Introduction
I analyze how John Krasinski, who worked his multi-skilled talents as writer, director, and lead actor, expressed a silent world using Dolby Atmos. The sound design was handled by E Square Studio in L.A., run by two veterans who have worked on sound design for films ranging from Terminator to Godzilla, Argo, Transformers, and King Kong.
Major films typically have production budgets ranging from 10 to 20 billion yen, but this film achieved significant global box office success on a low budget of just under 2 billion yen. Film critics also highly praised its innovative sound design, focused around silence.
１ Production crew
Director: John Krasinski
Sound Design: Ethan Van Der. Ryn Erik Aadahl and Brandon Jones
Final Mix: Bandon Proctor. Michal Barry
Music: Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders at Pianella Studio Malibu
Scoring Mixer – Tyson Lozensky
Foley Artist: Steve Baine Marko A. Costanzo
Production Sound: Michal Barosky
Sound pre-mix at E2
Foley Studio at Foley One Tront
Final mix at Warner Brothers Stage-10
2. Story and Main Characters
In 2020, monsters from outer space are shaking the world. The monsters are blind but have extremely sensitive hearing, which they use to attack anything that makes noise. Little Faure is no exception; it has now become a ghost town. The only survivors are the five members of the Abbott family, engineers who use sign language and walk barefoot to survive without making a sound.
Inside Larkin's Grocery Store, second son Beau finds a toy rocket on a shelf and also spots some batteries. When his father Lee sees this, he uses sign language to tell Beau to leave the rocket behind and take out the batteries. Unable to bear watching, his deaf sister Regan hands the rocket to Beau as they leave, and Beau takes the batteries too.
The family of five quietly set off for home. While crossing a bridge, Beau suddenly inserts the batteries into the rocket and starts playing with it. Father Lee desperately runs to stop him, but is killed by a monster sensitive to sound.
Lee's wife Evelyn, a physician, is pregnant and prepares the basement as the delivery room. A year later, Lee, an engineer, builds and repeatedly tests various cochlear implants in the basement for his deaf daughter Regan. However, Regan rebels against her father, and the relationship between Lee and Regan gradually deteriorates.
One day, Lee takes his son Marcus fishing. Near the waterfall at the fishing spot, they enjoy a normal conversation for the first time in months, unheard by the monster. They discuss the death of his younger brother Beau and Regan's distrust of the family. Marcus tells his father, “If you love Regan, don't you have to tell her clearly?”
Evelyn, my wife, was on her way to the basement to go into labor when she stepped on a nail on the stairs and dropped the photo frame of our dead son, Beau. The noise alerted the monster, which prowled the roof and finally made its way down to the basement. Evelyn safely gave birth to a baby boy in the bathtub. Regan returned from fishing. Marcus lit fireworks to drive the creature out of the house. And Regan, who had left her dead brother Rocket on the bridge, each fought a desperate battle against the monster. Finally, the oscillating sound from Regan's hearing aid repelled the creature.
3. Story Structure and Characteristic Sound Design Examples
3-0. Opening Title: 00:00:0-00:10:20
After the DAY89 credits, the Lee family is shown procuring supplies at a general store in the deserted town of Little Faure. The family communicates in sign language, and the sound design conveys that the older sister, Regan, is deaf. The family hurries home with their younger brother Beau, who has taken a toy rocket and dry cell batteries from the store shelves. At the foot of a bridge, Beau puts the batteries in the rocket and starts playing with it. The sound attracts a monster, which attacks and kills Beau.
3-1 Introduction 00:10:20-00:20:27
A wide shot introduces the town of Little Faure. A subtle surround ambience-style music track around -50 dB plays here, along with a high-frequency-dominant musical riff from TOP-CH. The Foley level appearing in the hard center is around -38 dB, establishing the basic sound field settings for this work. In other words, it is a very quiet film.
The music from 17'51" is the ‘Family Love Theme,’ one of two motifs appearing in this work. The bass 5.1CH is arranged with strings and Apf on the TOP-CH, and slightly off-center strings.
