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Body sounds during a transformation.

Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2005 2:47 am
by Figarou
Ok, I had to start a thread on this. I know Mr. Brownrigg wants sounds during a TF. But what type of sounds are we looking at? I don't mind hearing a body sound, but its needs to be the proper type to fit the part. (Body sounds as in bones popping, not farts.)


I know the "popping" of the knuckles results from forcing joint fluid to
very rapidly pass from one side of the joint to the other, where the
"sides" are partitioned off by the main bones of the joint.

Is this the sound we are going to hear during a TF? SNAP! CRACKLE! POP! (Sorry, eating a bowl of Rice Krispies while typing this.)

What kind of sound are we going to hear when the muzzle starts to form? Will it be a popping sound? Bones and muscles are being stretched. Also fangs are lengthening.

How about muscles in other parts of the body? Will those make a sound?

What about the tail when it protrudes the body? How about when the foot stretches to form digitigrade legs?


Now don't tell me the fur makes a sound. That is just plain silly!!

I know clothes will make a sound when torn. Lets leave that out and concentrate on the werewolf's body.


What are your thoughts on this?

oh boy...first answer

Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2005 4:06 am
by Mitternacht
Sounds hurm, thats a good one.

I agree that the majority of the sounds would come from joints realigning themselves. I dont really see where, in real life , soft tisue woud make much of an noise if any. Skin might, like leather, make some kind of sound when its stratched out, but I dont really see it as being a very noticeable one.

However, when it comes to bone, I believe that is where the majority of your sounds would come from, especially the skull, seeing as it has a lot of open spaces for sound to resonate in. Teeth are a bit like knuclkes in that they sit in a socket so I do see them doing a bit of a rice crispy act when the shift along a lentghening set of jaws. And the bones themselves might make a sound as they reform. I read in a book once where the changeing of the bones was discribed as a perpetual breaking and reforming process in rapid secsession. this being the case I can see where that would make sounds and certain structures like muzzles, the arch of the foot, hands , ribs , especially ribs as I would imagine the chest would be another cavity with a great deal of resonace possibilities.

I also think that an experienced shifter, would be aware of what was about to happen and prepare for it, relaxing to keep the tension from making him or her sound like a sound effect project form hell, where as a less experiences shifter might be a little louder becuase they are still tenced up.

I can also see where, from a hunters standpoint, you dont want to sound like a walking mass of bubble wrap and give yourslef away so learning to "keep it down" wouldl be a good skill to aquire quickly and one that might be taught early on to newly changes werewolves. Afterall, a hunter cna her you as easily as your prey can.

Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2005 8:34 am
by Terastas
Hmmm... For lack of a better word, probably just a ton of muscle-popping. Remember in The Matrix, that noise Agent Smith made by flexing his shoulders right before he fought Neo in the subway station?

Lots of that.

Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2005 9:37 am
by Kwipper
Ever since I saw agent smith do that in the movie, I have to admit to myself trying to do that IRL. :)

Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2005 1:37 pm
by Goldenwolf
Actually, fur WOULD make a sound as it came out of the skin, a very light hissing/rustle of hairs moving against hairs. Once it was in place it wouldn't make much nose, but having long hair I can tell you it -does- have a sound.

Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2005 2:00 pm
by Figarou
Terastas wrote:Hmmm... For lack of a better word, probably just a ton of muscle-popping. Remember in The Matrix, that noise Agent Smith made by flexing his shoulders right before he fought Neo in the subway station?

Lots of that.
Muscle-popping? I thought the joint fluid between the bones did that.

Ok, there is 3 forms. Ya'll know that. When the werewolf goes to wolf form, what will we be hearing? How about to gestalt form? Also how about reverting to human form?

I'm not looking for surround sound effects. I'm worried about the proper sound. Sure, my neck pops. But it didn't pop when I was younger. Isn't werewolves suppose to be more flexible? Having a very loud pop will be a bit strange. I don't mind body sounds during a TF, but don't make my subwoofer shake the room when the bone pops into place.

Goldenwolf wrote:Actually, fur WOULD make a sound as it came out of the skin, a very light hissing/rustle of hairs moving against hairs. Once it was in place it wouldn't make much nose, but having long hair I can tell you it -does- have a sound.

hmmmm.....interesting. Could work as a close up. It'll be odd to hear it from a distance shot.

Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2005 4:51 pm
by Apokryltaros
Figarou wrote:
Goldenwolf wrote:Actually, fur WOULD make a sound as it came out of the skin, a very light hissing/rustle of hairs moving against hairs. Once it was in place it wouldn't make much nose, but having long hair I can tell you it -does- have a sound.

hmmmm.....interesting. Could work as a close up. It'll be odd to hear it from a distance shot.
Doesn't anyone remember the part in David's transformation with the way those hairs on his back were rustling as he was growing fur?

Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2005 6:32 pm
by Figarou
Apokryltaros wrote:
Figarou wrote:
Goldenwolf wrote:Actually, fur WOULD make a sound as it came out of the skin, a very light hissing/rustle of hairs moving against hairs. Once it was in place it wouldn't make much nose, but having long hair I can tell you it -does- have a sound.

hmmmm.....interesting. Could work as a close up. It'll be odd to hear it from a distance shot.
Doesn't anyone remember the part in David's transformation with the way those hairs on his back were rustling as he was growing fur?

Like they had a mind of thier own? Yes, I remember that scene from AWIL. Its hard to believe you can hear the hairs rustling when music was playing in the back ground. The TF scene was good, but some of the sounds just had to go.

Right after the rustling of hairs, you can hear sounds when his upper back was getting bigger. It sounded like the last stage of a toilet flush when the bowl empties of water. That is something I want to avoid.

Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2005 7:45 pm
by CrewWolf
While I get squeamish just by listening to my brother crack his knuckles, I think there should definitely be some bone popping action. I don't know about gut squelches though. Gut squelches might be a bit too much for me. And I don't think growing hair would make much of a sound unless it comes out real fast and makes a *fwoof* or possibly a *shwoof*

Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2005 7:53 pm
by Figarou
CrewWolf wrote:While I get squeamish just by listening to my brother crack his knuckles, I think there should definitely be some bone popping action. I don't know about gut squelches though. Gut squelches might be a bit too much for me. And I don't think growing hair would make much of a sound unless it comes out real fast and makes a *fwoof* or possibly a *shwoof*

Heh, comic book sounds. :D

Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2005 8:04 pm
by Terastas
CrewWolf wrote:While I get squeamish just by listening to my brother crack his knuckles, I think there should definitely be some bone popping action. I don't know about gut squelches though. Gut squelches might be a bit too much for me. And I don't think growing hair would make much of a sound unless it comes out real fast and makes a *fwoof* or possibly a *shwoof*
Well... I don't particularly care for those kinds of sounds either (especially when I'm the one that's making them)... But if all it takes to make those noises is a hot dog and a can of soda, I have a feeling an intestinal realignment would make some unpleasant noises too. :P

Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2005 12:45 pm
by ChaosWolf
Goldenwolf wrote:Actually, fur WOULD make a sound as it came out of the skin, a very light hissing/rustle of hairs moving against hairs. Once it was in place it wouldn't make much nose, but having long hair I can tell you it -does- have a sound.
Personally, I've always envisioned as as a real quiet hiss/rustle too... a specific type, too. You know, if you listen really closely during a snowfall, that faint hissing sound the snow makes as it falls? That sound. a really quiet kind of slow-breathy-exhale 'fssssh' sound.

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 11:53 am
by Anubis
i think that there would be bone snaping and breaking where the tail is going to be the human tail bone is soild (no joints) so when the tail starts to grow the bone will seperate.

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 12:03 pm
by Lupin
I would exepect a "popping" or "cracking" noise. But muffled like when you sit down on pencil on your couch or something and it breaks.













I brok my favorite pencil that way once.

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 12:06 pm
by Anubis
true but there would be some noise

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 12:11 pm
by Lupin
Well yes, I didn't mean completely silent. But it wouldn't be a sharp crack, either. Anyone know what sound a bone makes when you break it?

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 12:28 pm
by vrikasatma
I always visualized (is that the right word?) a rumbling prefacing/underpinning the entire transformation...lets you know something extraordinary is about to/taking place, almost like the TF has an element of Wholly Other. It starts quietly and builds to a crescendo as the change progresses.

Skin/muscles rearranging and stretching would make a "rubbery" sound, I would imagine.

Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 1:56 am
by Trinity
*ponders*

heh one of my classes in college was Sound Folley. ^.^ *grins* You'd be surprised at the things we did to get teh "right" sound effects. Its a difficult taks I can tell you for sure.

The body itself as a whole is rearranging bones, tissues, growing things like fur, fangs and claws, and overall -changing.

Sweat makes a sound, its super subtle.
Muscles streaching make sounds, again ist sublte, but just so. Streaching leather done on a very low scale would prolly make a good muscle streching sound.
sinew would make a sound, sort of like elstic streching but not snapping. Again very very subtle.
The intrernal organs shifting around would make several sounds, and likely be heard in teh -preshift-, when the more obvious sounds over-take the more subltler sounds.

