, and cooperating with directors on how to implement them in their movies. In that fashion, the capturing of a man sucking a sausage is followed by one burbling in the water, the ambience of a zoo and the various sounds the animals occasionally make, and the ambience of a foggy lake. At the same time, the two of them comment on some technical aspects of their work, while referring to the difference between foley and sound effects.
Their interactions with Pom, a short film director, presents the other aspect of their work, trying to follow the instructions of the directors they work with, while dealing with tax issues and the occasional delay of payment. Despite the fact that the two of them seem to live lives that are radically different from the common people's, the whining about the government (‘too much chlorine in the water') and the people who do not pay, show that they are not that dissimilar from the rest.
Sorayos Prapapan, (himself a sound “guy”, with his credits including “Manta Ray”) presents the life and work of sound engineers through a delightful approach, filled with deadpan humor (where his own editing helps the most, with the sudden cuts to completely different locations and scenes), amusing episodes, smartly (and ironically) given comments, and occasionally quite impressive visuals. The initial scenes showcase this approach, but it is the whining about the government, the director who is not willing to pay or deal with the logistics of his production, and that the American flag is much noisier than the Thai one that truly highlight the contextual approach the director has taken to its subject.
At the same time, and although the focus is on the sound, the visual aspect here is equally artful, benefiting the most by the excellent work of DP Vijaktre Thirapatana. The image of the black panther suddenly opening its eyes, the two protagonists sitting back to back, working, and the switching lights of the sound console, which remind of a disco in some way are truly memorable, also commenting on the importance of the combination of sound and image in a movie, in a metaphorically meta comment.
On a last level, Prapapan also makes a comment about life in Thailand, where the slow pace and the political humor is the rule, while the short also functions as a kind of tour guide, since the images of a number of monuments are added to the aforementioned locations the two protagonists go to record.
Chalermrat Kaweewattana, also a sound engineer, and Nattapong Pipattanasub embody the overall aesthetics of the movie to perfection in the protagonist roles, while Phuttiphong Aroonpheng's presence as the director adds to the meta approach of the title, as he is the actual director of “Manta Ray” and a cinematographer himself.
“Death of a Sound Man” is a very entertaining short that manages to present a very rarely seen technical side of movie production and the people who deal with it through a humorist but also contextually rich approach.