19'22"
Sound effect: Son Marcus accidentally knocks over the oil lamp onto the floor.
The average audio level had remained quiet at around -40dB until then, but the sound of this lamp shattering suddenly jumps to -2dB, reaching full level. This extreme dynamic range usage is also a defining feature of this work.
19'31"
When Father Lee extinguishes the fire and gestures for everyone to be quiet, complete silence follows for 40 seconds. After that, the sense of distance as birds fly away from the TOP-Ls is also a well-designed element that draws the audience in.
3-2 Transition 00:20:27–00:25:12
The monster finally makes its appearance. An eerie, low rumble from the monster prowling the attic echoes from the TOP-CH. Looking up, two raccoons fall from the roof and run away. In the cornfield, the two are slaughtered by the monster, and here the monster appears. In the basement, Lee, the engineer father, attempts to communicate with the world via radio. Right beside him, various cochlear implants are being crafted to improve his daughter Regan's hearing, culminating in a highly sensitive, latest-model device. As he works, his wife Evelyn appears wearing headphones, and they share a brief dance, savoring a moment of peace.
20'27"
The monster appears. Here, the design integrates the music and the monster's voice. The music is in the base 5.1CH, with the monster moving around the front and rear of the TOP-CH. Marco Beltrami, who composed the scoring music, stated that he had the sound team send him the monster vocal designs early on, composing the musical parts to avoid disrupting that imagery. This approach has a precedent in J. Williams' work on Jurassic Park, where he composed the music with the lower frequencies capped at the cello after hearing the dinosaur sounds.
21'45"
Two raccoons that escaped from the roof flee through a cornfield, and the sound triggers a monster attack. Full-bit LFE and metallic SE unfold across the entire base channel, while the attack sound is positioned on the FL-FR channels via synth ME in the TOP-CH.
This approach of using only the FL-FR 2ch of the TOP-CH creates a unified feel with the front screen. In films, using only the TOP-2CH is also an effective technique.
24'00"
A momentary peace. Evelyn, his wife, listens to music through headphones. At first, only Hard center plays, but from the cut where the two share the headphones and dance, the source music flows as a pure surround mix. This is also a superb mix as music. The screen blacks out, ending the scene.
3-3 Main body 00:25:12–00:55:29
From the credits of DAY 473, the lives of three people are introduced. Wife Evelyn prepares a covered baby box and an oxygen inhaler in the basement. Father gives daughter Regan a new cochlear implant hearing aid to try. Father takes son Marcus to the river to pull up trout traps. There, they go behind the waterfall basin and have their first normal conversation. Feeling his relationship with his sister is strained, Marcus persuades his father, “You have to tell her you love her with words.”
While holding a photo and remembering her dead son, Evelyn suddenly goes into labor. Rushing down the stairs to the basement, she steps on a nail, startles, and drops the photo. The sound attracts the monster, leading to a tense scene where it prowls the house. Evelyn, in labor, gives birth to a baby boy alone in the upstairs bathtub. Father Lee, rushing back home, takes his wife and newborn to hide in the basement. This scene features excellent sound design, effectively utilizing TOP-CH, which we'll analyze in detail later.
34'41"
This scene shows Father Lee taking his son Marcus to pull trout from a trap in the river. The river's flow is exaggerated to an abnormal level. This is a stylized depiction to explain to his son: “The sound of the river masks all other noise, so even if we make normal sounds, the monster won't hear us.”
38'11"
They go behind the waterfall basin and converse at a normal volume for the first time. This is because the waterfall's roar masks their voices. Here, the waterfall's flow unfolds across the entire soundstage as both the bass and treble.
45'58"
This tense scene depicts Lee's wife Evelyn going into labor just as the monster appears. The monster initially prowls the ceiling before eventually descending underground. The 9 minutes and 29 seconds from here until 55'29" showcase excellent design and masterful use of TOP-CH.