But those are all, for all intents and purposes, soudn that most people wouldn't notice upfront. Wihtout them, the overall enviroment woul dfeel as if somethign is missing, but its on such a subltle level that most people would'nt notice.

More obvious sounds would be the soft 'hussssssh' rustle of fur growing and moving. I uphold Goldie's comment about long hair. -I- have long hair and its -does- make noise when you are moving. It very soft, but its there.

Bones snapping, cracking are a staple of werewolf movies. I think peopl ewould honestly miss them if they weren't added somewhere along the lines. ;) *chuckles*

Creaking of bone would be even more obvious, as would the softer sound fo skin streaching and pulling.

heart beat would add an intesnity to the scenes.

Grunts, moans, heavy breathing woul dbe added because of the simple effort of the shoift. You could even add teh grinding of teeth ( again soft sublte ) from someone in pain/euphoria because of teh intesnsity of teh shift.

Over aly a music track and the entire thing becomes a melody os sounds. ^.^

Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 2:05 am
by vrikasatma
You know, when I went to see Jurassic Park, the scene where the Ty Rex had trapped the kids in the car and was attacking them scared me the most. I went to see it again and analyzed what exactly it was that made me want to fold into myself and make myself as hidden as possible, even though I was in a movie theatre.

You know what it was?

<b>There was no music in that scene.</b>:evil:

Think about it. A frightening scene without music reads as absolutely real, because music is distracting and real life doesn't have dramatic music playing in the background. It suddenly stops being drama and starts being documentary.

Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 2:10 am
by Trinity
*ponders* This is true. So you heard the breath of the T=Rex, the scared sounds of teh kids, the creak of teh car, the weather outside...,

heheh

Indeed. :)

Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 6:44 am
by IblisPendragon
How bout the noise you hear inside your skull when you are the dentist's and he's pulling your teeth out..that's a horrible grinding, creaking sound that might fit along with the*popping* sounds....that damned dentist stole four of my teeth :x

Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 1:16 pm
by Scott Gardener
In all the years that I daydreamed my own werewolf story, I tried many different tracks in my head to cover the shapeshift scene, from the middle solo of Whitesnake's "Still of the Night" to atmospheric Pink Floyd. But, I pictured it without music a year before last, and I've kept it that way in my head ever since. It helps pull it out of cinematic mode and into stark reality.

Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2005 2:56 pm
by Jamie
This is what I would favor:

1) Some squishy sounds like a finger being thrust into a soft, nearly rotten peach.
2) Some hair-rustling sounds as the hair grew in and individual hairs rubbed against each other.
3) Some stretchy sounds like the thin rubber of a popped balloon being stretched.
4) Some sounds like knuckles popping, but muffled (these things are mostly happening deep enough inside the body that most of these sounds should be muffled).
5) My favorite transformation sound of all: put dried, powdered tapioca in a plastic bag and gently squeeze/rub the bag. Very pleasing!

I would like a generous helping of #3, at a low volume, a bunch of #5, but not quite as much as #3, #2 only while the hair grew in, but going on that entire time, and #4 and #1 both at odd intervals, not all the time, and not spaced too regularly.

Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2005 2:59 pm
by Figarou
Jamie wrote:This is what I would favor:

1) Some squishy sounds like a finger being thrust into a soft, nearly rotten peach.
2) Some hair-rustling sounds as the hair grew in and individual hairs rubbed against each other.
3) Some stretchy sounds like the thin rubber of a popped balloon being stretched.
4) Some sounds like knuckles popping, but muffled (these things are mostly happening deep enough inside the body that most of these sounds should be muffled).
5) My favorite transformation sound of all: put dried, powdered tapioca in a plastic bag and gently squeeze/rub the bag. Very pleasing!

I would like a generous helping of #3, at a low volume, a bunch of #5, but not quite as much as #3, #2 only while the hair grew in, but going on that entire time, and #4 and #1 both at odd intervals, not all the time, and not spaced too regularly.
#2 would be good during a close up shot. Not from a distance.

Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2005 4:04 pm
by Renorei
Figarou wrote:
CrewWolf wrote:While I get squeamish just by listening to my brother crack his knuckles, I think there should definitely be some bone popping action. I don't know about gut squelches though. Gut squelches might be a bit too much for me. And I don't think growing hair would make much of a sound unless it comes out real fast and makes a *fwoof* or possibly a *shwoof*

Heh, comic book sounds. :D


It'd be really funny if all of a sudden the screen turned yellow and the word shwoof appeard in red, with an exclamation point, all surrounded by one of those jagged circle things.



I'm in favor of no music as well. In fact, one day I hope someone makes a movie with no score at all.