Sound Design & Mix
Work by: Richard Addis & Jay Price
As with any GFX heavy show, this was always going to be a lot of fun to sound design and mix; one of those jobs to really sink your teeth in to. Gideon Bradshaw (Series Producer), Timo Baker (Composer) and I began discussing the challenges of this show very early on, before the vast majority of the show had been shot. The idea was to create a soundscape to convey the wonder of creation and in particular, the astonishing task of assembling the 100 trillion cells required to make up a human being.
Jay made use of a lot of organic sounds, which depending on the context (provided by Michael Mosley’s VO and Timo’s score), can appear either soothing or sinister; the dull throbbing of the womb interior in particular. Interject this with stylised electrical sound design for the fusing and splitting of cells, and the ticking clock reminding you that all of this happens in 9 short months, and you’ve got a huge toolkit to play with. Balancing Timo’s score and Jay’s fantastically detailed sound design work made for a challenging but hugely enjoyable mix, and one which I feel does justice to the incredible stories of the people we meet throughout the series.