49'02"
Evelyn draws the monster's attention to the kitchen timer and sets it to protect herself.
Its ticking sound reverberates throughout the scene to represent the monster's abnormally sensitive hearing. Next, in an objective shot of the timer, it sounds as a normal, small noise. When the set alarm begins to ring, it reverberates across the entire screen in 5.1 surround sound.
49'08"
The monster descends the stairs, searching for its target and moving about. Evelyn escapes to the upstairs bathtub while its attention is drawn to the alarm and gives birth.
52'08"
As her son Marcus ignites fireworks outside, lighting up the night sky spectacularly, Evelyn's moans accompany the birth of her baby. The tempo and tension are heightened throughout this sequence by the varied sound changes applied to the TOP-CH. I consider this an outstanding example of design in this work, maximizing the benefits of the TOP-CH.
52'20"
Lee rushes back to the room from the river, where fireworks sound like they're turned off in the TOP-CH FR.
52'41"
Lee goes upstairs and sits down upon seeing the bathtub filled with blood. Here, a 52second long non-monster sequence appears.
53'25"
A bloodied hand suddenly appears in the shower room, triggering a full-bit 5.1CH attack ME. This showcases the vast range between non-monster and full-bit sequences.
55'29"
Lee escapes to the basement holding his wife and baby, with the monster closing in behind them. He covers the opening with a mat, and the scene ends with a blackout.
The sound effects and music design featured in the scenes up to 9'29" are truly outstanding.
3-4 Conclusion 00:55:29-01:23:49
The tense scene continues with the family of three in the basement and the monster prowling. Meanwhile, daughter Regan, on her way home after placing a rocket at the gravesite near the bridge, is attacked from behind by the monster. However, the monster is startled and flees upon hearing the oscillating sound emitted from Regan's cochlear implant hearing aid, which she instinctively activated. Here, the monster's weakness is revealed.
Driven by his wife's plea to “protect the children,” Lee leaves the basement to search for them outside. Back in the basement with Evelyn, water floods in from a faucet she left running while doing laundry. Monsters enter the flooded basement hunting for prey. The sound of water heightens the tension in this scene.
The two children take refuge in a silo, waiting for their father, but the younger brother falls inside. He becomes trapped in the silo with Regan, who went in to help. Another monster, alerted by the noise, attacks the silo. Here too, thanks to the oscillating sound from the daughter's cochlear implant, the monster breaks a hole in the silo and flees.
The father Lee, having found the two, tells them to hide in the car outside the field while he prepares to confront the monster with an axe. To protect his children from the monster approaching the car, he signs “I love you” to his daughter Regan, then screams to lure the monster toward him, ultimately taking his own life.
Returning to the basement, the two fight the monster. Just as things look dire, the daughter remembers the monster flees from high-pitched sounds. She places her father Mike's hearing aid against it and turns the volume up full blast. Evelyn then blasts the fallen monster with a shotgun. She further amplifies the hearing aid to full volume, driving the monster away.
1h03’23’
This scene lasts 2'33", but the tense design of Evelyn trying to protect the baby from the monster in the basement, now flooded with overflowing water, is also superb.
Particular attention is paid to the use of the Basic Channel and Top Channel for water sounds. The subtle sound quality of the glass bottle flowing across the water Foley is also excellent.
1h09'20"
Marcus and Regan fall into the corn silo. The noise attracts monsters, which begin prowling around the silo and attacking the two. However, Regan remembers that the monsters fled when she previously inserted the S.W. into her cochlear implant, so she inserts the S.W.
On the base channel, the monster's roar fills the entire soundstage. On the top channel, the sound begins with low-frequency breath, then builds with tense strings. The roar remains active. When the artificial cochlear implants S.W ON function triggers escape, the top channel's roar gradually fades out.
