A sweeping fantasy film like The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug would fall flat without equally grand music and sounds. After all, we need strong themes and occasional dialogue to go with the longest ever travel advertisement for New Zealand. The team at Park Road Post Studios in Wellington has striven to deliver every note from the score to the sounds of falling gold in Smaug’s Lonely Mountain lair.

In this video, SoundWorks Collection interviews composer Howard Shore and a few re-recording mixers about creating a memorable soundtrack for Middle-earth. They wanted to add to the world and immerse the audience into the scenes. For example, when the spiders were skittering around Mirkwood, the atmospheric noise made me squirm in my seat and feel nervous. Thanks for the scare, Dolby Atmos!

Besides pointing out the focus placed on giving different locations varying effects, the re-recording mixers also point out aspects I wouldn’t think about as a filmgoer. The air inside Erebor had to sound just right, and they had to use silence to convey the vastness of the halls. Now I want to watch The Desolation of Smaug again just to give extra attention to the sound – which also happens to include Benedict Cumberbatch’s voice.

HT: Laughing Squid