1h18‘44“
The climax comes when Evelyn and her two children, left behind, encounter the monster again in the basement and confront it. The monster descends from the first floor, roaming the lower levels searching for a target, but reacts to the oscillating sound emitted by the various TV monitors set up by father Lee. Realizing its weakness once more, daughter Regan reactivates the S.W. in her cochlear implant hearing aid and brings it close to the microphone her father uses for communication, amplifying the oscillating sound.
The staggering monster was finally felled by Evelyn's gunshot. Regan then emitted an even louder oscillating sound, causing the other monsters to flee, bringing the incident to a close. Here too, the 2'43" scene builds tension through the music and TOP-CH, featuring the various vocal effects of the monsters.
3-5 End Roll 01:23:49–01:31:00
The ending music playing during the end roll is also a wonderful piece that makes great use of TOP-CH and is well worth listening to.
4 Scoring Music
The scoring music features:
● The Family Love Theme
● Monster Theme
Marco states that the Apf used for the Love Theme was tuned slightly off-key on the black keys to achieve a mysterious sound.
The music runs for a total of 47'30", accounting for 52% of the film's runtime.
Amidst the strong tendency in recent Hollywood films to blanket nearly the entire runtime with music, this proportion is remarkably wholesome.
The structure of music can be broadly classified into four categories.
1 Move off-mic recordings from basic track recording to TOP
2 Extract specific parts from basic track recording to TOP-CH
3 Add entirely new instruments to TOP-CH
4 Send only the reverb of specific instruments from basic track recording to TOP-CH
Looking at photos from the recording session, it's clear this wasn't the typical Decca Tree 5-channel setup. Instead, a single mic was placed on nearly every instrument, often using dynamic mics to avoid bleed. This approach was clearly designed with flexibility in mind—allowing for free placement and later expansion to the TOP-CH.
The scoring was recorded at Pianella Studio, a private studio built in 2010 by Marco and Buck Sanders atop the hills of Malibu, where they traveled from Los Angeles to the coast. Malibu is a favored location among musicians active in Hollywood, and many composers—not just him—have built home studios there.
5. Foley. Sound Effects. Material Recording
The sound design team was handled by E2's team, known for creating various monster sounds in films like Godzilla, Transformers, and King Kong.
They stated that their signature monster sounds were produced in four distinct phases:
● Idling
● Quiet Breathing
● Searching and Roaming
● Attack
They stated that materials for these included processed sounds like cracking watermelons, breaking ice, wet towels, and animal snoring or breathing.
＊Their video of recording Foley with a SANKEN CO-100K microphone for Godzilla is also highly informative, so I'm sharing the URL for reference.
https://vimeo.com/114853672
Marco, the scoring supervisor, mentioned in an interview that since many ME-style sounds appear, they closely exchanged audio sources with the sound design team to create a sound design where each element blended seamlessly.
Foley recorded at Foley One Studio in Toronto, Canada, capturing sounds such as monster footsteps (“Crab Legs”) and materials representing abnormally sensitive hearing (“Stun Gun + Grapes, Cabbage, Celery”).
Wrap-up
Designing a work primarily as a silent film is an extremely challenging approach. The story featuring Regan, a deaf girl, and a monster that reacts only to sound—as in this film—delivered a fresh impact to both audiences accustomed to Hollywood's loud soundscapes and critics alike.
Reference DATA------how quiet the sounds
I've displayed the dynamic range using the Final Check tool in my Pyramix DAW for reference.
*I measured the entire 1 hour and 31 minutes with a loudness meter.
The average loudness value was: -25.9 LKFS T.P: -1.4
The dynamic range is around 40dB.
The average loudness value was close to -23 LKFS, probably because many monster sound effects close to full bit appeared, allowing the silent level of -40dB to be averaged out well.
*Level distribution in the Little Faure's General Store during the opening title. The hard center Foley is around -40dB, and the rest is ambience below -50dB.
*The dynamic range difference between the two people inside the silo and the attacking monster. Around 1'30" is the tense level where the two are listening intently, followed by the monster's attack sound.
[End]
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